[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

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

Lived in S. Florida and had an $800 generator. Ran refrigerator, window size AC, TV and minor lighting. Slept at night, saved food and had some entertainment. Would have rather had a full size, but this worked good. Shared some of the power with my neighbors and they loved it. I

[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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?

Good air flow around the exhaust is the key. Might lose friendship of neighbors. These generators are loud.

[Professor]

Originally Posted by jayerose

just wondering.

We have one. I picked it up cheap from a friend up north. It would run the refrigerator, a fan or two, charge cell phones and provide power for some lighting and my computers (since I teach online I need access-yes my cell phone works well as a hot spot) which is all we would need. Have not had to use it but for $400 it is cheap insurance.

[Pat2015]

In the 8 years that we’ve lived in TV, we’ve never lost power for more than an hour, and that was only one time. We don’t know anyone who has a generator, nor will we be purchasing one.

[MrFlorida]

No, not needed

[ThirdOfFive]

We have one, a Westinghouse 2500 inverter that I bought this past March. Good price, and putting it through it's paces it will run everything in the house except the A/C and we have enough fans to keep cool if need be.

I run it about once a month mowing my lawn and trimming hedges, just to make sure it is ready to go "in case".

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by kkingston57

Good air flow around the exhaust is the key. Might lose friendship of neighbors. These generators are loud.

The Honda 2200W generator sold on Amazon is advertised as "super quiet". Is that not true?

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

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.

This happened here in the Villages? I don’t believe so.

[GATORBILL66]

[QUOTE=jayerose;2250980]just wondering.[/QU
Yes, I have one big enough for fridge, modem and TV.

[jrref]

Here in the Villages chances of loosing power for an extended period of time is very small. Why? Because most of our electric lines are underground except for some areas in the older northern areas. That means the substations and power line feeders are the only above ground infrastructure that can be effected by storms. These parts of the electrical system are extremely robust and it would probably take a tornado to damage them. Not that it can’t happen but it’s very unlikely. But if you have medical equipment to run then a generator may be something you want to get. Also as one reader mentioned, the electrical company, Duke stages a huge response team just in case so even if a transformer blew which can happen at any time, it will be fixed very quickly.

Also if we do loose power the villages water pumping stations have double redundant backup power so it’s extremely unlikely we would loose water. So no need to stock up on water, milk, bread and eggs for an extended period of time here in the villages.

[LianneMigiano]

We live just north of Glenview Country Club off of Buena Vista Blvd. and have only had 2 outages that I can remember. One was 5 minutes and the other was about 15 minutes. Generators are noisy and expensive. We had one in CT - and needed it when snowstorms overwhelmed the countryside. Leave them for people who "love the beaches" on either coast. They are the only ones who need one, I think!

[Rocketman43]

Originally Posted by jayerose

just wondering.

Been here 21 years, haven't had a real need. the longest power outage I recall may have been 2-3 hours max. But if a person requires one for medical equipment, it might be considered.

[Dgodin]

I bought a small one my first year here thinking I might use it to charge phones, batteries, and maybe the microwave in the event of a power outage.
Ive never used it in 5 years, except to test it. I don't keep gas in it. I have a siphon hose so I can fill it from the golf cart, but so far it is just taking up space on a shelf in the garage.

[Gsorace]

I would guess that most don't, and I haven't used mine in 10 years. I start it every few months, but that's it.

[Lancer]

I have one. Bought it in 2005 when living in Lakeland when we had 3 hurricanes pass by us in 2004. Used it once while in Lakeland for hurricane Irma. Our closing for our home here in TV was delayed by one day because of Irma. Have not used it here. Didn’t even prep it for Idalia.