Standby generators and other electric backup options for peak summer (Houston: appliances, hotels)

[Otterhound]

The hot weather has me thinking again about installing some kind of backup electricity options at the house. There is nothing worse than finding yourself with a power outage in July or August and trying to figure out how to cool off. Bailing out to a hotel is something we've done before, but not happily.

Have any of you installed standby generators or gone forward with some other kind of electric backup plan? If so, please share your experiences.

[metalmancpa]

I live in an area where we get many power outages each year. In my case usually happens in the winter, but hot in the summer or cold in the winter without power stinks.

I originally planned to get a generator that could run my appliances some light, and most importantly the oil burner for hot water and heat. As I was walking around with the electrician picking circuits I wanted covered during an outage, I stopped and said "f" it, I want the whole house covered. Ended up with a 200A transfer switch, and a 15kw Briggs & Stratton generator on a cement pad, and a 100gal propane tank to run it.

It's paid for itself. I'm without power for 15 seconds during the panel switchover. A few winters ago we were without electricity for 6 days. All the neighbors had to head to hotels as it was sub freezing the entire time. I watched TV, took hot showers, and just conserved by not running the washer/dryer or dishwasher. In the summer I conserve the amount of time the ac is on, but we generally don't lose power for long lengths of time. For ac I might bump up the generator size.

[ChristieP]

In order to get one big enough to run a HVAC system, you're looking at a very expensive system.

[Threestep2]

Our whole-house unit keeps everything going as usual including swim spa.

Do you have access to natural gas?

[WorldKlas]

My son has a portable generator. He can run a few things, including a portable AC to keep the bedroom cool and watch TV. He lives in the mid-cities and has power outages 2-3 x annually. Just last week his neighborhood lost power for about 10 hours. He's lived there over 10 years and so its saved him probably 20-30 days of going to hotels -- since he has a couple of dogs, it sure makes life better having the generator.

[Rakin]

I've lived in Texas all my life and never needed a generator. My electricity has never been out for an extended period of time. IMO, a waste of money.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by Rakin

I've lived in Texas all my life and never needed a generator. My electricity has never been out for an extended period of time. IMO, a waste of money.

I agree. If it ever happens, one can always move to a hotel for a day or two. Only people who have it are either in rural areas or they are the ones preparing for doomsday or Armageddon. I admire their foresight and preparedness for all unlikely scenarios but not enough to join them.

[oldoak2000]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

The hot weather has me thinking again about installing some kind of backup electricity options at the house. There is nothing worse than finding yourself with a power outage in July or August and trying to figure out how to cool off. Bailing out to a hotel is something we've done before, but not happily.Have any of you installed standby generators or gone forward with some other kind of electric backup plan? If so, please share your experiences.

If money is no concern (about 10K), a nat.gas or propane 'whole house' unit can seamlessly & conveniently 'fill the gaps' in any power outages (assuming your home is NOT all-electric)..
{assuming you MAINTAIN the unit well (oil changes and new battery periodically) . . ..

If home IS all-electric, plan on either 20k for everything, or selecting a handful of circuits to settle for smaller unit.

The units are not really that expensive, BUT cost doubles to get it connected up (plumbed/wired) - http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...5215_200665215

We have them at work. TWO units. A necessity. Gotta keep the website/servers up & cool (1 dedicated unit), and the sales-staff powered (2nd unit).

At home, I just have a portable unit. In 20 years, I've only needed to fire it up ONCE, for a few hours. YMMV.

IF you go portable, get ONLY a PROPANE powered unit (YES, they're available, inexpensive, and dont get the 'liquid fuel gunked-up issues' after sitting for months 'unused') Duromax XP12000EH 9,500-Watt 18 HP Dual Fuel Powered Portable Hybrid Gas Propane Generator-XP12000EH - The Home Depot

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

I agree. If it ever happens, one can always move to a hotel for a day or two. Only people who have it are either in rural areas or they are the ones preparing for doomsday or Armageddon. I admire their foresight and preparedness for all unlikely scenarios but not enough to join them.

I live in the Houston area on the water adjacent to Galveston Bay and many homes here have whole house generators. I'd say easily 1/3 of the houses we looked at when we were house hunting, if not a slightly higher percentage. During the last major hurricane, which was Ike in 2008, some areas were out of power for upwards of 10 days. Obviously, a different location and climate than Dallas.

We installed a 22kw generator in March. The way I see it, we can afford it, and it's one of the few things we can do to protect our home, which is obviously vulnerable due to its location alone. My husband was not on board with the purchase and thought it was unnecessary, but I really pushed for it. Time will tell which one of us was right or wrong, and in a way, the best thing for us would be to never have to use it, but it gives me some piece of mind.

[stephwin]

I've lived in Texas my entire life and I don't think I've ever been without power for more than 8 hours. I grew up in a rural area, so we would lose power quite a bit during spring because of storms or if we got a lot of ice. But never during the summer.

I've lived in Frisco since 2007 and I think the longest I've been without power was 2 or 3 hours and that was during the ice storm of 2011 when we had rolling outages due to the high usage. I don't think buying a generator has ever crossed my mind.