Popular Post lmitche Posted March 7, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted March 7, 2021 At the time of Hurricane Sandy our house in southwest Connecticut lost electric power for 11 days. A fallen tree took out the power leg from the pole to the house. We had my two elderly parents, my wife and I living in the home. My sister moved in with her husband and two kids as their basement was flooded. Temperatures plunged that week into the low 30s each evening. Having natural gas for heating and cooking, and town water and sewers meant that the only utility affected was the electric power. On the third day I heard a rumor that a truckload of portable power generators was arriving to a Home Depot 60 miles drive away. It was true, and a 8000 watt gas powered portable generator, three heavy extensions cords, several 10 gallon gas tanks, and a case of motor oil were purchased for around $1000. The furnace was disconnect from the breaker panel and an AC plug added to power cable. Extension cords were run to the basement, kitchen and den powering the furnace, lighting, refrigerator, cable modem and routers, and a myriad of wall warts for rechargeable devices. We built a box around the generator, with plenty of ventilation, to reduce the noise. We left the generator running 24 x 7 except for refueling and oil changes. It never failed us. We lived a surprisingly normal life for the next 9 nights, warm and well fed. Following this incident, I swore I would buy a whole house, natural gas generator. Unfortunately I was not alone, and it was months before even an appointment with a salesman was available. Later a quote for a $15,000 installation was obtained. I passed, the $1000 solution was really all that was necessary. The portable generator sits in the garage today, unused since the hurricane, drained of oil and gas. Will it start if needed again? IDK, but I like having it there. austinpop and Jud 1 1 Pareto Audio aka nuckleheadaudio Link to comment
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