Notes from Maine - 2024/10/13
The power is out. We’re having a windy day. I guess some trees were knocked down. According to the power company’s app, about 10% of the state is currently without power. Compared to other parts of the country right now our weather is pretty much ideal, but still it could be days before they resolve all of the outages. Luckily, I have a generator. And, as of last week, I no longer have to wrestle the generator all the way around the house in order to use it.
When I decided to put in electric ovens, I also decided that my electric panel should be upgraded. A new panel meant that my generator hookup would have to be reworked. Back when this house was a nursing home, several circuits were split off for a generator feed. The heat, water, refrigerator, freezer, hall lights, and some outlets were deemed necessary to maintain the care and comfort of the residents. The electrician hadn’t seen a setup like that before. Now it’s more common to feed the entire panel, and just turn off some breakers (like the power-hungry ovens) or simply not use those appliances while on generator. If the house demands too much from the generator, it will trip the generator’s internal breaker and life will continue. There’s no need to complicate things with two different panels anymore.
So, as long as we were re-envisioning the hookup, I had them install it close to the garage, where I keep the generator. Now I can just drag it outside, plug it in, and go. That’s what I intend to do in a few minutes. I’d like to draw some water for the horses and let the house heat up a little.
The upgrade to the panel went very well. It took longer than a day, which I expected when I saw that they had only sent one person. Someone called out sick. The first day was about 12 hours with no electricity. The ice in the freezer clumped together. I had to refill the toilet tank with a bucket of water that I had thought to put aside that morning. It was a minor inconvenience. On the third day, the new generator hookup was installed. Minutes after that was finished, the people arrived to create templates for the kitchen counters. I spent decades in this house without having a single contractor set foot on the premises. Now I’ve had roofers, electricians, and counter people milling around. It’s unsettling, and it’s not over. Once they’ve cut the quartz, the counter people will be back. There’s a company coming to look at the big dead maple tree near the driveway (assuming it doesn’t fall down during this wind—fingers crossed). I even have a fencing contractor supposedly coming.
Unsettling. I’m not mentally equipped to cope with strangers tromping around my house, doing things. But once the floodgates were open, it seemed like I had to have more and more things done.
The opposite happened with the furnace person. I guess I lied before when I said that it had been decades since a contractor had set foot on the property. Each summer, a person from the heating company comes over to service the furnace. It was installed by them—I get a really good deal on continued maintenance. The night before the electric work was supposed to start, my hot water wasn’t working. I called in the morning and reported the issue but said, “Don’t come—I don’t have power—but the hot water isn’t working.”
“Do you have heat?” they asked.
“Yes, the heat is working fine. Don’t come. I think the problem is, and don’t come, but there’s a heat exchanger (don’t come) and about ten years ago (don’t come) it clogged and had to be replaced. But, and I can’t stress this enough, please don’t come because there’s nothing that can be done until my power is back on. Don’t come.”
The person showed up a few hours later, as expected, while the power was still disconnected. After hearing the issue, they agreed that it was my heat exchanger. Luckily, when the last one clogged I attempted to descale it with vinegar and an ultrasonic cleaner. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed like it might work. The furnace person said, “Just put that one on and call me if it doesn’t work.”
With the floodgates open, I expected to simply pay someone to make the problem go away, but instead I was assigned the task of fixing it myself. Fair enough. I did, and it’s working okay. I handed off the newer (clogged) heat exchanger to my friend who has a big jug of really power vinegar. If that one turns out okay, I’ll consider putting it back on.
The power is back on. I’m picking up Mom and my sister from the airport. It will be weird without my nephew here. They’re usually a set, and I’ve barely seen him this year. I was hoping to discuss the finer points of parallel parking with him, but it will have to wait.
