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Looking at 12 months of data in 15-minute increments, the highest electricity demand I have seen is 11 kilowatts. A whole-house generator should cover that peak with headroom, so suppose I get a 15 kilowatt unit. Based on my consumption numbers, on average the generator will run at 25% load during my worst-case month. If I choose LP as a fuel (my neighborhood has no natural gas service), the burn rate is about a gallon an hour. For 7 days, I'll need what the industry calls a 250-gallon tank.
Or, I get in my car and go to a city that has power.
Correct. Data comes from Duke Energy. You might or might not have that granularity, depending on what kind of electric meter they've installed at your house.
Now I'm in construction so I have a bit more familiarity with electrical systems than most. But I have a 800 amp portable that I plug a cable from that to a pigtail that is connected to a 30 amp breaker in my main panel. In the event of an outage, I shut my main breaker, flip on the 30 amp for the generator, then run whatever I need to keep the house going. Mind you it will not run the heat pump, but will run a small electric space heater if necessary (I have a propane fireplace, so I don't need the heat). It runs just about everything I need. Once power comes back on, I shut down the generator, flip off the 30 amp breaker, then flip on the main and I'm back in business.
The thing is I don't see the need for a major investment in something I may not use for multiple years, and then when it is needed, it's only for either hours or just a few days. Extremely rare is an outage more than 2-3 days, and most often less than two days. Up to $4,000 or more is a lot of money to me for something as rare as a long enough outage to warrant it's use. I do run my generator for a few minutes every 2-3 months and also use Stabil to keep the carburetor clean.
Since I only moved to NC one year ago, but lived in New Jersey for many years, I only needed my generator twice in over 10 years... one of those being after Hurricane Sandy.
Now I'm in construction so I have a bit more familiarity with electrical systems than most. But I have a 800 amp portable that I plug a cable from that to a pigtail that is connected to a 30 amp breaker in my main panel. In the event of an outage, I shut my main breaker, flip on the 30 amp for the generator, then run whatever I need to keep the house going. Mind you it will not run the heat pump, but will run a small electric space heater if necessary (I have a propane fireplace, so I don't need the heat). It runs just about everything I need. Once power comes back on, I shut down the generator, flip off the 30 amp breaker, then flip on the main and I'm back in business.
The thing is I don't see the need for a major investment in something I may not use for multiple years, and then when it is needed, it's only for either hours or just a few days. Extremely rare is an outage more than 2-3 days, and most often less than two days. Up to $4,000 or more is a lot of money to me for something as rare as a long enough outage to warrant it's use. I do run my generator for a few minutes every 2-3 months and also use Stabil to keep the carburetor clean.
Since I only moved to NC one year ago, but lived in New Jersey for many years, I only needed my generator twice in over 10 years... one of those being after Hurricane Sandy.
I hope this helps someone.
But..... You have a clue.
Every winter, we have people dying from CO asphyxiation because they run the generator inside their garages.
And, I wouldn't trust those folks to cut the main breaker off and not feed the grid.
I agree, I won't buy a whole house generator to maintain it for years without needing it.
It helps that we are on city water and sewer, so no well or lift pump to run.
A Natural gas water heater also helps.
A gas grill, too.
And, we don't have children to shelter.
In 25 years, 1998, we were once without power for 26 hours in an all-electric house. Had Christmas Eve dinner at Waffle House.
It was cold.
Other outages have been in the 1-6 hour range.
We have never had to clean out a freezer/refrigerator and lose hundreds of dollars of foodstuffs.
In PA, we lived about 6 doors from the old hospital. Never lost power for more than a blink.
Put me in a rural area, with well, septic, and low priority for resumption of service, and I bet I would feel different.
Now I'm in construction so I have a bit more familiarity with electrical systems than most. But I have a 800 amp portable that I plug a cable from that to a pigtail that is connected to a 30 amp breaker in my main panel.
Hopefully a typo, but I can bet it is not 800 amp. Most houses are wired with 200 amp service panels to feed the entire house. Bigger houses get two of them (400 amps), with a meter rated at 320 amps (CL320).
But..... You have a clue.
Every winter, we have people dying from CO asphyxiation because they run the generator inside their garages.
And, I wouldn't trust those folks to cut the main breaker off and not feed the grid.
[quote=MikeJaquish;64578072]But..... You have a clue. Every winter, we have people dying from CO asphyxiation because they run the generator inside their garages.
And, I wouldn't trust those folks to cut the main breaker off and not feed the grid.
I can't argue your points. Many just don't understand all the necessary safety maneuvers to perform this correctly.
And they wouldn't just feed the grid. If they left their main on while back feeding their panel it will end up in disaster.
A manual transfer switch would effectively remove that threat, but the CO issue is one that does happen all too often, especially with kerosene heaters being used indoors. Sad we read about that every year.
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