Solar Generator

[MixedBerryJam]

I’m not really sure where to start this search so I figured I’d start here. My son just bought a house in Texas, which WTF TX my dude but also it’s one more nail in Ted Cruz ‘s coffin so I can live with it. Anyway I’d like to buy him a generator for when (not if) his power fails. Is solar the way to go? Where do I start looking? Any brand recommendations? Money IS an object, but assume it’s not. I just want your best recommendations.

His job is 50% travel for 2-3 weeks at a time and ideally this generator would kick on automatically when he’s away and heat the house and run essential appliances for a week to ten days. Is that realistic? Where do I start?

[snapoutofit]

So we have solar panels and two Tesla batteries that charge up via the panels. They work amazingly well. They detect interruptions in power and will switch over to battery power automatically. With conservative use of power, our house can run on battery for up to a week. We can also switch over to battery manually any time we want. I don’t know if there are other brands available now. When we got them Tesla was the only one. 100% would recommend. I don’t know about any house batteries that work without solar panels because we searched for ones that specifically did.

[snapoutofit]

Oh… we had the solar panels first by a couple of years. The cost of the batteries plus installation was about 10k and we got a big tax credit. And if nobody was home and only the most essential appliances were running I believe it could easily do 10 days.

[pixy0stix]

Timely, because I was just reading an article that talked about how many thousands of people would die in Houston should the power go out for several days during a heatwave.

I'd vote solar is best, but it's $$$$$ since you would need to install panels too. There are electric generators that run by charging on house electricity when it's up and will kick in when the grid is down. The downside is that once they're depleted there's no way to recharge until the energy is restored.

Gas is cheaper, but you have to physically be there to run the generator and put in fuel. (Plus preplan to have the fuel and a backup option should gas stations also be knocked out).

Someone on the boards has a natural gas generator, which I think is also automatic? I don't know much about them though.

[Susie]

coevoenergy.com/noriahome

Slightly different approach than solar, but this is really intriguing to me.  It connects to your home water supply and passively generates electricity.

[neverfstop]

We have an in-line natural gas generator that will run our whole house. It was probably $12K about 5 years ago, but EVERYBODY has been trying to get generators installed given all the outages over the last few years. It turns on & off automatically. We have to get it serviced once a year, but it's been fantastic. I'm sure the price is much more now...

Many people around here have gas/diesel portable ones, but you have to manually hook it up, it will only run limited appliances, and then you have to set out on search of gas refills. Some people would spend hours driving to find & get gas during the last hurricane. Also need to have it running outside (apartments probably won't allow)

My mom was wanting to do the same, but can't for some reason involving her gas line. I told her to get the portable battery generators & she could switch out the batteries and charge them at our house. She just wants to keep her fridge/freezers cols, run some fans/small AC unit, and charge electronics.

If he has a smaller house, with a newer roof, I'd honestly look at solar panels plus batteries. You can get some tax deductions, plus use them as a daily way to reduce your electric bill.

[deadwing]

I looked into getting a Gwnerac natural gas whole home generator 2 years ago. I think it would have been about $13k... However, my natural gas line would need to be upgraded to provide a higher amount of gas and that was quoted at $25k by my utility company. So that's a no go for me right now.

I'm intrigued by the solor and water powered options, though...

[pixy0stix]

I will say, one thing to keep in mind with natural gas is that it's going to start being phased out and/or will become prohibitively expensive in the next few decades.

[Pom]

I’m glad you asked this! Mr Pom and I were just discussing this topic yesterday. We had a whole house Generac when we lived in north Houston. We needed it way too often. It had an automatic relay/rollover to generator when the power went out. It was awesome. I can’t say cost because it was installed by a previous owner but the service for the Gen cost about $250/year.

We want a solar generator for the roof of our pole barn in Michigan. It is on our list of things to work on in the next few years. Our power seems to work much better outside of TX tho. Go figure. Parts of Michigan south of us have had storms and extended outages as of late, so I would like to get this going just in case.

[leahcar]

Renting/leasing the solar panels are what you want to avoid; it can make it harder (especially here in TX) to sell your house.

Several of my neighbors have solar with battery backups. You do eventually run out of power, but it typically lasts a while.

The other option is a Generac with auto-switchover. I got a quote this summer for 15k, but that will vary based on house size, etc.

I'm also in TX so exploring my own options for similar. It's obvious that we can't depend on the state to fix the grid so I also want a backup source.

[ellipses84]

For what he wants, solar is the best option. That is more expensive, but I think he should look at it long term for a whole solar system that would provide daily power and power a generator in an emergency. The cost savings on his electric bill will help offset the cost of the system, and systems like that can be financed.

Some other TX homeowner tips. Unless it’s a brand new house, make sure any new equipment or required power outlets are mounted high, above the flood plain. In Houston, generators would usually be mounted on a wooden platform a few feet above the ground. Floods from rising waters are not covered by homeowners insurance. You have to have a separate flood insurance policy. So roof damage from a hurricane or a flood from a pipe bursting is normally covered, but a flash flood from a hurricane is not covered without the extra policy. A natural disaster flood can completely destroy a house and all its contents, or be very expensive to fix and it’s become a more common occurrence in TX.

[MixedBerryJam]

Thank you all! This is all super helpful! I am reluctant to ask companies around here bc I live in DC and I'd just be wasting a local company's time with questions and didn't know even where to begin! You've given me a ton of ideas to look into. And the worst case scenario, that a pipe bursts 20 minutes after he leaves for three weeks, could be such a disaster! Thanks so much!

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 13, 2024 12:54:51 GMT -5 leahcar said:

Renting/leasing the solar panels are what you want to avoid; it can make it harder (especially here in TX) to sell your house.

Several of my neighbors have solar with battery backups. You do eventually run out of power, but it typically lasts a while.

The other option is a Generac with auto-switchover. I got a quote this summer for 15k, but that will vary based on house size, etc.

I'm also in TX so exploring my own options for similar. It's obvious that we can't depend on the state to fix the grid so I also want a backup source.

Ain't this the truth tho! I sold my house in Boston a couple of years ago,just  a couple of years after putting solar panels on the roof, and if the buyers didn't want to take over the contract it would have been $24k to buy out the contract! They were thrilled to have them tho so it was moot, but until they cleared the solar company's credit check I was on tenterhooks!

[MixedBerryJam]

Sept 13, 2024 10:40:03 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Timely, because I was just reading an article that talked about how many thousands of people would die in Houston should the power go out for several days during a heatwave.

I'd vote solar is best, but it's $$$$$ since you would need to install panels too. There are electric generators that run by charging on house electricity when it's up and will kick in when the grid is down. The downside is that once they're depleted there's no way to recharge until the energy is restored.

Gas is cheaper, but you have to physically be there to run the generator and put in fuel. (Plus preplan to have the fuel and a backup option should gas stations also be knocked out).

Someone on the boards has a natural gas generator, which I think is also automatic? I don't know much about them though.

Yup Freezing pipes are bad, but definitely not my only concern.

[macmars45]

My H and I aren't in TX (thankfully), but up here in central WA state we have wildfires. This year they just started turning off power near wildfires so yeah... you could be without power for a few days, a week or 10 days easily in the summer even if you're just near the danger and you never have to leave you house. So no AC in 100+ degrees with a side of smokey unhealthy outside air. We have solar panels and our next plan is to get a solar generator.

[DefenseAgainstTheDarkArts22]

Sept 13, 2024 17:34:15 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Sept 13, 2024 12:54:51 GMT -5 leahcar said:

Renting/leasing the solar panels are what you want to avoid; it can make it harder (especially here in TX) to sell your house.

Several of my neighbors have solar with battery backups. You do eventually run out of power, but it typically lasts a while.

The other option is a Generac with auto-switchover. I got a quote this summer for 15k, but that will vary based on house size, etc.

I'm also in TX so exploring my own options for similar. It's obvious that we can't depend on the state to fix the grid so I also want a backup source.

Ain't this the truth tho! I sold my house in Boston a couple of years ago,just  a couple of years after putting solar panels on the roof, and if the buyers didn't want to take over the contract it would have been $24k to buy out the contract! They were thrilled to have them tho so it was moot, but until they cleared the solar company's credit check I was on tenterhooks!

There are automatic water shut offs if a leak is detected. Might be an option as well for him.

[fumbalina]

I would recommend solar, certainly, but still have not found one that seems sufficient for even the fan/fridge issues. After Beryl, it took 5-10 days for most gas stations to have power to pump the gas, and the lines all went out into the streets. Any new construction will not have a natural gas line, so keep that in mind as well. Older homes do have gas, so it can be an option. One of my friends does have a dual propane/gas that runs off of a propane tank as well, so that is also an option.

In reality, you probably need more details about the home you are wanting to power.

[jlt19]

Sept 13, 2024 17:28:37 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

Thank you all! This is all super helpful! I am reluctant to ask companies around here bc I live in DC and I'd just be wasting a local company's time with questions and didn't know even where to begin! You've given me a ton of ideas to look into. And the worst case scenario, that a pipe bursts 20 minutes after he leaves for three weeks, could be such a disaster! Thanks so much!

I would suggest he get in the habit of turning off the water and opening the faucets before he leaves on week+ trips. Won’t help with a power outage as a whole, but could save the worst of the damage.

[mofongo]

We have a whole house, natural gas generator. We installed it in 2018 or 2019. It was 13.5k, yearly service is $500 and they come out whenever a storm is approaching to check it.

It has 100% paid for itself already. We're in Nola. I have not heard if solar generators here? We have several friends with solar panels but that has not powered their homes after a storm, this proved itself again this week after Francine. Sounds like a solar powered generator is different.

ETA: I’m a bit confused where the pipe bursting talk is coming from? Is that for winter? When we have freezes here, fairly infrequently, we all let our faucets trickle, usually a few closest to the outside of the house. House size is a factor, clearly. We usually do the kitchen sink and our bathroom sink. Pipes aren’t made for sustaining those temps here.

Great place to live 😅 

[mae0111]

Sept 13, 2024 10:28:31 GMT -5 snapoutofit said:

So we have solar panels and two Tesla batteries that charge up via the panels. They work amazingly well. They detect interruptions in power and will switch over to battery power automatically. With conservative use of power, our house can run on battery for up to a week. We can also switch over to battery manually any time we want. I don’t know if there are other brands available now. When we got them Tesla was the only one. 100% would recommend. I don’t know about any house batteries that work without solar panels because we searched for ones that specifically did.

We have this as well.  We live in a municipality that does not rely on the larger grid for power.  The town generates its own power and has all of its own infrastructure and its own power company, so it's very rare that we lose power for more than an hour at a time.  But in a bad storm when they can't get up in a bucket due to high winds, it could be out for a bit.  Since we both work from home and DH owns the company we both work for, it was important that we could keep going without a big stoppage to get a generator going. The batteries are great and we can run major appliances for a few days. 

We use the battery power if there's no bad weather predicted, which helps to keep our electric bill down a bit.  But our town's is significantly cheaper than neighboring towns, so it's not a huge impact. 

And I agree with the leak detectors.  Not just for pipes freezing, but if he has a standard water heater tank, those things let go without a lot of notice sometimes.