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We used to follow Consumer reports as a purchaser's bible. Everythign we bought was based on their analysis. However after a few years, we discovered that they are a horrible source for determining a good product.
They recommended Behr paint - terrible paint. Not even in the top 20% of available paint products.
They recommended our Bosch Dishwasher as the best out there. A piece of junk. I cannot wait to get rid of it. It is quiet and uses little water, but it does not clean well does not dry at all and breaks constantly. Parts and service are expensive and hard to find.
The recommended the video camera that we bought. It is very high tech and almost impossible to use unless you have the manual open and at hand the whole time. It uses special batteries made only by Sony (and now discontinued) and a special charger used only for that camera. We cannot use it a all and is is only a couple of years old.
The recommended the microwave that w bought. I do not recall the brand. It lasted about 91 days. (Warranty is 90 days). We bought another one. It lasted 10 days. Replaced it under warranty and the next one lasted just over a year before it fried.
I know there are about a dozen other products that we bought based on their testing and recommendations that turned out to be terrible products and where it turned out that much better products are available. I woudl not trust them at all.
As for generators, there is only one household whole house type that is widely available - Generac by Guardian. Onan makes some excellent generators but they are pricy and not widely available. There is another one made bay a company with North in the name, they are not as good from the various reports and reviews that are not CR. I would put virtually any consumer review resource above CR. I do not know whether they sell their recommendations to the highest bidders or just use bad criteria for their ratings, but I do not find them reliable at all.
For us it was worth it becuase the power company was unable to put in the power lines for several weeks (I think it ran to several months). We were paying $30 - $100 a day to run gasoline generators for contractor's tools, my tools, pumps, heaters, etc. Once we put in the generator, the cost of natural gas was negligible in comparison. Now it is nice to have. We lose power from three to ten times a year. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for a few days. I would not have bought one if it weren't for the power problem during rehabilitation of our home, but it sure is nice to have. We pay someone to come and service it once or twice a year on a schedule. I could do it myself, but I would probably eventually forget at some point in time and end up with an "Oh S**T!" moment when it seized up. It costs very little and it is worth it just to be able to dump the responsibility to keep track of maintenance onto someone else.
Thanks for the response. I absolutely understand your reason for investing in that sort of generator. The wife is pressuring me to get one since we just experienced 13 days without power. I'll continue doing my research and check in with you guys to see if i'm on the right track.
We used to follow Consumer reports as a purchaser's bible. Everything we bought was based on their analysis. However after a few years, we discovered that they are a horrible source for determining a good product.
Wow, that's a pretty sweeping indictment of a non-profit organization that's been around since 1936! I can remember my grandfather using their recommendations to buy a washing machine in the early Forties, and my family/friends/coworkers over all the decades since have all universally praised the information and ratings provided by Consumers Union, the parent company.
The OP can certainly decide to disregard the information Consumer Reports provides, but it's certainly worth his while to at least READ through the ratings before doing individual research on their listed generator choices.
I really am flabbergasted at your experience with CR. I've never heard of anyone else with so negative a view about them.
and how many days total...over lets say the last 5 years?
This is what always gets me to pull back from laying out the big bucks.
A lot depends on your preferred methods of food storage and preservation.
If you have both a house and garage fridge plus a chest freezer full of frozen meats you spent a fortune on at Costco or the like, you're looking at a significant monetary loss if the power doesn't come back on in a couple of days.
Unless, of course, you're okay with the idea of having the neighborhood's biggest complimentary barbeque out in the snow and ice so all those thawed meats don't go to waste.
and how many days total...over lets say the last 5 years?
This is what always gets me to pull back from laying out the big bucks.
We actually moved to the area almost 2.5 years ago and this is our fourth episode of power outage. The last couple of times were about 3-4 days/episode in the summer so we were fine. But this 13 days without power came during a cold stretch. It was miserable bundling up to fight the cold as my fire place needed repair before i could use it. Any kind of generator would have been great but as you can see, we were not prepared. I am seriously researching the best option for my household to ensure we dont have repeat of the same situation...
Thanks for the response. I absolutely understand your reason for investing in that sort of generator. The wife is pressuring me to get one since we just experienced 13 days without power. I'll continue doing my research and check in with you guys to see if i'm on the right track.
13 days where and also where was the nearest hotel with power even if they did not offer room service?
13 days where and also where was the nearest hotel with power even if they did not offer room service?
That would not be practical for some (including my family). We have 7 people, 2 giant dogs, a cat, 12 birds, a gecko, and a tarantula, plus 7 chickens who need at least some minimal source of warmth during the winter. Even if we could find a hotel to take us, we would have to rent out the whole thing. On top of that if there is a big snow storm, I need to work from home. If I was unable to work, we would lose the cost of a generator in a few days. If power is out for a long time, you need laundry, food, etc. Not many hotels offer laundry for 7 people or a kitchen. You could eat out for every meal, but that would cost a fortune in a few days. then of course there is the fact that your pipes will freeze up and could burst doing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of damage to your house. If you know how, and think of it, you can drain the pipes before you leave, but that is just one more added hassle and expense.
Since we can heat our house with wood (and cook on the wood fire if necessary), we could survive without electricity at home, but it would end up costing us a lot of money in lost time).
You don't need to lay out big bucks and install a propane-fueled whole house generator.
You can get a gasoline-fired portable generator in the 7-8 KW range for ~$1000, and have your house wired with an inlet and transfer switch for a few hundred more.
A setup like that will run almost everything in most houses except ACs and resistive appliances like electric dryers and electric ranges.
I think it's a reasonable middle ground, and, in CT in the 21st century, it's almost mandatory since they can't seem to keep the power on.
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Wow, that's a pretty sweeping indictment of a non-profit organization that's been around since 1936! I can remember my grandfather using their recommendations to buy a washing machine in the early Forties, and my family/friends/coworkers over all the decades since have all universally praised the information and ratings provided by Consumers Union, the parent company.
