RSS Feeds: A Reminder that I Need an Electric Power Generator
I lost some computer work earlier today. PUD (Philippine Utility Department) decided to cut power once again without any advance notice. It was a strong reminder that I need to buy an electric power generator (or some kind of emergency generator) before I pull what remains of my hair out. I really have no excuse for not having one since I've been complaining about it for more than two years.
Lost Work
I maintain a lot of records on spreadsheets. I use OpenOffice.org Calc even though I have Microsoft Excel (as part of Office XP) on this computer. The native format that OpenOffice.org Calc uses is smaller, faster loading and faster saving than an Excel spreadsheet.
I also type incredibly fast. I have it set to automatically save the file every 10 minutes, but that isn't often enough I guess. I lost well over a 100 records during today's power outage. The recovery tool restored a lot more but not the last 100 that I needed. Luckily, I still have the source information for those records and all I have to do is put the records in again.
A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) would have been a good idea, but I don't have one. I'm on a strict budget and that budget doesn't include a UPS at this time — it's on my "to get" list.
Electric Power Generators
Electric power generators aren't as expensive, for home use, as many would think. I spotted one in a local store for less than 5000 pesos (probably around $100 in US dollars). The only thing I don't like about them is that they're noisy diesel generators. Well, when I'm without power, noise is an issue I can live with.
If you think about it for a moment, you might think that a UPS would be all that's necessary solve my many issues. You'd be wrong. I don't have an air conditioner either, but I do have an electric fan. It's summertime in the Philippines and the sauna-like weather is nauseating without some kind of air current present at all times.
When the power gets cut off, so does the water supply. That's a different issue that I'll be tackling with something else in mind. Today's power outage lasted less than an hour, but the water outage lasted more than two hours. I haven't figured that one out yet since the electricity for the water supply comes from the same source as our electrical supply.
My "to get" List
I'll be addressing most of these separately. This is just an idea of some of the things I need to get as soon as possible:
- UPS
- Electric Power Generator
- Air Conditioner
- Gravity Water Tank
As I said, I'm on a strict budget. My wife, who was supposed to return to the Philippines in April, isn't going to be returning until June (as far as I can tell). Maintaining two separate homes is difficult since she doesn't make a whole lot of money. She's only there until she finishes off her medical appointments.
The priority of my budget is her plane ticket and associated travel expenses. Everything else simply has to wait.
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Loosing work to erratic power supply is something I can totally relate to. If you can't get a generator, try out an invertor.
UPS is the bees knees – Can't count the number of times I've lost stuff due to a power cut… open offices backup utility is mighty good – I've never lost anything because the backups have covered it. I think investing in a UPS will be worth every penny. Do it as soon as the budget allows.
Impressed with your typing speed RT.
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When I get going, I type at about 80 wpm, although I haven't been tested in about 8 years. It's why I can write an article fast enough that I don't need the WordPress autosave feature.
RT, what about working from a laptop instead. Then you'll instantly know when you don't have power (because of the battery icon) and you don't have to get either power supply or UPS. Just an idea ;)
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I have a dead notebook computer in my closet. I'm planning to get a netbook before my wife leaves the US. Notebooks and netbooks are too expensive here in the Philippines.
After reading Zania's post below I cam to think of the fact that a laptop isn't going to help you that much if you're loosing your Internet connection as well. But you'll not loose your work at least.
What is the price of a laptop in the Philippines compared to the US?
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Twice as much.
We have many electrical power cuts where I live in Spain, so my UPS is essential. It's wired up to the PC and the internet connection, so, if the cut is just a quick 'oops!', I don't have to reboot to get back online. Couldn't work here without it.
We used to have a generator when we lived in a motorhome while our house was being finished, but it made so much noise, the neighbours complained. So we sold it :)
Water outages. We live with that, lol!
Every Sunday, without fail, our water is turned off for about 8 hours, while they fill the local farmers' water tanks. And a couple of times there were 'mysterious water outages' which lasted for days.
So we have lots of large containers of water at the ready now :)
Give my best wishes to your wife, by the way. Hope is all going well with her.
I have question What is the difference between a blackout and a brownout?
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Blackout is a loss of service (any kind). Brownout is specific to electrical services.
Would having a backup generator eradicate the problem of lost files? from what I understood even a backup generator takes time to kick in, so the files will still be lost due to a sudden loss of power even if it is returned after a short spell, or am I missing something.
Khaled,
RT also talks about a UPS – which stands for 'uninterruptable power supply' – It's basically a large battery – but you plug your computer into this and plug this into the wall – that way when the power goes down you have some time to organize the generator, etc – or if it's just a 10 min power cut everything will keep running until the power comes back on.
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PS: When I said large battery – I meant large EXPENSIVE battery, inside a case, with power points on the outside of it and a lead to plug into a normal power supply – i got a second hand UPS once thinking it was a bargain for $50 – found out next day the battery was stuffed and replacing it was going to set me back $600…
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sometimes the usage of this generator convert on the expense usage for man power.. :)
An electric generator is an excellent thing to have! Sometime the power can go out for maybe days at a time and a person does not really realize how much we use electricity in our normal day to day life. I borrowed my neighbors one time and I loved it!
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Instead of a generator, I would suggest you get an inverter and batteries instead. With an inverter and batteries you will save money on gas/diesel for the generator and it's noiseless, :)
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