Buying a generator for home use

Are you talking about a portable generator that you hook up whenever the power goes out or the type of generator that's hooked into the system and comes on automatically whenever the power goes out?

There are also whole house generators that run on natural gas (if you have it). Generac makes an excellent generator. Cost outlay is pricey-- about $15,000 or so plus permits from your municipality which the installing company should be handling.

We have a whole house generator. Generac installed it.

We just moved into this house in January and the previous owners purchased it.

We lost power on Sunday, and it came on within 30 seconds. We have natural gas, and it's hooked up right into that system. It's a pretty big unit.

On 10/1/2014 brii said:

We have a whole house generator. Generac installed it.

We just moved into this house in January and the previous owners purchased it.

We lost power on Sunday, and it came on within 30 seconds. We have natural gas, and it's hooked up right into that system. It's a pretty big unit.

Before ours was installed the company doing the installing did a site assessment as to where it would go on our property. To give you an idea of the size (imagine a refrigerator or close to that size object) on its side being placed in your yard somewhere.

On 10/1/2014 JustJazzmom said:

There are also whole house generators that run on natural gas (if you have it). Generac makes an excellent generator. Cost outlay is pricey-- about $15,000 or so plus permits from your municipality which the installing company should be handling.

We also have the Generac whole house generator. Living in Florida, it's almost a necessity.

During Hurricane Andrew in 1992, we got a small Honda, which gave us lights, refrigerator, TV's, unit A/C's and some small appliances in the kitchen. It was great except for one of our sons running out to get more gasoline. The lines were horrific.

Then, after Hurricane Wilma (or katrina) in 2005, we finally got the big one. It powers up the entire house, up and down. Central A/C, everything. I think it waits about 15 seconds before it goes on. It's run on natural gas and should be installed about 10 feet from the hosue. We have it on our back patio.

I don't know what I would do without it. It's such a lifesaver. A few of the neighbors are jealous when they see our lights on during a power failure, which we have many of here. At least once a month, we have an outtage of some sort.

If you can afford it and are thinking about getting one, I think Generac is probably the one to look into.

Good luck and happy lights to you.

They had a set up at Home Depot. The whole thing including permits and labor. How are you planning to fuel it?

We have a portable generator that we purchased approximately seven or eight years ago. The area we live in is not prone to power outages so it doesn't get a whole lot of use. However, when we have had to use it the unit just works beautifully. A few years ago we had a very severe windstorm come through and took out the whole area power for almost a week. I know without this generator we would have had to leave the area in search of a hotel room.

We use our generator to mostly power up lights and keep the refrigerator and freezer running. My husband is an electrician so he set it up so that all we have to do is plug in a main cord. We also can alternate other appliances such as the microwave or any of our small appliances. It's not able to power up our electric stove though. But with the wide variety of tabletop appliances that I own I can prepare meals without the stove.

We also can plug in a small television with DVD so we can watch movies while we wait for the power to come on. Those nights without power can get awfully long. It's fun to snuggle by candlelight and watch a movie.

We purchased our generator at Costco. At that time we paid a little over $500.00. They had less expensive ones but really the smaller ones just won't give you all the power you need. It's a big investment but it will last you for years.

I just love having the generator. When we bought ours I think we were the only ones in our neighborhood who had one. Now as soon as the power goes out I can hear many our neighbors running theirs.

I also wanted to add that if the weather is cold we can use our generator to run a small electric heater. That is a real blessing since our home is an all electric home. It doesn't take long for a home to get cold once the electric goes out. Between our fireplace insert and the portable heater our home stays pretty cozy thanks to the generator.

If you decide to purchase one I know you won't be disappointed.