Emergency Generator
 

Our first year here.
Thinking of purchasing a Generac Generator.
Any suggestions or comments on need; ( normal duration) of outages due to storms.
Any special requirements from TV other than building permit?

Two other threads about power and generators currently active.

Personal experience is two years with one outage of two hours and a rare blip. Others are reporting nothing more than a few hours during hurricane Irma. We won't be buying a generator.

There must be at least 5 feet of clearance from windows and doors. That can make it difficult if you have a villa.

A lot depends on where you are located in The Villages, the area serviced by SECO seems to have a very low outage rate. This is where we are located and I can count the outages in the last9 years on one hand and the outages exceeding 1hour on 1 finger. I see no need for an emergency generator, however if you decide you need one, I would suggest a small inverter based unit (1.5 to 2 kw) located outaide away from windoes with a suitable way to get temporary cords to the equipment that needs to be operated.

This is very doable, in fact there are dozens installed. By and large, Trademark Electric out of Ocala seems to be the common company people use. There are plenty of locations where they can be installed, whether its a designer home or a villa. In fact a quick search found several villas where generators were installed in the last few years.

Trademark handled the ARC application.

I bought a small Honda generator just for a a few fans and lights over 5 years ago and it's still in the box and that was before Irma. I figured that if power goes out too long, I'll just go for a ride to somewhere that has an open restaurant or bar and hangout there until they toss me out and then go for another ride if needed. Just have to remember to keep the cars full of fuel.

Some people (my neighbor) had one installed for medical reasons.

Probably need ARC approval since its outside.

Yes, in addition to a building permit.

FYI: in a previous home, we had a While house generac installed in southern louisiana. The cost was 10 grand 7 years ago. It was rarely used but did give us peace of mind. We did live rural and our power would go out on a sunny day for no reason any time of the year. We’ve lived here now for two years and have never lost power yet. We don’t even own a portable generator here.

Been here over five years and never lost power more than a few minutes. During Irma (Cat 1 hurricane), a few hours. Unless you have a medical need that requires power 24/7, save your money and pass on the generator.

Agree that loss of power is a rarity here. Our provider is Duke Energy, and we have never lost power for more than a few minutes, and even that has happened only two or three times. Could it happen? Sure...but history shows this is a very uncommon thing.

For the cost of a whole house generator, you could sock away an emergency fund that would cover a whole lot of nights in a hotel, and even cover the cost of replacing everything in your fridge/freezer. In my view, an unnecessary expenditure.

Generator
 

Just got a price from a neighbor who put in a Generac - approx $9k! Not worth the price unless you have some Medical machine that requires constant power. Portable generator works just fine for us.

The probably of a long outage is small.

They stage the emergency power restoration crews here near Coleman.

Save your money , not a necessity this far north in Florida .Bad Hurricanes are mostly farther south.