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We are on a mission to add a “Whole House Emergency Generator” to our whole house where we have survived for 30 years without one.
One of the great challenges in country living is to remain alive and functioning during power outages. A severe thunder storm will trigger an outage here – or a slight breeze will do it too.
Living in an all electric house means when there is no power there is a total blackout.
No flushing toilets
or taking showers
or cooking (Hurrah!),
or seeing at night without flashlights and candles.
And we cannot do laundry or watch television or
charge our cell phones.
We are cold (shivering) in winter and hot (overheated) in summer.
And the silence is deafening.
But in the beginning it was an adventure!
Being cold in winter and hot in summer was a satisfying challenge. The woodstove had to be watched and logs added and added again and again A big storm once arrived in a summer heatwave. It was called a “Derecho” and we lost power for five days.
Ah, the ultimate dream! Automatic power!
Yes, Bill and I have made a grand decision to take advantage of modern progress and add an emergency Whole House Generator to our whole house. Still, having made that decision we are now faced with numerous other decisions in order to move forward.
- Where should we put the ugly duckling? The propane tank is big, ugly, and by Virginia law has to placed ten feet from any building.
- And where should we put the actual generator? It is not particularly ugly nor huge but evidently (by Virginia law) has to be five feet from any window opening.
These are only the first two questions and the more we talk and the more we investigate, the more questions arise. Rent or buy the propane tank? How big a tank? How big a generator? Where to buy? What electric company to use for installation? How to disguise the ugly duckling(s)? And how much will all this cost?
The dream of automatically reinstated home comfort is the inspiration to keep asking questions and moving forward but stay tuned for any end result.
Virginia Views 
Smart you.
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There are definitely a lot of decisions to be made, but being without power for 5 days is no fun! The Derecho seems to be becoming more common.
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Hi Dor: Glad you will be able to help me should I also reconsider this big purchase. Good luck.
Lunch with the girls?
Best, Laura
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I know nothing about whole house generators, except that (1) if I had a house and money, I’d have one, and (2) down here, they have to be elevated a substantial number of feet to keep them out of flood waters. But, while you’re doing your asking and answering and until you actually get one, I have to ask; you do have a portable charger for your phones and other devices, right? I have one that’s capable of fully charging my two devices multiple times — very nice in a multitude of circumstances.
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A big but good decision. We really are ‘powerless’ without electricity, aren’t we?
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Ah ! The joy of living in the country. Can you build something around it to make it look attractive Dora. ? What about a trellis of some sort. Just a thought. Good luck with your decision anyway.
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Powerful idea …
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A few years back, our electric company had abandoned tree trimming which meant that there were a lot of outages when storms brought down branches. We considered and investigate a generator. (We are wusses!) Ultimately we never did make a decision but the power company was forced by our state regulatory commission to cut down the outages which they did by instating their tree trimming. We haven’t revisited it again since our outages are so few. However there have been 5-day outages not that far from us within the last 2 years. Not sure I could last 5 days!
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Good questions all of them. Being without power for several days might start out as an adventure but I think it would get old very quickly. Hopefully, you will get some good suggestions from readers who have already got a system set up.I know people here who have generators but I”m sure our conditions and regulations would be very different to yours.
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Having just lived thru Dorian I highly endorse the idea!!! One thing to consider is a portable generator. We’re using one as we speak and it’s a life-saver. Noisy and annoying but you only need it for a short time and don’t need to worry about all of those other questions!! (Don’t know if u could heat your whole home tho)
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Living rurally, power outages are common here, too. We sprung for an automatic generator about 8 years ago and LOVE the convenience. No more hauling water for toilets and for drinking, huddling around the wood stove in winter or bathing in the river in summer.
We got ours from Home Depot, who arranged for a local contractor. We got their credit card at 0% for 18 months, so paid it off incrementally, so never had to pay extra charges. Worked out well!
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Good luck on getting your questions answered. I loved your title and hope everything goes smoothly.
We were usually the last people on Long Island to get our power back. Like you, we froze or sweltered. Hurricanes and blizzards made us watch the sky intently. We wouldn’t make that mistake in the mountains of North Carolina. No, sirree. We had a partial-house generator installed before we’d been here a year. I don’t think we’ve had a power outage last more than 12 hours. That’s a sharp contrast to the seven-day trials we had before. The one good thing is that now our neighbors come to our house to charge cell phones, go to the bathroom, and party. Who wants to suffer in silence? It’s more fun to commiserate.
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I am sure as soon as we get the generator system installed and ready we will never have another power failure! 🙂
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Hi Laura! We will be glad to share our great knowledge about generators – that is when we accumulate great knowledge. Right now it’s all a learning experience. Lunch with the girls is a great idea. Will see if I can pull us all togehter for a date. 🙂
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Hello Shoreacres. We have ordered the generator and met with the electrician installer and the gas company, and are therefore on the way to understanding. Thanks for the reminder that we do have a portable charger which is charged but we haven’t tried it yet. If it works like yours I will feel fortunate indeed. 🙂
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It is esecially sad to be powerless around here since we lose water.
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And it is a good thought Rita! We will have to do just that – build a camouflage surround to hide the repulsive thing. In the end, I think we will be happy with the results.
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You have such a way with words Andrew! 🙂
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You are so lucky the tree trimming took place. Our power is with an electric cooperative and seems it goes out for no apparent reason. The 5 day storm we had one 90 degree summer finally sent us and our dog to a motel on the other side of town.
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I am so glad you made it through Dorian! What a nasty storm that is and still going. One of our grands lives in Charleston and seems to be all right.
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Hurrah! I am so glad you got one of the automatic generators Eliza and that you love it. We just signed off on one from Lowe’s and have talked to the electrician and the gas company too. We are moving forward with this and now just deciding where to put the propane tank where it will be least obtrusive.
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Something tells me you know how to live! I love the idea of having the neighbors over for a party!
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We love our neighbors and look for excuses to be with them.
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That almost happened to us. We were out for 24 hours on one occasion. Luckily it came back on overnight but just a few blocks away they were out 5 days.
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Been awful but finally got our power back, took a hot shower and ran the vacuum. Feeling like a new woman 😊
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We don’t have a generator, but it sounds like a good idea. I’ve lost food a few times over the years when the power was out for several days.
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When we bought our house, it had a diesel generator in the garage. It could power the whole house too – but you had to power it up manually and it was a huge beast, size wise. Later we switched to a much smaller natural gas generator. (Natural gas is what we use to heat homes in our part of the world.) This generator is much smaller and turns on and off automatically. It can only powers the essentials, like the furnace fans, the fridge and the water pumps – but that is good enough. Our power is never off for more than half a day!
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LOL! 🙂
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Sounds like you have the answer Margy, to surviving in your part of the world. Hope ours goes as smoothly.
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We have had a little generator that needed to be pulled outside and then started with a cord like a lawn mower. It is also down a big flight of stairs. As time goes on, it is more and more difficult to operate….. therefore the new investigation.
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Hurrah! There is nothing like the return of power after we have met the challenge with nature.
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