To generator or not to generator? (2024)

Should I convince my septuagenarian parents to get a back-up generator for their house?

posted by virve to (24 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite

I don’t know a lot about this but it’s my understanding a portable generator (like a small one that is a few hundred bucks) will just run your refrigerator for a day or so so your food doesn’t go off. I’m not sure how often you would need to keep filling it up to run a little air conditioner but I don’t think it could do that AND your fridge at the same time. So you would need to get something bigger. Also storing gas for the generator can be a pain, it has a shelf life. So maybe you want a syphon to get it out of the car? But at this point your parents eyes might glaze over.

I Know that there are nice electric battery set ups etc. but they are expensive….and my friends mom got a full back up generator system based on propane but that was several thousand and she lives in hurricane alley so it’s getting used.

It will be interesting to hear what others have to say but maybe include your budget. Also I’m sorry this stressed you out. My limited knowledge also comes from a place of wanting to prepare for losing electric. In the end I got a tiny generator but it’s gathering dust in the cellar. I imagine my kids will use it at some point if they ever want to do some big project as teenagers or something .
posted by pairofshades at 8:29 PM on June 21

Another option you can at least look at nowadays is the giant "wall battery". The nice thing about them is they are actually contributing to solving climate change, rather than increasing it (utilities use these dispersed batteries to save wind & solar power when it's generated & use it more when its needed, thus they help quite a bit to make alternative power sources usable). At the same time they make a potentially better backup power source than generators.

Another advantage is they are used constantly, daily, not just once every 4 years in a power outage. More reliable as a result.

Flip side, they can cost a LOT. $10K, $15K, $20K - those price ranges. However in our experience you can get maybe half of that back in rebates & tax breaks from the utility and the federal govt.

Yet another angle to look at, is dependence of older folks on various electric-powered devices for daily life. This can range from like lift chairs or stair lifts to adjustable beds to CPAP machines and everything in between. As our parents aged into their 80s we found out that they could get into real trouble in a power outage. Maybe they'd be stuck in their chair, or stuck downstairs when they need to be up. Or couldn't get out of bed.

Of course, maybe they actually CAN do all of those things but only with great effort and danger of falls etc. So the power goes out & dad falls down the stairs because he needed his insulin that was upstairs or whatever, and on a good day he can sorta climb the stairs, yeah.

Cooling-wise - unless you install a generator roughly the size of a semi-trailer you're unlikely to just be able to power everything and continue as normal for any length of time. Maybe you have one room you cool (maybe more with a window unit or mini-split), not the whole house. Maybe you keep the fridge & freezer going (including meds that need refrigeration), and your internet connection, and some things like small fans that you can point directly at yourself to get a lot of cool for relatively little power.

Here is a discussion of how long a typical home battery will last you - if you just keep running everything as normal.
posted by flug at 9:14 PM on June 21 [2 favorites]

I live in Burlington County NJ, served by PSE&G and we had no power outage during Hurricane Sandy. I should add that in our development all the wiring is underground, and the high power transmission lines are a block away from my house. I do not have any personal or hear say experience about JCP&L.

I realize this doesn't help much, but as we are aging in the home we raised our kids in, we have talked about different weather scenarios. In the short term we got a new roof put on, and took down some trees that might have fallen on our home in a very bad storm. As you say a whole house generator is pricey (my boss before I retired had one in Eagle, PA) plus it needs to be hooked up by a license electrician so that the "cut over" will work properly. There is also annual maintenance to insure it is in shape to take over in the event of power failure. Perhaps once we enter the MRD age range and must start taking withdrawals from our 401k we might look into this.

Only other thing I can suggest you look into is whether there's any HOA rules, and what fuel you would use (e.g., propane or is there natural gas?)

Hopefully others will have more detailed thoughts, I just thought I should answer because I live in the same state.
posted by forthright at 9:14 PM on June 21

My memory of the 2003 blackout was that it was one day.

In a county in NJ serviced by JCP&L we lost power for two weeks after an unusual October snowstorm and the following October we lost power for three weeks from Sandy. Those were harder than the typical random outages from local downed trees because _everybody_ was out.
We were young and healthy at the time and found it difficult when it got cold.

We now have a portable generator that we use on the occasional outage to keep the fridge going. It would not support the AC. If we had a transfer switch, it may work for the heat because that is primarily natural gas.

In NJ, I believe you can rely upon the local shelters in an emergency. I recall local gyms also opened up to the public during Sandy, once they had power. The events that are all-encompassing usually have some warning and so I would encourage your parents to go to the shelter before the event unless they have everything they could possibly need at home.
posted by miscbuff at 10:00 PM on June 21

I use a small generator fairly regularly and here are some things that I've learned.

Unless you're buying a beast like the one Carbolic has listed above, it's not going to do much other than to power a fridge, a freezer, a few lights and maybe some low power appliances like a fan. If you're running AC you're going to have to know what power it draws and calculate your load accordingly. Depending on what size you get and what load you put on it, a full tank of fuel will last between 5 and 8 hours, and you're supposed to let them cool down before re-fuelling for safety. And you really don't want to have a medical emergency in the middle of a disaster. You also need to have it somewhere that is somewhat sheltered, secure, and also has good airflow - you absolutely should not run these inside a house or enclosed garage because of the exhaust fumes.

I can't speak for diesel ones, but you're also supposed to not store fuel in them - it'll go bad and then it will affect performance to the point that it'll need servicing - the carburetor, fuel line and filter, tank, sparks and exhaust will all need to be cleaned . You have to start and run them for a short time regularly between uses - every 3 to 6 months - to ensure that the fuel and oil will circulate, and then either drain the fuel or store it with an additive in, but that will buy you maybe 12 months of storage and you need to be sure to fill to the top of the tank to provide less surface area for condensation etc. And this is non-negotiable. There's no point having this thing if you're not willing to do constant checks, otherwise it's not going to work when you really really need it.

We only have a relatively small generator because we wanted something that I - with arthritis - can comfortably move out of storage and start by myself if I have to. Make no mistake - the weakest person has to be able to handle this thing because you absolutely cannot rely on having a stronger person around in a disaster. None of this is meant to put you off - having one is a huge benefit to my general peace of mind and I really do think many people should have them - but you also need to consider the down sides as well.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free to memail.
posted by ninazer0 at 10:28 PM on June 21 [7 favorites]

One YouTuber has a set up to run a portable air conditioner for about 13 hours. She does point out that the power station in this set up weighs 35 pounds.

I think in 202x it can be practical /reasonable to have some sort of back up power if finances permit and logistics are manageable.

Even if it has been decided not to go the generator /power station route, it seems that having a battery/ solar powered fan could be useful in general as well as during emergencies.

Basically, the more options your parents have the better. Perhaps they will consider the investment in such a system a sort of insurance/ anti jinxing policy.
posted by oceano at 11:22 PM on June 21

If your goal is only to cool a small room and maybe run the fridge, all you really need in terms of a generator is one of those 1500-2000 watt Honda generators and a small window AC, preferably one of the fancy U shaped inverter models so it's less likely to overload the generator when it starts. Storing the generator isn't particularly difficult, either, you just have to be sure to fully run it out of gas when you're done with it so the carburetor doesn't get gummed up. It's good to have oil and other consumables on hand in case you need them. The biggest issue is storing sufficient fuel for an extended outage. If the whole area is without power, you aren't getting more gas.

You don't need much to cool a spare bedroom or other relatively small space. Even older small window ACs only draw like 500 watts when the compressor is running and will easily turn a couple hundred square feet into an ice box.

That said, the fuel issues can be a real problem. Gas goes bad pretty quickly even with stabilizer and safely storing enough can be a real challenge. A few solar panels and one or more of the luggable power banks may be a better option. Heat waves tend to come with clear skies, so it doesn't necessarily take that many panels or that much battery to get to an arbitrarily long runtime when your average power draw is only 500 watts, especially in the summer when days are long.
posted by wierdo at 12:40 AM on June 22

Can they get the thing started? A lot of people struggle with that. And I don't just mean seniors.

Do they have breathing issues? I worked at a place that had gasoline powered generation so that the office would never suffer from service interruptions if there were prolonged power outages. Once a month the generator had to be run for an hour, and everyone with asthma or any kind of breathing difficulties had to be sent home. The pollution drifting in was vile, despite the generator being many yards from the office itself.

Generators are critical for people who need life support, such as oxygen. For general power like electricity and keeping the freezer from defrosting, in my experience, they can be a difficult experience for anyone who doesn't have a solid background in running that kind of a system, tinkering with it, and enjoying the whole process.
posted by Jane the Brown at 4:59 AM on June 22

There are a two major types of generators: permanent, whole-house standby generators, and "portable" units. The permanent ones are plumbed into your natural gas supply and have an automatic transfer switch and assorted smarts to run themselves a tiny bit every month or so to keep themselves operational. They are expensive.
The portable units run on unleaded gas, propane, natural gas, or some combination of those. The smaller ones have 5-20R plugs like you would plug an extension cord into, the bigger ones generally also include an L5-30R for a 20A circuit.
The size you want has two numbers, the starting watts and the running watts. A lot of electrical equipment takes more wattage to start up, and then less to run. What you want to do is find an online calculator (search for "generator size calculator") and plug in the devices you want powered and it'll tell you how big a unit to get.
Once you have a generator, you need to get the power to the things that need it. The longer an extension cord is the fatter it needs to be. This gets expensive fast. Or you can plumb it into the house grid, but you need a transfer switch so that you're cut off from the grid while you're on generator power.

The questions you need to answer for yourself are:
a) what's my budget
b) what's my power load
c) do I need a whole-house or a portable
d) how am I going to get the electricity from the generator to the things that need it.
Once you've answered those, answer this:
e) do I *really* need a generator

The cheapest route to whole or most-of-the-house coverage is something like this. Doing so will also require you to have an electrician install a transfer switch into your panel, a plumber to install a gas plug, and some amount of money for the appropriately sized extension cord and gas pipe. Total cost will be between $1000 and $2500. It is also *heavy*.

A true whole-house system will cost upwards of $10K, professionally installed.
posted by Runes at 5:25 AM on June 22 [2 favorites]

Two of my elderly neighbors have backup whole house generators powered by natural gas. They kick on automatically when there’s a power failure and isolate the house from the power grid, an absolute safety necessity. They are very expensive, but both of these neighbors have health issues and are dependent on electricity. Our area generally can expect a power failure at least once a year, and about once in five years they last a day or longer.

If your parents live in a neighborhood governed by a HOA, there may be restrictions.

I myself have a smaller generator, capable of running the refrigerator, freezer, sump pump, a fan and a few lights. Three trips a day to the gas station to keep the thing running. A few years back, the power was out for 5 days. It was a chore!
posted by coldhotel at 5:38 AM on June 22 [1 favorite]

Short answer: probably not.

Long answer: as several people have pointed out above, the power needs for a whole house including air conditioning are different than the power needs for a few small devices. I used to work for a generator company, and I would not recommend a portable generator for this usage at all. You might be able to get a large enough portable generator that it could run a portable air conditioner, but it would be heavy and difficult to set up when you needed it. The cheap ones tend to be loud and smelly, and as several people have pointed out gasoline goes bad, so you can't just fill up the tank and leave it in the garage.

Based on the information you've provided I also wouldn't recommend installation of a standby generator with an automatic transfer switch, because the cost of installation and the hassle of ongoing maintenance are probably beyond what your parents need right now. If their care needs get more intense, then maybe you could think about it, but it won't be cheap. 25 years ago a home standby generator with an automatic transfer switch would have run somewhere between $8K and $14K installed, and I have no idea how bad inflation has hit that market since then so I don't want to guess at the cost. It'll depend on the size of their A/C unit and the square footage of their house, which will be used as a proxy for other usage when the generator company writes an estimate.

If you do look into standby generators, I would 100% recommend getting a maintenance contract so somebody is coming out and running the generator when you don't need it, just so you're certain that it will actually work when you do. The generator company I worked for did not work in NJ, so I don't think this recommendation is a conflict of interest, but I guess anybody in Texas or Oklahoma should know that the people I worked for and liked might have a financial stake in that service contract, but I won't get any money on a referral. Also if there's no natural gas line they'd need a propane tank on site (or a diesel generator, if that isn't prohibited by their HOA), and they'd then need a contract with a fuel supplier so it gets refilled when necessary. This will be distinct from the generator maintenance agreement.
posted by fedward at 8:52 AM on June 22

One alternative to a generator that seems like it might be more manageable for your folks in the longer term is exploring how people in hotter climates around the world modify their personal passive temperature control routines in summer, and then using that knowledge to make relatively inexpensive and low-hassle changes to the decor and landscaping of their house, and to their habits and behavior, to keep them cool without depending on electricity.

Of course, foregoing the air conditioner entirely is almost certainly not possible or even safe in your parents’ lives, but there is also quite a lot they can do to “heat-adapt” their home and their lives regardless of their use of the air conditioner which they should consider doing every day in the summer anyway so if the power does go out on what might not even seem like an especially hot day, it will take much longer for their house to heat up and expose them to heat stress.

I say this because my own parents, of a similar age to yours, have only ever lived in the temperate- and Mediterranean-climate parts of the US in modern homes with good HVAC systems and grew up in a cooler climate overall, while I have grown up in hotter times, and have lived and worked in desert, tropical and sub-tropical climates around the world. For me, it is worth doing everything you can at home passively that lowers the indoor temperature by even a single degree or two because the cumulative effect is often very significant, while for my parents this isn’t really true; you just close the windows and turn on the air conditioner to 72 or 73 and forget about it, and because they have no experience in needing to use passive methods to keep cool, it can surprise them how much can be done to prevent overheating without power.

Some ideas along these lines might include:

- Considering their knowledge of science in trying to help them understand how air acts, where air is going and how it is flowing inside a house. This may involve gently confronting some incorrect ideas about air (do they think air will be stagnant if they don’t run the air conditioner or central-air fans, or do they understand that air moves around the house without any action on their part?) and keeping cool (do they believe that running a fan to move air around the house when they are not home keeps the house’s temperature lower, or do they understand that a fan works by enhancing the brain’s sense of being cooled off by the evaporative cooling that is happening when air moves over the skin?). Also, are their ceiling fans running counterclockwise in summer to create a downdraft that makes them feel a breeze when they are under them? If not, do they have the ability to change the fans’ direction easily?

- Using a compass (and perhaps a solar exposure calculator like the one at SunEarthTools.com here) to make sure the orientation of the house vis-à-vis the sun is understood factually, as well as a few indoor and outdoor thermometers, to note down how the sun moves around the house through a summer day and how the temperatures inside and outside vary — while also noting where they are at different times of day, how those places are being warmed by direct solar exposure, and how those places could be cooled passively. If their bedrooms and bathrooms have windows or sliding doors facing east and the kitchen and living room have windows or sliding doors facing west, for example, how much does it help to close the east-facing “warm side” windows and curtains in the morning while opening the west-facing “cool side” windows and curtains, and then reversing this after midday?

- Doing maintenance on parts of their home that could support passive cooling but don’t work for their mobility (or the reality of how air is moving) currently. Are older/sash windows screened, are they functional, do they move smoothly and do they have whatever lubrication/springs/internal mechanisms they need? Are any sliding doors moving smoothly in their tracks? As mentioned above, are the ceiling fans spinning the correct direction? Do windows have the right kind of covering to keep solar radiation out, and are any blinds or curtains closing and opening without needing to be fought with?

- Thinking about sun-blocking decor. Do the window coverings over the windows/sliding doors with the most sun exposure actually block the sun? Could umbrellas, plants or awnings be used outside the house to shade windows that get significant sun? Is there a way to layer curtains they already have on existing rods to provide a better barrier?

- Doing an inventory of their bedlinen, towels and clothing to see how seasonally/weather-appropriate they and their laundry processes are. Do they have a heavyweight down comforter on their bed that is a hassle to launder, so it stays on in the summer instead of getting changed out for lighter sheets? Do they use the dryer in the middle of the heat of the day, or overnight? If they use a clothesline, are they standing in the noonday sun hanging their clothes up after a morning wash, or are they using a laundry rack (like this one from IKEA) so they can dry things indoors if they prefer? Do they have, and like wearing, their summer-weight clothes? Are their towels too heavy to dry out in the summer without the help of the dehumidifying work of the air conditioner?

- Looking at how they move from less-insulated or uninsulated parts of the house and trying to modify their behavior so they keep the heat out there rather than in the house. What can be done to keep out of the garage or the attic on hot days if they often go there for things they want or need? For example, if there is an extra fridge in the garage where they keep cold drinks, maybe one of their pre-bedtime routines can be to restock the kitchen fridge instead of doing it in the middle of the day. If they have hobby supplies in the attic, can those supplies be gathered when the attic and the rest of the house are closer to the same, cooler temperature (early morning, perhaps)? And if they have a basem*nt, is it clean, safely accessible, free of mold and well-lit so that being down there is at least tolerable, and perhaps even possible to make appealing through the absence of clutter and noise and the presence of things that entice them to stay there, like cozy seating or fun activities?

- Modifying their outdoor lives to keep them cooler. Do they have any nice, shaded outdoor space like a screened porch where they could spend time in the evenings after sunset? If so, is it appealing and tidy and well-lit? If they enjoy grilling, can they do the prep in a shaded or indoor spot and then only go outside to actually do the grilling? If they go on walks or hikes, do they have the right (easy to care for, flattering, well-fitting, enjoyable to wear) clothing and gear and hats? When they go somewhere by car, are they parking inside shaded garages? If they travel by public transit to run errands or see friends, do they have the right clothing to support them walking to the stop/station and waiting for their bus/train on a hot day? Can they mitigate the risk of their vehicles being too hot by letting them air out for a few minutes if they’ve parked in the sun before getting in?

- Modifying their summertime social lives to keep them cooler. On days with outdoor events where they and their friends plan to meet in a certain location, can they reach their rendezvous point without needing to wait at an unshaded bus stop for 20 minutes or trudging across a huge asphalt parking lot? If they are meeting for a meal at a popular restaurant, is there a shaded or air-conditioned place to wait for a table? If they are on a daytrip to Manhattan with friends, can they spend the hottest part of the day in a cool, shaded place like a museum or theatre? In their circles, does everyone pay attention to each other’s heat stress and hydration levels (perhaps having already read this simple guide from the CDC about heat stress symptoms for folks over 65)? Have they tried carrying reusable water bottles (and planning for toilet access) when out and about with others?

- Making hydration easier and more pleasurable, especially if, like many older people, they find themselves more dehydrated than in the past because fears about unpredictable or painful urination keep them away from drinking much until they feel very thirsty, by which point they may already be at risk of negative health impacts. Could they use a beverage dispenser like this one at IKEA to make something like cucumber-mint water if they would like that more than plain water? Do they have water bottles they like using that they can operate the lids of, fill and clean without needing too much wrist strength? Do they have an easy way of getting to their glasses and cups, or are they on a shelf that’s too high? Does their dishwashing setup work for them in terms of making sure they are drinking enough without needing to do the dishes twice a day? If it is annoying or difficult for them to manage the flow of a case of recyclable cans or bottles of drinks they like from the store to its storage location to the kitchen to the recycling bin, can that flow be tweaked to be made simpler or easier so they drink more? Can they spot the signs of dehydration in each other? Is there an emergency supply of sports drinks or powdered oral rehydration packs they like in an accessible place?

- Getting accurate, non-sensational and comprehensible weather information on a daily basis. If television weather reports, their phones’ weather apps, and their friends are all telling them different information, can they synthesize that into enough of an accurate picture of what’s happening to act in a way that makes sure they don’t, for example, get caught out without a hat or water while out for a walk? Do they know the difference between the National Weather Service’s “excessive heat outlook”, “heat advisory”, “excessive heat warning” and “excessive heat alert”? Can they check what the National Weather Service is forecasting for their area by checking its website for their city (here’s “Newark, NJ” on weather.gov, for example)? Can they use the CDC’s HeatRisk tool here to check the heat risks for their area over a whole week? What’s their current setup for knowing the outdoor temperature at home without going outside? Would they enjoy having a big-print thermometer mounted outside they can see from inside, or perhaps a weather station of some kind?

- Finally, regardless of whether or not they get a generator, having a plan they are comfortable with implementing without help if the power does go out and it is exceptionally hot. If they park in the garage, do they know how to manually open the door — and can they physically do it? Do their keychains have keys to the front and back door so they can get into and out of the house without using the garage at all if the power goes out when they aren’t home? Can they reach all the switches for all the unnecessary electronics they’d want to turn off in an outage to prevent an overload when the power comes back on? How accessible is their fusebox? Is there room in the freezer for some gel ice packs? Do they have a small but sufficiently-sized cooler that they can put their medication and the ice packs in if they need to move to a cooler spot? Is the coolest un-air-conditioned place on a hot day that is still within the insulated envelope of the house (perhaps a darker, less-used room like an office?) safe for them to get to without lights (not down a dark stairway, for example), comfortable to be in during the day (sufficient but not intense light from outside, multiple places to sit, things to do like books/puzzles/magazines, near the bathroom), and supportive of them staying calm because they are in contact with the outside world? On this last point you might want to suggest they place a few battery-operated flashlights, a battery or solar-powered lantern, a battery-operated clock and an emergency radio as well as a (perhaps always unplugged, except in power outages) corded landline telephone, which the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management suggests on their power outage preparation page here.

Good luck! My folks are around your folks’ age and I am happy to say that they have had a lot of success in passively cooling their homes using many of these tips, but I also need to say that it took some…delicate, let’s say…phrasing to help them unlearn some myths about in-home temperature management so they did not feel that they could no longer be trusted to exercise control over their environment independently. It was much harder for them to hear statements like “Mom, I read that you need to change your ceiling fan direction so you feel cooler when you are under it” than statements phrased as explorations or investigations or simply questions, ways of talking to them that sought to achieve the same goal by asking for their help or expertise or wisdom. Here that might happen sort of off-handedly at the end of a phone call, like “oh, before I forget, Mom, someone at work just told me this thing about switching your ceiling fan direction in the summer to create a downdraft so you feel cooler underneath it — have you ever heard of this?”, and then based on her response, saying something like “Hmmm, interesting. You know, I’m still at work for a few hours, but since you’re in your kitchen right now, do you think you could give it a try and let me know if you notice a difference? If it works I’ll try it at home later.”
posted by mdonley at 1:44 PM on June 22 [2 favorites]

I'm in my seventies and know a lot of my peers would rather not climb a ladder to check the direction of their ceiling fans!

Instead of something to cool the whole house how about a hybrid car in which they can run AC? I camp a lot and have friends who camp in hybrids and rave about how they can run the ac or the heat even while sitting/camping in one place. The engine turns on if the battery runs down, so this shouldn't be done in a garage.

And organize the community to make sure the clubhouse does have a serious generator the cost of which can come out of the HOA fees everyone is paying!
posted by mareli at 4:12 PM on June 22 [1 favorite]

Another factor to keep in mind is that generators normally get installed some distance from the house, necessarily, due to the pollution and noise they emit - and this makes them vulnerable to theft. There is a thriving business in secondhand generators, no provenance given, and people who specialize in obtaining them.

Many people therefore install their generator in the garage or build an outbuilding for it. During power failures generator thieves sometime cruise a target neighbourhood listening for the sound of them running so they can tell which garages to break into.
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:14 AM on June 23

My parents in Florida got an on-demand generator installed a few years ago and I can confirm, as their child who lives far away, that my own anxiety levels have decreased immensely during the various weather scenarios they have since experienced (tornadoes and at least one tropical storm/hurricane). Yes, it was expensive to install, and yes it requires an annual service visit, but otherwise it Just Works. When it kicks on, the whole house has power just like any other day.

At my own house, we have a portable generator for our occasional power outages and a generator switch that we can plug it into to power a few circuits. I'm glad we have it, but it's kind of a pain to set up and use--it's heavy, awkward, and gets very hot when running. And of course you have to have fresh gas on hand and refill it frequently. It's ok for us as healthy younger adults but I wouldn't want my parents to have to mess around with that. It's also not sufficient to power our central A/C, although it can run the electrical components of our gas-powered furnace to give us heat in winter.

TLDR, if they have the money for it, yeah I'd say go for it! For their safety and your peace of mind.
posted by Jemstar at 1:40 PM on June 23 [1 favorite]

Related Questions

When is it heat exhaustion vs. silent heart attack?February 23, 2021
Feeling the burn and it's not going awayMay 26, 2016
How to hot yogaJanuary 20, 2014
How to sweat less?June 15, 2007
It's hot and I've got chicken poxJune 8, 2004