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Bought it about 2 years ago based on the power going way to frequently when I first moved in. This went on for about 5 years and then I decided to pickup a nice portable generator. After I bought it the power hasn't gone out until today. YAY. Worked great. Two refrigerators, furnace TV and checked my e-mail 1-2 times before the cable went out (assume their battery backup went down).
The best part about having it on is that one neighbor that we don't get along w/ (mainly the wife) came walking over, looked into our backyard and walked home... I offered my next door neighbor an extension chord to run their refrigerator if they wanted.
It was about the best thing to happen today.
Bill
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A household generator is in the cards when we finally buy a house here in Arkansas. We don't lose power too often in the spot we're in (utilities are underground) but it happens -- plus they still spin yarns of the ice storm years ago that took power out for a week or more in some spots.
(The house we're renting has no fireplace, which just dumbfounds me. I thought a fireplace was a standard item in a house where snow happened. Hell, I lived in SE Louisiana and we always put a fireplace in the house.)
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Yes, I'm sure she was pissed off at the sound of the droning generator. However, we went for a walk this evening w/ our son has I heard about 5 more on the block. I think if you get a FULL HOUSE generator they are much quieter. Also, I was told by my electrician that I can probably get a better muffler.
Bill
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Wow Zoid', does that (buying a house) imply you'll be staying here for good?
Yeah, that ice storm was pretty bad. I live in one of the Chenal neighborhoods, where the utilities are underground. We only had power go out once during those episodes, for about 4 hours. The vast majority of people seemed to be out for a couple of weeks. It was terrible.
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I've got a whole house (autostart, autotransfer, big tank of propane) generator on my house...one of the first "home improvement" purchases after the hurricanes of '04. Yes, they're significantly quieter than a portable unit (you can definitely tell the difference in insulation if you open an access panel while it's running), but you still would be well advised to put it as far away from neighbors' houses as possible (and your own...mine ended up under my master bedroom window due to lack of other locations). I've been fortunate, in that it's only provided power to the house for about 3 hours since I've owned it, so it was probably overkill unless another big storm hits, but it is really cool when the power goes out, the thing starts up, and you hear the "clunk" as the transfer switch brings on generator power.
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They can make quiet ones. People just don't want to spend the money. You can get great ones, on a concrete pad out back, with a sound-muffled cover and hard plumbed into a natural gas line for about 3 grand. Most people won't spend the money.
This winter my accountant in South Seattle was without power for 8 days, and no cable for 10. She lost about a grand worth of food in her fridge and second full sized freezer, and couldn't work for those 8 days. So 3 or 4 grand, especially as a business expense are a no brainer.
Hard plumbed natural gas doesn't go bad sitting in a fuel tank (because it doesn't), and your tank won't run out in the middle of the night either.
John B has what I am talking about.
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[quote spacescape]Bought it about 2 years ago based on the power going way to frequently when I first moved in. This went on for about 5 years and then I decided to pickup a nice portable generator. After I bought it the power hasn't gone out until today. YAY. Worked great. Two refrigerators, furnace TV and checked my e-mail 1-2 times before the cable went out (assume their battery backup went down).
The best part about having it on is that one neighbor that we don't get along w/ (mainly the wife) came walking over, looked into our backyard and walked home... I offered my next door neighbor an extension chord to run their refrigerator if they wanted.
It was about the best thing to happen today.
Bill
If you like neighbors bumming off of you, buy a pickup truck.
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I bought a 5000W noisemaker before the 2005 hurricane season and used it a couple times. I ran it a couple hours in the morning and a couple more in the evening. To get around pi$$ing off the neighbors, I invited them for coffee while it ran in the AM and had a movie night for the evening run. Nobody complained.
