PriUPS House Instruction Manual and Checklist

 

IMPORTANT

  
 

In case of a power failure, there are some procedures that must be followed immediately!  Familiarize yourself with these procedures so that they can be followed without reference to this manual.

  

Step 1: ASSESS THE SITUATION

Is it a bright and sunny day?  Is everything OK with the world, nothing weird on the teevee or radio?  If so, the power failure is probably a local one and will be taken care of promptly since crews will be available, as will outside assistance.

Is it a typical summer day with local thunderstorms?  If so, if there is a power failure it will probably last hours at most, and probably less.

Is it a dark and stormy night?  Have the media been warning of plagues of frogs and locusts?  Was there a bright flash in the direction of New York City?  If so, the power failure, regardless of the cause, may take a long time to fix since resources may be unavailable to the power company.

Power failure flavors:

  1. Instant - a squirrel meets his crispy end, breakers trip and reset
  2. Very brief - a few minutes or less, for whatever reason
  3. Brief - 10 minutes to an hour, again for whatever reason
  4. Longer - an hour to several hours, a car hits a pole or some simple accident
  5. Long - up to a day or so, due to serious (but local) problems with the system, e.g., transformer fire
  6. Very Long - a week or more, regional disturbances which damage the distribution system and soak up resources
  7. Indefinite - Plague, insurrection, astronomical happenstance

Immediately after a power failure it is impossible to distinguish among types 2 through 5, so it is appropriate to assume that it will be as much as type 5 until additional information is available, usually in the form of power restoration.

Step 2:  FOLLOW THE CHECKLIST

Power failure type (see step 1) Immediate Action Secondary Action
Type 1 - instant None None - ignore unless frequently repeated, in which case refer to "CONNECT PRIUS" checklist
Type 2 through 5 Refer to "LOAD SHEDDING" checklist Refer to "CONNECT PRIUS" checklist
Type 6 through 7 Prius should already be connected and procedures reviewed.  Turn Prius ON.