[tjwarzel]

Does anyone have an emergency generator, and if so does it get used very often. We are trying to decide whether it would be worth bring it down with us when we hopefully get there. Thanks to everyone in advance.

[Rag Bagger]

which we keep here but only because we used it when we were Rving. I wouldn't go out and buy one just for back up in TV.

In TV all the utilities are underground. We seldom have power interuptions. I wasn't here but I don't think there was an extensive power interuption even from the tornados a few years back.

Others will know better.

[The Great Fumar]

Been here seven years and haven't had a power outage yet......The room is more valuable than the generator......

Fumar

[rjm1cc]

No experience but if I owned one I think I would bring it along.

[pooh]

I have one, bought it when we came to Florida. When we lived in CA, we had underground utilities there, also. One day, the electricity went OUT...and it lasted long enough to ruin everything in the fridge and freezer...and I had just the day before shopped and stocked the appliance. At the time many of us were able to file a claim with San Diego Gas and Electric for reimbursement and luckily, I had receipts for everything new I bought. Older things had to be listed with approximate prices paid. I received payment for all foodstuffs lost, but everything in the fridge and freezer had to be thrown out...kind of a mess and resulted in lots of trash.

The generator sits in the garage and will be used to run the fridge if power is out long enough that food could be lost.

Is it necessary? Probably not....but having underground utilities doesn't mean they will never be out. Telephone service on our street was disrupted for almost a week for some fairly recently when lightning struck a Century Link box in a neighbors yard.

[elevatorman]

If the power goes out for long enough to wreck the food, pitch it. How much did the food cost as compared to the generator?

[Russ_Boston]

I have one here in MA but I need it since we run a daycare out of the house.

But it will become one of my kid's property very soon

[gowens1]

Having underground power does not mean anything in a major storm. I don't live in TV yet. ( 3 more years) We live 60 miles east in Deltona. We also have under ground local power, but in 2004 we got hit by 3 hurricanes: for Charlie we lost power for a week, the next one only for a couple of days. having a generator is nice, but where do you get fuel for it after the first day ? And if you buy fuel ahead of time, where do you store it ?
If you get hit with a major storm, there won't be any gas within 30 miles of the path of the storm, nor will there be any open stores. During Charlie all the major stores lost all their food, most took 2 weeks to reopen.
This isn't anything against TV, or Florida living, its just life, you can get by without a generator. Most of your niebohors (sp) will.

[pooh]

Originally Posted by elevatorman

If the power goes out for long enough to wreck the food, pitch it. How much did the food cost as compared to the generator?

You're right, food is less than the generator, but we've got one and it will be used if needed. If not, it's not taking up too much space in the garage. Had one when we did lots of RVing and just got used to having one. Grew up with hurricanes, lived as an adult with earthquakes. Maybe it just makes me feel a bit more secure to have the power source....and if it's hot, I can at least run a fan. Fingers crossed that this year the hurricane predictors are wrong!

[swrinfla]

After a week without power (Sep. 2004), my brother, who lives just east of TV in Marion County, plunked down a "bundle" for a full-service generator.

He likes to advertise that he doesn't have any problems with power outages!

I should think not - he hasn't experienced one since September 2005!

And,so far as I know, he hasn't had to energize his generator even once in that time frame!

Point: Is a fairly expensive protective system worth it? Does the cost of a full-service generator service take care of the personal-local charges?

SWR

[Shimpy]

We got rid of ours when we moved from S. Florida. It had to be started every 4 weeks or else the gas got old, gummed up the carb due to the Ethenol and cost me over $100 to get it running again. Went through that twice even after using Stabil in the gas although not the newer Stabil which is suppose to handle Ethnol better. Even with the generator we lost food after 3 hurricanes because I we really didn't want to run it all night and keep the neighbors awake. I told my wife now that we're here and if we lose power from a hurricane we'll just jump in the car and head to the mountains of northern Ga, N.C., or Tenn. and have a neighbor call us when we have power. Power probably won't be out for more than 3 days. I have three 5 gal gas cans I plan to fill when a storm approaches and that will get us out of the state where gas should be available. After a storm many stations have gas but no power to pump it.