While building my home, I was recently asked if I wanted to have a
natural gas driven back up power generator installed? Ostensibly to
provide back up power in the event of an outage.

My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.
Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.

sprtan wrote:
My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.

Oh yeah.

Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.

It they allow space for it and have the wiring set up for it you can
put the actual generator in later.

"sprtan" writes:
My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.

You need to decide for yourself whether it would be valuable
to you. Look at how much it's going to cost to install it.
Look at how stable power is in your area, and whether long
power outages are common. Look at what you will be doing in
your home that will require power (e.g., will you do important
work with computers on a regular basis? will it hurt you to
lose an entire freezer full of food as a result of a long
outage?). Look at how much power the backup generator will
be rated to provide and whether it will provide enough power
for what you'll want it for.

It is certainly useful to have a backup generator. Whether
it is useful enough to warrant the initial expense, space,
and maintenance costs is a question you will need to answer
for yourself.

Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.

Yes. It'll be cheaper to install now, assuming that your
contractor doesn't shaft you :-).

(sprtan) wrote in
oups.com:

My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.

How often do you they lose power in the neighborhood, and for how
long?

Being a gadget freak, I've always wanted a backup generator myself,
but in the 20 years we've been in the current house, there's been
exactly one power outage that lasted more than a couple of hours.
Reluctantly, I've let that dream languish.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

sprtan wrote:
While building my home, I was recently asked if I wanted to have a
natural gas driven back up power generator installed? Ostensibly to
provide back up power in the event of an outage.

My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.
Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.


If you live in the hurricane belt, you would already know the answer.
Personally, I would love to have one. Now is when it is infinitely easier to
get a nice installation done. Later, maybe the model your contractor left space
for may not be available and you end up with problems you don't need or want.

If you're at risk for power outages and can afford it now, do it now. The price
of installation is unlikely to drop in the future, nor is your need for
electrical power.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

"sprtan" wrote:

While building my home, I was recently asked if I wanted to have a
natural gas driven back up power generator installed? Ostensibly to
provide back up power in the event of an outage.

My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.

Well, that really depends on where you are building and how reliable electrical
service is there. And how much loss you might incur from food loss. What are the
neighbors doing?

Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.

The savings is the wiring and switching required. They get done when the walls
are open and only require one inspection. Do it later and that part is more
expensive and require reinspection. If its that common, get all the
wiring/plumbing done, but save the purchase of the generator for later.

If you live in the country, ice belt, tornado belt, hurricane belt or
earthquake belt, it's probably worth it. It'll be cheaper to do it
during construction than later. Natural gas is probably the worst
choice for fuel. In a lot circumstances where electricity goes out, so
does natural gas (hurricanes and earthquates are examples). Best is
propane if you have a big (100 gal plus) tank; this probably won't be
the case unless you live in the country. Propane is best because large
amounts can be stored indefinitely without degradation. Second best are
gasoline and diesel. Both fuels should have a "preservative" added to
them (you can buy it in autoparts stores). But even with a preservative,
it's best to use them within a year or two, and for most folks, this
means in the car or in yard/ag equipment. If you have a diesel car or
tractor, then diesel generator engines have more power per pound and
last longer. Diesel engines are harder to start in below zero (F)
temperature than gasoline engines. Otherwise, get a generator with a
gasoline engine, and you can turnover the fuel in your storage cans in
your car or lawnmower. Having your generator and car use the same fuel
means you can siphon some fuel out of the car to use in the generator if
you are in a prolonged outage as well as giving a way to turnover the
fuel in the storage cans before it is too degraded. Stay away from cheap
Chinese generators; getting service and parts for most of them is
impossible. Finally, test the generator regularly; don't wait for an
outage to find out it isn't working.

Mike

sprtan wrote:
While building my home, I was recently asked if I wanted to have a
natural gas driven back up power generator installed? Ostensibly to
provide back up power in the event of an outage.

My first question is whether or not anyone sees value in this.
Secondly, does it really matter whether I have it installed at time of
building or can I have one installed at a later time.

On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:42:16 -0800, newsman wrote:
If you live in the country, ice belt, tornado belt, hurricane belt or
earthquake belt, it's probably worth it. It'll be cheaper to do it
during construction than later. Natural gas is probably the worst
choice for fuel. In a lot circumstances where electricity goes out, so
does natural gas (hurricanes and earthquates are examples).


This is a HUGE generalization. For a very large portion of the U.S., weather
and/or natural events that would knock out the natural gas delivery system
simply don't factor in as something to worry about. In all of the ice
storms/wind storms/blizzards/floods/etc I've been through, the one constant
has been that the natural gas flows when everything else has failed.

- Rich

user wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:42:16 -0800, newsman wrote:
If you live in the country, ice belt, tornado belt, hurricane belt or
earthquake belt, it's probably worth it. It'll be cheaper to do it
during construction than later. Natural gas is probably the worst
choice for fuel. In a lot circumstances where electricity goes out, so
does natural gas (hurricanes and earthquates are examples).


This is a HUGE generalization. For a very large portion of the U.S., weather
and/or natural events that would knock out the natural gas delivery system
simply don't factor in as something to worry about. In all of the ice
storms/wind storms/blizzards/floods/etc I've been through, the one constant
has been that the natural gas flows when everything else has failed.

- Rich


I agree. In most parts of the country, natural gas would be the
prefered fuel for me. The possible exception would be CA, due to
eathquakes, but then relatively few people will choose to have a backup
generator there anyhow, as the temps are far more moderate than many
areas of the country. Plus most people in CA are using gas for heat,
so if the gas goes, so does the heat and having heat is one of the main
reasons for a gen to begin with.

I

Um ... Katrina, Loma Prieta, Rita, Northridge, Andrew ....

If these don't ring a bell, then nevermind.

user wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:42:16 -0800, newsman wrote:

If you live in the country, ice belt, tornado belt, hurricane belt or
earthquake belt, it's probably worth it. It'll be cheaper to do it
during construction than later. Natural gas is probably the worst
choice for fuel. In a lot circumstances where electricity goes out, so
does natural gas (hurricanes and earthquates are examples).



This is a HUGE generalization. For a very large portion of the U.S., weather
and/or natural events that would knock out the natural gas delivery system
simply don't factor in as something to worry about. In all of the ice
storms/wind storms/blizzards/floods/etc I've been through, the one constant
has been that the natural gas flows when everything else has failed.

- Rich