A gasoline or natural-gas powered generator would likely be your safest bet.

Westelle, several years ago we had a snow storm that left us without electric power for five days. We survived by using a small Honda gasoline generator that my husband bought years earlier when we first moved to this five acre rural parcel. It kept the TV & lights on along with our gas fireplace insert. So we didn't freeze.

The downside was that we had to run heavy duty extension cords from the outside into our master bedroom which served as our headquarters. We had to place the generator far enough away from our bedroom sliding glass door so we didn't take in the exhaust fumes. And we couldn't keep the door completely closed because of the extension cord to the outside. (We sealed that part to keep fumes out of the bedroom.)

My husband made at least one trip to the gas station to fill up the generator. Starting it in the snow wasn't much fun either. It had to be pulled just like a lawn mower. But it worked, and we survived until the power came on.

After that experience, we installed a permanent home propane generator. My husband's health was such that we knew we couldn't rely on the portable gas generator in the future. It was an expensive project but has served us well.

Because of the expense, I'm not sure it is a viable option for everyone. I hope others will chime in with helpful advice. I certainly understand your concerns and sympathize with your situation.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Depot Generators

I had all ready to get a whole-house generator, but the expense, and the constant hassle, put a stop to that idea. I was especially concerned with the AC going out in our hot summer.

Shambo, how big is your generator?

Westelle, we got a 13KW generator. Our electrician installed it, and our propane gas company ran the line and installed a dedicated tank for it. The model we bought has been discontinued, but I linked to a similar current model. As I said, it was expensive, but we've got our major needs taken care of.

It powers our hot water heater, our kitchen fridge & garage freezer, the fireplace gas inserts for both our living room and master bedroom, our microwave, all the outlets for the living room & master bedroom, and even our ductless heater & air conditioner in both rooms. So we can watch TV, bathe, cook in the microwave, keep warm or cool depending on the season. And food will not spoil in our fridge & freezer.

We purposely concentrated on powering the living room & master bedroom. We did not worry about the two guest rooms or guest bath. Same with laundry room and most of the garage.

We've never had such a long outage since installation, but we've gone several hours & one over night outage. It's set up to transfer automatically to the generator within a few minutes. We feel it was worth the expense simply because we don't have to worry about the outages and my husband doesn't have to fuss with the portable gas powered generator. He really couldn't do it now anyhow.

There are several levels of coverage and costs available. We thought long & hard about what we considered "must-haves." For us, some sort of heating & cooling, the microwave, refrigerator & freezer, & hot water for bathing were the top priorities. I have an induction cooktop & electric ovens. But as long as I could nuke food & water for tea, I was OK. I didn't care about washing clothes either.

Once we established our needs, we talked with our electrician to determine how powerful a generator we wanted and how automatic we wanted it to be. This all took several months before the actual installation took place.

Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Generac Generator

They have natural gas generators I believe as I wanted 1 for my folks as their electrical power went out quite often, crazy as I lived very close but only lost my power once. They lost it 4-5 times a summer & with their health problems really had to have AC & heat in So. Ca. is often over 100 degrees. They come on automatically if gas powered as hooked into their natural gas heating system. If you already have natural gas that might be way to go. If you live where it snows it would be difficult unless you had a covered area partly enclosed outside. So might want to call an electrician & see what he says or your gas company & tell them he has health concerns so looking into costs. Guy behind folks had 1 & it was quite noisy so might ask about that also. Folks were on medical list with electric company-did nothing, they spent nights at motel when they could still get around & came to my home few times but hard as my house was difficult to get around it.& I had hard time getting them in the house .Wheelchair, walker etc.

Sunny brings up a point I neglected to mention. Our generator is quite noisy. However, it is situated on the opposite side of our house, right outside our garage. So we really aren't bothered by the noise.

I would say the noise is comparable to gardeners running the lawnmower or leaf blower. However, I think things might have improved and there are some quieter models available now.

It goes through a maintenance turn-on once a week (about 10 minutes running time), and we have it serviced every year to make sure it's in good shape for possible future outages.

Generac was the generator we were going to get, but canceled. The cost was huge, but it was the constant hassle trying to get permits from the city.... who apparently doesn't want permament generators in the city, that finally got to me. I had a situation where DH was quite ill, Hospice Drs were suggesting end-of-life, and I admit, I lost it and couldn't take one more drama. I got rid of the things I could and was able to concentrate on what was really important. But, this leaves me with the same problem I started out with.

I understand. Sometimes the red tape is frustrating. Our electrician handled all that for the generator itself, and our propane provider handled the forms for the additional tank.

We are considering getting a gas generator. We made an appointment to speak to a generac dealer. He said he would take care of the permits, electric, etc. Only thing holding us back is the cost. Not excited about the fact that they are noisy, but it is better to complain in the light than to curse the darkness/cold!

Here is something else we are tossing around. A solar generator. I have to do a little more research but it seems as if it might be useful at half the price.

A link that may be useful:

http://www.mysolarbackup.com/

what is the 'significant cost' you are all dancing around.. but not mentioning???? give us a ballpark???

i probably cant afford it either ... but knowledge is power ... info please

ken

The "significant" cost depends on the size of the generator. Obviously a smaller generator handles less than a larger generator. So the prospective buyer would have to carefully evaluate those electrically powered items they feel are essential. Everyone's ideas of "essential items" will vary too.

I've linked below to a sampling of standby Generac generators sold by Home Depot. The ones similar in size to what we have run about $3,000 - $5,000 depending on wattage. Additional costs would include the installation, permits, etc.

My guess is that, depending on the size of the generator and the complexity of installation, the overall cost could run from a low of $5,000 to a high of $15,000. But that's just a guess.

Here's a link to a cheaper model that's not automatic. If you read the reviews, you'll discover what others have done. More cost effective but requires installing a transfer switch in order for it to work without some fuss & bother.
Generac Gas Powered Electric Start Generator

Here is a link that might be useful: Generac standby generators @ Home Depot

back in 2001 i got a stand alone generator [no recollection of its cost] .. and had an electrician install the proper hookup to the house service ... it runs the well [being a city boy, moved to the country... not having a flushing toilet was a new experience.. lol] ... the furnace ... a selected light on each level [multilevel house] .. i dont recall if the TV is one of them ...and the fridge [with strict instructions to not be opening it often]

that of course.. avoids the need to have extension cords running all over the house ... i think the electrician was about 500 to 800 bucks

i am thinking both.. were under 1000 total ....

as noted ... gas for the machine can be an issue.. and i thank this post.. it is time to gas it up.. and let it run for a while .. learned long ago.. to do this with the snowblower and the generator.. in NICE weather... lol.. having both primed for the big blow ... i did the blower earlier in the week but forgot the gen. .. so thx ...

usual operating procedure.. in a horrible storm .. is to run it long enough.. to bring the house up to 72 or so ... use the bathrooms.. etc ... perhaps an hour ... and then to shut it off and not run it again.. until the temp in the house is unbearable ... 60ish or so ... so its something along the lines of.. on for 30 minutes... off for two hours .. or some such ....

last time.. we got about 18 inches of snow.. preceded by an ice storm, that downed power lines ... i really hope to be well prepared ... so as to not have to venture out with fallen power lines... etc ... in fact.. neighbors told me.. it was quite an adventure to find a close gas station with electric power .... so as to pump the gas ...

the neighbor runs his 24/7 during such .... gas being the only limiting factor .... and he usually has to drive out to find gas.. some time on day 2 ....

when the choice is no toilet ... and no heat... on a sub zero day ... the noise is very quickly tuned out ... lol.. actually the noise disappearing.. is the first sign.. that the electric is back on ....

just some info.. for you warm zone folks ... welcome to the great white north ... lol..

i really dont know what i would do about have a patient who had requisite machines ... except to prepare for the worst ....

take care

ken

Just after I finished posting above, I got a call from the electrical company that services our Generac. It was time for our annual service. The fellow just left a few minutes ago.

Ken makes a good point about needing regular checkups & service. No use having a backup system that isn't in good working condition. As I said, our generator automatically runs once a week for a short time just to keep it ready-to-go. And then, of course, the once a year service before winter begins.

I consider our generator an expense akin to a new roof or new A/C system. Expensive but necessary. My husband's health is such that we can't deal with another 5 day power outage. Actually, it's more like foundation work. You don't really see it, so there's not much to admire or brag about. But it's necessary.

We were contracted for a whole-house generator that used the same gas as the furnaces. The contractor was getting all permits, etc., providing electricians, installation, etc. The cost was $50K. But then we needed a new electric panel for which they wanted us to pay... a lot. The whole business just got to be too much and I cancelled the contract.

Westelle, I don't blame you a bit. $50,000 is a huge amount. Especially if you were using an already available gas source. I believe ours cost about $13,000 for the generator and installation. We did have to pay a couple of thousand more for the additional propane tank & gas line. But we got one that was capable of taking care of most of the house & garage.