Back up generators for home

[GAN]

I know it happens all the time, but I'm always amazed at the number of unlicensed people who perform their own "electrical work" for something like this. That is taking a really large risk to save (sometimes) $1,000. A plumbing error will only cause a flood, an electrical error will burn your life savings down ...if you're lucky!

 

[_19disnA]

^^^ I agree and your home owner's insurance will probably NOT cover any damage caused by improperly done home improvements.

 

[bluezy]

I know it happens all the time, but I'm always amazed at the number of unlicensed people who perform their own "electrical work" for something like this. That is taking a really large risk to save (sometimes) $1,000. A plumbing error will only cause a flood, an electrical error will burn your life savings down ...if you're lucky!

How do you know the person mentioned in a post on a message board *isn't* licensed or qualified to do the work????? If you're referring to my post, not that it's any of your business, but my husband is absolutely qualified to do the work.

 

[GAN]

How do you know the person mentioned in a post on a message board *isn't* licensed or qualified to do the work????? If you're referring to my post, not that it's any of your business, but my husband is absolutely qualified to do the work.

Did I direct something towards you? I have no idea what you said…

 

[cabanafrau]

I know it happens all the time, but I'm always amazed at the number of unlicensed people who perform their own "electrical work" for something like this. That is taking a really large risk to save (sometimes) $1,000. A plumbing error will only cause a flood, an electrical error will burn your life savings down ...if you're lucky!

Electrical/fire risk is definitely serious, but the damage water can do from a plumbing error can just as easily wash life savings away -- or leave them to mildew away.

A good friend had a plumbing failure in her kitchen that was very fortunately discovered after about three or four hours, but managed to do well over 80k in damage nonetheless. She had to provide documentation to her insurance company regarding contractors who had worked on her kitchen remodel a couple years prior so they could verify the plumbing work was indeed done by a licensed plumber and accept equipment failure as the cause. If the work had been a DIY job insurance would have rejected the claim and her only recourse would have been a lawsuit to force them to cover the damage. Fortunately her son had a half day of HS and came home to find the flood instead of her coming home to it after work. The extra four or five hours of flooding would have probably required the entire house to be taken down to the studs and repaired.

 

[GAN]

Electrical/fire risk is definitely serious, but the damage water can do from a plumbing error can just as easily wash life savings away -- or leave them to mildew away.

A good friend had a plumbing failure in her kitchen that was very fortunately discovered after about three or four hours, but managed to do well over 80k in damage nonetheless. She had to provide documentation to her insurance company regarding contractors who had worked on her kitchen remodel a couple years prior so they could verify the plumbing work was indeed done by a licensed plumber and accept equipment failure as the cause. If the work had been a DIY job insurance would have rejected the claim and her only recourse would have been a lawsuit to force them to cover the damage. Fortunately her son had a half day of HS and came home to find the flood instead of her coming home to it after work. The extra four or five hours of flooding would have probably required the entire house to be taken down to the studs and repaired.

I'd take $80k in damage over rebuilding my entire home. Not to mention the risk of life. With the business I'm in, I hear a lot of horror stories and get to witness the occasional DIY'er job and I'll leave it at that......

 

[cabanafrau]

I'd take $80k in damage over rebuilding my entire home. Not to mention the risk of life. With the business I'm in, I hear a lot of horror stories and get to witness the occasional DIY'er job and I'll leave it at that......

She only had 80k damage because it happened to occur on the day her son had a half day of school and happened to come home afterwards. Absent that the water would have had another four to five hours unchecked, taking out the entire house. This also happened in a cold snap in the middle of winter. The remediation/cleanup crew told her they've had homes flood while homeowners were on a getaway to the warm weather and neighbors notice water/ice pouring out the door onto the porch.

Since this happened to my friend at least 15, maybe 20 years ago, the 80k you're dismissing as insignificant would be somewhere north of 100k now.

Fire and water are both very destructive forces I pray I never have to deal with.

 

[GAN]

She only had 80k damage because it happened to occur on the day her son had a half day of school and happened to come home afterwards. Absent that the water would have had another four to five hours unchecked, taking out the entire house. This also happened in a cold snap in the middle of winter. The remediation/cleanup crew told her they've had homes flood while homeowners were on a getaway to the warm weather and neighbors notice water/ice pouring out the door onto the porch.

Since this happened to my friend at least 15, maybe 20 years ago, the 80k you're dismissing as insignificant would be somewhere north of 100k now.

Fire and water are both very destructive forces I pray I never have to deal with.

And you're dismissing the fact the electricity could kill you. Not to mention, total damage dollars to homes caused by careless wiring vs. careless plumbing isn't even comparable ...I never claimed it NEVER could happen. You're talking extremes and I'm talking everyday occurrences. Peace...

 

[cabanafrau]

And you're dismissing the fact the electricity could kill you. Not to mention, total damage dollars to homes caused by careless wiring vs. careless plumbing isn't even comparable ...I never claimed it NEVER could happen. You're talking extremes and I'm talking everyday occurrences. Peace...

??? I'm not the one dismissing anything. Maybe go back and read your comment I originally responded to. I commented specifically because you dismissed the damage water from a plumbing issue can cause.

Every plumbing issue won't flood an entire home, or even major parts of it. I believe the most common culprit in major flooding/water damage from plumbing source is the filler pipe on a washing machine. Many plumbing issues cause tremendous damage precisely because they manage to go undetected for long periods of time. Both scenarios are not uncommon occurrences -- or insignificant financially.

Every electrical fire does not result in death, or complete destruction of a dwelling. Those are the extreme examples.

I hope to never deal with fire or water damage, neither are good scenarios.

 

[jrsharp21]

Reporting back on the topic. I ordered my generator and received it this past Friday. Today, the electrician came over and installed the 50 amp inlet to my breaker box along with the interlock. We tested it out before he left and everything worked great! AC came right on (woo hoo!) and fridges and lights in the house were on. It is a duel fuel generator, propane and gas. For the install, I just bought a 20lb propane tank to test it out. The electrician told me to break in the generator over the next several weeks. He said I probably want to get it up to about 6 hours. He said I could break it out into hour, 2 hour increments so I don't get the neighbors too mad at me.

Now exploring the different fuel options. I like propane, and was able to power up what we wanted in the house with it. Advantage of the propane is that I don't have to deal with storing fuel, putting it in the car if it does not get used in X amount of time, then emptying the fuel out of the generator if it doesn't get used up. But of course the run time and power is not as great as gas. Looking at 5, maybe 6 hours on the 20lb tank. So I would probably need to get a 50lb tank and a couple of other 20lb tanks if I know a weather event is coming. For gas, I have been looking at just putting E0 in it so there is not as much maintenance needed. But there closest E0 pump is about 30 minutes away. So probably would need to fill up several tanks of that. Metal gas cans are not cheap.

All in all I would say I am pretty happy with the purchase and process. For a little over $2k in (generator was $1,250, 25ft 50amp cord was $140, and inlet installation was $770), I now am able to power up the house whenever needed. Since moving to the Houston area, we have had two major power outage instances. One was a few years ago where pretty much everything froze over and we had no heat for several days. Hanging out in a below 50 degree house is no fun. Then this past hurricane where we had no power for several days where it was cooler to hang outside in 90 degree heat than it was to be inside.

If there is anyone in the Houston area that needs a good electrician referral, let me know. The company I used was awesome.

 

[EACarlson]

Reporting back on the topic. I ordered my generator and received it this past Friday. Today, the electrician came over and installed the 50 amp inlet to my breaker box along with the interlock. We tested it out before he left and everything worked great! AC came right on (woo hoo!) and fridges and lights in the house were on. It is a duel fuel generator, propane and gas. For the install, I just bought a 20lb propane tank to test it out. The electrician told me to break in the generator over the next several weeks. He said I probably want to get it up to about 6 hours. He said I could break it out into hour, 2 hour increments so I don't get the neighbors too mad at me.

Now exploring the different fuel options. I like propane, and was able to power up what we wanted in the house with it. Advantage of the propane is that I don't have to deal with storing fuel, putting it in the car if it does not get used in X amount of time, then emptying the fuel out of the generator if it doesn't get used up. But of course the run time and power is not as great as gas. Looking at 5, maybe 6 hours on the 20lb tank. So I would probably need to get a 50lb tank and a couple of other 20lb tanks if I know a weather event is coming. For gas, I have been looking at just putting E0 in it so there is not as much maintenance needed. But there closest E0 pump is about 30 minutes away. So probably would need to fill up several tanks of that. Metal gas cans are not cheap.

All in all I would say I am pretty happy with the purchase and process. For a little over $2k in (generator was $1,250, 25ft 50amp cord was $140, and inlet installation was $770), I now am able to power up the house whenever needed. Since moving to the Houston area, we have had two major power outage instances. One was a few years ago where pretty much everything froze over and we had no heat for several days. Hanging out in a below 50 degree house is no fun. Then this past hurricane where we had no power for several days where it was cooler to hang outside in 90 degree heat than it was to be inside.

If there is anyone in the Houston area that needs a good electrician referral, let me know. The company I used was awesome.

You still wouldn't want that E0 gas to sit for longer than a few months. I'd suggest keeping a couple large propane tanks as those should last at least a couple years, then go to gas if it's going to be a prolonged situation.

 

[barkley]

will yours be set up to do an auto testing run each week or two? not sure if yours turns on by itself or you have to do it manualy. either way-we estimated how much propane is needed over time for that. we then went to the manual and calculated how much a FULL run with it pulling at full power for the longest period of time we had experienced a power outage would consume. we already had an existing propane tank but upped the size and have the company we rent it from (cheap rental imho) do a fill twice a year-we do it right around thanksgiving and again in the late spring. by buying larger amounts twice a year we pay much less than getting the smaller tanks refilled.

 

[_19disnA]

I suspect that only those whole house type units will run any sort of auto self-test. The backup generator I have sounds like something similar to what the OP recently purchased. You store it in your garage until there is a power outage. Then you wheel it outside, connect the power cord that the electrician previously wired into your main panel and you are ready to use it. I wheel it out of the garage and run the engine maybe 2-3 times per year for a few minutes so it is ready whenever there happens to be a power disruption. Mine also can run on either gas or propane. Also put a gas stabilizer in the tank much like I do with my lawn mower to prevent fuel issues when it sits unused for a long period of time.

Those whole house auto-start units are a LOT more expensive and as discussed previously, depends on how often you power goes out and how much you want to spend on something you may rarely use.

 

[jo-jo]

Reporting back on the topic. I ordered my generator and received it this past Friday. Today, the electrician came over and installed the 50 amp inlet to my breaker box along with the interlock. We tested it out before he left and everything worked great! AC came right on (woo hoo!) and fridges and lights in the house were on. It is a duel fuel generator, propane and gas. For the install, I just bought a 20lb propane tank to test it out. The electrician told me to break in the generator over the next several weeks. He said I probably want to get it up to about 6 hours. He said I could break it out into hour, 2 hour increments so I don't get the neighbors too mad at me.

Now exploring the different fuel options. I like propane, and was able to power up what we wanted in the house with it. Advantage of the propane is that I don't have to deal with storing fuel, putting it in the car if it does not get used in X amount of time, then emptying the fuel out of the generator if it doesn't get used up. But of course the run time and power is not as great as gas. Looking at 5, maybe 6 hours on the 20lb tank. So I would probably need to get a 50lb tank and a couple of other 20lb tanks if I know a weather event is coming. For gas, I have been looking at just putting E0 in it so there is not as much maintenance needed. But there closest E0 pump is about 30 minutes away. So probably would need to fill up several tanks of that. Metal gas cans are not cheap.

All in all I would say I am pretty happy with the purchase and process. For a little over $2k in (generator was $1,250, 25ft 50amp cord was $140, and inlet installation was $770), I now am able to power up the house whenever needed. Since moving to the Houston area, we have had two major power outage instances. One was a few years ago where pretty much everything froze over and we had no heat for several days. Hanging out in a below 50 degree house is no fun. Then this past hurricane where we had no power for several days where it was cooler to hang outside in 90 degree heat than it was to be inside.

If there is anyone in the Houston area that needs a good electrician referral, let me know. The company I used was awesome.

I haven't look much at all, but see amazon ads for solar generators for several grand , it looks like you got a great deal. I thought it would be more like 7-10 grand to get a whole house generator.

 

[jrsharp21]

I suspect that only those whole house type units will run any sort of auto self-test. The backup generator I have sounds like something similar to what the OP recently purchased. You store it in your garage until there is a power outage. Then you wheel it outside, connect the power cord that the electrician previously wired into your main panel and you are ready to use it. I test it maybe 2-3 times per year so it is ready whenever I might need to use it. Mine also can run on either gas or propane. Also put a gas stabilizer in the tank much like I do with my lawn mower to prevent fuel issues when it sits unused for a long period of time.

Those whole house auto-start units are a LOT more expensive and as discussed previously, depends on how often you power goes out and how much you want to spend on something you may rarely use.

Yup, this is the set up I have. Portable generator that I am storing in my garage until needed. So for the break in and just running every few weeks to just keep it healthy, I will have to wheel it out of the garage each time to turn it on.

It seems like we are trending with one major power outage once every two years. So definitely didn't want to spend a ton of money on a whole house generator. This unit should do the trick.

 

[Cygnus 2112]

I suspect that only those whole house type units will run any sort of auto self-test. The backup generator I have sounds like something similar to what the OP recently purchased. You store it in your garage until there is a power outage. Then you wheel it outside, connect the power cord that the electrician previously wired into your main panel and you are ready to use it. I test it maybe 2-3 times per year so it is ready whenever I might need to use it. Mine also can run on either gas or propane. Also put a gas stabilizer in the tank much like I do with my lawn mower to prevent fuel issues when it sits unused for a long period of time.

Those whole house auto-start units are a LOT more expensive and as discussed previously, depends on how often you power goes out and how much you want to spend on something you may rarely use.

Yes, the whole house units self-test weekly....mine comes on Sunday mornings around 10am.

 

[_19disnA]

Yes, the whole house units self-test weekly....mine comes on Sunday mornings around 10am.

I agree. Only those permanently installed generators do any sort of automatic self-test since they are always connected. The portable generator I have is stored in the garage until needed. Then I wheel it outside and connect up the electrical cord when there is any sort of power outage.