Anyone have a standby generator at the house?

[Sven Svensson]

I’m good with the down side. Especially since it’s only for a few days a season. I don‘t like dealing with small gas engines. This former farm kid is finished with cleaning carbs and Sta-Bil. And in the big fire I remembered thinking my vehicle would have been a bad place for transporting a gas can. We didn’t have time to grab anything anyway, come to think of it. Phone, computer, wallet and pants.

 

[forktender]

Maybe find out the whole story, before you laugh??
I know electric had a lot to do with my Generator/Heat Pump situation.

Bear

I spent 3 nights a week for 5 years earning my UA Journeymen card. Furthermore, I installed HVAC systems for 38+ years in both commercial and residential settings, and yes, I'm still laughing about this post, and I'll laugh when I find something funny regardless of the topic or setting.

Perhaps you should mind your own business, and quit worrying about what others find humorous, Bear.

 

[Bearcarver]

I spent 3 nights a week for 5 years earning my UA Journeymen card. Furthermore, I installed HVAC systems for 38+ years in both commercial and residential settings, and yes, I'm still laughing about this post, and I'll laugh when I find something funny regardless of the topic or setting.

Perhaps you should mind your own business, and quit worrying about what others find humorous, Bear.

I commented because I had something to share about what you were laughing at:
We get big snow storms up here, and lose power often.
I had a Woodstove in the living room for years, but I was having trouble with the firewood, due to my health, so I got rid of it & got a nice Pellet stove. That worked great for a few years, but bringing in 40 pounds of pellets a couple times a day was getting to be harder & harder, and I started thinking about Mrs Bear not being able to do this crap, after I'm gone. We were all electric, so there was no way an 8 KW Generator could run my electric Heat Pump with everything else.
So I changed my heat system, which was almost 20 years old, from Heat Pump, with electric back-up to Electric Heat Pump, with Propane gas stove back-up (Bryant "Evolution"). This way when we lose power, my Generator has enough power to run the gas heater & everything else in the house, except the hot water heater.
I had an electrician (friend) install an outside 220 line on the front porch, for my generator, and he installed the safety power switch in my Service box. The electrician also did some adjustments needed with my HVAC.

Now I'll go back to minding my own business.

Bear

 

[mowin]

Glad you thought it was funny.
Most HVAC guys are very knowledgeable in electrical. He does generator installation as well as HVAC installs.

Hopefully this gives you some more humor.

 

[schlotz]

Having dealt with power outages that seem to occur at the faint inkling of a storm, me made the decision with the new house we just built to eliminate the problem once and for all. We has a Generac Whole Home unit installed that runs off of the house LP. Problem eliminated

 

[BurntWeenie]

Solar with batteries

 

[forktender]

Glad you thought it was funny.
Most HVAC guys are very knowledgeable in electrical. He does generator installation as well as HVAC installs.

Hopefully this gives you some more humor.

"He does generator installation as well as HVAC installs. " Well there ya go, perfect!!!
Low voltage, maybe.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Same here. And as you said you hate the state of California. Not much for union guys around here...mostly small privately owned here as well. Most of us, me included wouldn't stand for having 2 or 3 different people or companies come do a job that 1 guy is qualified and licensed to do here. Plus living on the farm we don't always have time to wait for electricians when it comes to taking care of livestock and fixing electrical issues. Now somethings I can't do and wouldn't when it comes to the safety of others...such as hooking up these switches to prevent back feeding. But common sense goes a long ways still.

Ryan

 

[DougE]

Plus living on the farm we don't always have time to wait for electricians when it comes to taking care of livestock and fixing electrical issues.

Well, unless you have a partner in some cattle who also happens to own a company that does electrical. I can do most electrical myself, but I'd pay him to do something like a generator hookup.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I have a friend, now retired, used to be a janitor and maintenance man at a high school. Kinda funny listening to him, color blind guy doing wiring!

Ryan

 

[DougE]

I have a friend, now retired, used to be a janitor and maintenance man at a high school. Kinda funny listening to him, color blind guy doing wiring!

Ryan

LMAO. My friend specializes in industrial wiring, and really hates doing residential, but he wires a house from time to time.

 

[DougE]

Matter of fact, He wired my house, but I didn't own it when it was built.

 

[forktender]

HVAC guys do electrical and all, around here. What are these unions you speak of? HVAC companies around here are all small privately owned non union shops.

Big City Stuff!!!

 

[smokerjim]

After losing power 11 times last year we decided to have a whole house generac installed, one guy installed from propane tanks , running and hooking up propane lines,to all the electric , took him about 8 hours.

 

[Bearcarver]

After losing power 11 times last year we decided to have a whole house generac installed, one guy installed from propane tanks , running and hooking up propane lines,to all the electric , took him about 8 hours.

Having dealt with power outages that seem to occur at the faint inkling of a storm, me made the decision with the new house we just built to eliminate the problem once and for all. We has a Generac Whole Home unit installed that runs off of the house LP. Problem eliminated

I wish I would have gone that way, instead of having to manually start my Generator on the front porch, & switch over in the Basement. Didn't think, at the time, that I would have so much trouble getting down there!!

Bear

 

[mowin]

I wish I would have gone that way, instead of having to manually start my Generator on the front porch, & switch over in the Basement. Didn't think, at the time, that I would have so much trouble getting down there!!

Bear

I have two clients that have manual transfer switches and portable generator. If they are not home, and the power goes out, I have to go over, drag out the gen, and hook it up. Both won't store gas in their garage, so if the power outage is widespread, their screwed.
I finally convinced one of them to switch to a standby generator. Will be installed this spring.

 

[smokerjim]

I wish I would have gone that way, instead of having to manually start my Generator on the front porch, & switch over in the Basement. Didn't think, at the time, that I would have so much trouble getting down there!!

Bear

They are nice bear , without power we have no heat, or water and no ac in the summer.since we had it installed only lost power 1 time so far but in about 20 seconds it kicked in and we had power,

 

[Fueling Around]

I lived in the PNW (Seattle area) for many years. I bought a 7.5 kW portable generator to deal with the frequent outages.
It worked very well for us. Only needed power for convenience, gas FA furnace, fridge and freezer.
If I still lived there would consider a true stand by system for the convenience.

Moved to NW Minnesota and used the generator once in 21 years.
We didn't even lose power when a tornado skipped through our block but hit the rest of the neighborhood pretty hard.

Size is determined by your needs.
In FL I would need a whole house as going without A/C is unthinkable to me.

I occasionally do home inspections. I have seen some very hazardous installs by homeowners and "professionals".

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

Same here. And as you said you hate the state of California. Not much for union guys around here...mostly small privately owned here as well. Most of us, me included wouldn't stand for having 2 or 3 different people or companies come do a job that 1 guy is qualified and licensed to do here. But common sense goes a long ways still.

Ryan

Good take, true.

Even though we cut our elect draw 1/3 our electric bill doubled here in Cali.
Most homeowners I've managed to talk to around here said their solar installations were bad and not installed nor functioning as promised. Their elect bill didn't change either. These were from Solar companies that sub'd out the work to several other companies. It's a simple project and they have horror stories.
The companies that did the work in house had the best results.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

We've had several occasions where we're down over a week to 2 weeks. We just came off yet another 30 hour blackout. Winds kick up, earthquakes, fires, boom we're in the dark.

The underground electrical feed to all the homes on our block burned up a few times in the past and that shut us down for over a week too.
You see nitrogen tanks chained to the side of neighborhood transformers? That nitrogen is fed to the elect lines to prevent them from grenading. The gap between the insulation and metal cable is hazardous may cause a fire. If they don't maintain the nitrogen feed tanks nor eventually re-string the cables then we get burnouts.
Yeah it happens and it sux in hot or cold weather.

We ain't sitting in the dark over that time and on top of that worried about the house and garage chest freezer full of food going south.
We're off road enthusiasts and always have 100+ gallons of gas for the toys on hand and we use it for standby at home.

Soon we'll have solar power to the house with a power bank that's good for at least a weeks electricity when Edison goes down. We walk the dog and talks to neighbors what systems work.
Evidently Tesla is now improved and has dropped their prices. We're considering that.

"Youze pays yourz money and youze takes yourz chances" - Popeye.