Talk of The Villages Florida - Worried about losing power in hurricane season....worry no more!

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No, it is between my den and bathroom, was in the den on my computer and did not hear it, knew it was running because I was notified on the computer!

If you pay cash they give you a good discount!

Quote:

Originally Posted by davephan (Post 1958234)

We moved to Florida in December and signed the paperwork in January to have a 24 KW natural gas whole house electric generator installed. There’s a long backlog to get the generator installed. The generator will be installed in mid July.

It’s not cheap to have a whole house electric generator installed. The cost is about $13,000. But if you worked hard in life, obtaining a high income job, and lived well below your means for decades, saving and carefully investing a lot of money for decades. Then spending that kind of money is not a problem in your retirement years, because you can’t take the money with you.

We planned on getting a whole house electric generator when we moved to Florida, during our four years of house hunting. We don’t want to risk putting up with possible long power outages. Sweltering without AC, and having everything in the refrigerator and freezer turned into garbage.

We have two AC units. One for the master bedroom suite and another for the rest of the house. So, we can limp by if one of the AC units fail.

We thought about buying a smaller gasoline generator. But storing many 5 gallon gasoline cans in the garage is not something we’d want to do, for safety reasons. If you owned a small, portable generator, you’d need a concrete slab installed, and a security cage, so it wouldn’t be stolen. Refilling the gasoline tank would be very unpleasant in pouring rain, hurricane force winds, possible debris blowing around that could hit you, and frequent lightning strikes.

The generator will be installed on the opposite side of the house from the master bedroom suite, so we won’t hear it much, when it runs.

The one concern I had was about the natural gas. If there’s a widespread electric outage, does this impact the pressure in the natural gas distribution system? The answer is, a widespread electric power outage doesn’t impact the natural gas pressure, because the natural gas pressure is maintained my very large generators that are powered by natural gas.

There’s a small risk of experiencing a natural gas outage if you were very unlucky, and a downed tree severed the natural gas distribution line.

A large buried propane tank is an option, but it would add another $4,000 to the cost of the system, and probably would never be needed.

The peace of mind that the whole house natural gas electric electric generator gives us is worth the cost to us, especially because we can easily afford the cost.

My emergency power outage kit:

I have a small RV type portable inverse generator weighs about 100 lb. it’s noise level is below 60 db so one can sleep beside it. We have driveways in TV and I can roll it out - it has wheels, 20ft from the house for carbon monoxide protection. It is clean and stored in the garage for emergency. The 25 ft extension cable to get in the house heavy gauge 4 outlet and then inside extensions for fridge and tv and fans and a couple of lights. Draws very little power, my AC would draw a lot, means lots of noise! 2 gas cans 5 gal each, a hand siphon if I need gas from car or golf cart. A generator tent rated for storm to be erected over it. And a strong spot light with batteries to see if I have to start it up at 3:00 am in total darkness and in the middle of one of our regular hurricane rain and wind. Cost about $1000 for everything. I pay more for my car insurance. Like with the car I hope I never have to use it. And because I am not physically particularly strong I got a generator with electric start button.

It’s not as convenient as the standby I have up north which kicks in automatically 3 seconds after the power goes out. But neither is it so noisy or expensive.

Run after midnight. With windows closed no one should hear.
Remember to do maintenance work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nucky (Post 1957585)

You can stand next to a Generac and hardly hear it. They are the greatest. If I had a house and not a Manufactured Home I would get a Generac Pronto. Peace of mind is priceless.

When we do move it will be a house and it will be in the Historic Section only. :boxing2:

Mine is natural gas powered and yes it is noisy when you are outside. Might exceed county noise limits. Inside you might hear a humming sound.

Okay, I say Uncle. I know when I got caught lying. You got me. I can't believe the difference between what people consider loud. I guess why this is the reason this Forum exists to voice your point of view on an issue. Here is an interesting tidbit that came up when I Googlized Quietness of a Generac.
The Generac iQ2000 produces an estimated sound level of 62dB while the Westinghouse WH1000i comes in at about 59dB – quiet enough to stand next to and hold a conversation without trying to talk over the generator. I guess this must have been the one I was standing next to.

I'll try not to lie in the future, try!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nucky (Post 1958682)

If it was close to your neighbors lania and they wanted to beat the heat by living there they would not like the noise. So try and locate it as far from people/windows as possible. Maybe let you neighbor plug into your house will solve the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjm1cc (Post 1958685)

Totally agree. Most of the people in my neighborhood have placed the unit in the optimum spot to be considerate of their neighbor, here in The Villages.

I had a 12,000 unit in N.J. It was worse than being without electricity. The noise from that baby was terrible. My Mother In Law lived with us and had breathing issues which were pretty severe. The Oxygen Concentrator and CPAP Machine were the primary reasons for the generator but she also needed heat in her area of the house.

I had it in the front of the house, the back of the house away from the house, I tried everything to bring all the worlds into happy alignment. Nothing worked. I put it in the backyard in the end because that the hardest place for someone to shut it off and get away with it or leave it running and disconnect at the last minute and make their escape. The neighborhood wasn't too great. Elizabeth N.J. Yikes. :1rotfl: Just kidding. It was wonderful! :pray:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nucky (Post 1958682)

Google is fine and all.

Here's my actual 14kw Generac that I started 20 minutes ago.

Generac 14kw - How loud? - YouTube

It's pretty loud. It's been on this pad since 2012, so I guess by that standard it's
an older one.

I would not bring that to either of our Villas although the newer one backs to a preserve so I could share the sounds with all the foxes, opossums, turtles and birds ;)

It will be mine for about until close, which should happen mid July.

Damn, Damn, Damn! Busted again. That's what I get for lying. I wonder how loud it is with the top closed and the microphone about 7 feet away?

If you could hear anything more than a slight buzzing in the house then:super: you get to wear the shirt with the S. :1rotfl::1rotfl:

No matter how you slice it the Generac is much quieter than a portable unit of equal strength. I am now finished lying. Onto the next dilemma. :1rotfl:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nucky (Post 1958741)

If you could hear anything more than a slight buzzing in the house then:super: you get to wear the shirt with the S. :1rotfl::1rotfl:

You can hear the generator from at least 1/4 mile away. In the house is no problem. Where's my shirt?