Westinghouse 5000 Peak Watt Super Quiet Portable Inverter Generator, Remote Electric Start with Auto Choke, Wheel & Handle Kit, RV Ready, Gas Powered, Parallel Capable

Zhills · ‎11-15-2011

@Desertdi wrote:
You can purchase portable PROPANE tanks for fuel...but those would probably be too heavy for you to handle, also.

They have a 5 lb tank now!

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

One year I ran out of propane for my outdoor gas grill so I went to the nearest store, Ace Hardware, to purchase a can but they had none. So I scooted on down the road to the next store, a Walgreens, and they were out, too. I made my way over to Home Depot, to Lowes and to a gas supply house...all were out of propane! Turned out that the delivery truck was in an accident so no one got their propane for days.

That's why I bought a gasoline generator.

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

@kismet

I'm not sure why having a propane tank in your yard prevents you from the convenience of a whole house generator if money is not a problem. If the power goes out, you don't have to lift a finger, the automatic transfer switch kicks in within 40 seconds and you go on as normal.

kismet · ‎03-10-2010

Not sure but was told by two people it's not a good idea. I live on a private road and the heavy propane truck is something neighbors mentioned coming up the hill. We have to pay to have the road maintained. My neighbor use to get it delivered and now uses a gas generator outside. Right now my son-in-law is helping find something. I have the propane and buddy heater hooked up ready to go and it's pretty easy. My husband use to take care of all of this but I'm by myself now.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

The issue I have with purchasing a whole-house generator, like a Generac, is that since my house is old it needs an entire new breaker box and upgraded wiring which costs an arm and a leg. The cost of a Generac by itself I can handle but then add to that the cost of the electrical upgrade...forget about it. Not worth it. I won't live long enough to reap the benefits.

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

@SilleeMee

You could have a separate breaker box installed for the generator. Our garage was added many years after we built the house so it is on a different breaker box, and our generator is wired into it.

We rescue cats · ‎01-25-2023

@SilleeMee - We are in much the same situation, we're 1000 feet off the main road, on a private lane. We too have issues with weather, last year was the first time in several years that we lost power for more than a few hours, prior to that we were out for nearly a week. We have talked about a whole house generator but then did not lose poower for more than an hour for many years. I was trying to convince my DH to get one when this happened last winter, luckily we have the motorhome, it has its own generator and when we park it for the winter we fill both fuel tanks so we have plenty of fuel. In your situation I think I would buy one of the power stations that QVC or HSN offer, they often do them on an attractive payment plan, and ours got us thru 3 or 4 days with no issues at all when we needed it-and we did not pay close attention to how often we used it. BUT we do keep it charged.

Lynn-Critter Lover!
(especially cats!)

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

@We rescue cats

I own a nice gasoline inverter generator. Push-button start on wheels and has a remote control. Easy to move. Has all the power I need plus it has parallel capability so I can add another one to it if I need more power. 24-hour gas station is just down the street.