[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Coop63

My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

Depends on it you have room to store them? When I moved I downsized the stuff I used occasionally and brought bunch of stuff I didn’t need.

[MrChip72]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

My power was out for 15 hours a few years ago, and had a 2 year old house with all power lines underground. I have also had several shorter outages since then.

That really wouldn't bother me in the slightest as a one time event. Would probably just go to the pool or play a round of golf, or a board game if it's late. We're from the north so used to power outages and are used to functioning with candlelight.

[Randall55]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

My power was out for 15 hours a few years ago, and had a 2 year old house with all power lines underground. I have also had several shorter outages since then.

Agree. Underground lines do not mean you will have a slight chance of outages during a storm.The electric company may turn off the grid, towers can fail, above electrical lines can fall. Fire is a risk along with wind and flooding A tornado can cause havoc. I was born in Florida and I have seen all of this happen.

Does this mean you need a generator? Up to you. We have spent many many days after a big storm without power. Really wasn't that bad. We charge our phones in our vehicles and have plenty of good flashlights and lanterns. We watch the news from our phones.

The excessive heat, on the other hand, can be unbearable for some. If you have a medical condition, you will need to find a way to cool down. It has never been a problem for us. We keep the windows open and sleep in the lanai, if necessary. During the day, we drive around with a/c on and visit stores that have power just to keep cool. We eat out or take food home and dine under the stars. Or, neighbors will come over and we all share our food. Some have propane grills and we feast on food in our refrigerators before they spoil. If you have camped, you will be fine. Not much different.

One of our cabinets in our garage is dedicated to hurricane preparation. Every few months, we check to make certain the items are in working order. Or, we replace with better technology. We now have several solar-operated items. We used them on a recent camping trip and found them to be extremely useful.

[maggie1]

Originally Posted by Coop63

My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

I say "yes" to both. If you have the storage space then why not? Although we seldom have lasting power outages, I'd feel safer knowing I had a power source just in case we did have an extended outage. The summer heat here is brutal, and the upright AC for the bedroom eliminates the need for cooling the entire house when you're sleeping. Hey, you bought the stuff, so bring it down. Granted, you might not need either item, but you'll have them if you do. Good luck, and welcome home.

[Ritagoyer]

Originally Posted by Coop63

My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

You also need a place to store it. You run out of room fast here. Are you going to give up that space for something you really need.

[Berwin]

I have friends who live outside TV who speak of when a tornado went through the area years back and power was out for about five days for some of them. When I moved, I ran my 2000w inverter generator out of gas and found a super sturdy plastic tote at HD (black one with yellow top) large enough to hold the generator. I packed some lightweight stuff in it to keep it from thumping around and told the packers to watch out, that one's kind of heavy. :-)

[birdawg]

Been here eleven years lost power for Three hours.

[eeroger]

[QUOTE=Coop63;2320771]My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

YES - bring the generator! The storms in FL are getting stronger and more frequent. AccuWeather just predicted an increase in the total # of Hurricanes & # predicted to hit FL. My neighborhood lost power for 18 hours during Hurricane Irma. Our portable generator kept us from loosing precious food in the refrigerator & coffee that morning tasted mighty fine. The northern section was without power for 5-7 days.

[MikeN]

We are in the new section of TV. Been here only a year. While I did bring down a small generator in case of an extended power problem we have had not lost power for more than an hour. With that said as always the weather people predict a robust hurricane season again this season so who knows. As far a a portable ac unit, up to you. Don’t know anyone here that has one

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by Coop63

My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

Lean ‘yes’ on both. We’ve lived in Florida for 10 years and you never know when you’ll need both in a storm…hurricanes. I wouldn’t run out and buy them but we kept ours when we moved here from Jacksonville two years ago. Less likely to need them here…like I said, you just never know.

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

No and no, the generator is way too small to handle AC, and in the area we are in (just south of 466A) I can count the number of interruptions in 11 years on one hand with the longest being about 1 hour. If (big if) you have medical equipment that needs to be available 24/7 then the generator may be suitable, but I would not recommend it. You would need to deal with extension cords, a way to get these from outside to inside the house, the possible tripping hazard of these cords. Then you have to have the generator OUTSIDE and away from the house to avoid CO2 poisoning.
As for the AC unit if this is a window type unit you will find it is NOT allowed per deed restrictions.
If you area really worried about an interruption plan on spending $10K to $20K for a whole house generator and the associated fuel tank (buried), transfer switch, etc. I have 2 neighbors with these, the only times they run is the weekly (or monthly?) test run.
Most of the villages have underground utilities, and SECO has a very robust system to feed their area of The Villages. The older section has DUKE and also has a lot of aerial lines which can be subjected to damage. I have very little info on the newer sections south of 44.

He’s NOT using the portable generator to run the whole house! Just to run the portable A/C, refer, TV, charge phones etc. Perfectly fine. We’ve done this through many a hurricane. Works very well.

[banjobob]

Originally Posted by Coop63

My wife and are in the process of downsizing, getting ready for our move to the Villages. I was wondering if I should bring the following items.

- 2400w portable generator, good for keeping furnace, refrigerator and other small appliances running in power outages. Leaning "yes"

- Portable upright room air conditioner. We currently have a multi story home, so nice to provide extra cool to the upstairs office on a hot day. I know most homes in the Villages are single story, so wondering if it would be nice for the lanai? Leaning "no"

Any feedback is appreciated.

Your instincts are right .

[gwenhwalker@yahoo.com]

Lived here 10 years and never lost power. AC unit would be good for lanai or garage

[DonnaNi4os]

If you ever lose your air conditioning in the heat of the summer you will be so happy that you brought your portable ac unit with you. Trust me. I went thru 3 weeks in an extremely hot July without central air because parts were unavailable and an incompetent crew denied complaints I had before I ended up a complete loss of cold air. I recommend that everyone invest in a portable unit. I will never be without. As for the generator, it couldn’t hurt to bring it.

[Villagesgal]

Generator, no need. Portable a/c yes for the garage if you plan to work in the garage at all during the summer. I have a portable a/c unit in the garage and when I'm out there, it works amazingly well. I'd bring it. I had to buy one. I've lived here for 22 years and power has never gone out, not even during hurricanes. Power lines are underground.