There will never be another power outage in the valley

[captp]

After 2 years of urging (or more) my brother-in-law finally allowed me to pay for a backup generator. We generally have 4 or 5 (maybe more) outages a year here, anywhere from an hour to about 8. The longest, several years ago, was, I think, 8 days.
We chose a Generac 24kW (or 26kW) propane; best price overall, best service, best timing on installation by almost 2 months. One estimate was $6,000 over what I paid; BiL stopped him as soon as he gave the estimate; the other 3 were actually within about $100 or so of what we went with, but they were all at least 2 months out.
Last Wednesday, it was installed, along with 2 large tanks (250 gallons each, I think). Took about 6 hours or so. We lost power for a couple of hours while they completed the connections from meter to generator. I was ready with a dozen movies and series episodes, so all I had to do was switch the jack from the headphone amp to the tablet.
Sure beats having to drag the 4kW gas generator out and connect it; it could barely keep up with just the house needs, not to mention the garage (2400 square feet with some power hungry tools). The new one will keep everything going, no problem.
I don't know if this is common; the generator automatically powers up every 2 weeks to run for 5 minutes. Keeps the oil from drying out.
I'm guessing that we'll never have another outage as long as we're here. You're welcome, fellow valley residents.

 

[Kentos]

After 2 years of urging (or more) my brother-in-law finally allowed me to pay for a backup generator. We generally have 4 or 5 (maybe more) outages a year here, anywhere from an hour to about 8. The longest, several years ago, was, I think, 8 days.
We chose a Generac 24kW (or 26kW) propane; best price overall, best service, best timing on installation by almost 2 months. One estimate was $6,000 over what I paid; BiL stopped him as soon as he gave the estimate; the other 3 were actually within about $100 or so of what we went with, but they were all at least 2 months out.
Last Wednesday, it was installed, along with 2 large tanks (250 gallons each, I think). Took about 6 hours or so. We lost power for a couple of hours while they completed the connections from meter to generator. I was ready with a dozen movies and series episodes, so all I had to do was switch the jack from the headphone amp to the tablet.
Sure beats having to drag the 4kW gas generator out and connect it; it could barely keep up with just the house needs, not to mention the garage (2400 square feet with some power hungry tools). The new one will keep everything going, no problem.
I don't know if this is common; the generator automatically powers up every 2 weeks to run for 5 minutes. Keeps the oil from drying out.
I'm guessing that we'll never have another outage as long as we're here. You're welcome, fellow valley residents.
View attachment 1911362

Could give me a really general ballpark cost? I have always toyed with the idea, but I think it might be time to put on the big boy pants and do it.

 

[GeronimoWSB]

Looks great, I've been eyeing a solar/battery bank setup with a small propane generator backup that we have already. Will Prowse on yt is a gold mine in info. Have you called around for a refill service on the tanks? Imo people need to scale down house size and invest it towards self reliance.

 

[captp]

Could give me a really general ballpark cost? I have always toyed with the idea, but I think it might be time to put on the big boy pants and do it.

$16,000+ (under $16,500) including 2 tanks & installation. I think I could have saved about $4-6,000 if we had done it 2-3 years ago.

 

[captp]

Looks great, I've been eyeing a solar/battery bank setup with a small propane generator backup that we have already. Will Prowse on yt is a gold mine in info. Have you called around for a refill service on the tanks? Imo people need to scale down house size and invest it towards self reliance.

We have a regular propane company we've used for years. Gas stovetop (electric oven for some reason) and 2 large tanks for the garage heater, a real relief from the dogs (4) when I want to read or watch movies/videos undisturbed.

 

[brucered]

We have a regular propane company we've used for years. Gas stovetop (electric oven for some reason) and 2 large tanks for the garage heater, a real relief from the dogs (4) when I want to read or watch movies/videos undisturbed.

The electric oven is superior to the gas oven. But gas stovetop is better than electric.

Best of both worlds. Duel Fuel.

Whoever decided on that for you, made the right choice.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Could give me a really general ballpark cost? I have always toyed with the idea, but I think it might be time to put on the big boy pants and do it.

We had a 18kW Generac generator installed, using natural gas as we have this for heating, water, cooking already in the house (our gas supplier needed to install an updated, larger meter, no cost).
Our total cost was $12,495 installed and everything included, even the permits. This was the best deal we could get here in central ($$$) NJ. Another quote for same unit was north of $18k, and a third company quoted us about the same we eventually spent.

 

[luvmysuper]

I don't know if this is common; the generator automatically powers up every 2 weeks to run for 5 minutes.

It's programmable. I have mine set up to run for 10 minutes at 10:00 am every Tuesday morning.

 

[Rudy Vey]

It's programmable. I have mine set up to run for 10 minutes at 10:00 am every Tuesday morning.

Ours tests on Wednesdays at 10 am for 5 minutes.

 

[Tirvine]

Ours tests on Wednesdays at 10 am for 5 minutes.

Same here. After our last major winter power loss event, our next door neighbors, who had taken refuge here, got one installed. We have our weekly power up and our annual service in sync, getting a nice discount for the latter. The folk across the street have one, too. We need to ask if they would like to sync up as well.

 

[Toothpick]

I've debated this for myself over the past several years. In the end I can't justify the cost. I have a natural gas line right in the front yard, and a hook up right next to the house. The previous house that was here ran on gas. New one runs on electric. So it would be very easy to hook up a generator and have unlimited power.

Since I work for the electric company it's very easy to see my outage history. IIRC the longest this location has been without power was roughly 4 hours in the past 10 years. Historical data doesn't justify spending $10,000+ on a generator. Of course there is always that once in a lifetime event that knocks ya out for days but that's just a chance you take to save 10 grand. I live right off a main 3 phase line so it gets restored pretty quickly. I've seen some outages on the system last for 24+ hours after storms, and during the "once in a lifetime" snow event we had several years ago some places were out for close to a week. If I lived in one of those areas you can be darned sure I'd have back up power. But where I am now it just doesn't make sense. If it's not just my single transformer that goes out then there are several hundred people around me that are also out so we are pretty high on the priority.

It would be pretty great to not even blink an eye at a power outage though.

 

[captp]

Ours did its power-up yesterday. I was sitting on the porch on the opposite side of the house & heard nothing. The 2 dogs sitting with me immediately jumped up, started barking like it was the full moon & ran like hell to protect us from the intruders.
Good doggies.

 

[luvmysuper]

I've debated this for myself over the past several years. In the end I can't justify the cost. I have a natural gas line right in the front yard, and a hook up right next to the house. The previous house that was here ran on gas. New one runs on electric. So it would be very easy to hook up a generator and have unlimited power.

Since I work for the electric company it's very easy to see my outage history. IIRC the longest this location has been without power was roughly 4 hours in the past 10 years. Historical data doesn't justify spending $10,000+ on a generator. Of course there is always that once in a lifetime event that knocks ya out for days but that's just a chance you take to save 10 grand. I live right off a main 3 phase line so it gets restored pretty quickly. I've seen some outages on the system last for 24+ hours after storms, and during the "once in a lifetime" snow event we had several years ago some places were out for close to a week. If I lived in one of those areas you can be darned sure I'd have back up power. But where I am now it just doesn't make sense. If it's not just my single transformer that goes out then there are several hundred people around me that are also out so we are pretty high on the priority.

It would be pretty great to not even blink an eye at a power outage though.

Location, infrastructure, and history are key decision elements.
We live in a very small subdivision, in an unincorporated part of town, and all lines are above ground (in a heavily wooded area).
We're relatively low on the priority list, and in many cases our subdivision is the only one affected.
We've had numerous outages due to storms and tree falls.
Winter is worse than any other time. It took one several day outage with no power (no heat and no water) to make me decide.
We've had several short to mid range outages from a few hours to a full day, and I'm very happy with the decision.

 

[njpaddy]

I looked into it after a 40 hr power outage with Hurricane Irene in 2011. If it wasn't for jerry-rigging almost 200' of various sized extension cords from our sump pump to a neighbor's generator behind us, we would have had 12" of water in our finished basement like neighbors next to us. The electrician I called in afterwards recommended against a "whole house" generator, saying it would never justify the cost. Instead he recommended a 10 circuit manual transfer box, powered by a portable generator. He charged around $1100 for the box and connection. Another local company had quoted me $3200 for a 6 circuit box. I shopped around and bought a Honda 5000 generator for power. A portable generator alone wouldn't power a well pump, sump pump and furnace.

The next year Hurricane Sandy knocked out power in our area for 9 days, and the portable generator powered our appliances, lights, well pump, sump pump, and even the furnace, as night-time temps dipped into the 40s/50s. To conserve gas, and give us a break from the noise, I usually ran it 3-4 hours on and off. Every morning we had some neighbors and relatives stop by for coffee and to warm up. This system worked out well for us. We sold the house in late 2020, and 2011 was the last time we needed it. As far as maintenance, the generator was kept in a shed. I always drained the gas in the generator, and every 2 years I'd run half a can of pure gas in it and change the oil. I also kept multiple metal 5gal gas cans to stock up in case of a storm. If I didn't need it, it went into our cars.

As far as a whole-house, chose the company carefully. I had a former co-worker in a rural area install one. When he had a problem, the company was long gone.

 

[helicopter]

We had a 18kW Generac generator installed, using natural gas as we have this for heating, water, cooking already in the house (our gas supplier needed to install an updated, larger meter, no cost).
Our total cost was $12,495 installed and everything included, even the permits. This was the best deal we could get here in central ($$$) NJ. Another quote for same unit was north of $18k, and a third company quoted us about the same we eventually spent.

I have the same one with the same deal, except I paid in Michigan dollars, which are apparently worth quite a bit more than New Jersey dollars.

 

[DesertIguana]

When we live in Pollock Pines, El Dorado County California, we would loose power couple of time each winter. Normally 2-5 days, we had wood stove to keep warm, cook, and make coffee.

Not a big deal, never thought about generator, but think back might have been nice in am, a Hot, not Ice Cold Shower.

 

[StillShaving]

My history is a lot like @Toothpick, so backup power is not something I seriously consider, since there is no one in the home who couldn't deal with a 24 hour power outage if it ever came to that. Our longest outage in two decades was about 8 hours. Most are less than 5 minutes.

But I was curious about one aspect of these backup systems....when the backup generator performs its weekly test run, does it also isolate the home from the main feed and directly power the home? Or feed power back to the grid to marginally improve efficiency? Or is it simply an exercise to keep the combustion engine in ready condition and not worry about the power generation aspect.

 

[captp]

My history is a lot like @Toothpick, so backup power is not something I seriously consider, since there is no one in the home who couldn't deal with a 24 hour power outage if it ever came to that. Our longest outage in two decades was about 8 hours. Most are less than 5 minutes.

But I was curious about one aspect of these backup systems....when the backup generator performs its weekly test run, does it also isolate the home from the main feed and directly power the home? Or feed power back to the grid to marginally improve efficiency? Or is it simply an exercise to keep the combustion engine in ready condition and not worry about the power generation aspect.

Pretty sure it doesn't switch power from the mains, only comes on for maintenance purposes. I would notice a momentary blip.

 

[luvmysuper]

My history is a lot like @Toothpick, so backup power is not something I seriously consider, since there is no one in the home who couldn't deal with a 24 hour power outage if it ever came to that. Our longest outage in two decades was about 8 hours. Most are less than 5 minutes.

But I was curious about one aspect of these backup systems....when the backup generator performs its weekly test run, does it also isolate the home from the main feed and directly power the home? Or feed power back to the grid to marginally improve efficiency? Or is it simply an exercise to keep the combustion engine in ready condition and not worry about the power generation aspect.

It's just exercise of the engine. It doesn't switch power.

 

[StillShaving]

Thanks for the response. I was assuming that power was not being feed back into the grid as that would raise the cost too much.

But it also got me to wondering about other aspects that I will wonder aloud about and don't really need an answer on. Like how efficient is a home generator in comparison to the electric power utility when including grid transmission losses. And how clean or distortion-free is home generated AC power, I assume a backup generator can produce a nice-looking sine wave with good power factor much easier than a solar panel inverter.

What got me to thinking about this more was a statement by our electric utility that they may not have enough generation capability to meet expected peak loads in the near future. And they offer the option of tiered rates, where the consumer has an option to choose that rate schedule for reduced off-peak pricing but may get charged higher rates during peak demand periods (early morning in winter, early evening in summer). Couple that with a green mantra of not wasting a single watt of energy and one could imagine running their backup generator during peak load times to save rate cost, test their system, and provide some relief to the grid.

Where it might look a little like my air conditioner which has a smart switch controlled by the electric company, who can switch it off for 15 minutes during a during peak demand. If they could incorporate home generators into that scheme it could benefit everyone in the region, not just the homeowner who has installed the backup.