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I thought about a natural gas generator. I also have Tesla solar panels and can get the Tesla battery pack. It's about $5000 for the battery pack.
But I calculated the cost/benefit this way. How many times have I lost power in the last 3 years? Of those times, what was the financial/health impact (I.e. spoiled food, sensitive healthcare equipment, home business interruption, damage from heat (summer) or cold (winter)).
In those three years, the cost of losing power has been $0. So, I decided to pass. Yes, it is nice to have a power backup just in case, but if your part of the power grid is pretty stable and when you do lose power, it only lasts for an hour or two, then I don't think investing in a generator is necessary for me at this time. That's how I look at it.
Things can certainly change though. If I start losing power multiple times during the summer and winter and they last for hours, then I would look very hard at getting a generator.
For computers, routers, etc., I have the UPSs that you can get at Best Buy for about $200. That way you still have internet, etc. if the power goes out.
Keep in mind, the economics for this question vary all over the place.
What capacity to provide, what fuel, how long will it run, how often. Do you have special needs? (IE: work at home, medicine that must be kept cool, a family vs one person).
How often will it be needed, FOR YOUR SPECIFIC LOCATION.
The biggest variable is also the most subjective: What is the piece-of-mind worth in actual dollars?
IE: My computer battery tells me if there's been a failure longer than 30 seconds.
I've lived in the same place for over 10 years and I've had an outage only twice that lasted longer than an hour, (both times about 6 hours), probably due to a thunderstorm. And maybe once a year I get an outage for 1-15 minutes, (thunderstorms again). I figure most of the reliability is due to the fact that the power (and data) are all underground.
Ed is correct. The economics for a generator are highly variable and it does come down to peace of mind. We don't NEED one, but are willing to pay for the security offered.
Someone asked about the cost. For what we're getting, it's about $13k. Smaller units cost a bit less, but there's still the cost of installation, wiring, mounting pad, transfer switch, gas piping, etc, which is the same regardless of generator size. And with a smaller unit, you need to select what appliances you want to run or constantly switch one off so another can be turned on. With a small portable generator, the issue is worse. Add to that the problems with keeping fresh fuel around, making sure the generator will start when needed, and so forth. Our generator should be able to handle both AC units and all other household appliances. I won't say I could also run the clothes drier and the oven at the same time. That would be pushing it.
The cost of running a NG generator is certainly more expensive than the electricity it generates compared to the power company cost, but propane fuel is about four times the cost of NG.
About 20 years ago when Hurricane Fran hit Raleigh, we were without power for two weeks during the hottest, most humid time of the year. I said then "Never again." Electric lines are buried in our current neighborhood, but the feeder lines coming in are above ground. So we're not immune to a major outage. Anyhow, I made the decision and I'm moving forward.
Our generator will automatically start on a set schedule to warm up and test itself. So other than oil changes and tuneups, it all automatic. Like servicing your car.
We just moved back to the area after living in the mountains for 3 years. We did get a whole house generator for the mountain house and it was utilized fairly regularly. We had it set up to run a self test weekly. It cost us somewhere around $8000 to buy it and have it installed. It ran off from propane and we had a 250 gallon propane tank. We were told by the propane company that we would get a week off from the propane tank if we had the generator run nonstop 24/7. We never went that long, but we did have a 4 day outage with a heavy snowstorm up there last winter.
That said, my husband wanted get one for our house here and I told him I didn't think we needed something nearly as big as the one in the mountains (it was a 17,000 KW). I'd like a couple of lights and outlets, the fridge, the modem for internet), the well pump, hot water heater and heat pump. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. We were researching and think we can get a 3,000 KW portable that will run all that. We've lived in this house since February and we've lost power multiple times, more than I can count, with outages ranging from an hour to 6 hours. Almost all have been weather related (we are north of Zebulon and when the tornado went through there, we lost power for 6 hours), though a couple have been vehicle vs pole issues. So yes, we'll likely be getting a generator in the somewhat near future.
Last edited by goldenlove; 07-23-2019 at 02:20 PM..
We just moved back to the area after living in the mountains for 3 years. We did get a whole house generator for the mountain house and it was utilized fairly regularly. We had it set up to run a self test weekly. It cost us somewhere around $8000 to buy it and have it installed. It ran off from propane and we had a 250 gallon propane tank. We were told by the propane company that we would get a week off from the propane tank if we had the generator run nonstop 24/7. We never went that long, but we did have a 4 day outage with a heavy snowstorm up there last winter.
That said, my husband wanted get one for our house here and I told him I didn't think we needed something nearly as big as the one in the mountains (it was a 17,000 KW). I'd like a couple of lights and outlets, the fridge, the modem for internet), the well pump, hot water heater and heat pump. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. We were researching and think we can get a 3,000 KW portable that will run all that.
Absolutely zero chance of running your heat pump off a portable unit. Same for hot water heater.
And yeah it does sound like a lot, because it is lol.
It's definitely a risk reward thing. One big storm that knocks out power for a few days and you'll wish you had one. I know most of LI wished they had one after Sandy, when so many people were without power for 2 weeks. Lots of people went and got generators but couldn't get gas. We were up there two weeks post-storm and seeing people standing on line for gas was unreal. And to insult to injury, it snowed that week (early November, very unusual on LI). BUT it's a big expense. Roll the dice either way....see what happens.
It's definitely a risk reward thing. One big storm that knocks out power for a few days and you'll wish you had one. I know most of LI wished they had one after Sandy, when so many people were without power for 2 weeks. Lots of people went and got generators but couldn't get gas. We were up there two weeks post-storm and seeing people standing on line for gas was unreal. And to insult to injury, it snowed that week (early November, very unusual on LI). BUT it's a big expense. Roll the dice either way....see what happens.
I agree. If you're in an area prone to hurricanes or tropical storms where you lose power for more than a few hours almost on an annual basis, it may make sense to get one.
Twingles is right on. With gasoline powered portables, where are you going to get fuel if NOBODY has power? Like the gas stations? When Fran hit Raleigh, I couldn't drive out of our neighborhood for a week due to downed trees.
And there is no way anyone is going to power a heat pump, well, and hot water heater plus other incidental circuits with a 3kw generator. It would take more like 10-12kw.
Last edited by Corgi Dad; 07-23-2019 at 03:03 PM..
Twingles is right on. With gasoline powered portables, where are you going to get fuel if NOBODY has power. Like the gas stations. When Fran hit Raleigh, I couldn't drive out of our neighborhood for a week due to downed trees.
And there is no way anyone is going to power a heat pump, well, and hot water heater plus other incidental circuits with a 3kw generator. It would take more like 10-12kw.
Obviously we haven't researched too closely yet, we are waiting on our mountain house to sell first, so we haven't done anything more than a rudimentary look. I know we didn't need the huge one we had in the mountains, we had tons of extra ports available. This house we are in now is much bigger, but we need less in the way of appliances run off from it (other than the well pump and water heater). We were back on forth on what we wanted to run. Above I said a 3,000 KW, I might have been thinking a $3,000 generac. That's 11,000 KW).
We have a gas station/convenience store 1/2 mile away that has a generator that runs the pumps.
We lived in Apex when Fran hit, it was still rural enough back then that we were able to get to Cary and over to west Raleigh (where my sister lived) and back to Apex. Yes, we had to drive around some trees, but it was nothing like North Raleigh was. We had power back in 4 days.
Yes it's somewhere in the $10k+ range. We had a Generac in Florida and have a Cummins here. Think 20-22kw or something like that.
KB Power is who installed our unit and will service it.
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