Back-up generators, game changer
 

Been reported in villages news that Back-up generators have been approved. I am neutral on this but we all need to understand the game changing potential dynamics in TV due to close proximity of homes. The most significant one being noise, as they are noisy often at 90+ decibels. If your neighbor has a unit outside of your bedroom window you will need to find a place to sleep in the other side of the home. If you village has natural gas you can connect to that, otherwise gasoline will be the fuel. Hopefully the restrictions will not allow propane tanks. Perhaps someone can clarify that. All units require maintenance runs, units i am familiar with are weekly. Hopefully your neighbor will program to run mid day during the week as opposed to evening.

We have been here ten years and have only had electricity out for enough time to need a back up generator once in that time and it was during the very rare occurance of a hurricane.

What a waste of money !!!!!

Without natural gas or propane-- a standby generator is worthless-- gasoline is not a reliable fuel for standby generators and if there is a wide spread power outage, gasoline will not be available

I don’t think it’s worth the cost. We have been here (Duval ) ten years and have had only a few , short outages. Even Irma didn’t knock our power out.
But , if it gives you peace of mind.....get one.

You are at least six years late. When we bought in 2012 I asked about bringing my generator with me. I was told that was fine. We didn’t have natural gas in our neighborhood so I left it in NC.

However, while others may think they are a waste of money, when you get right down to it, the matter isn’t up to the nay sayers. There are personal and medical reasons why a generator might be considered necessary. Propane tanks are acceptable for use with generators, just as they are with summer kitchens and pool heaters.

I have a whole house generator that is fueled by a 250 gallon underground propane tank. It works like a charm, and is less noisy than the 4 motorcycles in my neighborhood. (And I’m jealous that I don’t have on of those as well. I gave my last one up in 1997.)


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But a large enough propane tank buried underground is just perfect.


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Generators can be a real touchy subject in a neighborhood. At my WA home the HOA requires one to get permission from his neighbor. I gave my neighbor permission, to be neighborly, but when the unit (natural gas) runs for its weekly test cycle I can hear it from in my home. AND that exterior wall is framed with 2x10s. The HOA recognizes the noise intrusion as our homes are only 50 ft apart. In TV the houses are even closer to each other.

I prefer to go with 2 Tesla Powerwalls. They are installed inside the garage and can run your air conditioning for at least 7 days, or so I'm told.

You probably mean hours and not days. A Powerwall can store about 14 kWh. Your central AC probably draws about 2 kW. You can run your central AC for about 7 hours on 1 Powerwall. In the summer, we use about 40 kWh per day for the whole house. If you are referring to a small window unit AC then that is different.

The only time noise would be an issue is when power is out. Probably wouldn't be sleeping then anyway. :)

The generators usually run on a regular schedule as a test. That could be weekly. Most folks are considerate and run the test during the day for the least disruption. There is nothing worse than having a power outage and the generator won't run...the test is important.

Well said. Propane is the next best thing to Natural Gas for fueling a backup generator.

There are some very simple ways to mitigate some of the noise from a gasoline generator.....for those interested, just google how to quiet a gasoline generator....some very clever/simple ideas.

Using the Tesla website calculator and my own SECO bills it would take between 3 and 4 PowerWall batteries to power my designer house for 1 day. The cost would be between $17,000 and $23,000.

The 7 day estimate is only valid for a house that also has solar power installed and assumes that system can, on average, generate enough energy to provide a days worth of electricity.

Powerwall | The Tesla Home Battery

:jester::jester:With all the hot air in the Villages I would look into wind energy

Yes, I should have said with solar.

As for cost, I believed this thread was about backup power. Anything that provides us with electricity will have a cost. If the deciding factor is purely having electricity in the home, you must pay a serious price whether it’s generators, Tesla, solar, hydroelectric or windmills. TV homes are VERY close together. Personally I’ve very sensitive to how I impact my neighbors. If their bedroom were on the side I would put a generator, than I will not get a generator. I would rather do without power for a day or two than subject my neighbor to the noise of an/my engine right behind their bed. That’s just me.

If I had someone in the house with a medical need for cool air, or refrigerated meds, or respiratory issues, that would trump my need to be neighborly and I would install a generator. Since it’s just me and I hate sleeping in the heat (I keep my home 65-68), still I will live if I don’t have AC for couple days. I would probably go to a hotel.

20 LB tank will last only 8-9 hours
Would you really want to store multiple tanks of propane

They are not speaking of the little propane tanks that fuel your grill. They are referring to buried 500 lb tanks that are allowed in TV.

I would be more concerned about a next door neighbor installing a pool and putting the pump equipment near my bedroom window. There should be restrictions on that.

With frequent ground strikes by lightning
yea I would run with that one

Been here 6 years and never heard of a large in ground propane tank getting lit off by lightning. Sumter County makes you pull permits for the propane installation, as well as for the electrical installation. Ground is checked and gas lines and tank are pressure tested. ARC must approve before permits are pulled. Yup, I would run with that one.


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The tanks will be permanent and filled with a tanker truck with a hose. I am truly surprised that they allow as you noted in your reply, but have no reason to disagree. Propane is highly flammable with a boiling point of minus 44 degrees F. Also with a flash point of minus 155 degrees F. Which means any spark plugs at least 2.1% propane in air will ignite. Underground metal tanks eventually will rust which is why the testing is required. I remember the time I submitted a request to my boss to attend a "LUST" conference. Leaking Underground Storage Tanks. If your buying a home and the neighbor has a buried propane tank....suggest to walk. One unknowingly landscaper with a metal shovel and it would be catastrophic. Not to mention the nuisance noise from the programmed test run of the back up generator. Please note many of the middle of the line back up generators have motors with 4 cylinders, the size of a small car engine, including radiators and exhaust pipes....just like a car engine.
It would be very interesting if someone could confirm if there is a public record of buried tanks and their respective testing records.

You bury a larger tank in the ground. Its been done here in Stonecrest. Perfectly safe. You could use 20 LB. Bottles. How long those bottles last is up to you. I was not here for the last Hurricane. If Natural Gas is available its the better choice. But if I had to choose between Gasoline and Propane, I'll take the Propane. Its a far safer choice. They actually made deliveries of Propane one week after the Hurricane. When the hurricane season is over I'd use the propane for the grill. If I put in a generator I'd bury a tank. Hook it to the grill and the generator. You use power differently in an emergency. My neighbor purchased a small window air conditioner. With his generator he ran a few lights, the window air conditioner at night, and the refrigerator. Had ice and refrigeration. Power was back on 3 days later in our area. The worst case was 7 days in another part of the complex. We also have a few people who are totally off the power grid.

The only way you have a problem with a buried LP Tank is if you rupture the tank. The mixture inside the tank is too rich to ignite. The size of the rupture would determine the size of your problem. Also the LP may or may not ignite. Also these tanks that are buried are designed for that type of service. Its like any flammable liquid it must be handled properly. No worse then the 20 plus gallons of gasoline sitting in your garage every night.

Life is full of challenges, but this is not seriously a real one. If sleep is a problem, get some ear plugs. If noise is still too much for you, then maybe you should move somewhere that does not have you living so close to other homes. A/C units can be noisy, even if you do not have a "window" near or on the side of your neighbor's home. A backup generator would hardly be used for anything other than an emergency, so sleep would hardly be a factor. Surely yard workers are more noisy than a generator being tested once a month. Although, I do not know how long they test generators and when they would. I would assume they test them in the daylight, but could be wrong.

Some folks worry too much.

Backup generators are not a necessity but are nice when the power goes out, mine was brought from Ohio just because I thought if a hurricane might cause a power outage, I would be able to save food etc. I have it converted to natural gas ,but with most power lines locally buried an outage seems remote.

There are plenty of propane tanks buried in The Villages. On the Southside, pretty much any time you see a rectangular vent on a roof from an outdoor kitchen there is a buried propane tank. 250 gallons is the preferred size, I believe.

Ohiobuckeye
 

First thing, why does anybody need a whole house generator? I'm sure certain areas in The Villages have more loss of power than some, also most of the time I don't know when we've had a power outage. Most of TV didn't lose their power even during IRMA. Yes, I'm surprised that TV let people install generators, because when I moved here 6 yrs. ago they told me I couldn't put an antenna on my house so I put one in our attic & it worked just fine. (I have cable TV now) So as far as generators go, I think you're barking at the wrong place because TV won't do anything about it because it give a business money & it's a feather in their hats!

The noise level of a Generac backup generator is in the range of 60db-66db which is about the same as for the outside unit of an air conditioner.

http://gens.generac.com/generaccorpo...sheet-2017.pdf

Here is typical air conditioner and it has a noise level of 67db.

Infinity 16 Central Air Conditioning Unit - 24ANB6 | Carrier - Home Comfort

If you are really worried about losing power, get a double pole isolation breaker for your power panel-use it to feed necessaries and or a 240 v rv plug, get a trailerable low rpm diesel generator & keep it in your golf cart garage-wheel it out for testing once a month & hook up the power plug when you need it-its what I used in NJ

Back Up Generator
 

I have a whole house generator at our home in Indiana. It runs on LP gas from storage tanks. LP provides more power than Nat Gas. However, it’s more expensive. The generator is 10 ft from my bedroom window and can barely be heard. I personally feel the peace of mind it gives far outweighs the cost. As far as the neighbors. In a power outage they would be asking to run extension cords to preserve their food. I’m 100% in favor of emergency whole house generators powered by LP or NG.

Well said.


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Noise !
 

Could be one of the worst ideas yet for TV. I own one of these generators in Ohio. The one I own runs on natural gas. It cycles for about 20 minutes a week and when it runs ..IT IS LOUD. My house sits in the middle of a 14 acre parcel in Ohio and my neighbors can hear when that generator fires up. I can’t imagine with the proximity of houses down here how bad it would be.
You know how loud it is when your inside and the lawn service is out mowing your yard..same thing but worse because these don’t move around like a mower.
I truly hope TV gives this a serious look before even considering it. It would be a HUGE mistake allowing permanent generators to be installed.

Age, make, model, etc. will make a difference. And the true volume can't be known until after the installation is complete.

It was approved years ago.


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Before we moved to The Villages we had a Generac backup generator right next to the house within 10 feet of a window and you couldn't hear it when it did its weekly 5 minute test. When it ran during outages it was barely noticeable.

The sound level of a Generac LP/natural gas generator is the same sound level as that of the outdoor unit of a whole house air conditioner.

Wow that is interesting because I have a Generac as well and my home is very well insulated with six inch framing and exterior is all brick. I can here the generator turn on for its weekly cycle and then continue to hear it run.

Hear the generator turn on not here it !!!
Sorry. 😃

There is no ....if they allow.... they are being installed at very many new home sites every day.
Easily 1/3 of the homes in our village has them. Then another 1/3 like me, have the "portable" gas generator.

In our village we post that in a prolonged power outage if our outside lights are on come on up and let us know what you need powered up.

Very nice Billie. Your last paragraph is reflective of true Villager spirit, IMO.


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