I'm looking to avert any problems in the future with power failures in my house. Besides the recent power outage, we've had multiple winters where ice has collected, power lines have fallen and we've lost power. I live in the country in W.N.Y. State and winters are often harsh. My breaker box was installed with a 220V connection so that a generator could be connected in case of a power outage. I'd like to buy one, but I don't know how large a generator I need. At the minimum it would need to run a small refrigerator, a small chest freezer, a sump pump and maybe a few lights. Ideally I'd like it to power the whole house, but I'm sure I'd need a huge generator costing mega-dollars and I want to avoid that. It would be nice to run the T.V. too. Would a 5000W continuous "contractors" style generator work? Has anyone else done this, and can you tell me what size generator I need? My other alternative,(if this is too costly), is to buy a battery backup sump pump so that at least my basement doesn't flood. The water table is very high where I live. Thanks
- posted
20 years ago