Do most Villagers own a portable Generator for their home?
 

just wondering.

No.

not really, these days, the grid is very resilient and well designed and maintained in FL.

However, we aren't in the old areas of FL, and we are not near the shore. .

No, just some of us chickens…. And some who need it for medical reasons.

We needed a large generator with 220, up north, we would lose power for 10 days mid winter, zero and below temps. We could run everything including cable. It was expensive, we used it for 6 years, when we moved gave it to our daughter which they used for 2 months after a tornado damaged their neighborhood.

We need power to run some medical equipment, but have never had issues in TV.

Duke Power stages 5,000 power restoration trucks and workers in the southern Villages.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...993-post1.html

No.

I currently don't but I really want to get a Honda 2200W. This would run a refrigerator or two which is really all I need. So far though we have five years with only a few hours of outage.

Had one in our garage for seven years and never needed to use it. Started it up occasionally just to flush fresh gas through the carburetor. Finally brought it to our northern home last year where I am more likely to need it and where storage space is not at a premium.

Never saw the need

We don’t, but friends of ours lost power for a couple of days after Irma. I think it was a transformer. They got a generator earlier this year.

We have one up north and have used it a half dozen times, the most for 4 days. When we finally make the move I will need to decide if it comes or if I give it to one of my kids. In FL I think it would need to be hard wired to the AC to make it worth wild.

Been here for 2 years and I don't think the lights have even flickered. Still......I have a Honda 2000 up north that I don't use and probably will bring it down this fall. I figure bringing the generator down will guarantee the power never goes out!!:loco:

I have two. One will run what I need except a room AC. The second runs the AC.

My power outage story was one week long, the high tension towers were taken out by a tornado.

Your power is only as good as mother nature decides it is. Small generators are cheap.

I have often posted that a 1,000 watt Genset gets you TV, internet, a fan,cold food and some lights. You would be surprised how comfortable you can be in an emergency with these items.

Always be prepared.
 

Back in the midwest I needed a Honda 7000i generator to power our whole house so instead of selling it at a loss I brought it along. May never need it but it doesn’t eat and just sits quietly in the garage corner. Plus the tankless water heaters have an electronic igniter so we may be the only house on the street with a hot shower!

Always have a couple 12v inverters on hand so that I can run television, lamps, small appliances, gas oven and fridge off the car battery in a pinch.

Driving around I see some Generac Whole House Generators. I just had one installed 18Kw. I'll never be without A/C in the summer. Well worth the peace of mind.

I have a portable generator that produces 3,650 watts which will take care of the basics pretty well, but it seems that the limiting factor is fuel storage. It runs on either gasoline or propane, but it's hard, or perhaps I should say "inconvenient", to stock up on enough fuel to last more than a couple of days, and even that would be with intermittent usage.

So you had a buried propane tank installed ?

My guess is no, some I'm sure. We are in area of SECO, Sumter Co. Electric, not Duke. The rates are low (compared to most these days) and the service... even back through Charlies..what a hurricane that was back in (?) 2004, SECO is amazing, user owned and great people and equipment, always on top of things as far as I'm concerned. No, don't have family working for them or any personal interest, just never had such a great utility company anywhere else we've lived (native Floridians) in Florida.

Yes, just about everyone. 🤣

Have an RV, so yes stay in garage till used.

Yes; had it ever since we lived in Louisiana back in 2000-2003; start it up and put it under a load every month.

Portable generators are worthless IMO. We could have major outages caused by many storms, like the hurricane now. Tornados could take down the large hi voltage towers or substations and recovery time could be many days to weeks. How would it be like to live in TV when the heat index is over 100? What’s a portable generator going to provide you in relief to this? The best option would be to install a whole house backup generator to power your AC, refrigerator, microwave, TV’s, etc.. that would automatically power up (or power down) when the power grid goes down. They are a few thousands of $$$ but could be well worth it

The house down the street has an outside Generac. It is very noisy. If every house in The Villages had one of those, I think a lot of people would leave town just because of the noise.

Been in TV for ten years Lost power maybe five hours in ten years.

No. But it's on my list. Would hate to lose power for a few days in the summer and be without AC. If anyone can recommend a good cheaper portable one that can keep ac, fridge, and internet going I'll check it out. Thanks.

The Governor just said that if you are using a generator, it must be used outside of the house, outside of the garage, and at least 20 feet from windows and doors. How would that work in a villa in The Villages?

Now would be the time to buy, if you're going to. No sales tax on hurricane prep gear until Sept 8.

Probably not most but we bought one this past spring when they were on sale. I’d rather be safe than sorry, it was a small investment.

This is why small inverter generators are key. Five gallons of gas and my golf Cart's gas tank will keep me in power for five to seven days. That's not the case with a standard OHV 3,500 watt Genset.

Again, I lived through a mass power outage for a week. I saw the fallacy of large generators in practice when fuel is not readily available.

Driveway, backyard, etx

I've thought about one to run the fridge and a portable AC unit, but have not done it.

The reason is not the cost, $500 or less would get what I need, but I don't want to have to deal with the maintenance and gas storage that would be required. I had one up north, and used it for at least a day each year. We were on a well, and I needed to keep the heat running in the winter. Had a basement with sump pumps. Made sense up there. Makes less sense down here.

I have an outlet built into one car that would help in a pinch. I also have a lithium ion golf cart with USB outlets that would keep my phones/other items charged for weeks. We have natural gas, so no problem cooking or heating up water. And we have never lost power. I would like to figure out how to put a convenience outlet on the golf cart.

So I don't do it.

Honda 2200w
 

I was always looking for an excuse to buy one so I picked up the Honda 2200W the other day. Nice little generator. Like you said, perfect for running the refrigerator, some lights, and my Internet router/modem since I am a remote worker. The thing that tipped me over the edge to buy it was the tax holiday. Save me 80 bucks

nope

Underground utilities, generators not needed, except maybe for an EMP event.

Nobody I know has one

Natural gas powered.

I have a quick disconnect gas line at my grill that can be used for a portable Genset.

They can run on natural gas if available.

I have a 4,000 that runs on gasoline and propane, because of my Airstream.