Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

Regarding generators: (John n1oty: I would also appreciate your professional input on this!)

1. I do not have one, but have been thinking of getting a portable one from Sam's Club (with Honda engine) for under $1k.
2. Things to think about first: a. How often and for how long do you have power outages? b. What is the likelihood of an extended power outage (say beyond 48 hours)? c. In this case, in addition to the hot tub, what would you need to power inside the house? (From what you stated, with gas heat your inside plumbing would be safe). In my case, I have an all electric house, but with a woodburner that can maintain inside heat in emergency power failure, so my inside plumbing is ok.
3. My thoughts are to get the portable generator from Sam's and utilize it to power a trouble light (or 2) with 100w bulbs. This particular generator is rated for around 6000w or so, which means you can power some additional stuff (both 120 & 240V), just not everything (whole house, etc).
4. The downside is that you may never or rarely use the generator, will have to do routine maintenance on it (oil change, etc). Keep a fresh supply of gasoline on hand, and re-fuel as needed (every 12 hours or so) during use.

To me it is probably worth the investment (less than $1k), just for the comfort of knowing it is there in the event needed to protect my $10k hot tub.

: now my computer is going goofy on me...posted a no message...

: so, is there no other answer to this predicament but to purchase a
: generator and have it installed? I have an electrically operated spa,
: a gas furnace that is electrically turned on, a gas water heater,
: electrical water softerner and iron out machines...and kitchen
: appliances that are all electrical except for the gas dryer....and
: oven (and if the lights aren't working, trust me, I am not going to
: cook...) is this what you'd call a $2000 investment or a $10,000 plus
: one?

: I live in the boonies...a country home with an electrical transformer in
: my back yard that goes out maybe once or twice a year...and then they
: usually can get it going again within a few hours or a day at
: most...unless there were to be a major grid problem in the midwest
: and then, who the heck would even second guess a time without
: it...would it just be worth it to go get a generator put in...and
: grit my teeth about the whole thing?

: Thanks. appreciate the heads up on this subject....

: boy, you guys can certainly tell I am an insurance agent...I like
: a very risk free existence if it is something that only costs me
: money....I can always sell SOMEONE a policy that pays for it
: eventually!!!