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A generator is great but depends on your needs (long)
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Posted by Noel [Email] (more from Noel) on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:58:27 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: Electric generator, yaofeng, Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:13:07
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Yaofeng, I forget where in NJ you live but chances are it's more developed than where I am in NH. So your needs may differ. When we lose electricity we lose the well pump (no running water or no toilet flushing), the oil-fired furnace, the stove/oven, etc. I don't need a sump pump as my garage is under the house and if water does come into the basement it drains out into the garage and then outside. But I know many folks in my area who have a pump and *all* have had pump failures or been flooded when the power fails and they have water coming in.

After a 7-day power outage in Dec. 2008 (w/ temps down to 15 degrees F) I pulled the trigger on a 5700-watt generator. This will run multiple lights, the well pump, water heater, furnace, microwave, coffee maker, etc. I runs on gasoline and goes for several hours on 5 gallons of gas. If I'd had it in '08 I would have avoided a frozen pipe that cost some bucks to repair. The generator was $600.

I fired it up for the first time about 3 weeks ago when we lost power in a huge rain and windstorm. We were lucky and had power back in about 35 hours, but some in my town were out for 3 days. No fun at all. Outages like this seem to be happening more often, so for us it is a worthwhile investment.

If you get a generator, IMHO it's worth getting one that will run some things (so that's 3000 watts or more with decent start-up surge capacity) and get it wired in professionally with a transfer switch to turn off the power to the street. This is essential, and while pricey, is the only safe way to run a generator. In a pinch you can backfeed it into your house by plugging the gen into an electric clothes dryer outlet and powering up that way, but you still have to turn off the power to the street at your circuit board. Otherwise you endanger the power company workers and are sending the power from the gen to the rest of your town.

FWIW, I like the independence of having a generator, especially in a semi-rural area.

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