Flooding and generators ???

[SEA333]

Apparently when we moved to the western Chicago suburbs 4 years ago, we brought with us a weather pattern that dumps 3 inches of rain an hour on us and floods every street, ally, backyard, and basement in our village. Sigh. This is the 5th time this year. Luckily for us, we only get a little seepage from the foundation, which is in the process of being fixed (the guy has come out twice so far and guarantees that he will keep coming back until we get no more water), and we have not lost power during a storm - yet.

DH wants to buy a generator just in case the power goes out when one of these storms come up. He mainly wants it for the sump pump, which I totally understand, but I want it JUST for the sump pump and that's it, and he wants one that can handle the pump, the fridge, and the ever-important TV just in case of an extended outage. I don't want to spend the money and would like to keep the generator budget under $400 if possible. DH says $400 is not possible and to get a decent generator one must look at well over $500.

Any advice? Places to go for a good deal? Amount of power a decent generator needs to suck water out of a sump pump pit?

Thanks!

 

[xlxo]

My thoughts....

• Is it just your home that gets flooded or the whole neighborhood? If just your home, I would be rethinking about drainage and having our gutters empty to the street. If the neighborhood? I would be looking to move to another location in the coming years. Getting home flood insurance could be a clue. The city should be doing something to minimize flooding.
• think about where are you going to store the generator. Small generators will take up less space, but a larger generator will give you more potency (especially for a fridge).
• think about where you are going to store fuel
• for simple electronics? What about solar? A flat panel against a window helps.
• for brief power outages, I prefer one of those battery booster packs. It jump starts my car and can power simple devices for a few hours.
• some have modified by their hybrid cars to provide power to the home during an outage. When the power is down, they just turn on the car ignition.

Talk to the neighbors about what emergency planning they have done.

 

[ellochka]

While I have no clue how much a generator will cost, I think it is a good idea to get one for sump pump. No, it's a great idea, especially, if your basement has any stuff in it.

I am with you on a generator or even battery (I think that's what my old boss had) to support the pump only. Refrigerator can be ok for a couple of days, assuming you don't open the freezer much. TV - lol, we live in the age of laptops and iPads. We used those in an outage. 15 hours is enough for a few days, and you can always re-charge at work or even in the car.

 

[starwart]

Check out Costco or other warehouse clubs. Most home generators can generate 7500 watts (sustained) i think. All you need is to supply power your sump pump, some lights, refrigerator, (washing machine/dryer , microwave oven but not all at the same time). You don't want to power your electronics because it may damage them. You also have to consider the cost of wiring(transfer switch) your house For the generator.

 

[starwart]

Check out Costco or other warehouse clubs. Sorry for this double post

 

[EMAW_KSU]

There are a couple other options for back up sump pumb. They have battery powered pumps for use when the power is out and they also have water powered pumps. The water powered pumps would not work if you are on a well.

Portable generators come in many sizes from 1000 watts to 7500 watts. I have a 1000 that i use for tailgating that is very quiet which was one of my wants when purchasing. The size required to run your sump pump will depend on the size of the pump. It will take more power to start than to run the pump so make sure you look at start wattage.

Estimated Power Requirements

 

[ellochka]

There are a couple other options for back up sump pumb. They have battery powered pumps for use when the power is out and they also have water powered pumps. The water powered pumps would not work if you are on a well.

Portable generators come in many sizes from 1000 watts to 7500 watts. I have a 1000 that i use for tailgating that is very quiet which was one of my wants when purchasing. The size required to run your sump pump will depend on the size of the pump. It will take more power to start than to run the pump so make sure you look at start wattage.

Estimated Power Requirements

That's a great link! So, basically, 2000-2500W is going to cover the sump pump. I bet it is cheaper than 7500W plus retrofitting the panel to install a switch.

 

[barkley]

Check out Costco or other warehouse clubs. Most home generators can generate 7500 watts (sustained) i think. All you need is to supply power your sump pump, some lights, refrigerator, (washing machine/dryer , microwave oven but not all at the same time). You don't want to power your electronics because it may damage them. You also have to consider the cost of wiring(transfer switch) your house For the generator.

a generator that's wired to the home correctly shouldn't cause any problems with electronics. ours (generac brand) goes on automatically in the event of electricity loss but doesn't automatically turn off when electricity is restored-it waits until it detects that the electricity has remained consistently on for a couple of minutes before turning off so we don't get power fluxes and surges. between that and the surge protectors we already have all our electronics plugged into they do fine.

with the type of generator we have (purchased from Costco-least expensive option by far) we had to pick and choose which items we wanted to power. the electrician we hired helped us figure out how much the generator could support, and what (1) our must haves required, and (2) our optional items required. for us the must haves were our well pump, fridge(s), freezer, laptops (when it storms we might not get radio or tv reception so we need to know what's going on in the world), and lights in the main rooms of our home. we purchased a larger generator than the op is considering so we also had enough to run the stove, microwave and tv's as well.

ours is run on propane (hooked up to the same tank we use for our home) and wasn't cheap to purchase/install but when we've had multiple hour to multiple day outages it's been great.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

That's a great link! So, basically, 2000-2500W is going to cover the sump pump. I bet it is cheaper than 7500W plus retrofitting the panel to install a switch.

I know it is cheaper but it is not the same thing. The great thing about a standby generator is that they start automatically. With a portable you will have to be home and hook it up.

 

[ellochka]

I know it is cheaper but it is not the same thing. The great thing about a standby generator is that they start automatically. With a portable you will have to be home and hook it up.

Then my recommendation is to calculate chances if you are going to be out on vacation or otherwise when the flood hits. Let's say flood is possible 40 weeks a year, and you are expected to be out for 2. You are paying a hefty premium to cover 5% chance that you will be out of town and won't be able to turn on the generator. On the other side of the equation is how much damage the flood can do.

 

[Marionnette]

Apparently when we moved to the western Chicago suburbs 4 years ago, we brought with us a weather pattern that dumps 3 inches of rain an hour on us and floods every street, ally, backyard, and basement in our village. Sigh. This is the 5th time this year. Luckily for us, we only get a little seepage from the foundation, which is in the process of being fixed (the guy has come out twice so far and guarantees that he will keep coming back until we get no more water), and we have not lost power during a storm - yet.

DH wants to buy a generator just in case the power goes out when one of these storms come up. He mainly wants it for the sump pump, which I totally understand, but I want it JUST for the sump pump and that's it, and he wants one that can handle the pump, the fridge, and the ever-important TV just in case of an extended outage. I don't want to spend the money and would like to keep the generator budget under $400 if possible. DH says $400 is not possible and to get a decent generator one must look at well over $500.

Any advice? Places to go for a good deal? Amount of power a decent generator needs to suck water out of a sump pump pit?

Thanks!

What's the deductible on your homeowner's insurance?

We recently had an extended power outage (29 hours) but thankfully we didn't get a large amount of rain, just wind. I ran out and bought a large generator to power our freezer and refrigerator. It had plenty in reserve to power my microwave, coffeemaker, toaster oven, lamps, TV, DVD player etc. Plus it could have been hooked up to power the sump pump if the emergency battery on it wore down. I should note that our internet, digital phone and television service was down the entire time due to the power outage also affecting Verizon's lines.

I spent $800+ on the generator based on the fact that our homeowner's deductible was $500 and I would have lost at least $800 in food (not to mention the time it took to purchase and re-wrap it). The generator was a one-time expense that will pay us back over time. We may invest more money in getting a transfer panel installed at some point, which would make connecting the generator a much easier process.

 

[SEA333]

My thoughts....

[*]Is it just your home that gets flooded or the whole neighborhood? If just your home, I would be rethinking about drainage and having our gutters empty to the street. If the neighborhood? I would be looking to move to another location in the coming years. Getting home flood insurance could be a clue. The city should be doing something to minimize flooding.
[*]think about where are you going to store the generator. Small generators will take up less space, but a larger generator will give you more potency (especially for a fridge).
[*]think about where you are going to store fuel
[*]for simple electronics? What about solar? A flat panel against a window helps.
[*]for brief power outages, I prefer one of those battery booster packs. It jump starts my car and can power simple devices for a few hours.
[*]some have modified by their hybrid cars to provide power to the home during an outage. When the power is down, they just turn on the car ignition.


Talk to the neighbors about what emergency planning they have done.

1. Whole neighborhood and surrounding towns. We live between a fairly large river and a large creek. Sewer/drainage system is 60 years old. The village is aware. And by aware, I mean that they have a couple programs in place to help homeowners with a 50/50 split on preventative measures. Problem is, we have been getting literally dumped on (2-3 inches in less than an hour) when it rains...even new sewer systems have a hard time keeping up in our area.

2. Can't move for next 10 years. We live in the "best", least flood-prone part of the village. It gets worse the closer you live to the river. And we won't move the kids out of their schools again. Did that once and it was a nightmare ,for poor 5th grade (at the time) DS. youngest DS is entering 3rd grade this year, so we have 10 years to go.

3. Rezoning next year might place us in a flood zone. Thats the rumor anyway.


4. Just want to power a sump plump if the power goes out during heavy rain. I can live without everything else till power comes back.

5. Love the hybrid idea lol, but we don't have one. Creative idea though!!

Thanks

 

[EMAW_KSU]

1. Whole neighborhood and surrounding towns. We live between a fairly large river and a large creek. Sewer/drainage system is 60 years old. The village is aware. And by aware, I mean that they have a couple programs in place to help homeowners with a 50/50 split on preventative measures. Problem is, we have been getting literally dumped on (2-3 inches in less than an hour) when it rains...even new sewer systems have a hard time keeping up in our area.

2. Can't move for next 10 years. We live in the "best", least flood-prone part of the village. It gets worse the closer you live to the river. And we won't move the kids out of their schools again. Did that once and it was a nightmare ,for poor 5th grade (at the time) DS. youngest DS is entering 3rd grade this year, so we have 10 years to go.

3. Rezoning next year might place us in a flood zone. Thats the rumor anyway.


4. Just want to power a sump plump if the power goes out during heavy rain. I can live without everything else till power comes back.

5. Love the hybrid idea lol, but we don't have one. Creative idea though!!

Thanks

I would just get a back up pump then.

 

[Sadie22]

We have a marine battery as that switches on as backup power for our sump pump in case of any power outages. It won't run for days, but if we were away it would allow enough time for the neighbors to alert us that the power was out so we could have family come tend to the house.

We have a portable generator that we have to put in place and turn on for other things. We have needed it twice in quite a few years. When we use it, it provides enough power to keep the frozen food cold, run the well pump, cook and light a few lights.

 

[bettymae1121]

Getting one for the sump pump that comes on automatically is a great idea. But you still may want to get one for your fridge/freezer and other wants/needs...if not now then down the road. You may not think that you'd care about not having power for 3+ days, but wait until you actually experience it!

I know for us, we can have upwards of $500 worth of meats just in the freezer at any given time (we buy in bulk direct from a farm 2x a year) so a $500 generator seemed like a wise investment for us, for that reason alone. It runs my home office (I work from home), the tv and a few lights, plus the fridge/freezer. At night we can unplug the fridge/freezer and run the window A/C unit in the bedroom so we can sleep if it's hot (then plug in the fridge/freezer again in the morning). In short, the larger generator allows us to more or less live our lives normally while ComEd is trying to get back online.

 

[lazy daisy]

Apparently when we moved to the western Chicago suburbs 4 years ago, we brought with us a weather pattern that dumps 3 inches of rain an hour on us and floods every street, ally, backyard, and basement in our village. Sigh. This is the 5th time this year. Luckily for us, we only get a little seepage from the foundation, which is in the process of being fixed (the guy has come out twice so far and guarantees that he will keep coming back until we get no more water), and we have not lost power during a storm - yet.

DH wants to buy a generator just in case the power goes out when one of these storms come up. He mainly wants it for the sump pump, which I totally understand, but I want it JUST for the sump pump and that's it, and he wants one that can handle the pump, the fridge, and the ever-important TV just in case of an extended outage. I don't want to spend the money and would like to keep the generator budget under $400 if possible. DH says $400 is not possible and to get a decent generator one must look at well over $500.

Any advice? Places to go for a good deal? Amount of power a decent generator needs to suck water out of a sump pump pit?

Thanks!

We live in the Chicago Area too , and have the same issues, we just bought a generator from menards, I think it was 3500watt for $280, I believe, it had to be ordered. It's supposed to be able to run two sump pumps and the fridge/ freezer.

 

[Disneychick75]

It's hard to find a generator under $400. We live in hurricane country and know about flooding. If you do get one, be sure to either buy or have a frame made that keeps the generator off of the ground. Ours sits up about 2 feet. We've not had water but others around us have.