Budget buster -- power surge!

[zigzagzerr]

Okay, well it's been quite a week.

Monday night, my husband and I are sitting and watching tv, when we hear a loud CRACK. Don't know where it came from, so we went looking around throughout the house, trying to see if something fell off a shelf or whatever. We don't find anything.

Next morning, hubby leaves work extra early. When I get up, I go to get a cup of coffee since he always makes it before he leaves for work. No coffee made, which is odd. I check the reservoir in the pot and it is full of water, the filter and ground coffee are ready to go. Very odd. I hit the switch. Nothing. I plug it into another outlet. Nothing. DEAD.

So, after pulling out our cheapy coffee pot (that we sometimes bring on vacation) and getting my caffeine fix -- you do what you gotta do, right? -- I open the fridge to get milk for my cereal. Control panel is blinking wildly and will not reset. I reach my arm into the fridge unit. You guessed it -- it's not cold. I go in the basement, flip the circuit breaker, check the plug. There's obviously juice coming through the socket since the panel is blinking, but it's not cooling. FABULOUS! I call Sears repair and get the next appointment which is tomorrow morning, dump all the perishables in a cooler with ice and head off to work.

Fast forward to the evening, relaxing again in front the tv (lazy, aren't we?), we notice it's hot and sticky INSIDE. The air vent is shooting air up but it's not cold. OH BOYO!!!!!

So, today the fridge repair guy came, ordered a replacement control panel -- once it arrives they will do the repair. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, but definitely $400 to repair. You know, I did not truly appreciate refrigeration until now.......

The air conditioner guy also came today -- a/c is toast. In fairness, it is nearly 20 years old. New unit will be installed tomorrow -- $7700!!! (we'll be eating beans and rice for a long looooong time).

Turns out some type of power surge came through and zapped the crud out of our stuff.

Therefore (and my reason for this long boring post).....we are bringing out an electrician tomorrow to install a "whole house" surge protector, to help protect us in the future. Think of it as the anti-budget buster. That is all -- carry on.

Wish me luck and sanity in the coming days. Thank you for your support.

 

[FutureDis]

Check with your homeowner's insurance if you have it. It might be covered...

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Yuck...

I would check with my homeowner's insurance and see if anything was covered. You might just be out your deductible for the damaged stuff.

 

[zigzagzerr]

Check with your homeowner's insurance if you have it. It might be covered...

Yuck...

I would check with my homeowner's insurance and see if anything was covered. You might just be out your deductible for the damaged stuff.

Excellent idea. I will do that. Thanks ! (meanwhile, can I put my leftover casserole in your fridge? )

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Excellent idea. I will do that. Thanks ! (meanwhile, can I put my leftover casserole in your fridge? )

Sure... Although, since I live in IL, that might be a bit of a trek for you!

 

[kymmyk13]

you can also make a claim with the power company, may not get anywhere with it but it is wortha try.

 

[goofyboyzmom]

DEFINITELY go through your homeowners insurance!!!!! This happened to us last year. It fried our tv (actually started a fire in the kitchen, thank God my son was home!), our stove, our microwave, our x-box, our SURGE PROTECTOR!!!! (ironic, isn't it?). They replaced all these items for our deductable!!!!

 

[goofyboyzmom]

you can also make a claim with the power company, may not get anywhere with it but it is wortha try.

By all means, try. But Good Luck! We made a claim with DTE (in Michigan), but they refused to pay for anything on the basis that "aging equipment" is an inherent risk with usage of their product.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Excellent idea. I will do that. Thanks ! (meanwhile, can I put my leftover casserole in your fridge? )

Sure if you want to trot on up here to Harford co. I actually have 2 full size fridges (a side by side in the Kitchen, and an upside down one in the garage) and a 22 cu ft upright freezer in the basement. I think I could find a spot for your casserole. HMMM... DH used to work for your refrigerator repair co years ago in the Balto area probably still knows some of the techs.

you can also make a claim with the power company, may not get anywhere with it but it is wortha try.

BGE?! GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I had a similar issue a few months ago. I kept having small power surges over the course of a few hours. It killed my Blu Ray player, one 26inch flat screen, a air purifer, and the air conditioner. I called the electric company and they told me to get out of the house and they showed up 20 minutes later. ( very abnormal for them). It was windy out and I had a power line hitting the side of my house that had it's coating worn off, so basically a live wire repeatly hitting the house. I did call my homeowners and it was just a $500 deductible to pay.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I had a similar issue a few months ago. I kept having small power surges over the course of a few hours. It killed my Blu Ray player, one 26inch flat screen, a air purifer, and the air conditioner. I called the electric company and they told me to get out of the house and they showed up 20 minutes later. ( very abnormal for them). It was windy out and I had a power line hitting the side of my house that had it's coating worn off, so basically a live wire repeatly hitting the house. I did call my homeowners and it was just a $500 deductible to pay.

OH MY GOSH!!! Now that is a scary story!
I'm glad that the outcome was not worse, it sounds like it could've set the house on fire and with you in it.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Okay, well it's been quite a week.

Monday night, my husband and I are sitting and watching tv, when we hear a loud CRACK. Don't know where it came from, so we went looking around throughout the house, trying to see if something fell off a shelf or whatever. We don't find anything.

Next morning, hubby leaves work extra early. When I get up, I go to get a cup of coffee since he always makes it before he leaves for work. No coffee made, which is odd. I check the reservoir in the pot and it is full of water, the filter and ground coffee are ready to go. Very odd. I hit the switch. Nothing. I plug it into another outlet. Nothing. DEAD.

So, after pulling out our cheapy coffee pot (that we sometimes bring on vacation) and getting my caffeine fix -- you do what you gotta do, right? -- I open the fridge to get milk for my cereal. Control panel is blinking wildly and will not reset. I reach my arm into the fridge unit. You guessed it -- it's not cold. I go in the basement, flip the circuit breaker, check the plug. There's obviously juice coming through the socket since the panel is blinking, but it's not cooling. FABULOUS! I call Sears repair and get the next appointment which is tomorrow morning, dump all the perishables in a cooler with ice and head off to work.

Fast forward to the evening, relaxing again in front the tv (lazy, aren't we?), we notice it's hot and sticky INSIDE. The air vent is shooting air up but it's not cold. OH BOYO!!!!!

So, today the fridge repair guy came, ordered a replacement control panel -- once it arrives they will do the repair. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, but definitely $400 to repair. You know, I did not truly appreciate refrigeration until now.......

The air conditioner guy also came today -- a/c is toast. In fairness, it is nearly 20 years old. New unit will be installed tomorrow -- $7700!!! (we'll be eating beans and rice for a long looooong time).

Turns out some type of power surge came through and zapped the crud out of our stuff.

Therefore (and my reason for this long boring post).....we are bringing out an electrician tomorrow to install a "whole house" surge protector, to help protect us in the future. Think of it as the anti-budget buster. That is all -- carry on.

Wish me luck and sanity in the coming days. Thank you for your support.

You should IMMEDIATELY call your homeowner carrier! You may be covered.
We were
AND also, when we had a surge years ago.....thru from electric carrier, THEY paid us directly for the VCR they fried!

Good Luck!@
No harm in asking, heres some PIXIE dust for ya too

 

[vsimeone]

Yup! We had lightning stike the house many years ago. Fried everything that was plugged into the west side of the house: computer, coffee maker and toaster to name a few. Our homeowner's insurance covered it.

Be wary of installing a whole house surge protector. No surge protector in the world can guard against the power of a lightning strike or similar force surge. It will help with normal power outage surges but not major ones. As a previous poster wrote - it will just blow them out and still fry anything that is plugged into them!

Best of luck to you! I hope the insurance pulls through!

 

[mamalle]

I feel your pain.. we had a power surge after a hurricane and no power for 2 weeks.. Unfortunately for us- our homeowners would not pay for "power surge" and we had power surge protectors.. anyhow, I hope you get everything back in order and its not too costly..

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Excellent idea. I will do that. Thanks ! (meanwhile, can I put my leftover casserole in your fridge? )

Sure come on over. Just head North on I-95! I live near StitchLovesTink.

Sure if you want to trot on up here to Harford co. I actually have 2 full size fridges (a side by side in the Kitchen, and an upside down one in the garage) and a 22 cu ft upright freezer in the basement. I think I could find a spot for your casserole. HMMM... DH used to work for your refrigerator repair co years ago in the Balto area probably still knows some of the techs.


BGE?! GOOD LUCK!!!

Heck I'll meet you at StitchLovesTink's house - my freezer is packed full so I think I'll store some stuff at her house!

 

[Green Tea]

Absolutely will be covered by your homeowners insurance (except the new surge protector you are electing to install) This happened to my sister twice. It actually destroyed the appliances and she got new laundry things from one strike and kitchen from the other. I assume they have put a surge protector on the line now.

 

[zigzagzerr]

Be wary of installing a whole house surge protector. No surge protector in the world can guard against the power of a lightning strike or similar force surge. It will help with normal power outage surges but not major ones. As a previous poster wrote - it will just blow them out and still fry anything that is plugged into them!

Best of luck to you! I hope the insurance pulls through!

Yep, I know it won't work if lightning hits us, but I would like to protect our stuff if possible from random surges. My husband has promised to call the homeowners' insurance today while he's home with the air conditioner installer.

I feel your pain.. we had a power surge after a hurricane and no power for 2 weeks.. Unfortunately for us- our homeowners would not pay for "power surge" and we had power surge protectors.. anyhow, I hope you get everything back in order and its not too costly..

Worth a shot, anyway. Thanks for the good thoughts! Good lord, I can't imagine 2 weeks with no power.

Sure if you want to trot on up here to Harford co. I actually have 2 full size fridges (a side by side in the Kitchen, and an upside down one in the garage) and a 22 cu ft upright freezer in the basement. I think I could find a spot for your casserole. HMMM... DH used to work for your refrigerator repair co years ago in the Balto area probably still knows some of the techs.


BGE?! GOOD LUCK!!!

Thanks for the offer! You're not that far away. And I hear you on BGE.

Sure come on over. Just head North on I-95! I live near StitchLovesTink.



Heck I'll meet you at StitchLovesTink's house - my freezer is packed full so I think I'll store some stuff at her house!

Thanks everybody!!! I guess my one hesitation with the whole insurance thing is that, with the air conditioner, the repair guy said the unit would have gone up anyway. So I probably wouldn't include that. But if I can get them to pay for repairing the fridge, that would be nice.

So, we're getting our new air conditioner today - it's an all day installation. The part for the fridge was ordered yesterday with "emergency" status, so hopefully it'll come today and we can get someone out to install it. The guy will be coming out today or tomorrow to install the surge protector. I'll be shopping for a new coffeemaker over the weekend. I think that covers me for now. Phew!

 

[dawson5]

I have to ask, did you call around on the AC replacement--$7700 seems high. Are you replacing the heating also? Our AC went out (age related) the summer after we bought this house. There was still time left on the home warranty but it would only cover the part and some labor I guess. Long story short, they gave us the check for the part, not labor though, we used that towards a new AC unit. We bought a new unit from a friend. He came over and switched it out in less than 2 hrs.

 

[goofydad99]

I have to ask, did you call around on the AC replacement--$7700 seems high. Are you replacing the heating also? Our AC went out (age related) the summer after we bought this house. There was still time left on the home warranty but it would only cover the part and some labor I guess. Long story short, they gave us the check for the part, not labor though, we used that towards a new AC unit. We bought a new unit from a friend. He came over and switched it out in less than 2 hrs.

I think the key word in your cost is a friend did it for you. We had our unit replaced earlier this month and her quote isn't that far off from what we paid. We had 6 quotes.

OP, I hope you aren't experiencing 105 degree temperatures like we were.

 

[dawson5]

I know our friend did it for way less but even the guy who originally came out wasn't as high--I want to say around $6,000--don't remember what brand though. He was the one who said after all was said it done, it would be better to get a new unit than fix the old, we'd still have a 15 y/o unit with a new compressor. Dang. I need to go and find Dave and give him a big hug and bake him a cake or something.

I guess I just keep thinking back to our first house and we put the new furnace in, it cost something like $5500 (Carrier 92% efficiency) to add AC on itit would cost another $1500--granted this was '95.