[Grill Meister]

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. We moved to The Villages from an area rampant with hurricanes and outages. I was interested in purchasing a generator that self tested itself monthly and had sufficient power to maintain our air conditioning and refrigeration. I attended a hurrican awareness expo at Savannah Center and discussed this with a rep from one of the generator companies. Did I get a surprise. He told me that The Villages rarely suffers power outages and then for less that an hour. All of the electricals are underground and we have an outage only if one of the sub-stations goes down.

[OhioBuckeye]

Maybe, we had a lot of power outages.Really don’t know what rules are in TV, state laws you’ll have to check!

[bopat]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

I’ve looked for a “whole house” battery backup system. This would be my preferred method if it wasn’t for the cost. One could purchase two Generac systems for one comparable whole house battery backup system. Then becomes the issue of charging the batteries. You have an additional expense for the solar panels. My understanding is the solar panels put on your roof by/for the utility companies cannot be connected to battery backup systems.

I have a friend with a Generac generator. It is not noisy. But as others have said, extended power outages are rare here in The Villages. Unless needed for a medical reason, I would take a very hard look before purchasing.

No need for solar panels.
Solar is for energy generation.
Batteries solve the intermittent power issues.
Cost depends on the size. I'm sure you could also get a solution that's half what a Generac costs, and when you factor in maintenance of the Generac vs no maintenance for the battery system it's not even close.
Also, some electric cars have that feature built in, they can power your house in the event of an outage, so for those it's "free."
Just like the battery in your laptop, if you're unplugged you can still surf talk of the villages.

[mikemalloy]

Originally Posted by talonip

Anyone have experience with Generac?
Are they worth it in the villages.

When we lived in Michigan we had a neighborhood with trees that during storms often took out the power lines that we above ground. Have lived here 10 yrs. and experienced one power outage of aprox. 1 hr. The lines are below ground and not subject to storm damage. Occasionally a critter manages to interupt a transformer but that is short lived. Is it worth it to buy a Generac here. In my opinion no.

[Battlebasset]

The only thing I see that I need a generator for in the south area is for my fridge, if power were out for 6+ hours. It would take a large generator for your AC, and you would need to wire it into your panel. If it's hot and you are out of power for that long, you can probably find a rec center that does have power, and cool off there.

In the south area, and we have NG for cooking, and if I need hot water, I could boil it. Golf cart with USB plugs to charge phones. Bottom line, I don't see power being out here that much or that long to make the purchase and maintenance of a generator of any kind worth it.

[keepsake]

Want Quieter -- get an 1800 rpm model. The noisy ones are 3600 rpm.

[dpmers]

Been here since 1998 really haven't a power outage more than several minutes. I do have an F150 with 7200 watt inverter in case, it'll run almost everything in the house except the AC

[JRcorvette]

Originally Posted by talonip

Anyone have experience with Generac?
Are they worth it in the villages.

They are very expensive and probably not worth it unless you need the piece of mind and don’t care about the cost. A portable generator with a dedicated plug would be a better choice. If you are not comfortable using a portable generator then get a large electric solar power system. All you do is plug it in and it will run most everything except the AC for 24 hrs if you are conservative with usage. Recharge using portable solar panels in the yard! They cost double the price of a gas generator but have advantages.

[bmcgowan13]

Originally Posted by bopat

I'd get a big battery, like the Anker Solix: Anker SOLIX F3800 | Minimum Effort, Maximum Power - Anker US
or Tesla Powerwall https://www.tesla.com/powerwall
.

Great idea. I am also considering this route after learning how infrequently, and short-term, the power goes out in TV.

The advantages of the battery backup is no generator storage in garage, no cumbersome process to drag it outside and find someplace to shelter it, no oil changes, no late night refueling during a storm, no gas storage and refreshing gasoline every few months, no engine maintenance, no noise, and no cutover process.

If we are going to loose power for 2-10 days (as we did in New England) a gasoline (or even better propane or natural gas) generators are the way to go. But it seems down there the outages are way less frequent (due to buried lines and no snow storms to rip down tree limbs onto overhead wires) and only last a few hours--maybe a day at most. A battery backup is ideal (albeit short-term) fix for this situation.

The reality is if we lost power for more than a day we would probably bug out anyway. Power doesn't bring back internet and there are only so many card games and puzzles we can do.

We are likewise considering a PowerWall or Anker alternative.

[Bwanajim]

A portable generator is a heck of a lot cheaper. You get an electrician to install it and put a disconnect in your breaker box to cut off to the powerlines. Just plug in the cord, go flip the switch and start the generator.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Bwanajim

A portable generator is a heck of a lot cheaper. You get an electrician to install it and put a disconnect in your breaker box to cut off to the powerlines. Just plug in the cord, go flip the switch and start the generator.

If the generator is not large enough to power the heat pump and the lighting, what's the point? I'm leaving.

[keepsake]

You'd better ask your insurance company if they will even insure you if you put batteries of this magnitude in your garage. Same as an electric vehicle. Fire risk if over charged or short.

[keepsake]

My batteries are outside on an open air porch. On a slab with concrete board walls and metal cover. Any fire will be localized and should be contained. Each cell I have is individually monitored and sensed for over or under conditions.