We don't have a ton of power outages but they do happen. Overhead lines and lots of trees. A bunch of our neighbors have had them installed and, gosh darn, I envy them when I hear them kick on. Meanwhile, I'm dragging our portable generator outside and hooking it up to our manual transfer switch. It works, but I think I'm getting too old for this.

Around here a typical installation is probably north of $8k....

If you've got one, are you happy with it? Was it worth the money you spent?

We don't have one, but my mother had one installed in her previous house when she lived outside of Buffalo. IIRC she got after one late fall snowstorm that piled snow up past the top of her garage door (not an exaggeration) and her neighborhood was without power for something like six full days. I don't remember exactly but I think it was between $5K and $8K.

I believe she thought it was worth it, and when she sold that home a few years back (pre-covid), she felt like that upgrade (along with a few choice others, like hardwood floors and a new HVAC) really helped the home sell quickly.

Sorry this probably isn't super helpful.

I would like to have one here as well, mainly for summer so we could have AC and fridge powered I guess. But it's low on the priority list at this point.

Mom got one a good number of years ago and she has been pleased with it.

Generac?? It test runs once a week and works without her having to do anything.

My sister in Alabama has one - a Generac. It seems to work well and the power goes out often enough that it seems like a great investment.

I fully intended to install one here when we bought this place due to concerns about freezing pipes and such. When I asked around though, I learned that the power hasn’t gone out here in 30 years - at least not for more than an hour. Hardly seems worth getting one even though several neighbors have them.

Instead I kept the 4KW generator I used for construction projects. It won’t run the whole house and it’s not automatic but it’s enough to run the furnace, lights and the fridge if I connect enough extension cords. I replaced the carburetor and it’s ready to go.

I doubt I’ll ever use it but it’s nice to have.

We lose power for some reason or another maybe three or four times a year. Our biggest problem is trees. Branches break or a tree comes down and we lose power. It can range from a couple of hours up to 10 or 12, and we've had a few multi-day outages because of storms.

Like all of this type of equipment the generator needs regular maintenance. My neighbors pay a couple of hundred bucks a year to have the oil changed and the battery checked. Something we might have done in our younger youth but would have a maintenance outfit do.

All in all, it's not cheap. But it is convenient.

We have a 5.5KW (8.5KW Peak) portable Generac and a 3.2KW portable Champion.

Power outages around here are very rare. When they do happen, like Steve, we use a bunch of long extension cords to keep the refrigerators, and other essentials powered up.

I need to install a switch-over box to run the well pump. Never got around to that as like I said, POs are very rare here.

We have a Generac. We put it in many years ago after a storm knocked out power for a long time. My wife's mom also had medication that needed refrigeration, so we could ensure that none of her meds spoiled.

It flips on every Sunday for a few minutes. When the power goes out, the generator automatically kicks in about 30 seconds later. It powers much of the downstairs of the house.