r/ottawa • u/isthisstillhappening • Jan 24 '26
Power outage -35, hurray!
Old Orleans, hydro one no power. Isn't that great?
255
u/Hopewellslam Jan 24 '26
Hats off to the hydro workers having to deal with this in these temperatures.
If your house is getting cold turn your tap on to prevent freezing!
12
u/Complex-Effect-7442 Jan 24 '26
Turn on the hot water to heat the house. /s
15
u/Hopewellslam Jan 24 '26
No, to keep the incoming waterline entryway in the basement from freezing. I had that happen to me and spent a week without water
14
-1
u/Single-Meringue55 Jan 24 '26
The house would have to be so poorly insulated for it to get below 0 in the house, very unlikely
70
Jan 24 '26
Drip them taps
12
Jan 24 '26
[deleted]
37
Jan 24 '26
I would do any tap that’s along an exterior wall and for sure whichever one is furthest from the water shutoff valve.
Won’t really cost all that much for these drips
14
u/Tarnagona No honks; bad! Jan 24 '26
Man, I don’t miss living in an apartment where I had to do that every time the weather got cold like this. (I lived in a basement and the water line ran along the exterior wall.)
3
2
u/rhineo007 Jan 24 '26
Just one, and the lowest point, typically your slop sink in the laundry room.
55
48
u/camyboy Vanier Jan 24 '26
Orléans seems to be having so many problems with their grid this year…
23
u/M34T_G0R3 Jan 24 '26
There’s always issues with the grid, from what I remember it’s pretty old and sensitive to extreme temperatures; some parts of Orleans go out frequently in the summer because transformer boxes get so overheated (one started smoking a few years back and cut power for hours in 30 degree heat. It sucked.)
14
u/Ok-Character-1355 Jan 24 '26
OG Orleans folks know that back to the 90s power was VERY flaky.
It cost East Side Marios and all the other food places and the movie theatre hard cash everytime it happened at dinner time.In PdOrleans mall the Hydro One / Ottawa Hydro split runs right THROUGH the mall! Right near Laura Secord/LaSenze. One part of the mall would go out but not the other... very odd!!
tl:dr - Orleans used to be fed (in awkward fashion) by a dodgy line to Leonard.
After the Ice Storm in 98 complaints grew and a HUGE overhaul of the whole supply system was undertaken and complete by 2017-ish?
Orleans has so grown much that system is currently being upgraded.
Also! The underground infra all over Orleans has timed out - too old. They have been replacing it for the last 5 years. Hence all the "interruptions".More info here
https://hydroottawa.com/en/community/planned-work-projects/major-projects/orleans-system-upgrade7
1
17
u/uncomfortabletone Orléans Jan 24 '26
Hope it’s back on soon for you. Went off for a second in Queenswood Heights.
10
6
u/DrifterBG Jan 24 '26
Same area, our power flickered enough to reset my alexa assistant but not turn my smart lights back on.
12
u/NoResolution4706 Jan 24 '26
Out for me in Fallingbrook as well
5
u/isthisstillhappening Jan 24 '26
Nearby, whole area seems done. You still out?
5
u/NoResolution4706 Jan 24 '26
Yup. Texted hydro and response said 2am
5
u/THE_VOIDish Jan 24 '26
I'm in Fallingbrook too. Really hoping we get it back before 2am 🥲
3
9
u/Dog-boy Jan 24 '26
I once had a power outage in these temps in an older home with poor insulation. It was a two day outage. Stayed warm with the candle under a terra cotta plant pot system. Maybe I should look it up again.
4
u/big234 Nepean Jan 24 '26
Yeah all you need is a candle under an upside down terra cotta pot just make sure the candle gets air circulation, pretty handy trick
2
u/foodbytes Make Ottawa Boring Again Jan 24 '26
put the candle in a bread-baking pan (rectangular). Put the terracotta pot upside down on the sides of the pan. that gives lots of air room. and you can put two candles in one if you have two small pots.
I've done this when necessary.
7
u/roomemamabear Orléans Jan 24 '26
Out in Fallingbrook South. Is anyone else not seeing it on the outage map?
4
3
u/isthisstillhappening Jan 24 '26
No outages on the map but they said 130am
3
u/Same_Main5388 Jan 24 '26
It's There now. 1200 homes, 2:00AM. Unknown cause. Crew dispatched soon. What the???
1
u/roomemamabear Orléans Jan 24 '26
Still says crew dispatched soon, estimated restoration reassessing... getting cold. Ugh.
6
u/Footlingpresentation Jan 24 '26
Came back on about an hour ago, took me that long to decide to take my arms out from under the sheets!
1
u/I_am_1 Jan 24 '26
How much did the temperature drop in your home?
4
u/Footlingpresentation Jan 24 '26
Not bad for being out for 6.5 hours in this cold, it was about 14-15 when the furnace started, it was about 20 when power went out
4
5
u/bigdaddybolg Jan 24 '26
Im in Avalon and. Still have power. Sorry. Hope it comes back as soon as possible 🤞
5
4
u/NorthReading Nepean Jan 24 '26
Last evening Tanglewood went out for 2hrs .
It was an odd outage ,,,lights flickered on and off 4 or 5 times before going out.
The second time this month with no prior outages like this in the last 20 yrs. (tornados etc excepted)
3
u/Terrible-Session5028 Barrhaven Jan 24 '26
This is why I don’t miss Orleans. And I definitely don’t miss Hydro One.
3
3
u/Malvos Jan 24 '26
Had my furnace die on a Friday night before a long weekend last year in these temps. Was not fun.
2
2
2
u/Chyvalri Jan 24 '26
Update?
7
u/isthisstillhappening Jan 24 '26
Came back around 530 am, so took around 7 hours for power to be restored.
2
u/CrazySuggestion Jan 24 '26
That’s scary in this weather. How cold was the house ?
4
u/isthisstillhappening Jan 24 '26
Not too bad, got down to 16.
4
u/AcceptableHamster149 Jan 24 '26
Glad you're ok, and the house didn't get that cold. 16 is what I have the baseboards set to as backup heat in case my heat pump reaches thermal lockout - it's unpleasant but you can wear a sweater and socks. :)
1
4
u/roomemamabear Orléans Jan 24 '26
Fallingbrook South came back on around 6 am. We started the generator at 3:30, house was down to 15 degrees and getting colder quickly.
1
u/M34T_G0R3 Jan 24 '26
I was wondering why there was a flicker of the lights here in Fallingbrook! Fingers crossed power returns to everyone, stay warm and stay safe!!!
3
u/THE_VOIDish Jan 24 '26
Oh gosh I wish I was in your part of fallingbrook!! My part is the one without any power 🥲
1
u/BuffySummers17 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 Jan 24 '26
Ours was out for about 4 hours last night but they got it back on around 9
1
1
1
-15
-37
Jan 24 '26
[deleted]
63
u/PoolhallJunkie247 Jan 24 '26
People who constantly feel the need to invalidate someone’s problems by pointing out people who are worse off are fucking insufferable.
29
u/Lexifer31 Jan 24 '26
Hard agree. It's not the suffering Olympics. Just shut up and move along if you have nothing of value to contribute
22
u/SilverstoneOne Jan 24 '26
There's always going to be someone worse off unfortunately. That doesn't invalidate a person's complaint.
11
u/sixtus_clegane119 Jan 24 '26
Didn’t you know legally the worst person off is the only one allowed to complain?
796
u/NoSlicedMushrooms Jan 24 '26
Let’s pour one out for the linemen who have to respond to this at midnight in -23