I wasn’t sure where to classify this…

@tablejockey Ha!  I went from owing 50% of the value of my home and needing about $70k/year income to survive, to selling that house and with the proceeds, buying a house twice the size, cash.  Once my car is paid off, I can survive off of $15k/year including all utilities, insurance, property tax, and a $300/month food budget for just myself, which may have to go up with food prices these days!

@scott22 You obviously have never lived outside of Cali. The beaches near me have softer sand, water that is so clear that I can see the ground at 6ft deep, you don’t need a suit or to swim in the ocean comfortably.  If it rains, I can go in the water immediately after vs. San Diego where you should wait 24-48 hours for the contamination runoff to pass…. And you can talk to random women and men, without worrying about getting pepper sprayed for saying “Hello”. Yup 

@riley804 When you are home for 10 days with no power, you get bored.  The generator I have is a large construction generator that will power my minisplit AC I have for my gaming room/office, which is where I’d be living in the event of a hurricane power outage.  It will also power my chest freezer, and my refrigerator, as well as power for my computer.  I have quite a few VR games I can play without internet, as well as a movie server with tons of movies and TV shows.  I just want to make sure I don’t smoke my gaming rig with dirty power.

My generator running on propane will kick out 6800W nominal.  My minisplit AC runs on a 15 amp circuit, so even if I dedicate the full capacity of that circuit in power (accounting for the start up draw etc), that’s only 1800W.  I still have 4000 to play with.  So yes, my generator is powerful enough to do more than just the “small stuff”

@builder3 I already have a Firman H07552 Generator.

@erik_squires My house was built in 88, so I don’t have a whole home surge suppressor.  My AV gear runs on the non battery back up side of my UPS for surge protection, and my networking gear is on the battery backup side.  If there is a power outage, I don’t plan to use my AV gear as it’s in a room that would need to be cooled with my 3.5ton HVAC which is more than my generator can handle.  I have a 3 story house with my office being 11x18 room on the first floor that’s half buried (my house is on a slope so the front of the house looks like a 2 story) as well as my 2 car garage.  I have the top end insulated Hurricane garage doors, so the combination of insulated, half underground, and having a dedicated 12000 BTU mini split, I can setup a mattress on the floor in there and live comfortable.

I have my gaming rig, VR, and a 48” monitor in the office, so TV and Movies from my server is no big deal as well.  I have butane burners for cooking food, and fully stocked chest freezer.  I’m just getting it all put together and trying to plan ahead.  The last hurricane knocked power out for 10 days here according to my neighbor.

I have an inverter generator but it’s only 3000w and it’s gas only.  An inverter generator that will kick out 6000+ watts would cost thousands of dollars.  If I could afford to go that route, I might as well install a permanent whole home backup generator.

the point is, I already have a generator that will do 6800w running on propane, so rather than spend thousands of dollars on a different generator, it makes

more sense to spend a few hundred on something that will filter the noise and balance the voltage.  If a UPS does that, then I’m set, but if it doesn’t, I need a solution that doesn’t involve replacing my perfectly good existing $1000 generator with a new $3000 generator.

@baylinor my generator is dual fuel and will run off propane.  I have 5 propane tanks full atm, which would get me through a few days, and to my understanding, propane is easier to get after a storm than gas.

@thecarpathian my generator is dual fuel.

@barjohn of course I’d have a service disconnect.  Would never want to be responsible for injuring a lineman!  That said, I’m very capable of installing it myself :). I’ve replaced commercial panels myself and wired up 90% of those 200 amp 3 phase panels while hot.  I know my way around electricity :)

@ricmci This house was built in 1988 and still standing.  I’ve never experienced a hurricane, so it’s going to be an interesting experience the first time.  That said, as I stated previously, I have a 3 story house on the top of a hill on a slope.  From the front of the house, it’s 2 stories, but from the back, it’s 3 stories.  The bottom floor is a 2 car garage, and some storage, with 50% underground, and cinder block walls, as well as a 11’x18’ office.  That floor has it’s own dedicated sub panel, and it’s what will be powered with my generator in the event of a hurricane knocking out the power.

A 1 ton mini split is far more than a room that size needs, however, I can open the solid core door from the office into the garage and let the cool air reduce the temp of the garage as well.  I just put in top of the line insulated Hurricane rated garage doors (the 2 car garage has 2 single car doors).  This means I have additional space to help neighbors as well if they don’t have backup power.  They can bring mattresses or sleeping bags, and sleep in a comfortable temperature.

The mini split I’m putting in, also has a stand alone dehumidifier mode as well.  Since it’s so oversized for the room, a mini split without this option would cool the room quickly, but not have enough time to properly dehumidify it before shutting off.  With this dehumidify mode, I can run it when I’m not cooling the room to pull the excess humidity out.

Lastly, there are no windows on the first floor to be broken.  I have a large chest freezer in there with a few hundred pounds of froze meat, and multiple butane burners with at least 10 spare butane canisters, so I have food heating covered.  I have 2 cases of bottled water, plus a water dispenser that I keep a backup 5 gallon jug for, so I should have enough potable water to last me as well.  The only luxury I would be without during such a time would be internet (assuming it’s out, and cell towers are down), and hot water, so cold showers it is.

@mwjones I have no doubts that what you are stating is true, and I can’t imagine dealing with all of what you listed.  I have a few advantages (assuming they were done right).  My roof is 3 years old (I’m assuming it was damaged and replaced due to Sally).  I’m near the top of a hill, but I’m an hour drive from the beach, and I have a metric ton of trees between myself and the coast.  They are my best friend and worst nightmare of course, as a tree coming down could take out the roof and part of the house.  That said, once again, all the trees that are still standing, withstood the constant pounding of Sally, and while it was only a Cat 2 hurricane, it was slow moving and sat for 24 hours which is why it did so much damage.

all of that said, you are right.  Newer homes are built to higher standards.  In addition to the new roof, I have the advantage that I’m in a very hilly area that helps break up the wind, which also reduces risk of tornado.

lastly, any kin I have is in San Diego, CA, so evacuating and trying to find somewhere that I and my dogs can stay, at an exorbitantly higher price, combined with not knowing if the hotel I stay at also gets a good hit, or even hit harder from where I left, doesn’t really seem feasible.  I have just as much chance that the storm ends up passing me and hitting someone else, as I do, leaving and going somewhere that ends up getting hit harder by the storm as it avoids where I’m at.

in the end, there is no right answer.  At least I know, standing my ground means I have resources at my availability.  I have all needed supplies for

myself and some to help my neighbors.  My goal isn’t to take care of all of my neighbors, but if I can offer some respite and share some resources, so be it.

As you suggested, I will get more water.  It’s cheap, easy to store, and a lot better to get now than to try and get after a disaster.  Thanks for the advice!

Another quick question.  When hooking up a portable generator with a bonded neutral, should the service transfer switch for the sub panel I plan to power, include just the two hots and neutral, but use the house’s ground, or should I also transfer the ground to the generator?  If I do so, how will this effect any GFI protected circuits that may be on this sub panel?