|
|
Post by smsmith on Dec 15, 2021 21:14:10 GMT -6
Anybody got one? Happy with it? Annual maintenance costs? Would you pay for one again?
When I look at the costs I really question installing one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Reagan on Dec 15, 2021 21:17:03 GMT -6
I don’t have one but a former coworker in NE Ohio got one a year or two ago. Big storm blew threw exactly 1 week after he had it installed. Power was out in his town for a few days but he was fine. When that happens, it’s easy to say it’s worth it.
|
|
|
|
Post by kooch on Dec 15, 2021 21:19:10 GMT -6
I’m getting one big enough to run both houses at Nassau deluxe. FIL is going halfsies.
He’s in charge of all the decisions. I’ll just pay my part and say thank you.
|
|
|
|
Post by biglakebass on Dec 15, 2021 21:19:42 GMT -6
Expensive "insurance"
I have never lost power in my life anywhere for more than maybe a couple hours.
|
|
|
|
Post by biglakebass on Dec 15, 2021 21:21:00 GMT -6
Although.... its a one time cost.
|
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Dec 15, 2021 21:27:39 GMT -6
$10Kish is a chunk of change, but if a guy's power goes out for a week (think Foggy lost power for a week or more not that long ago?) it sure would be nice to have. In the summertime I've never worried about it that much. Sure, you could lose the food in the freezers and fridges, but a week or two in a local hotel wouldn't cost much. I get more concerned about a lengthy winter time outage. A guy could have some expensive repairs with frozen water lines.
|
|
|
|
Post by Catscratch on Dec 15, 2021 21:32:30 GMT -6
I wired a switch and plug onto our pole when we built out here. Set up for my Miller Bobcat. Haven't needed it but it's great piece of mind. I've been involved in some power outages that went more than a week. No maintenance costs as the welder is used often enough to keep things fresh.
|
|
|
|
Post by daydreamer on Dec 15, 2021 21:35:43 GMT -6
$10Kish is a chunk of change, but if a guy's power goes out for a week (think Foggy lost power for a week or more not that long ago?) it sure would be nice to have. In the summertime I've never worried about it that much. Sure, you could lose the food in the freezers and fridges, but a week or two in a local hotel wouldn't cost much. I get more concerned about a lengthy winter time outage. A guy could have some expensive repairs with frozen water lines. I was thinking Foggy had one?? |
|
|
|
Post by Foggy on Dec 15, 2021 23:37:47 GMT -6
I had one installed when we built our house on the lake. I think mine is about 12 KW and runs on natural gas.. The natural gas part is huge for me......as I do not have to store fuel.....tho in one storm I did have a gas line fractured by a tree that tipped over and severed the line by its roots. (the NG company repaired it ASAP).
Soon after we got our home built we had a mega tornado come through here. Took down many 150 year old trees and poked seven holes in my roof. Power was out for nearly two weeks. The greater was worth gold to us. My wife had one of her operations and could not handle the heat and humidity then very well (nor now). Since then we have had about 4 other times our power went down for more than a day......and the generator has performed flawlessly.
I do wish ours was a tad larger.....as it struggles to start all the pumps and HV/AC at the same time. (duh) but we get along quite well. Mine is a Briggs and Stratton brand. If I did it again I would move it a bit farther from my home to make it less noisy. It runs for 1/2 hour each week to excehrsize.
We have annual maintenance done on our unit now......and that is somewhat expensive. I suppose I could forge this maintaninance......but ours has proven to be 100% reliable with these guys making certain it has the stuff it takes. Early on.....we did have an issue with performance......and since then we went to this annual maintenance that seems to be worth it to us....sepeically given my wife's ongoing conditions.
Anyway.....put it on a concrete pad and keep it as far from your home as possible due to noise. Get a decent automatic transer panel. (We put ours in the basement). Buey a big enough one to get the job done. Size does not cost that much more. My 2 cents.
Seems to me....each year we get an event that makes the generator seem worthwhile. Do it.
|
|
|
|
Post by caveman on Dec 16, 2021 7:21:11 GMT -6
I've worked with many people who have had them installed. Like Foggy, once you reach an age or have health issues the back-up generator becomes more of a necessity as not having power at home becomes a life threatening event. And when you got money you'll never spend in your lifetime, spending money on that life is easily spent.
|
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Dec 16, 2021 8:03:52 GMT -6
One more thing to add to the list of future adds I suppose. Think I will wait and see if inflation eases up late next year  |
|
|
|
Post by Foggy on Dec 16, 2021 9:59:07 GMT -6
Here is a good place to compare prices and sizes. I do not remember at the moment if mine was a B&S or a Kohler. We were building at the time......and it seemed like an "extravagance" but I am glad we stayed the course on the generator and got the natural gas unit. We had our electrician wire the unit in with the auto transfer switch in the basement. He said most of the switches were outdoors. I suppose that is because the folks add them after construction.....and it takes a fair amount of room next to your breaker boxes to install like ours (?). www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/power/briggs-and-stratton-natural-gas-generators.html |
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Dec 16, 2021 10:06:29 GMT -6
I'll be long dead before nat gas is available here  I'm sure B&S sells LP units as well. My limited searches so far point to Generac, Champion, and Kohler as top brands. I'll ask some of the local tradesmen what units they are seeing installed. |
|
|
|
Post by Foggy on Dec 16, 2021 10:47:08 GMT -6
I'll be long dead before nat gas is available here I'm sure B&S sells LP units as well. My limited searches so far point to Generac, Champion, and Kohler as top brands. I'll ask some of the local tradesmen what units they are seeing installed. I never checked before buying.....but later we found a company in Baxter that does an annual check up and maintenance to the system. Changing oil and filters is not a big deal....but getting the loads corrected to the right output can be a job for somebody qualified. We had some issues early on that a regular electrician was not trained for. These guys (generator service? is their name?) seem to know how to tweak the settings and make sure the transfer is seemlesss. In the past I was typically a do-it-yourselfer. Sometimes I still think I should save the annual maintenance fee and do this myself......but I am reminded of the time temps were in the 90's and the humidity was there too.....and we had seven huge pine trees laying on our house and could not get out our yard for several days. That is when all the preparation pays off. I think we went ten days without power at that time......and price did not matter very much. Our refigeratiors and freezers worked and we were the water supply for several neighbors. We could take showers and flush our toilets, watch the news and weather, and had a home that was cooled by AC. Since then we have had about 3 more big storms and events without power.....and several nuisance power outages (which now last about 30 seconds). Our power company has too many major overhead lines.....which is trouble. |
|
|
|
Post by smsmith on Dec 16, 2021 10:54:01 GMT -6
Our overhead lines were scheduled to be underground by the end of last month. That didn't happen. Maybe next spring they'll get it done. If they get that done, I'll be even more hesitant to pay for a generator.
I'm sure there are contractors in Alexandria to get the generators installed and serviced. Anywhere there's lake people, there's contractors ready to take their money.
|
|
