Eight dead from carbon monoxide poison - never put the generator indoors

[malaise]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/police-8-dead-in-home-generator-found-without-gas/ar-AAavo4i
<snip>
A man found dead with his seven children in a Maryland home where power was cut due to an outstanding bill had tried to keep the family warm with a generator, a relative said.

Lloyd Edwards told The Associated Press that his stepson, 36-year-old Rodney Todd, had bought the generator after the power was shut off to the home in Princess Anne, about 60 miles southeast of Annapolis on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He said those who died were Todd and Todd's two sons and five daughters.

"To keep his seven children warm, (Todd) bought a generator, Edwards said, adding: "The carbon monoxide consumed them."

Authorities had no immediate information on the cause of the deaths.

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Have to wonder if the generator cost more than the outstanding bill.

How sad is this??

[Gormy Cuss]

1. A generator can be had for less than two months of winter heating bills.

Many power companies are ruthless about shutoffs, often refusing to restore power until all of the arrearage plus a reconnect fee have been paid. If this man had the choice of paying a few hundred dollars to the power company without having power restored or buying a generator that would immediately address the issue, the latter would make more sense.

It's terrible that he didn't understand the risks of running it indoors.

[malaise]

2. Freaking wow!

Now all of them are dead - just so

[sweetapogee]

7. suppose for a minute

Let's say you are outright given a small (4kW) gasoline powered generator. How much does it cost to operate?

If gasoline costs $2.00/gallon and the generator uses 3 gallons every 10 hours (both of these figures are low), the cost to operate the generator is 60 cents per hour.

That's $14.50 per day or $430.00 per month, at the very least. It's going to be more than that. The generator I selected would probably not be big enough to run a heating system in a house. A bigger generator will be much more expensive to purchase and will consume more fuel than I have calculated.

So, in other words, when the power goes out it is great to have a back-up generator. But, getting the power restored is a big relief. Storing enough gasoline to operate the generator is also an issue. In the above scenario, the operator of the generator would have to store 7 gallons of gasoline for every day of operation. Or go to the gas station every day and buy 8 or so gallons of fuel.

While not perfect and also dangerous, heating with a kero heater makes better sense. While kero is more expensive than gasoline, the heater is much more efficient and would probably only need to be run for about 12 hours per day. I can melt the paint off the walls in my un-insulated garage with our kero heater this time of the year.

Most likely there is much more going on here.

[n2doc]

3. I wonder if he was afraid that it would be stolen?

Sad story.

[malaise]

4. Possibly

Real sad

[KittyWampus]

5. FWIW, another story says power company detected a stolen electrical meter

and didn't cut off power due to non-payment.

I have no idea but find this incredibly sad. Even if it was just one person.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Here's a link for that.

Utility removed stolen electric meter before 8 were poisoned

Health & Science

By Juliet Linderman | AP April 7 at 7:31 PM

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — A divorced father and the seven children he was trying to raise on a kitchen worker’s salary were poisoned in their sleep by carbon monoxide only days after the power company discovered a stolen meter and cut off electricity to their rental home, police said Tuesday.

Delmarva Power said it did not cut off the family’s electricity because they were behind on their bills, but for safety reasons after discovering the illegal connection March 25. ... Rodney Todd, 36, then bought a gas-powered generator and installed it in his kitchen to keep his two sons and five daughters warm. Friends and relatives last saw them alive March 28.
....

Matt Likovich, a spokesman for Delmarva Power, said Tuesday that the utility was not contacted to have power restored in the home after the illegal meter was removed. “We had no record of who was living there,” Likovich said. “There was no way to determine what their situation was.” ... Likovich said customers are encouraged to contact the utility if they are having difficulty paying their bill. He says there are options for such customers, including partnerships with social service agencies. But, he said, the customers “have to contact us.”

The police chief said the utility has been subpoenaed to document exactly what it did when. Maryland’s Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, also is investigating. ... Maryland regulations allow utility companies to terminate service without notice if the utility finds a condition on the customer’s premise is hazardous or the customer has tampered with the utility’s equipment.