I wonder if there was a huge run on these AGAIN!?!? I picked one up after Irene so our town was spared........YOUR WELCOME Paivag. I guess it's like buying a snow blower right now.....likely there won't be any snow this year to use it.


Though the problem people might not think about is that even if you have a generator likely you would not be able to "plugin" your furnace into it so that you could heat your house. That requires a special setup and hookup to your fuse panel which can get expensive.

Hopefully everyone that is out of power gets it back soon. Luckily the weather has been cooperating and not been sub zero so pipes in houses are not freezing. Though it doesn't make it any more "FUN".

 

Yeah we sure got spared. I was up at my parents in Middlebury last couple of days. They have no power so I was getting it hooked up to the generator and keeping their wood stove going. Yesterday we were able to get the generator running on the panel which provided enough juice to get the furnace and hot water going with oil. Luckily they have wood stoves. Earliest they expect power up is Nov 7th.

I still won't buy into the generator business. Been here for 10 years before Irene. I don't need to be spending 2-3k on a machine that will collect dust. Luckly my mom had a generator because my dad had them from the construction days. My brother up there is an electrician so he basically just runs his work generator from his box truck.

If I end up losing power for any reason I got family to fall back on so thats my story and I am sticking with it

 

We didn't get much for snow, either. We lost power for about 4 hours or so, but I didn't even bother to fire up the generator.
11 months ago, we bought a house that came with a generator and switch-over breaker panel already installed. Doesn't run the whole house, but it does the important stuff. At the time, I thought "that's nice, but who knows when I'll need it." Then Irene came... and we lost power, but for less than 48 hours! Not that I'm complaining, as I still burned probably $30 in gas.
My father in law also gave us his old snowblower when we moved in, and it turned out to be a pretty snowy winter.

More to the point, there was probably another run on generators, though unlike Irene, you don't have to go far to find places that weren't hit too hard. I haven't been to Home Depot or Lowes since the weekend, so I don't know if our local ones have any left.

As for running the furnace or boiler, while it probably isn't to code, you could always convert them to be plug-in, and simply swap the plug to the generator when power goes out... it'd be pretty cheap to do.

 

Most generators are now on 30 day back order due to demand.

I am in the process of buying and installing a whole house generator. Can't depend on National Grid anymore
Looks like a minimum of $5K, but worth it to me, installed to the electric panel and fueled by natural gas.

-jazzman

 

My brother was able to pick one up yesterday. He had to drive to Auburn, MA. Luckily a friend of a friend had the correct plug so we could power the heat last night, there was a run on those as well.

 

bought be a propane heater and a small Honda generator a few years ago. In Florida and thunderstorms take out power often enough to have one. Not needed for much more than the fridge and the TV/Cable here though. Ill probably never need the propane heater

 

we're finally home. we had no power for 6 days which we spent with the in-laws.
while i certainly appreciated their hospitality, it does feel good to be back home.


I waffle on the generator.
I have way to many motors, so I'd need a fairly large unit.
something on the order of 12Kw, although I might be able to squeak by on 8KW.
lot of coin for something your unlikely to use.

bit of a pain to wire in as well.

 

These devestating storms are getting more common with climate change.
I understand the waffling. It is a big expense, but it does add to the value of your home and make it more resaleable.
In my case, I have a 100 gallon saltwater aquarium that gets wiped out in a long power failure, at a minimum livestock replacement cost of $1k. I feel obligated there.

I also have lots of those motors (central air, heat, dryers, refrig, etc.) An electrician explained that if you don't use them all at the same time, you are OK with an 8K generator. Use the panel to manually turn appliances on/off as needed. That makes sense.

I located a Generac 8K for $2150 and just have to add the electric install (estimate $600).
I will also fuel mine by the (city) natural gas available, relieving the burden of gas cans and finding open stations. Estimate another $600 for gas connection.

Anyway, these guys are all too busy to come down for an estimate right now. I am not the only one asking, but I can wait week or two.
I will post the findings and estimates when they come in.

-jazzman

 

The gas hookup if you have gas in the house should be half your est. The electrical is probably right on.

Interested in your est's.