These are certainly unsettled times. The area we live in is on the edge of “Tornado Alley,” and is definitely prone to severe winter storms. Neither of us has medical needs, e.g. CPAP, that must be maintained. I mostly think about the well, a drink of water would be nice.

Natural gas and the gas meter is conveniently located on the side of the house where we would locate the generator, but the electric meter is down near the road, pretty far from the house.

I could just call a Generac or Cummins dealer and probably get a free estimate, but I thought there might be value in just talking about it with friends first.

If I was in your position, I'd definitely get one.

I wouldn't think the location of the electric meter would be a concern, but ask your installer.

You will need a transfer switch located near your breaker panel box to get the auto switching and startup of generator when the power goes out. Makes me smile every time the power goes out and that sucker cranks up in about 15 seconds.

I believe it is also important to buy from someone that installs and services it after installation. Oil, plugs, filter, battery check, replace etc.

I have done all that myself for about 6 years, but have just hired someone to do it on an annual basis because, well, I am getting old and don't want to screw with it anymore. Plus if there is an issue needing repair, they know what they are doing.

As BigWhup said, the location of the breaker panel is more important than the actual meter.

To prep for a generator, an electrician would install a transfer switch that feeds a subpanel. The loads that the generator would feed would be on the subpanel. With the generator off a line from the main panel feeds the sub panel through the transfer switch, if utility power goes down, the transfer switch could be cut to the generator feed, and the generator activated.

If you don't want to spend as much as necessary for the build in, whole house, automatically activated generator, you can have the transfer switch / subpanel installed, where the is a plug on the outside of the house for a portable generator. Then you'd buy a generator, and if necessary, wheel it out, plug it in and turn it on. Obviously this is NOT as convenient of a system, but it's much cheaper.

How many hp is your well pump? I assume it is a submersible.

We store water on hand. Maybe 10-20 gals. Refresh occasionally. In an emergency it would last a couple of weeks or more. I have portable generators. I can keep fridge and freezer cold for a few weeks as well.

Some kind of a dual fuel auto generator system install is probably going to cost upwards of $20k I would guess. What if it got taken out by the storm, then what?

I suppose I should strike Do I Need? from the subject line. Only my wife and I can determine if the generator is something we “need.” I suppose this is somewhat comparable to carrying a firearm, in that it’s better to have it and not need it… I figure we’re looking at over 5 figures all in, and maybe well over 5 figures, in the realm of $20k, is a possibility. We’re coming up on 7 years here and haven’t had an issue yet, but like I said in my first post, “these are unsettled times” and perhaps there could be more at play than weather.

ETA: ORC, storing some water and and keeping a small generator on hand may be the best (certainly most affordable) solution.

I can say that we discuss this at home all the time, and this past weekend with Ian is the first or second time since 2004 Charlie that we'd really need a longer term whole house generator.

Having said that the issues we went through to recondition the portable, even though fuel was drained, had to clean out the carb, and the oil pressure switch decided to take a dump and keeping it from having ignition. Found a local shop that was kind enough to tell me how to get around it a day before Ian arrived, a whole house would have been nice.

IAN brought 60 degree nights and 70 to 80 degree days, not having AC wasn't an issue, now have the same power out for two days or more in July, that's a different story, with the larger portable you can run a couple of refrigerators, fans, lights, tv, internet, charge phones.

The questions you should ask are, how often do you need one, do you have medical equipment and medicine that require refrigeration, how difficult will it be to obtain fuel to run a portable, do you need to run heat in the winter, how far is it to go and get fuel to run a portable, and of course cost. Can you easily get out in bad weather, setup a portable, connect it, fuel it, ie will your health allow it. Things like that.

Whole houses are not inexpensive, but they can solve a lot of issues and difficulties of maintaining and running a portable.

Have them out to discuss the connection, you're not the only one that has this issue that they've encountered and solved in order to make the install work.

Power comes into the dwelling at some single point and that's where the transfer switch will sit, if you have a main breaker box outside it's going to be there so they can kill power from the main to prevent back feeding the grid.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Power comes into the dwelling at some single point and that's where the transfer switch will sit, if you have a main breaker box outside it's going to be there so they can kill power from the main to prevent back feeding the grid.

Main breaker box is in the garage, which is located on the S side of the house. Electric meter and feed line sits in the SW corner of the property. Gas line and meter is located on the N side of the property. Sure, these are obstacles that can be overcome, but cost will increase.

We've had private wells over the past 45 years. Until
last year never had pump capable generator.

We suffered power outages from several hours
to a full week. Planning ahead and learning
back pack & rv camping tricks gave an edge for
such periodic interruptions.

As we aged, the advantages of adequate home power generation



has become more apparent. Yet learning water use discipline
was considerable advantage.

Well they will either put it near the gas or electric and run a line to the other service.

If you go portable get one that runs on NG so you don't have to fill multiple cans of fuel to keep it running. If you have an access point where you can connect the portable quickly to run, and then you can run a longer 220 to back feed the house. This will still cost some money to have a line setup.

What you can run will be dependent on the size of the portable so you need to consider the total amount of power you would need in the worse case situation IE power out in freezing temps and you need heat, lights, etc...

The other option, solar power with battery walls, enough to run the house easily, not cheap but you get tax break, and all your new CA neighbors will love your greeness.....

HRK,

At least look at and compare costs for propane. If you have the space you can put a big propane tank, either above ground or buried. Natural gas is dependent on your supplier, which is probably solid, but could have issues in widespread outage. And natural gas gets expensive if you’re running it any length of time. Don’t know how propane compares, but it’s worth asking about.

EDIT: I just realized you are more concerned with water and everyone is talking about whole house generators. I’m sure you could get a smaller generator for the well pump- can still wire it to make it convenient.

TMats, here in VA this past January we had a helluva storm that left most of the region around me without power for several days. My house was without for 7.5 days. After all was said, I had an electrician install a power inlet, 2 50 amp breakers, a whole house surge protector and generator interlock kit so I could hook up my 15k portable generator to the house. I can run everything I need to including my well pump, pressure tank, and hot water heater. It was roughly $1100 for all materials and labor (generator and power supply line is another cost). Since I had the install done, we've had 2 incidents that allowed me to use the setup. One day for a few hours after a small wind storm took a few trees down and another time that took about 6 hours after a brand new Made in China transformer caught fire. From outage to getting my power back on, it only takes about 5 minutes. I keep my generator on a pallet and use my tractor to move it when I need it. As long as I have fuel, it won't be an issue anymore.

My outage procedure:

Cut main power via breaker panel
Shut ALL breakers to Off position

Make sure generator is fueled and lubricated *Unnecessary step if maintenance is done and you refill after use, but I do it regardless.
Move generator and get power supply cable
Connect power supply cable to generator and power inlet box

Fire up generator and turn breaker to ON position
Go back inside and move interlock switch to allow generator to energize the panel
Select which circuits to use. *No need to have the whole house powered up when all you need are the essentials. Saves fuel and you'll never produce power cheaper than the power company.

Top off every couple of hours and check lubrication.
Shut down is pretty much reverse order of operations.

I was quoted by several companies doing the whole house backup generator thing and found it to be very costly. Most were between $10-15K range with a 17-22K generator. I'm into all of this for a helluva lot less and portable generators can be a little more useful since I can move it around to where I need power.


Most portable generators now are tri-fuel (gas, propane, natural gas) and quite a few offer parallel kits that allow you to hook multiples together for higher output. If done right, you can set yourself up quite nicely at the expense of a little time. Time to hookup when outage occurs and the time necessary to put stuff away once you don't need it anymore. Some of that can be cut out if you make a permanent generator storage solution like a shed (YouTube is your friend). I plan on getting a cheap trailer, mounting the generator and waterproofing the exterior (along with sound deadening).


Hope all of this helps you make a decision one way or the other.

Thanks, muted blade

I live at the end of the power line, and I do what mutedblade does. It's nice to have an automatic system, but honestly, you don't use it much, you tie up a TON of money, and have to have it serviced regularly to maintain reliability.

For an investment 1/10th the cost of a full automatic system, you can maintain essential living conditions, and have the flexibility of a portable generator if you ever need it offsite.

The one thing to consider, is that many portables make significant wattage, without making significant amperage. For example, mine makes 7500 watts, but only 30 amps. As such it will run the 110 in the house without laboring, but if I want hot water, I have to turn everything off to make hot water and then cycle the system back. Likewise, there is no thought of it running my central air. Room air, yes, central air, no.

So if you go the portable with transfer switch route, make a realistic estimate of how much power you will need before purchase, and buy accordingly.

Finally, ask you local power provider if they have a program to support generators. In South Florida, FPL had a program to install a generator plug below your meter and provided the cable from your generator to the plug. The benefit was that the plug itself disconnected the house from the grid. I.e., if you plugged the cord into the coupling, the house automatically disconnected from the FPL system, thus FPL techs restoring power would not be shocked by back-feed from people too dumb to hit the main breaker. All in, it was a good program with high quality components, at a fair price.

Check the size of your natgas supply line and make sure it right sizes to the demand of the generator. Having to replace a five eights pipe right now to 1.125”

My neighbor did it for $xxx.xx 2 months and for some reason they put an extra zero behind mine. Maybe because he’s a pastor he gets a discount. I should ask the lawyer on the other side… Lol

What MutedBlade said makes sense, as long as you have access to fuel, LP, NG, Gas, Diesel, and have a proper electric connection and cable setup for quick connections, and feel comfortable with making the manual connections needed.

That is what we do when we need to power up the house on a generator, when power is going to be out for a while it's no big deal to haul it out, buy fuel in advance, hook up the electrical, check all the bits and its better if you have prep time like we do in FL for a Hurricane with several days notice. Basically you'd want to pull it out every so often, change the oil and add fuel (non ethanol is best) and run it.

Have a list of setup steps handy and practice it.

We're good with a portable 5500 Troy Built, bought in 04 for Charlie and it's worked well since then, and even with additives in fuel, or, with todays fuel, draining it and the carb, it still needs a good carb cleaning to get going.

Make a list of what you need to run to survive in the worst case scenario, add up the amount of power you'll need then buy the portable that can run it easily.

Do you need one?

It would depend on how often your power goes out, and for how long. We are on well water, and between the odd hurricane and ice storm, power's been out at this location for up to 9 days (prior owner). Our power goes out maybe 8-10 x per year, generally during storms for a few hours but sometimes out of the blue. It is nice to not have to care much. No natural gas here, run it from a propane tank.

Can you afford one?

Starting from scratch, you will need 4 things: site prep, a gas hookup, a transfer switch and a generator. The demand you want to handle with the generator will determine the size generator you want, and that will determine the rest.

I just had a new, larger 22Kw Generac generator put in this past December to replace my old 18Kw. Cost was $12K for the new transfer switch and generator. Already had the site and gas connection.

You may not need 22Kw. For your quote, the generator company will send a tech to come by, look at your electrical system and at the high-amp equipment (HVAC, water heaters, cooking, water pumps, dryer, etc.) and estimate a generator size that works for your situation.

RE: location.
The electric meter location does not matter, they will probably want to put the transfer switch (and thus the generator) near where your electricity enters the house.

As far as water goes, why not have a mechanical pump along side of the electric pump? Should you lose power long term and the ability to generate power, you’ll still be able to get water.

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:
As far as water goes, why not have a mechanical pump along side of the electric pump? Should you lose power long term and the ability to generate power, you’ll still be able to get water.

Our well is somewhere in the neighborhood of 480’ deep. I’m trying to imagine a mechanical pump that would pull water from that depth, or how you could have both down in the well.