Jerzeegirl (if you are from NJ ... I just moved down here from NJ 3 years ago - lived in Hoboken and then in Glen Ridge). I spoke to both Millers Dutch Haus and Taters. Taters was recommended by my General Contractor -- but he has a habit of only recommending places where I think he receives a little something on the backend. Anyways, I liked the gentleman from Taters BUT he really is just a salesman without much insight on configuration or design. Additionally, he went silent on me for 2 weeks during the planning/pricing stage and then told me his delivery time for the cabinets would be 3 times longer than he first estimated because I "didn't order the cabinets last week". This turned me off and I started researching alternatives. On Gardenweb I had learned about Millers. I hadn't thought to contact them because they look like a furniture store ..not cabinet maker (and the furniture in their showroom is a bit on the old-fashioned side). I've been EXTREMELY PLEASED with Lee at Miller's Dutch Haus. He is a pleasure to work with and brought very good ideas to the table. The best part ...his pricing was actually less than Taters. I ordered all my pantry cabinetry (its a 12 foot by 7 foot pantry), mudroom (14 linear feet) and 15 foot window seat from him. Its scheduled to be installed 2 weeks from now ...so I can't comment on the quality of the cabinets yet but I can say it has been a pleasure to work with him. I also ended up ordering Conestoga cabinets for our 6 bathrooms from Brian at the CabinetJoint. Most of all because I was concerned about Florida humidity in a bathroom and wanted to ensure I was getting 'baked on' stains - so I never really planned to go w/ a custom cabinet maker for these. I had also spoken Rick at the CabinetAuthority BUT he really just wanted to give me a price and take my order ..where as Brian at the CabinetJoint was extremely patient and really really helped me 'design' out what the cabinets should look like. Note, both the CabinetAuthority and CabinetJoint are Conestoga resellers ...so they are 'selling' the same product. So if you want to go this route, I recommend CabinetJoint over CabinetAuthority - they'll meet each others' pricing so it really comes down to service and in my case CabinetJoint really shined in this department. I'm expecting my cabinets from Conestoga to arrive the first week in May ... so can't comment on quality of these yet either. I also need to find someone to install them (the downside of ordering online) ... so we'll see how that goes. If you'd like to speak on the phone, please send me an email and I'll be happy to chat. Also I can share photos and experience by mid-may ..at that time all my custom cabinets from Millers and my Conestoga cabinets from CabinetJoint should be in. My house is in Laurel Oaks in Sarasota ... so once they are in, if you want to stop by and see them, you are welcome to do so! Deirdre

Hi Chris, I think the issue that you are trying to solve is to have a generator for backup power for your house. You mentioned portable was there any particular reason for that? I installed a generator for my home in New York about a year ago so have some experience in home backup systems, at least from the home owner point of view. The way I see it there are roughly three ways to go: 1) Lower cost. Gasoline powered portable generator. Up to 7,500 Watts. Exepcted to pay $US 700 to $US 4,000. Instalation wiring setup from $US 1000 to $US 2000. 2) Mid price. Propane powered. Up to 12kw to 15kw. Genset cost from $US 2000 to $US 3000. Instalation cost from $US 2000 to $US 4000. Lawn mower engine based, air cooled. 3,600 rpm. Auto start on power fail over. Permanent instalation on a gravel base. 3) High Price. Propane powered. from $US 20kw and up. Genset cost from $US 10,000. Instalation cost from $US 4000 to $US 8000 and over. Truck / car engine based. Liquid cooled, presssured oil system with spin on filter. 1,800 rpm. Permanent instalation. Concrete pad. Heavy lift required for instalation, the genset is over 1,000 lbs, and too heavy for even a four man crew to lift. Auto start on power fail. The decision as to the best route is really I think family dependent. If you or a member of your familly are pretty abled bodied and can wheel about a generator then then option 1 will work. Note generators are heavy even portable ones in the 7.5 kw capacity. On a power failure you will need to wheel out your generator and start it up outside. Keep the generator in a sheltered position away from rain and snow (water and electricity dangers), but NOT in a garage or basement due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning dangers, which are serious,fatal and sadly happens alot. This spot also needs to be away from your house a bit due to fire risk. You will need to fill your generator about once every five hours or so. A 7.5kw generator will need about once gallon of fuel an hour. Gasoline fule storage is usually limited to 20 gallons by town fire codes. Gasoline should be stored away from your house and will keep up to one year using a fuel stabilizer like STABIL (Home Depot). I recommend that you have the installation wriring done too with a transfer switch. The alternative is to run power extension cords all over your house for power which can be problamatic The best portable generator out there IMHO in the 7.5 kw portable range is the Honda EM 7000 AB. This has inverter electronics that allow the engine to run at a different speed depending on power demand. So this means lower noise, less wear and lower fuel consumption. Non inverted generators in this class usually run at 3,600 rpm to give you 60 Hz power. Yamaha also make Inverter generators. Note you will have to run your genset once a month to maintain it. For most home owners I would recomend the mid price route. The contractor who installed my genset said most people went that route. The main advantage is that you have propane for a power source. You can install alot ot it in a tank near your house I have 400 gallons. Or if you have mains gas you do not need a tank at all but yo run the risk that you mains gas may fail in a storm. Propane also will keep indefinately and be fine to use. These genesets also will auto run twice a week to for maintenance purposes. The instalation is housed nicely and when the storm hits there is no need to run about in the dark getting wet and cold. In the end I ended up going for a 20kw Cummins Onan genset (High Price) because I wanted some Air Conditioning to work. The car based engines run typically at 1,800 rpm, lower speed and hence less noise and wear. Usually there is only a limited number of circuts that can be powered due to the capacity of the genset. Usually people put on the following: 1) Well pump for water (if you have one) 2) Sewage ejector pumps (if you have one) 3) Furnace blower and furnace electronics (hot water for your house) 4) Air handlers and blowers (heat for your house, no frozen pipes, unless you are in Florida) 5) Fridge / Freezer 6) Lights (some) 7) Television 8) Other stuff, alarms etc. garage doors. 9) Air conditioning compressor units, these require high power and have even higher starting power requirements. Usually a cheaper solution is to purchase a small "Window" A/C and use that for one room during blackouts. Good luck with your installation. Warmest regards, Mike.

Thanks for the additional input sktn77a and Austin Air. I got into the attic and had a look and have pretty much decided to go with keeping my existing ducts (I didn't find any obvious leaks) and pairing them with a new 3 ton unit for most of the house and the mini-split for master bedroom area (option #3 in my first post). I like the zoned cooling idea, and it brings the handler inside (don't have an option for "centrally" locating it). If my ducts end up being bad, then I can always have them replaced at a late date, and I think I'll still be happier with the 3 ton central/ mini-split equipment than if I bought a single 5 ton. So I made Contractor #3 an offer of $12000 on his $13K estimate to see what would happen. He countered with an interesting option. He will meet my price of $12K but instead of this unit in the original proposal: https://gemaire.com/american-standard-4a7v8036a1000b-platinum-series-3-ton-18-seer-variable-speed-air-conditioner-unit-208-230-1-60-4a7v8036a1000b#tab-description he tracked down this one: https://gemaire.com/american-standard-4a7v0036a1000a-3-ton-20-seer-variable-speed-acculink-air-conditioner-r410a-4a7v0036a1000a#tab-description The replacement option is a few years old (not sure how many) but is still new in the box and would have full factory warranty. The SEER unit is actually higher on the replacement option but almost all of the specs on the two units are exactly the same. But based on conflicting info in the link above, I can't tell if the replacement option is truly Variable speed, two-stage, or single stage. Edit: just to clarify, 4A7V0036 is the model number AS currently used and continues to use for the SEER20 unit, and 4A7V0036 for the SEER 18 unit, so that hasn't changed. The difference is the original quote was for a model number ending in "B" (4A7V8036A1000B) and the cheaper quote is for an "A" (4A7V0036A1000A). But I haven't been able to tell what changed from "A" to "B" units. Saving $1000 is nothing to sneeze at, especially if it is essentially the same unit, but I'm feeling reluctant. Opinions?

Deerfield had deer? I can hardly imagine it. I did find this "before" photo And this "after" photo We are close to the same age but I was born in 60 and missed the glorious 50's. The 1980's were full of change but the Keys to me changed very drastically in the 2000's. We used to take the boys in the early 90's to the gulf side when they were young. There were still remnants of ole Florida Keys then. A few years ago I tried to do an ole Florida keys trip by staying in a fifties or maybe earlier hotel. It came with a little boat and was pretty run down but clean. I couldn't believe how expensive even that pokey little place was. I always think of the 1960's show Flipper when thinking of the keys of yesteryear. I know the show was filmed in Miami but it was a good representation of the lower Keys. Here ya go, now you'll be singing this all day lol. They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning, No-one you see, is smarter than he, And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder, Flying there-under, under the sea! https://youtu.be/azEOeTX1LqM Edited to add... Check the Florida Keys calendar of events before you booK. Motorcycle clubs/fundraisers etc have shindigs several times a year. It can get VERY loud. It is highly amusing though.