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Old 12-17-2013, 08:08 AM
 
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it also actually looks like your power will go out anyway in a snow storm with the panels: Understanding grid-tied solar arrays and power outages | Ecooutfitters.net
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Old 12-17-2013, 11:09 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpringMom3 View Post
what about a typical fireplace? would that keep us warm enough? we have one but it needs about 2 k of repairs before we can use it.
Not unless you put in some type of "fireplace insert", that can burn either regular wood logs, or pellets. Otherwise, most of the heat just goes up the chimney. If you have nat. gas, I think there are fireplace inserts for that too-another option.

As far as solar--I'm no expert, but I read an article a few years ago in the WSJ I think about leasing solar panels. That gets very, very tricky. You enter into a L-T lease, for something that's installed on the roof that you own.. Sell the house, while the solar panel lease is still going, what then? Not to mention, how many sunny vs. grey cloudy days do we have during Mass. Winters?

A gasoline backup generator--they need a lot of gasoline to keep running, as I understand. How do you store that much gasoline?

Whatever you do, make sure you have plenty of battery powered lights/flashlights, LED now. And 1 or 2 battery powered AM/FM radios--that can help keep you sane. A couple of portable coolers, while storing frozen ice-packs in your freezer year 'round; that can really help save your cold & frozen food.

And welcome to New England! As for me, I have to go tend to my slowly failing central heating system, & my 2 y.o snowblower that suddenly won't start. Gosh I love it here.....
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Old 12-17-2013, 11:23 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,815,153 times
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Originally Posted by WoodyWW View Post
A gasoline backup generator--they need a lot of gasoline to keep running, as I understand. How do you store that much gasoline?

And welcome to New England! As for me, I have to go tend to my slowly failing central heating system, & my 2 y.o snowblower that suddenly won't start. Gosh I love it here.....
A basic 4000-5000 watt generator has a 4-5 gallon tank and lasts 8-10 hours. People have two 5-gallon gas cans plus the full tank in the generator ready to go for 24 hours of power.

I'm having some bad luck too. Both my snowblower and chainsaw stopped working this weekend
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Old 12-17-2013, 02:34 PM
 
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I had a 20 kW whole house generator installed for under $8,500. My install was relatively uncomplicated and we had natural gas on site already (We did need to have our gas meter upgraded, but that was done for free).

This is not a do it yourself job, but it's worth every penny, especially if you have well water!
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Old 12-17-2013, 04:03 PM
 
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We have a generator which came with our house that's hooked into the natural gas line and we love it for peace of mind it provides. Our town frequently loses power, and our generator will run 50-75% of our appliances. There's a circuit breaker which allows us to select where the power goes, ie. a/c in the summer. Highly recommend.
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Old 12-17-2013, 05:04 PM
 
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It can be around 1700-1900 to put in the transfer switch and hookup for generator (outside).

Don't get a generator with the pull start, get the button start.
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Old 12-18-2013, 12:19 PM
 
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Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
A basic 4000-5000 watt generator has a 4-5 gallon tank and lasts 8-10 hours. People have two 5-gallon gas cans plus the full tank in the generator ready to go for 24 hours of power.

I'm having some bad luck too. Both my snowblower and chainsaw stopped working this weekend
Well, 15 gallons of gas is a lot of gas to go & buy, & store, for only 24 hrs. of power. And I'm sure you know, gasoline has a limited amount of storage life. Then I'm thinking, that last major storm that devastated parts of NJ & NY; people had to wait in line for 2+ hours just to buy gas for their cars. Gas was hard to get.

Sorry about your snowblower. I've been ready to shoot my 2 1/2 y.o Toro with a shotgun (Hypothetically, as I don't own a shotgun).

Winters in New England are brutal, duh, (as I re-learn, yet again, every single nasty Winter). You can try to prepare for everything; & then something goes wrong, like your snowblower.....I'm thinking, preparing for a Winter in New England, might involve moving to New Mexico.......
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Old 12-18-2013, 12:31 PM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,815,153 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WoodyWW View Post
Well, 15 gallons of gas is a lot of gas to go & buy, & store, for only 24 hrs. of power. And I'm sure you know, gasoline has a limited amount of storage life. Then I'm thinking, that last major storm that devastated parts of NJ & NY; people had to wait in line for 2+ hours just to buy gas for their cars. Gas was hard to get.

Sorry about your snowblower. I've been ready to shoot my 2 1/2 y.o Toro with a shotgun (Hypothetically, as I don't own a shotgun).

Winters in New England are brutal, duh, (as I re-learn, yet again, every single nasty Winter). You can try to prepare for everything; & then something goes wrong, like your snowblower.....I'm thinking, preparing for a Winter in New England, might involve moving to New Mexico.......
True - I think it's a pain to run a portable generator, but it's cheaper than a standby generator and better than nothing.

At 2.5 years old it might be time to bring it in for servicing anyways. I bring mine in every 3 years and it always seems to work well until the 3rd year, when it inevitably stops running in the middle of a bad snow storm. They're a lot more finnicky than lawn mowers are.

Trading your humble but overpriced Boston-area house for a Spanish-style villa in New Mexico with an outdoor pool and tennis court doesn't sound like a bad idea!
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Old 06-20-2014, 03:54 PM
 
466 posts, read 644,173 times
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Reviving this thread with a question about portable generators.

We'd like to have a generator that would be able to power up the heating system, if possible also run the fridge and maybe some lights. We have oil heat with a powerventer, no natural gas line option, and don't want to install a propane tank in the backyard, so it's looking like portable running on gasoline is our best bet.

My question: do we need to have a transfer switch installed? It starts to get really expensive if we do that. How do people run their portable generators and connect them to their home's power? Has anyone paid to install a transfer switch? How much did it cost?

We're looking at this option:
Honda EM6500S Model Info | Deluxe 6500 Watt Portable Generator | Honda Generators

Last edited by Ninotchka P; 06-20-2014 at 04:23 PM..
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Old 06-20-2014, 04:28 PM
 
417 posts, read 734,605 times
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Originally Posted by DL0299 View Post
Consider adding a wood burning fireplace in the basement as an alternative with a simple aluminum chimney. Wood burning is cheaper than oil/gas. You can supplement heat during bitterly cold night to keep utility cost down. You can cook on it. It will pay for itself within a few years instead of having a piece of equipment rusting behind your house. Plus, a generator is noisy as hell and your neighbors will complaint.

Its more expensive upfront. But much smarter it the long run.
how much would you guess this costs? half our basement is finished so that would be a possibility for emergencies.

i'll be watching this thread since we still have no solution to a power outage. we just had central air installed which also has heat so maybe there's another option for a backup power for that that's cheaper than for the oil
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