wabmester
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2003
- Messages
- 4,459
We had a little wind storm in the PacNW last week. Our place lost power for 5 days, and everything in the house is electric -- hot water, heat, stove, etc.
Luckily, we were out of town in warmer climes for the entire episode, but it got me thinking (once again) about getting a generator or making some other changes.
So, I figure our options are:
1) Get a massive stand-by propane-fueled generator and tie it in to the main panel with an automatic switch. Downside: cost, maintenance, noise.
2) Get a portable gas-fueled generator, add a manual switch to the panel, and bring the thing out whenever we need it to power a few critical circuits. Downside: storage, maintenance, noise.
3) Switch a few key appliances over to propane (e.g., heat, stove, hot water). Downside: cost.
4) Leave town whenever the power goes out.
I'm leaning towards some combination of (4) and (2). Anybody have any sage advice on generators? Our local Costco has a Coleman PowerMate 5500W portable gas-fueled generator for about $450 that looks reasonable for powering the fridge, some lights, and space heaters. I assume we could add a manual switchover for another $300 or so.
Luckily, we were out of town in warmer climes for the entire episode, but it got me thinking (once again) about getting a generator or making some other changes.
So, I figure our options are:
1) Get a massive stand-by propane-fueled generator and tie it in to the main panel with an automatic switch. Downside: cost, maintenance, noise.
2) Get a portable gas-fueled generator, add a manual switch to the panel, and bring the thing out whenever we need it to power a few critical circuits. Downside: storage, maintenance, noise.
3) Switch a few key appliances over to propane (e.g., heat, stove, hot water). Downside: cost.
4) Leave town whenever the power goes out.
I'm leaning towards some combination of (4) and (2). Anybody have any sage advice on generators? Our local Costco has a Coleman PowerMate 5500W portable gas-fueled generator for about $450 that looks reasonable for powering the fridge, some lights, and space heaters. I assume we could add a manual switchover for another $300 or so.