Whole Home Generators

[Communicore1991]

Does anyone have one? What are your thoughts on it? Worth the money? Any stories about when your generator really came in handy?

 

[slo]

We have a Generac, and it was installed about 15 years ago. I can count on one hand the amount of times it was needed for us, but we don’t lose power very often.

Both our parents also have a Generac and theirs have been used A LOT - totally worth the money for them.

Before getting one installed ask yourself how often you lose power and for how long. If you normally lose power a lot for hours at a time, then I’d get it. If you’re like me, where you don’t, then I’d save my money and not get it.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t lose power a lot, but being in Florida, there is always the potential for a hurricane to knock out the power. I have thought about getting one, but am not sure where I would put it so the HOA wouldn’t complain. It should go on the west side of the house, but that is visible from the street and they don’t want anything but A/C visible from the street. Has anyone here considered solar as opposed to a fuel generator? I have thought about solar, as the south side of the house is the back and out of sight, as well as not having to deal with monitoring fuel levels for a generator.

 

[_19disnA]

Had priced out a whole house generator unit many years ago where we used to live. Power would randomly go out after a big storm so looking for alternatives. The unit itself wasn't that expensive, BUT all of the other costs to install/upgrade our gas service, etc. would have involved rather large costs. So we never purchased it. They are basically 'insurance' policies in the unlikely event power goes out. They also make more sense if you live in a rural area where power might frequently go out and/or if you live someplace where power takes a long time to be restored.

Where we now live, we have a mid-size portable generator in the event power goes out. Hired an electrician to wire it into our existing electrical panel, so we can disconnect from the utility company and feed the generator power into our house. I think wiring it into your electrical panel makes it far more practical to use during an outage rather then having extension cords running all over the place. Portable units run on propane or natural gas (or both).

Companies who sell portable units usually have a calculator feature on their website to let you determine the size of unit required. You can use that to estimate the size of a unit appropriate for what you are trying to accomplish. Things like AC, electric oven/stove or electric clothes dryer are probably not practical to run off of a portable unit since they draw too much current. For emergency back-up purposes you likely want to be able to run the refrigerator/freezer so food doesn't spoil and some minimal lighting but can probably live without the AC (for example).

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I would love to have one, however I doubt it would be worth the cost. *knock on wood* Our power has never been out for more than a couple hours. However, the way things are going right now with energy etc... who knows. I have heard that some areas could (or may already) have "rolling blackouts". I think a generator would be a great thing to have.

I DO remember living in a different part of the state (quite a few years ago), following an ice storm the power was out for several DAYS, as a result I am a big believer in "back up plans". That was an instance where I really wished we had a generator and why I would like to have one just in case of some kind of unforeseen events.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Two years ago, we had a Generac generator installed. It took almost 12 months to get it done due to the very large and destructive hurricane in New Orleans. So far, we have not needed to use it, but we have had several times that our power has gone out for extended period of time, 3 to 7 days. We have well water so when we have a power failure, we have no water which is a major inconvenience when it last more than a day or two. The generator was a lot of money, but I think it was well worth the expenditure and the next time our power goes out (and it will) we will be covered.

 

[Marionnette]

We just had one installed. They finished up yesterday. Our house uses electric for the most part (oil heat but forced air runs on electric). We have a gasoline-powered portable generator which we used to keep the fridge, freezer and some lights running but starting it up (sometimes in a storm), running cables through the house and dealing with the exhaust and noise was a headache. This past winter, we went several hours without power...no heat, no hot food, no hot water, not even the ability to make a hot beverage. That pushed us to invest in a generator. We're seniors and knowing that we won't have to deal with all of the gymnastics of setting up the portable generator is worth the cost.

 

[emer95]

We finally got one a few years ago and we’re really glad we did. We lose power quite often, and the portable gas-powered one wasn’t sufficient. First of all, that only worked if we were home, and it was really difficult for me to drag out and start, then get all of the extension cords set up. Our basement has flooded more times than I can count, so our sump pump is our top priority. Now when we lose power it is wonderful to hear the generator click on and know that we have peace of mind.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Had one installed 7 years ago after DH passed. It generally gets used about once a year for a few hours, sometimes more. It came in handy recently when electric company cut power to "save the grid overload" in 90+ degree heat for a day. Totally worth it to me not to have to worry about dealing with generators to be hooked up.

 

[John VN]

I don’t lose power a lot, but being in Florida, there is always the potential for a hurricane to knock out the power. I have thought about getting one, but am not sure where I would put it so the HOA wouldn’t complain. It should go on the west side of the house, but that is visible from the street and they don’t want anything but A/C visible from the street. Has anyone here considered solar as opposed to a fuel generator?I have thought about solar, as the south side of the house is the back and out of sight, as well as not having to deal with monitoring fuel levels for a generator.

Our SOLAR is to be installed as soon as County provides Permits. NO BATTERY BACKUP for us for when power is out due to $$$$$.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’d love one but don’t want to pay for it. We lose power several times a year, and usually have a situation of losing it for days, up to two weeks. One next door neighbor is on a different grid, so the last time we plugged an outdoor extension cord into their house to run the fridge, a lamp, and phone chargers for about a week. Hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards and ice storms get us with all of our wires above ground.

 

[sam_gordon]

As mentioned, it depends on how often your power goes out and for how long. We've been in our current home for about 20 years. There was one time we lost power for about a week. We ended up going to friends for a couple days before going back to a hotel for a night (because the schools were going to open the next day). We've probably had ~5 times in the 20 years where power was out for hours (like 3-5). Maybe another dozen times power has gone our for 30 minutes-1 hour.

It's not worth it to us to get a generator. While I like the idea, I don't think we'd use it enough AND you should properly maintain/test it at least once a year.

 

[YachtClubWoman]

We have a Koehler - best investment ever. I wanted since we were losing power often - my company was bought out and stock payout made this happen. Ours is natural gas so kicks on after 1 minute of outage.
In June 2020 our neighborhood had no power for 5 days - since we had the generator we also plugged in our neighbors refrigerators/ freezers and coffee makers

 

[barkley]

Does anyone have one? What are your thoughts on it? Worth the money? Any stories about when your generator really came in handy?

BEST HOME IMPROVEMENT WE'VE DONE EVER!

totally worth the money. the peace of mind it provides us is priceless as well as what it has provided us-

the longest we've gone w/o power since having it was a little over a week. when we were without it and had a similar outage we were left with fridge/freezer of destroyed food, nearly exploded pipes (we are on a well so no electricity equals no water and if the water isn't running during sub freezing temps the pipes can freeze), hotel/meal/pet lodging bills, hassle of having to transport our then school age kids from a hotel nowhere near their bus stop or school to and from their school...

we get periodic outages (some for hours, some for a day, every few years a couple for several days or longer). we don't worry about our fridges/freezer, how to run dh's cpap, how to have water nor are we running around pulling out a portable generator and then having to monitor how much gas to have on hand (at one point a region wide outage took out gas pumps so people had to travel to get gas to power these), monitor for fumes (every winter there are massive warnings on our local news to make sure portables are in vented areas, 'yes it's freezing cold but you are not safe leaving it running in a closed attached garage b/c the fumes get into your house...'), pick and choose what to have hooked up to that portable...

when a fire swept our neighborhood we still had power via our generator-we were able to run sprinklers to protect our house. a family member who lives in an area of california where pg&e took down the grid multiple times found that they also took down cell towers so he realized that w/o a backup power source he (also rural) had no water in case of fire AND no means of contacting 911 in ANY emergency. he now has a generac AND a landline.

i highly recommend a whole house generator-once the initial cost is invested it's very inexpensive to maintain. we get a checkup on it every 2 years (less than $200). i also recommend in addition-for satellite tv's an inexpensive backup battery attached to the dvr box. the less than 1 minute lapse in time between power going down and the generator kicking in is just enough time for both dish and direct-tv boxes to power down and have to reboot. if you have a 30 minute backup hooked up to it you can save your stored shows/schedule.

 

[tvguy]

We have a few power outages a year in the hour to 3 hour range*. So not worth the cost IF I could have one. I live in an all electric subdivision so no natural gas to power the generator, and zone prohibits propane tanks larger than 5 gallons......the kind you use for your bbq.

*We did have a 36 hour outage about 30 years ago. A car hit a power pole in such a way that high voltage lines fell on lower voltage lines and destroyed several blocks of transformers and power lines. The houses closest to the crash literally had all their wiring and appliances fried. But we ate out for the two nights, and stayed out of the fridge. Freezer was still at zero degrees after 36 degrees when the power came back on.

 

[Stratman50th]

I wish I had put one in when we built the house. Can't do it now. There are a lot of them in our neighborhood, but there's no NG here. They all are propane and the tanks really had to be installed/buried when the house was built. I live in central Florida right in the lighting belt and we lose power often. During Irma we were power out for 8 days. We moved out to the RV and ran the on board generator the whole time but it wasn't wired to the house (I still have that option). The house fridge was plugged in to our RV but no house AC. While comfort is obviously a big part, pulling the humidity out to prevent mold and mildew is a serious consideration. All that to register a yes vote if you can do it.

 

[mom2rb]

We ordered one last September and we finally got it at the end of June. We have lost power for over a week after a hurricane before and also during the freeze last year.

 

[Disney Ron]

We had our Generac installed a year and a half ago and it's worth every penny. We live in a wooded area and every time it snows we worry we could lose electric. Just the peace of mind it brings is worth it for us. Ours is big enough to run everything in our house including the AC which the dealer said is the biggest draw off the generator.

I really wanted it but my wife was against it now she loves it also.

 

[auntfrannie]

We have a Generac and it provides a lot of peace of mind since my mother is on oxygen.

 

[HeatherC]

We have a large portable generator that we have used more times than I can count and was money well spent. We are also on a well, so it allows us to have water when power is out. Would love a full house one but never followed up on it since something else always take priority. Anyone care to share how much a full house one like Generac actually cost to have installed? Thanks!