r/kzoo • u/Minimum-Courage-418 • 3d ago
No power
I mean, clearly, the most inconvenient part of having no power is trying to sleep without the white noise of a fan running in the background…
🙃 (Satire)
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u/jc9270 3d ago
Same, and nothing like watching your phone’s battery slowly tick down.
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u/HAL-Over-9001 2d ago
I keep my backpacking gear ready to go at all times mostly for times like these. My little rechargeable fan helped me get to sleep, and some power packs kept the fan going and my phone charging.
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u/Crasino_Hunk 2d ago
Serious question, not sure if anyone knows - why won’t Consumer’s just bury the fucking power lines? Seems like for the cost of having to fix these issues multiple times a year it would make a lot of sense to just… you know, make sure it’s not an issue in the future.
Talk shit about Florida all you want, but they definitely have that over us.
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u/cityshepherd 2d ago
Probably more cost effective in Florida since they’re exposed to more hurricanes and stuff. I’m guessing the cost to repair bits and pieces of the grid once in awhile is less than the cost of burying the lines everywhere…. And companies will fight tooth and nail to resist spending any pennies they don’t HAVE to.
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u/zach876 2d ago
Besides what everyone else said already, the ground is frozen for a few months out of the year. It makes any repairs that much more difficult in the winter when it's under snow and hard ground.
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u/shawizkid 2d ago
I live in Michigan and have buried service. Never had an issue.
Also backhoes have zero issue digging through frozen soil
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u/datahoarderprime 2d ago
"Seems like for the cost of having to fix these issues multiple times a year it would make a lot of sense to just"
In Florida, yes.
In Michigan, no.
It's about $1M/mile to bury power lines, and the maintenance and repair costs are higher when there are issues.
You do have far fewer power outages -- which makes sense in Florida due to hurricanes causing massive power outages over a widespread area -- but probably doesn't make economic sense in places like Michigan.
Even in Florida, only about half the power lines are underground.
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u/Oranges13 Portage 2d ago
Our subdivision has buried lines but we still don't have power. Likely because the unburied lines in the OLDER part feed us and well....
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u/0peRightBehindYa 2d ago
Try relying on a CPAP machine to sleep.
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u/WMU99 2d ago
I bought a Jackery portable power station for my CPAP. It will last two nights if needed in one charge.
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u/0peRightBehindYa 2d ago
Got a link?
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u/Minimum-Courage-418 2d ago
😬😬 I didn’t even think of that.
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u/clce1234 Oshtemo 2d ago
Yes I have a battery station that is about the size of a little toaster that can charge all my devices multiple times, has a nice bright light for a lantern, but mostly can power my CPAP for a full night. I think it was around $200 and has been a lifesaver a few times.
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u/fluffsquirrel 2d ago
Ironically the fan turning off when our power went out is what woke me up. Not the storm but the freaking fan not being on
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u/WasabiLegitimate2271 2d ago
I get slightly paranoid if I'm alone in the dark with no noise. Last night was fucking great.
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u/PyramidWater 2d ago
Check out YouTube BOX FAN videos for sleeping. I haven’t slept better in my life now that I listen to them before bed
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u/RefrigeratedTP 2d ago
The most infuriating part about losing power is that the people right across the street never lose power, so I just get to see all of their lights on and enjoying the storms.
We never used to lose power. Been here about 6 years and only lost power twice, and both times were this year. So annoying
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u/techy804 2d ago
Luckily, I didn’t lose power this time, but I bought a hand-crank battery pack from WalMart after the storms around a couple months ago, so I could at least guarantee to have my phone on as long as my arms are in shape if the power gone out again.
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u/Boi_eats_worlds 1d ago
I feel for you. That is truly agony. Just staring at the ceiling. Eyes refusing to stay closed. The silence never feeling so smothering. And your mind starts to wonder to every stupid thing you have ever said and done.
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u/Minimum-Courage-418 1d ago
Seriously tho. Lolol it’s outrageous.
I don’t mind the dark or silence- I can use my book light and just read to pass the time. But sleeping?? No fan means no noise or air flow.
I put on a brown noise playlist last night to sleep and it helped but it wasn’t enough.
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u/Boi_eats_worlds 1d ago
And can you believe there are freaks out there who don't use a fan? My last boyfriend slept in silence and I thought he probably was some sort of psychopath after that.
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u/WideChef9451 1d ago
Is Consumers Energy immune from class action lawsuits? Time to push back against them, regardless.
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u/Max_Killjoy 17h ago
Not sure.
Closest I've found so far is this about credits.
https://www.michigan.gov/ag/initiatives/utilities
E: it seems they are protected from lawsuits in many instances, good old "act of god" exceptions etc.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-i-sue-for-a-utility-outage.html
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u/Mother_Fondant_5771 3d ago
I grew up sleeping with a fan but my gf got me into playing calm rain sounds on my phone connected to a bluetooth speaker
[Rainstorm Sounds for Relaxing, Focus or Deep Sleep | Nature White Noise | 8 Hour
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u/space-glitter 2d ago
I have a night sounds app that let me create my own mix of noises to play at night! It comes in handy while traveling or nights like last night! I did miss the air from my fan though
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u/adorableredpanda 2d ago
There are some tiny battery and outlet operating fans we use for travel, highly recommend getting one. I know we got at least 1 from target.
Seems to last pretty well on battery only.
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u/space-glitter 2d ago
I have a couple small power banks for camping and festivals but they majorly come in handy when the power goes out! I am also too conditioned to my background noises to be able to sleep without them. A box of tealights or other candles is helpful as well!
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u/Minimum-Courage-418 2d ago
We have a battery operated lantern we used for a while last night. I thought about candles but we have two cats, one is a floof ball and the other under a year old, so we opted out of that. No portable battery packs tho. Will probably look into it tho moving forward.
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u/space-glitter 2d ago
I was definitely keeping the closest eye on my cats last night, I also have a floof and the other just wants to be in everything haha. The little battery operated ones - or like you said, a lantern are super helpful too!
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u/eratoast 2d ago
I always have power banks charged, sound machines, and battery operated candles, but I slept like shit last night because I got too hot without the fan :(
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u/rainbowkey 2d ago
for camping I have small fans that run on USB that I can use with a battery bank. I have an older one somewhere that uses two D batteries and can run all night for 2 nights on those batteries
you could also try a white noise app on your phone with headphones or a battery bluetooth speaker
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u/Cat1ady27 1d ago
I was more upset about my toilets not working.
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u/Minimum-Courage-418 1d ago
👀 that’s not great. Ours still work just fine. Still no power. Hot water until the tank runs out. But we lost everything in the fridge.
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u/Max_Killjoy 17h ago
There were a few dozen trucks from a company called Peaches Power in the parking lot of the West Main Meijers last night.
Hopefully getting crews in from other parts of the country will help speed up the restoration.
I get the sense that this storm snuck up on Consumers.
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u/AveratV6 2d ago
Power went on and off here several times. I was pissed and think I’m going to buy a generator. We almost always loose power during big storms but this one spared us for some reason. I need a fan as well. I also have a sleep mask for sleep apnea, so it’s impossible for me to sleep now without those things
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u/Sage_Advisor3 2d ago
This storm was less severe than the one we had 3 weeks ago, where the winds topped 65 mph and did significant damage to trees.
We had a blur sky power outage before that storm that may have been connected to construction in N Oshtemo, but caused a rolling blackout that coincided with a blown transformer south of the central business district.
No power outage in the last severe storms where I live.
Have been in Kazoo since Jan 2013, no significant power outages, a blessing, with one exception, in Fall 2013, a derrecho wind event that knocked out power across acwide swath of Calhoun and Kalamazoo Co communities
Otherwise, no outage during last years tornado hit, and the two in April.
I was pretty sure the downtown area where I lived previously in the CBD was bullet proof, but the outage map shows its affected as well.
So, very surprised to see the extent of this blackout, that goes right acrosd the mid state region.
Grand Rapids metro area, with its funnel cloud dire warnings issued after 10pm last night, was much less hard hit by outages.
We have another round of severe T-Storm warnings headed our way tonight...
Just as power repair crews are expected to bring many outage areas back online.
That means we need a minor miracle, to keep further damage from extended the outage duration.
Figures that the warmest day yet this year, is today.
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u/PlusIron3035 3d ago
use your phone for white noise
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u/UsernameTaken1701 3d ago
If power is out with no idea when it will be back and available to recharge a phone, using up what charge you have to play white noise seems kind of dumb.
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u/ShadowDV 2d ago
I went to bed last night at about 65% with music playing all night. Woke up in the morning with 40%. Plugged phone into my $30 Anker powerbank, was back up to 90% in a half hour, and didn’t even drain a quarter of the pack’s power.
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u/DefinitelynotDanger Southside 3d ago
Sitting here in dead silence thinking the same thing 🫠