I am trying to help an Aunty who is way over her head. She lost power from storm last week, her husband is recovering from surgery, and both are high-risk for COVID. Any experiences using electric generator? Should it be plugged in during good days, or plug in when you get storm warning. How long will electric generator last, and what will it power? Will it power a refrigerator for a week? Any help is most appreciated.
Does she live in single family housing? is she able to run an extension cord from the refrigerator to the generator during a power outage? are there any medical equipment that needs to be powered during an outage? portable generators or standby generators are the two options. with portable generator, once there is an outage, she will need to turn on the generator, and then run an extension cord for the appliances that she wants to power. With standby generator, it is installed by an electrician and will automatically allow generator to power the home, in the event of a black out. Based on her needs, it is best to call a reputable generator company like Generac, and they can guide her. PM me if you want more details. Depending on the state she lives in, there might be government subsidies to pay for the generator.
How long do they typically lose power for? Here the longest we have gone without power was 4 days, only one time about 10 years ago. If they want a generator that is built into the home power system it will be very expensive, at least 4 figures and there will be annual maintenance costs as well. They need to see if it is really worth it.
She lives in single family house. Unsure if she can run extension cord from refrigerator to generator during power outage. I don't think there is medical equipment to be powered.
My Aunt lost power for about that time, 4 days. I'll tell my Aunt about the generator built into the home power system.