Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
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 