One homeowner's $3,200 generator purchase sparked a debate on social media over the costs of preparing for a winter storm.
Here's what to know
In Reddit's r/Generator community, the original poster explained their setup and situation.
The OP wrote, "I bought [a] generator with a rushed decision because the weather man said an apocalyptic ice storm with 1 inch of ice. End of the world and no power ever again."
They added, "Now that I have time to prepare, here are my thoughts. Install soft start on the 3.5 ton generator. Since we have natural gas I am thinking about selling the powerhorse and getting a trifuel… My goal would be to keep house not freezing and run other items that are a need and not a want."
Whether a sale could recover the purchase price remained uncertain. Several commenters doubted that it could. The homeowner hoped to get back the $3,200 they had paid and said the generator's selling price had since reached $4,000.
"You could probably convert that Powerhorse to NG relatively easily. It might even run just as it is. You are never going to get your $ back on that generator so might as well keep it," the top comment read.
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A second commenter wrote, "I just now looked up the data on [your generator] at generatorbible.com. It's much worse than I feared it would be. It has horrible fuel consumption, and it is horribly loud… I would personally hate to be strapped with such a screaming loud money pit."
Ultimately, commenters recommended to either convert the existing generator to natural gas to avoid purchasing another generator, or accept the loss on the resale and buy a tri-fuel inverter model.
Where can I learn more?
Other homeowners have faced similar trade-offs over generator noise and cost.
• A homeowner measured a standby generator at 93dB, raising questions about nearby walls' effects.
• After pool pipes burst, a homeowner weighed a $3,110 portable against a $22,436 whole-home generator.
• A Redditor bought an old, loud military generator for "tree fiddy."
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