Right after we moved into the new house, I procured “The Beast“, which is our generator…… also called “Brian’s Folly”. It was a waste of time and money, the experts said. I heard it all.
“Why did you buy that? You’ll never use it“.
“The power never goes out in this town for more than a few hours! Waste of money.”
“I have one, and the only time I ever run it is to test it.”
“The last time I ran mine, I made a pot of coffee with it.”
I have spent the last 9 years keeping The Beast running….. keeping fresh gasoline on hand…… changing the oil….. running it under load every few months….. testing the wires and connections…… just to have it sit in the garage….. idle…………. never used……… a silly waste of time and money.
Until…… last Wednesday evening, the tree in our front yard decided to do this.
Which did this to our power connection.
We were cut off, with the lines trapped under the tree. The electric company had to cut the wires to keep it safe. So we were in the dark for 24 hours.
Undeterred….. I got out The Beast, and hooked her up.
Right through the official Transfer Switch in the garage.
and she ran fine, and powered the essentials in the house…… the refrigerator, the sump pump, and……… the coffee pot……. long enough to get us connected back into the grid.
So there ya go. Emergency equipment is a waste of time and money….. until you need it.