Before the start of
the next hurricane season, I purchased a generator. It came in very handy when
we got hit again. There was a three-day power outage, and I was very glad we
had a generator.
If you’re thinking of getting one, the first thing you
should do is figure out how much power
you’re going to need. Make a list of the appliances and electronics you’ll want
to use when the power is out. Write down the wattage each item needs to run. This
information is usually on a sticker on the device. If you can’t find the sticker,
look for that information on the internet. Add up the wattage, multiply by 1.5,
and you’ll have a pretty good idea of how much power you need to run
everything.
I looked at Harbor Freight’s website and found a gas
generator which will crank out over 4000 watts and costs less than $500. That
could be a good fit for lots of folks. It would be fairly noisy. Generally, the
higher the wattage, the more noise a generator will make. A quieter alternative
would be an inverter generator, but they’re more expensive. Harbor Freight has
a 3500 watt inverter generator priced at $899. (Harbor Freight isn’t paying me
for the mention. It’s just the place I go to for this sort of thing.)
Pay attention to the warnings. Every generator comes with a
warning about carbon monoxide. Generators need to be run outside the building.
Also, if you want to tie the generator
into your house wiring, get an electrician to do it. It’s really not a do-it-yourself
job.
Retailers don't want people returning generators after a storm has passed. They will make it known that returns won't be allowed. I remember one store that had stickers about that on every generator box.
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