Lean for Home: Creating an emergency checklist for when the power goes out.

S**t happens and thinking on the fly is a great skill, but a checklist can remove the factor of chance and decrease your stress level at the same time.

No power = No sump = water damage in basement = waste

We have at least one power outage a year at my house and while I'm scrambling to plug in the refrigerator I might forget about the sump pump in the basement.  

Water damage can range from just drying the carpeting to having insurance adjusters tell me that my comic book collection isn't worth as much as I think.

I created a checklist and short SOP to simplify my emergencies.

A simple list of what to do for power outages makes it easier for me to make decisions.

It also turns an emergency into standard work so  my wife K. will have a reference document if I'm not around.

Some of the items on my list.

1. Check/add fuel to tank (mix if necessary)
2. Open fuel valve on generator
3. Start generator
4. Plug in power strip
5. Run 1st 50 ft cord from power strip to sump pump
6. After running sump, disconnect cord and run to back office
7. Connect to power strip
8. Plug modem, Wi-Fi, phone, computer and monitors into power strip
9. Run 2nd 50 ft cord from power strip to refrigerator 

Running notes from previous outages:

• Mix ratio: 3.0 oz of 2 cycle oil to 1 gallon of gas
• 1 gallon of gas = 7 hours of generator time
• You can't run the sump pump at the same time as anything else
• Run the sump every 7 hours (it takes about 15 minutes to empty the water and will then turn off)
• The refrigerator keeps cold for about 22 hours after the power is cut.
• Modem, Wi-Fi, phones, refrigerator, computer & both monitors can all  run at the same time and not blow the generator fuse
• Disconnect the refrigerator if you're going to use the coffee maker
• The generator produces 10 amps
• The ideal configuration has 2 - 50ft extension cords and 2 power strips

 

The power went out at my brothers and I quickly mobilized.

I was able to put this checklist into action a few days ago when the power went out at my brothers while he was out of town.  The checklist made sure that I didn't forget anything before my 40 minute drive to his place.

It was a complete success.  I had power running to his sump within 10 minutes of arriving at the house and there was zero stress involved.

I still did some thinking on the fly  which is why I arrived with a fan, a cooler of beer and a lean pizza from Little Ceasars.  I knew it was going to be a long night and I wanted to be prepared!