Who Has a Backup Generator for their Home Electricity?

I dont think I even experince 1 power cut a year. I dont understand why someone in the uk would even consider one?

We had a few days with the power out due to the flooding event around the end of 2013/early 2014 but that aside its usually very reliable - on the flip side never hurts to be prepared.
 
I have some candles and a torch.

I've got some torches but gf insists on a candle, I've offered her one of my torches but she said she didn't "like the feel of the handle" I told her she could start a fire but she said not much chance of that, pah:o
 
Have got a backup generator in the shed, it got some use Christmas 2013 when we had the strong winds in the southeast and lost power.

The generator we have has two plug sockets on the side that we used to run the fridge, central heating and we had the Christmas tree on for few a hours.

We only ended up with one as it had it's price cut to clear by a local wholesaler.
 
We had a few days with the power out due to the flooding event around the end of 2013/early 2014 but that aside its usually very reliable - on the flip side never hurts to be prepared.

I guess... A few days during what is very extreme weather for the uk doesnt really seem like its worth preparing for on the off chance it happens again.

Probably get about as much use as a snow plow I think.
 
I guess... A few days during what is very extreme weather for the uk doesnt really seem like its worth preparing for on the off chance it happens again.

Probably get about as much use as a snow plow I think.

Depends I guess, I wouldn't bother with say a 10kw generator but I'd like some basic lighting, able to charge up phones and tablets, run laptops, etc. if it came to it.
 
Not currently, if I decide to live here long term i will pay for a proper generator with auto switching. A storm occured while we were away over new years and the house was without power for 30 hours. $200 of meat on the freezer had to be chucked out and our cats got very cold! A few years ago after Hurricane Irene went through we were without power for a week and it was impossible to sleep i it was so hot wihtout AC.

most of our neighbors have generators. It is just one of those things you need in the US in many locations.
 
We lose power a lot during storms. Last time was thanksgiving., for 3 days. All my neighbours have generators, but i havent got round to buying one yet.
 
Where's Warlock?

He rocks 5 generators just to stay online...

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Is it easy to use a portable generator to run your whole home electricity
Have you thought about building your own solar panels and battery bank?
It's quite easy to do it all yourself, and not too expensive. Build a big enough bank and you could even disconnect from the grid all together.
 
I noticed a car had taken down a power pole last month, it took them a few days to put a new one in so whoever was at the end of that will have had no power, no heating and no lighting. Power in rural areas is occasionally disrupted and you can pick up second hand gensets for £50, so why not.

Plus the imminent zombie apocolypse is a reason to be prepared.
You are aware power companies have their own generators for instances such as this?
here is one they provide enough power for a few hundred houses
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A few years ago the power to my road went out, within a few hours they were digging up the pavement once they found the power cable they cut it in half and spliced one end to a generator that was as large as a cargo container.

It sat there for 2-3 days whilst they worked 24/7 to fix whatever the problem was (yes they worked through the night)

Unless you live really rural and bad weather causes power issues then I don't see why anyone would need a personal one
 
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Y'all need to take a look at the John deer v8 turbo diesel jenny.

It's ring a ding ding.

On a serious note I have blankets and a box of large church style thick candles that burn for days.

I've had one power cut in the last 5 years, it lasted over night so we played cards by candle light, it was fun, like camping, but with wine, a flushing toilet and texas hold 'em!
 
I live in Florida, where hurricanes can take out the power grid for as long as a few weeks. Therefore generators are common place here.

You can buy an el-cheapo, portable Honda for a few hundred to a thousands bucks, that'll power a few things in your home.. Fridge, tv, a few lights.

Or you can go the whole hog and get a proper generator which will run the entire house for around 5k. Then you'll need to fuel it.. possibly via an underground propane tank.

I personally do not.. But I was hit by a hurriance back in 2005 and we were without power for about 10days.
 
They wouldn't do that for a few houses and this was out in the sticks.

It took them nearly 24 hours to do that in densely populated SW Surrey a couple of years back!

And that wasn't even a time when heavy snow/whatever might have been considered a mitigation.

(Fortunately I had tilley lamps and an open fire. Otherwise it might have been a tad cold and miserable. As it was, I sat and read a book before going to bed :D)
 
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