Back Up Power NEVER Be Out Again!
 

The hurricanes and storms are getting worse and more frequent. Golf cart rode into power supply a couple of weeks ago and we were out for several hours. Incredible heat in the summer, how long do I want to be without air conditioning or lights? Image if I had medical issues and was on dialysis or oxygen. I frequently work from home which I couldn't do without power. I contacted Accurate Power and Technology located in Eustis, they have been in business 14 years. They promptly come out and gave me a free in home evaluation. They size your home and needs. This is a standby unit ready to go! I don't have to try to store a generator in my small garage and deal with gas cans and extension cords. Power goes out, this goes on automatically. They handle the hook up, gas or propane, permits installation and serving the unit, everything is done by them. I will tell you up front it wasn't cheap but for my comfort and safety it's a worth wild investment. They had special financing and just started a lease program. I am getting quotes from other companies but none of them handle the entire project like Accurate Power. It takes about 6-8 weeks for permitting and install. Going to be worth every penny. Here's their number Accurate Power and Technology 352-735-8285 :MOJE_whot:

I think you will find most vendors do either gas or electric so you might ask the generator vendors who they usually work with for gas.

I am happy that you are happy.

Of interest to others is propane tanks are 'full' at 80%, so a 200 gallon tank is 160 gallons. Propane contains less energy than gasoline, thus propane generators use more gallons than a same sized generator powered by gasoline. A rule of thumb is 2.6 gallons per hour depending on size. So plan on power for less three days of power Generac Home Generator Fuel Consumption.

Of course if you have natural gas you are set, or get a 400 gallon tank for five days power.

Conversely, with planning and compromise you can save several thousands with a 2K or 3.5K inverter genset and get most of what you need. I did this, Nucky did this. Perhaps he will chime in.

Toymeister saved me from laying out some Big Money and I ended up with a Predator 3500 Watt Unit that was highly rated by Consumer Report and it runs the Kitchen Refrigerator, a 10,000 BTU Window A/C a Modem, a Television, Cpap & Oxygen Concentrator and several lights with plenty of power to spare. The total was about $1100 with Gas Cans, Extention Cords and several upgrades to the Generator.

I am so happy I listened to Toymeister and went the smaller smarter route. I have used it twice so far as we have been losing power about once a month at night time. Takes about 15 minutes to get up and running.

The unit came from Harbor Freight @ $600 and was half the price of the Honda. I know I took a chance but it's worth it. Time will tell. :pray:

The important thing about these smaller inverter gensets is how fuel efficient they are. This is a huge improvement over the 5.5 or 8k gensets that are available at home improvement stores.

Any system is only as good as it's weak point. For most generators it's the fuel.

I used about a gallon and a half in 10 hours. The worst part was putting the A/C in the window and back in the box as soon as the power came on the next day. I follow the rules but I consider no electricity to be an Emergency for me.

Bought our first home in 2010, never lost power for longer than an hour. Up north we have a contractor generator that runs 220 if we need. There we can lose power for 10 days in dead of winter. When we sell there will bring our trusty generator, with gas can.

Natural Gas Generator
 

We are in escrow in an 11 month old home in DeSoto with natural gas. According to our inspector, we should go with the 3.5 genny running on natural gas. Anybody have experience with that setup?

I doubt that size will power the central AC, IMHO, get in the hose, get several months of actual electrical use, then investigate the need for a generator and the appropriate size.
Now having lived just North of 44 for 6 years, there have been very few power outages, and NONE in this area during Irma. The outages we have had were generally less than 2 hours. While I have thought about getting one (had on up north for a 5 day outage), but really does not seem to be justified here, at least not for a whole house unit ($$$$$), a small inverter based unit ( 1 to 2 kW) would cover the refrigerator, small medical devices, a few lights, and a fan or 2.

I have an electricity monitor where I can see the actual watts used in real time, so I feel uniquely qualified to answer this.

Bottom line if you want to operate your home as you always do, no this is inadequate.

A 3.5 ton ac unit takes 2700 watts. Your water heater 4500 for electric, tack on spikes to start the AC and you are in solid 10,000 plus watts territory. For a gas powered home you are in 5 to 7.5K watts territory.

The things people point to as big power consumers are not, fridge is 117 watts always on is150 to 300. Anything that is resistance heat sucks down watts

That said if you are not running the entire home, particularly the whole house ac, then 3500 watts will work, you will need to use a 10,000 btu window based ac unit, perhaps slightly larger.

Waist of money IMHO

It most certainly is just like fire insurance on a home, almost always.

I looked into a gas powered portable unit. If the electricity goes out unexpected I have to hope I have gas in the can and enough of it. Dig out the usually buried portable generator put it somewhere where the fumes won't effect anyone, install my window a/c unit because they are not permitted in The Villages, then run extension cords to things I think I can run, which I will probably trip over in an unlit home. And hope everything works. Or I can lease for a minimal payment a standby generator that automatically comes on whether I am home or not with pretty much the entire home working. Another concern I had was the rapid growth of mold in a home with out a/c in 90 plus high humidity weather. Maybe it's not wanted by everyone. I am sure if the power goes out for a period of time I will feel safe and comfortable. My husband has declining health and even a few hours without A/C could be a problem. I am told if you need it for medical reasons the insurance will pick up part of the tab, going to look into it!

I'm with you....waste of money.

You can say it's a waste of money until you are sitting in a hot, dark home. Turn off your ac and no lights for 4 hours and see how it feels. It gets hot real fast. It may not be for you, but given a safe alternative, I am spending a little bit to be safe and comfortable.

Do not know what 3.5 means. Probably more like a 22KW system that can shed circuits if the demand is too high. It really depends on what you want to do and how important it is to you to have power. I would get a few quotes after the generator sales person has determined you actual needs. No power for a day would not be a problem for most of us so we can skip whole house generators. But if the power outage just affect you and a few neighbors during a huricane you will be at the end of the repair window and could be down for a week,

The amount of outages In the Villages for extended periods is 0..
The cost of a generator ,installation, a transfer switch and the maintenance program they sell you weather you use it or not.
If your not on public propane or natural gas..You couldn't store enough fuel to run for any extended time
If it did happen a hotel room in the long run is much cheaper and practical

OK. But many of us don't want a generator. Not sure why that seems to be a problem.

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

It seems some areas are more susceptible to power ages, have been here 5 years and the longest power outage was 90 minutes and that was several years ago. We are in a SECO area so I assume that makes a difference. Seems Nucky and I assume Toymeister are in an area where a generator might be prudent.

Hi, Would like to know $ of their generator and labor.

There is never a situation where you will need a 22,000 watt generator, never. Millions of homes in the US have 100 amp service, that's 12,000 watts to you and I. While it is true that most homes in TV have 200 amp service you don't need it.

Let's talk: 2,700 watts for AC (HVAC), 4,500 water heater, 4,500 dryer
A few hundred watts for lights. But then again who is going to run all of those when there is a power outage? In my experience it is rare to use over 10,000 watts and unheard of to hit 12,000. This isn't some random speculation this is actual observation of energy usage by one of your neighbors.

If you want a whole house generator that's fine, just do your laundry after the power comes back up and save hundreds by buying a 9 or 10 K generator.

Duplicate post, see below

I have experience in both areas.

Not a hurricane but so wide spread of a power outage to replicate a hurricane. Not a snowstorm and not expected. Now let's talk about central Florida. I am assuming the greatest fear in TV are hurricanes.

Now let me ask the forum how many hurricanes sneak up without days of media coverage? Zero. What does everyone do before a hurricane? Buy gasoline.

Let's do the math, do you have an automobile? Two carts, probably gas? Can you keep an extra empty, new gas can in the attic? Then you have over a week's worth of power.

Amazon sells mess free battery powered gas pumps designed to get gas out of your car's tank. The cart tank is no problem at all. Reference Nucky's 1.5 gallon per ten hour testimony on consumption in this thread.

Ten gallons gas from the carts, ten from gas tanks and ten from the car. 360 hours of generator operation over at Nucky's and Toymeister's. Yup, all of that would be some work but I am cool and comfy.

Compare that to my neighbors in my widespread power outage, no gas stations open no hotels for miles. Sounds like millions of Florida residents escaping a hurricane to me.

The point is a gasoline generator can work it is not impractical for everyone and it is relatively affordable.

Obviously a personal choice. Some don’t mind the cost for peace of mind. However, “backup power never out again” might be a myth. Our son has an expensive one and guess what? During a 24 hour ice storm two years ago his failed to operate. Just saying. :popcorn:

They need to be run every month

These are some of the points I was told by Accurate Power and Technology 352-735-8285. They do free in home assessments as each home is different as are the needs of the customer. A standby generator needs a permit so the size of the generator is governed by the county as to the power drawn from the home. There are numerous ways to reduce the size of the generator, again it is based on the needs of the customer. This was gone over by the Accurate Power rep and several options were provided. The generator runs a test mode once a week for about 5-10 minutes. This keeps the battery charged and lets you know if there are any issues. Servicing once a year is recommended just like your air conditioner. With Accurate Power they do the entire job from licensed electricians and gas/lp installation,to permits. Generators are all they do. I apologize if I have offended anyone, as everyone has different needs and capabilities. I am not capable of hooking up a generator, doing the gas and installing a window a/c unit. My husband is having more and more medical issues so has become dependent on a continuous power source. I was mainly providing a name of a company for those who may want a back up power source. Just like car and home insurance you hope you never need to use it.

Some of these posts seem like an advertisement for a particular company.

I would not recommend emtying your car of gasoline during a widespread power outage after a hurricane.

My standby generator self runs every week for 20 minutes. One time someone shut the gas line off to the generator. It had to be restarted manually. There were a few steps, first one was I had to find the key to the cover box. Hubby was working his long hours as usual. But it does give comfort, takes 3 to 5 seconds to kick in and even the television doesn’t seem to notice the power transfer.

We had a bedridden person home alone once when the power went out in the winter for a long time. The temperature in the house fell dramatically and she could not even ask for help. Since then we have our standby.

That is obvious. My tank holds 28 gallons. Almost assuredly yours holds 15 to 16 gallons. But let's say you don't own a car at all, you own one gas cart and one five gallon gas can which you filled. Do you think your neighbors would let you syphon some gas from their cart if you hosted them, kept their food cold, charged their phone?

Mine sure would.

But let's go completely worst case, you have no friends, no neighbors who want to help. Nine gallons equals sixty hours of power, if you leave a gallon in the cart. Or, in preparation you realize, after some self assessment, your plight as a loner without a friend within sight, buy two more gas cans. Now you are set at 120 hours, 40 minutes of power.

Seniors with various health issues siphoning gas from one container to the next..Has disaster written all over it

If you can't operate this simple 12 volt powered transfer pump designed for this purpose with detailed instructions then you have no business operating generator at all. https://www.amazon.com/GasTapper-Gas...g%2C509&sr=8-6

"There is never a situation where you will need a 22,000 watt generator, never. Millions of homes in the US have 100 amp service, that's 12,000 watts to you and I. While it is true that most homes in TV have 200 amp service you don't need it." From previous post.

I was concerned about his comments above, so I called Accurate Power. The most common stand by unit for most homes with 1 a/c unit is the Generac 22KW. The county which issues the permits goes off the start up amps used for the home. This unit is a 100 amp which is in actually only 84 amp if running on natural gas. The county uses the start up amp on your a/c unit not the running amp which is a big difference. Mine was running 14 amp, but start up 68 amp. The county then adds in all other appliances and other electrical draws as if everything was on. I told them I never have everything on, but that is how the county does it for permitting. I asked other people who have this unit and they said they didn't even know the power went out the transition was so smooth. It may not be for everyone, but I will be glad to have one!