Alternate Power

[One Day]

Wondering..
How many have whole house generators for backup power?
I recall reading about an B&B in VA that recently sold....has a generator
Have you considered ?

 

[JBloggs]

We are 2 blocks form the hospital in town here so the power gets turned back on here asap. So nope, no generator for us. I would if I were rural or near the coast with possible hurricanes.

 

[Morticia]

We live on the wrong side of town. If the power is going out anywhere it's happening here. 5-6 times/year. We had to hook up a generator in the winter or risk the house freezing. No guests at that time, I sent them all elsewhere. They THOUGHT they wanted to 'rough it' but had no idea how cold it gets here and that there is nothing to do in the dark and cold house except talk to each other. Eeek! No hea, no lights, no hot water, no phone, no internet, no nothing but each other.
We liked it, but I wouldn't put anyone else thru that.
But, no, we haven't considered a whole-house generator as they are cost prohibitive. We lost a couple of hundred dollars from guests going elsewhere (that one night and they'll probably go to the other B&B every other time in the future, but it's still not the price of a generator).

 

[Copperhead]

We do not currently have one but have looked at them several times. I think if we were to get one it would be able to provide us with basic needs not for total comfort and it would not be able to handle our B&B to be fully functional as that would be cost prohibitive.
Being in hurricane territory, we do keep 2 portable generators for purposes of keeping our refrigerator running, a few lights, TV, a window air unit (one room), and our water pump running. When running after the hurricane (Katrina), we used ruffly 5-7 gallons of gas a day...the more you want to keep juiced, the more gas you will burn.
The large whole house units are nice in the fact that they are wired up to your main home breakers and much safer and fuel efficient.

 

[JBloggs]

Yes generators are for emergency only, not to have everything fully operational.

 

[Innkeep]

We do not currently have one but have looked at them several times. I think if we were to get one it would be able to provide us with basic needs not for total comfort and it would not be able to handle our B&B to be fully functional as that would be cost prohibitive.
Being in hurricane territory, we do keep 2 portable generators for purposes of keeping our refrigerator running, a few lights, TV, a window air unit (one room), and our water pump running. When running after the hurricane (Katrina), we used ruffly 5-7 gallons of gas a day...the more you want to keep juiced, the more gas you will burn.
The large whole house units are nice in the fact that they are wired up to your main home breakers and much safer and fuel efficient..

When I did the remodelling to turn the house into a B&B I decided to get a natural gas powered generator. We have had two severe ice storms in the last 15 years that caused power outages lasting several days, and it is surprising to me how much less expensive the generators are now than they were when I looked into one after the first ice storm.
The generator powers the furnace but not air conditioning, most of the kitchen appliances and the guest rooms. It kicks on automatically when the power goes out, like it did the weekend after the power company cut down all the trees in my front yard (I sacrificed my trees so there would be fewer power outages

). It helps that the phones and the computer stay on even in those shorter outages.

 

[One Day]

I take it that "Innkeep" is the only one so far to have one?

 

[SweetiePie]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings.

 

[One Day]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?

 

[egoodell]

Wondering..
How many have whole house generators for backup power?
I recall reading about an B&B in VA that recently sold....has a generator
Have you considered ?

That was possibly Foxfield Inn in Charlottesville, I would guess. We are subject to power outages here. There are several that have them. I think we were quoted something like $5K for ours. We will down the road probably get one to just cover the rooms and the kitchen, not our quarters.
It's bad here when we get outages as we're on wells and have to lug water to flush the toilets. We have a small generator that can run the ktichen and the computer but it's noisy and we still have the shower/flush problem.
RIki

 

[JBloggs]

I believe she is speaking of "Off Peak"

 

[SweetiePie]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.

 

[EmptyNest]

We have a generator for ours. It is not whole house, but it will keep our fridge, oil furnace if need be and the well pump going so everyone can flush toilets, It also has power to one outlet in the guest rooms so they could blow dry their hair or at least have a light to read by. It is wired into our elec. system so all we have to do is plug in the generator, turn it on and flip a switch. It was very economical to do.
I have friends here in VA who are out in the 'boonies" and they do have a whole house generator for their inn. Has saved them many times. I think they paid about $10-15K...can't remember exactly.

 

[Willowpondgj]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

 

[swirt]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

Are you sure you have that right? Most day/night meter arrangements have it so that electrical energy is cheaper at night (11PM - 7AM) Our day rate last time I checked (been several months) was $0.18/KWHr and the night rate was $0.12KWHr.
In this part of the country electrical loads are much greater during the day (same as out in Calif too...that's why their rolling blackouts are usually during the day) and there is a surplus of energy at night and they can't really store it, so they encourage people to shift some of their non-time critical stuff to night. So we usually run our dishwasher after 11PM and our hotwatertank is on a timer and comes on at night. (the tanks for our guests are not on a timer).

 

[JBloggs]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

Whaaaaaa? Peak is when everyone gets home from WORK!
Over night is less when the heat is less, people use less a/c and heating overnight.

 

[Morticia]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

Whaaaaaa? Peak is when everyone gets home from WORK!
Over night is less when the heat is less, people use less a/c and heating overnight.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

Whaaaaaa? Peak is when everyone gets home from WORK!
Over night is less when the heat is less, people use less a/c and heating overnight.

Maybe 'peak' includes business usage as well. Which would explain why it's usually 8-5 or 9AM-9PM or whatever. But always daytime hours. Not sure if we have the option to have off-peak/peak timers. But we try to NOT run any water or appliances at night when all the guests are relaxing. So we run everything at peak hours.

 

[swirt]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

Whaaaaaa? Peak is when everyone gets home from WORK!
Over night is less when the heat is less, people use less a/c and heating overnight.
.

that's wierd, we're always being told 8-5 is peak and to do chores in the evenings after 6....

Whaaaaaa? Peak is when everyone gets home from WORK!
Over night is less when the heat is less, people use less a/c and heating overnight.

Maybe 'peak' includes business usage as well. Which would explain why it's usually 8-5 or 9AM-9PM or whatever. But always daytime hours. Not sure if we have the option to have off-peak/peak timers. But we try to NOT run any water or appliances at night when all the guests are relaxing. So we run everything at peak hours.
.

Yes Peak includes all electrical useage. Factories, office buildings...all those things that use large amounts of electricty. Most electric companies have a near impossible job of regulating the amount produced. If they produce too much, it goes wasted, or they sell it to "the grid" and some place farther away with less production capacity buys it (at a higher price) if they produce too little, then they have to buy it from the grid. Electric companies then try to minimize their losses by getting residential customers to use less during the day (so they don't have to buy more) and to use more at night when there is a surplus...they are trying to smooth out the peaks and fill in the valleys so to speak.

 

[SweetiePie]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

Are you sure you have that right? Most day/night meter arrangements have it so that electrical energy is cheaper at night (11PM - 7AM) Our day rate last time I checked (been several months) was $0.18/KWHr and the night rate was $0.12KWHr.
In this part of the country electrical loads are much greater during the day (same as out in Calif too...that's why their rolling blackouts are usually during the day) and there is a surplus of energy at night and they can't really store it, so they encourage people to shift some of their non-time critical stuff to night. So we usually run our dishwasher after 11PM and our hotwatertank is on a timer and comes on at night. (the tanks for our guests are not on a timer).
.

We're serviced by a rural electric co-op, so I don't think they are dealing with heavy industrial use. The times vary for summer and winter. Right now our on peak hours are from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM, all the rest is considered off peak.

 

[swirt]

We don't have a generator. Just have to wait it out if there is a power outage. The longest I recall was 2 days. Didn't lose any food in the refrigerator, which was good.
Just switched to a "time of use" meter for the electricity. You get a better rate if you use power while others aren't. It works well for me because I'm here during the day and that is when i do most of the laundry etc. Since it is an all electric house it should produce some savings..

Can you elaborate further on this "Time of use" ?
.

Most people work from 8 to 5 so aren't using power in their homes during that time. If you can utilize that time period to do chores that require electricity you get it at a cheaper rate. It does require a special type of meter and a 2 year commitment. It also helps the power company by avoiding peak surges.
.

Are you sure you have that right? Most day/night meter arrangements have it so that electrical energy is cheaper at night (11PM - 7AM) Our day rate last time I checked (been several months) was $0.18/KWHr and the night rate was $0.12KWHr.
In this part of the country electrical loads are much greater during the day (same as out in Calif too...that's why their rolling blackouts are usually during the day) and there is a surplus of energy at night and they can't really store it, so they encourage people to shift some of their non-time critical stuff to night. So we usually run our dishwasher after 11PM and our hotwatertank is on a timer and comes on at night. (the tanks for our guests are not on a timer).
.

We're serviced by a rural electric co-op, so I don't think they are dealing with heavy industrial use. The times vary for summer and winter. Right now our on peak hours are from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM, all the rest is considered off peak.
.

Right now our on peak hours are from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM, all the rest is considered off peak.
That's interesting. Do you know what the split is between the peak and off-peak rates?
We're serviced by a rural electric co-op,
I've heard the term before..something about it always brings to my mind an image of 3 guys all named Bubba taking turns on a excercise bike fitted with a generator. Off peak is when they let the skinny guy (they call him Slim) take his turn on the bike.