Where's j0ker?????

[uba egar320]

And a friend who has extra room in their refrig and freezer.

No doubt. The last time I got hit by a major outage, it lasted 5 days and I had JUST gone to Sams to load up. Probably lost 3 1\2 hundred bucks worth of food. After that, I had a huge natural gas generator hooked up. It cost a bit, but the first time the power went off and I still had cable and internet....it was worth it!

 

[jj2]

DH is pricing them and making room for it in the garage.
And yes they are pricey!

 

[uba egar320]

I feel for my neighbors while it's running...well...not really. It's a bit loud though. But with your tv and furnace running, you can barely hear it outside lol.

 

[Kent C]

No doubt. The last time I got hit by a major outage, it lasted 5 days and I had JUST gone to Sams to load up. Probably lost 3 1\2 hundred bucks worth of food. After that, I had a huge natural gas generator hooked up. It cost a bit, but the first time the power went off and I still had cable and internet....it was worth it!

I have a whole house generator that runs on propane... expensive "insurance" but when needed it doesn't seem that costly

 

[uba egar320]

I have a whole house generator that runs on propane... expensive "insurance" but when needed it doesn't seem that costly

I can flop my generac over to LP. It came with a regulator and the instructions on how to do it. Hopefully, natural gas never quits running during an outage. I opted for the 20,000 watt unit. It almost looks like I saved a bit of cash by doing so. One of the smaller units would have required more hours for the electrician to rewire my box as to which breakers I wanted to use while the generator was running. The way I went, they just flopped out the entire service cable from the auto switch to the top of my breaker box. May not have saved much...or any. It just seemed easier and quicker.

 

[jj2]

I feel for my neighbors while it's running...well...not really. It's a bit loud though. But with your tv and furnace running, you can barely hear it outside lol.

Garage is on the opposite side of the living room and bedrooms and neighbors are separated by their garages and yards so it shouldn't bother anyone.

Ours is going to be natural gas.

 

[uba egar320]

Garage is on the opposite side of the living room and bedrooms and neighbors are separated by their garages and yards so it shouldn't bother anyone.

Ours is going to be natural gas.

Just be careful about exhaust. It can come in through your soffit and kill you in your sleep. If it comes down to safety or noise...take the noise. That's one reason we put ours on the end of the house instead of out back. I think as long as it's readily available, natural gas is the way to go. That's not the case for my grandfather in VA. Everything those guys have out there is LP. Or it seems that way to me. Lots of houses with the big tanks beside them.

 

[jj2]

DH use to deliver LP. Darn people would call him at all hours of the night.
DH also knows about installing things like that and if don't, we got a friend that does. But thanks for the warning.

 

[uba egar320]

DH use to deliver LP. Darn people would call him at all hours of the night.
DH also knows about installing things like that and if don't, we got a friend that does. But thanks for the warning.

It's just something I never really took into consideration until I talked with the installers. It's probably one of those things someone had to find out the hard way. Well, someone found out that someone found out the hard way..if you catch my drift lol. I guess the folks that originally found out the hard way weren't around to complain anymore.

 

[jj2]

Son and DH were talking about it the other day. Our problem is having to through a window or brick wall for the gas and venting. They probably came up with a solution but I wasn't paying attention. :faceplam:

 

[uba egar320]

Son and DH were talking about it the other day. Our problem is having to through a window or brick wall for the gas and venting. They probably came up with a solution but I wasn't paying attention. :faceplam:

I was worried about running the gas line. Turned out not to be a big deal at all. They have really cool flex type gas line that did the job. I just had them tuck it up close to the house, and run the line through white pvc pipe to keep it in a nice straight line(I'm .... lol).

 

[jj2]

The garage use to be a service garage and the previous owner built the house onto it. The family room is actually part of the garage. There is natural gas run to the family room but to the wall closets to the rest of the house. It, of course, has a cement floor. So, I assume, it's up and over the ceiling or through a garage block wall.

Well whatever, I'm sure he will figure it out and I'll hear a few complaints along the way.

 

[Kent C]

I can flop my generac over to LP. It came with a regulator and the instructions on how to do it. Hopefully, natural gas never quits running during an outage. I opted for the 20,000 watt unit. It almost looks like I saved a bit of cash by doing so. One of the smaller units would have required more hours for the electrician to rewire my box as to which breakers I wanted to use while the generator was running. The way I went, they just flopped out the entire service cable from the auto switch to the top of my breaker box. May not have saved much...or any. It just seemed easier and quicker.

Mine can use natural gas as well. And I had the electricians hook up a auto double throw switch to the main grid switch rather than using the smaller panel. It senses when I lose power and then there's a small wait for 'brown out' - 30 seconds? and then it automatically switches over. I did a 'wattage survey' before and I can run anything in the house, except I couldn't have the oven and all the burners on the stove on at the same time . But AC, heat, tv, sump pump, computer, coffee maker - all work well. I had an 8 hour outage the first year I installed it and 4 other incidents not that long. Nothing last year... and once this year. It runs every Wednesday off line as part of the maintenance cycle. It's loud but I'm back in the woods...

I got a good deal on it - a friend had a nephew working for the company - Bryant (although the internals are generac) and they had a 'friends and family' sale. It cost me more of the electricians installing it than for the unit.

 

[uba egar320]

Mine can use natural gas as well. And I had the electricians hook up a auto double throw switch to the main grid switch rather than using the smaller panel. It senses when I lose power and then there's a small wait for 'brown out' - 30 seconds? and then it automatically switches over. I did a 'wattage survey' before and I can run anything in the house, except I couldn't have the oven and all the burners on the stove on at the same time . But AC, heat, tv, sump pump, computer, coffee maker - all work well. I had an 8 hour outage the first year I installed it and 4 other incidents not that long. Nothing last year... and once this year. It runs every Wednesday off line as part of the maintenance cycle. It's loud but I'm back in the woods...

I got a good deal on it - a friend had a nephew working for the company - Bryant (although the internals are generac) and they had a 'friends and family' sale. It cost me more of the electricians installing it than for the unit.

Yeah, the auto switch is the only way to go for a whole home or hard wired unit. Wouldn't want my wife out there fiddling with a generator in the middle of the night if I were to not be at home lol. My neighbor has the exact same model I do. His comes on once a week like mine (wed I think) but his does it while we are home after work. We've been meaning to break out our manuals(and beers) and change the time on his. Not a big deal or anything. Just seems like every time we get a minute to take the kids out front, his genny is always running lol.

 

[uba egar320]

Yeah, the auto switch is the only way to go for a whole home or hard wired unit. Wouldn't want my wife out there fiddling with a generator in the middle of the night if I were to not be at home lol. My neighbor has the exact same model I do. His comes on once a week like mine (wed I think) but his does it while we are home after work. We've been meaning to break out our manuals(and beers) and change the time on his. Not a big deal or anything. Just seems like every time we get a minute to take the kids out front, his genny is always running lol.

I wonder if there is a plot by these guys to have generators running all over the country at the same time on Wed lol?

 

[Poeia]

I feel for my neighbors while it's running...well...not really. It's a bit loud though. But with your tv and furnace running, you can barely hear it outside lol.

Assuming, other than occasional tests, you only run it during power outages, I'd say noise from a generator would be the least of their worries when it is on.

 

[Kent C]

I wonder if there is a plot by these guys to have generators running all over the country at the same time on Wed lol?

Mine was Monday but changed it during the last oil change/battery check. Out in the country here, one hears a lot of generators come on during an outage - farmers are prepared I had a 5K portable unit with a "suicide lead" before this one.... plugged into a 220/240 plug in the garage. Also had battery back up on the sump - essential here.

 

[Fudgey]

We just have a gas powered generator but it sure came in handy during an ice storm one year. Just enough to warm up the house in the morning and before bed.

 

[jj2]

We just have a gas powered generator but it sure came in handy during an ice storm one year. Just enough to warm up the house in the morning and before bed.

Now that had to be expensive to run!!!

 

[Kent C]

We just have a gas powered generator but it sure came in handy during an ice storm one year. Just enough to warm up the house in the morning and before bed.

I only had to use my gas one once but it was well worth it - just for the sump pump - electric goes out during rain storms, etc. The weather was such I didn't need heat or AC but I have radiant heat with separate thermostats so that helps.