Here’s my answer to the original post. Yes, I have a standby generator. It cost me less than $6000 (generator, gas caddy, transfer switch and installation). It runs my light, tanks, ac/heat, freezer, fridge, outlets, etc. Originally, I was going to get a whole house generator installed just like the one you‘re talking about. That changed after talking with my electrician. 24KW is more than enough to run your entire house (must be a big house!) with EVERYTHING ON and all things running in your home (Wash/dry cloths, bake, cook, microwave,freezer, fridge...etc.). I sure 24KW is peak power and not constant. When you stuff kick on such as your AC, it will spike and then levels out. I’m sure this setup is upward $10K or more and not factoring in the maintenance involved with upkeep. For me, I don’t need everything ON during a weather event, just the necessities for comfort and survival (including my tanks of course). My generator actually inverter is a Honda eu7000is. It’s quite and very reliable. Besides, this outage was an anomaly, it has been awhile since we had a long term outage and will be awhile longer until we have another. The one thing I see as a big advantage for the whole house installed generator is the switch on is automatic while my setup is manual. Mine is somewhat portable (heavy) the other is fixed and not portable. Mine uses gas, non ethanol for better storage, the other is natural gas. Didn’t I hear some areas didn’t have natural gas service during this outage? Anyways, that’s my take and I figured it’s easier convincing your wife to investing $6000 vs. $10K+. BTW, you can opt for a cheaper generator with the rated power you need. You can do this for a lot less.
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