06/17/2023
Saw this post on my personal home page and I think I need to put it here for people to see...
Sometimes I will get a call from someone who really needs help and really isn't able to afford to get the help. At this point, I can tell when someone is in trouble.
I got a call from an 85 year old guy in not the best of neighborhood. He was worried about hurricane season and reached out for help and someone sold him a 300 pound generator on wheels that needed PIG to run. He really couldn't afford to spend his limited SSI money on a huge generator that he would need to spend his little bit of money on an electrician to install a transfer switch, or the PIG to run the GD thing. He wanted me to build a shed around it because he was afraid the neighbors would steal it....
Sigh... I told him he really didn't need to buy all that stuff and it didn't make sense to spend that kind of money on a contraption that he would probably only use for three days over the next five years. I told him what he needed to do was buy a small 3000 watt generator and a small room AC and if a storm knocked out his power for an extended time, he could put the AC in the bedroom window and start the little 3Kgen and plug the AC and the refer and a fan and a couple lights and the TV into it for a day or so.
He told me he wished he had talked to me first. He had already paid them half for a deposit and it was on the way. There is really nothing I can do about the electrician, but I told him not to buy a PIG until I could get a look at it. I am thinking, worse case scenario, a RV manifold that would take two thirty gallon tanks and auto switch tanks as the fuel is used. I am heartsick there are people who are more interested in sticking this poor mans limited money into their pockets instead of trying to ease his fear and setting him up with something that could be a help should he need it without breaking his bank.
So, to anyone else who thinks they need a whole house generator in case of an emergency, here is my advice:
DO NOT spend thousands of dollars on a generator unless you can truly afford to just waste your money. If you want to try to tell me it is a good idea for you, so be it. It is your money and your time. If you do buy a whole house generator you will need
1. a PIG for fuel. I doubt you can put a inground propane tank because all the water in the ground in Florida will float the SOB out of the ground, so you will have to put the tank on your property next to your house. It really is a good look. If you tell me you have natural gas piped to your home, still doesn't change my advice.
or
2. Store gas... a lot of gas, and make sure it is cycled to keep it fresh Sta-Bil or not
3. You have to run the beast under load at least once a month to keep it fresh and exercised. When I worked at the retirement home we had a 30KW generator (as I recall) that I had to run an hour a month every month to make sure it would start in case of an emergency. Now you might say that it is not as important that your generator work when needed because it is just you and not an entire building full of 800 60 year old+ residents, but hey, if your gonna spend the bucks, it oughta work when you need it
4. It will need service once a year. Oil change, air filter, hopefully air cooled so you don't have a radiator that needs to occasionally be flushed and filled.
