This past Tuesday, the Philadelphia Region was slammed with a windy summer storm that knocked out our neighborhood’s electricity for days. We were without power until this past Saturday. No fun. Since we moved here from the city five years ago, we’ve lost our power maybe once a year and for never longer than a day or two. Even during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, we didn’t lose our power.
During the storm last week, we were able to borrow a portable backup generator from a kind neighbor who had extras. Surprisingly, this was my first experience using any type of portable generator system. We kept it out in the back yard and ran a couple extension cords through a window to keep the fridge going and to do some laundry. That setup worked pretty well until it started raining. Turns out, generators are electrical devices and they don’t like getting wet. Go figure. Unable to effectively keep it dry, I had to turn it off and bring it inside the garage until the storm passed. This time of year with the heat and the humidity, it could rain everyday or every other day.
When it rained and we weren’t using the generator, we resorted to putting all of the refrigerator contents into a cooler packed with ice. We kept the freezer section closed, which supposedly will keep the food cold for up to 48 hours. We’ll see, I’ll let you know if I accidentally eat any spoiled meat.
A few of my neighbors that have portable generators also have an outlet on the outside of the house they can plug the generator into. This setup allows them to power the entire circuit breaker instead of running extension cords through a window. With the circuit breaker powered up, they can then choose which circuits to turn on. If you want lights and the refrigerator powered up, no problem. You can turn breakers on and off depending on what you’d like to power.
Here’s what that outlet and power cord looks like (thanks, Ed):
There are a couple drawbacks to this option. Since the plug is for a portable generator, it’s not designed to sit out in the rain so you’ll need to either safely cover it somehow or bring it in. Guess when your power is most likely to be knocked out? You guessed it, during a rainstorm. Once the storm is over though, you’re good to go.
The other issue is the size. You can get portable generators up to 17,500 Watts. If you want to power up your central air conditioner, you’ll probably need 17,500 Watts and for that size you’re looking at spending around $3k-$4k just for the unit.
The unit we borrowed from our neighbor was 3250 Watts and it was plenty big for a fridge and lights. You can get a decent sized portable generator for under $1000 no sweat.
The other option available is a whole house unit. This type of generator will sit permanently in one location and will be hard wired into a box next to the main breaker panel. They can run on propane or natural gas as opposed to gasoline, which is used on the portable generators. The whole house backup generators will monitor your circuit breaker for a power outage and then power themselves on automatically. You can then select which devices to provide power to. If you hook it up to a natural gas supply line in your home, you won’t ever need to run out during a storm and add fuel. Power goes out, generator kicks on and you’re back in business. They can be sized from 10,000 Watts on the low end up to 22,000+Watts on the higher end.
(20kW Home Standy Generator via Amazon.com affiliate link)
Obviously, the advantage here is a nearly uninterrupted power supply. If you get a generator big enough, you can keep the AC on. Since it’s designed to never be moved, it can take abuse from the weather and the elements. Some of them perform their own maintenance and will let you know if you need to change or add oil or call for a service appointment.
The big downside to this type of option is the price. The equipment costs around $4k and up not including installation costs, which I could handle.
The big question: Is it worth it? Can we get by with a $500 unit and just run some extension cords? If we install the outlet outside, am I okay with running out for gasoline every day or bringing it into the garage if it rains? This is one of those questions that everyone needs to answer on their own. What’s your pain threshold?
Today, I’m not a fan of no AC, frequent rainstorms and no lights. I’m also not a fan of paying $4k for something I may not need that often. So, we’ll see. Definitely doing something, just not sure which option yet.
What would you do? What would you do if the price wasn’t an option? Maybe I need to sell some more books!! 😉
Stay tuned, because you know I’m going to show you how to install this piece once I buy something.
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