Screw this noise. I’m going to put in an automatic, tied into my house’s breaker natural gas (dual fuel if possible) genny. What’s the non-sales-pitch recommendation?
We got a Generac after Ike and it was wonderful. When we sold our house to move to California, we had pics of the property and neighborhood showing how we never flooded and marketed the fact that we had a whole house generator. This was the May after Harvey. We sold for over asking price within two weeks of putting it on the market. At the time, our house sold higher than any other house had ever sold in that neighborhood by $35k. While we had it, we never had to worry about power ever. Anytime the power went out, it would kick on within a minute. It was glorious having a bright, glowing house at the end of our cul-de-sac when everything else was pitch black.
Never had to use it the last 7 years since purchase. Occasionally would lament having to perform routine maintenance on something that was never used. It was in use from Monday - last night this week continuously without any issues. Went off automatically as soon as the power came back. It was worth everything. Ready to sign up for lifetime maintenance plans. Our children barely noticed there was a life-threatening freeze taking place... the only thing they noticed that their normal streaming options weren't available due to lack of internet service (which also came back after the power came back). Definitely go with the one you're looking at. Connected to the natural gas line. You should also get the automatic transfer switch as it really takes all effort out of the process.
Awesome!!! Yeah, Generac seems to be the consensus. Not to throw shade, but the housing market bubble is real and right now a generator might not up my sales price enough to cover the cost. However, it is a top factor I'm thinking of with purchasing one, the other two being obviously continued power and also the ability to write it off since I office at home. I can probably get them very close to cost when there's lower demand, too. Unfortunately, that's not now.... Did your model have dual fuel? If natural gas is knocked out I want the ability to pour some good old fashioned gasoline in mine.
Similar to Master Baiter we invested in a Generac 17kW generator shortly after Hurricane Ike. This is enough to power the whole house including A/C, heat, etc. We have a single-story, 3 bed/2 bath house about 2,200 sq ft. It includes the control box that automatically turns on the generator within 10 seconds of detecting an outage and is fed by our natural gas line from the meter. There is an option to connect propane tanks to it if the natural gas line isn't functioning. As others have mentioned it turns off automatically once power is restored. All in it was just shy of $9k installed and we do pay for annual maintenance which is about $300/yr and they come out twice a year to change the oil, perform full system tests, and inspect and clean the unit. It definitely was worth it this week when the power was out for 3 days! My brother, his wife and two dogs have been staying with us since their neighborhood power is out. Other than the constant generator noise (not much louder than a lawn mower), and low water pressure, it was life as usual. Fortunately our Xfinity internet service only went out for a day. Hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Can we all come stay in your cozy, powered bomb shelter when the Sun unexpectedly gives off huge solar flares that nobody was expecting that will boil the blood of any living thing still on the surface?
I know they have duel fuel nat gas and propane ones, I've never heard of one that runs on nat gas and diesel.
Yeah seems a little incongruous but what do I know? I’ll pay more for the backup backup utility. I guess I could get Hank Hill out to set me up with some propane just in case.
I didn't lose power at any point this week...my mom did, but because of the generator she got over the summer, she didn't have to come stay with me. 10/10
