Any disadvantage to turning off a PP when not in use?

No, not First Energy.

Ron, I love our little cottage built 103 years ago and expanded upon and the fact that I can only see one neighbor if I look out one window just right, and that there’s a state wildlife preserve directly in front of us for miles, and the sparsely housed wooded neighborhood is only five miles from grocery and drug stores and a post office. It’s paradise in a way, my wife has been here 22 years and she is not going to move. Last year was really the first year we had two long spells without power, and I think the Township and the State park department and we and our neighbors have reduced the risk of this happening again. And if it does happen again. . . a generator is cheaper and easier a fix than moving. Moving is not likely to happen.

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Well you should buy more Audio gear then!

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Time to invest in solar or a generator. I don’t see the grid getting drastically better for a while.

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Short answer is: it’s not really the grid, it’s the trees. I don’t have money to invest in solar, probably will in a generator if we have continuing problems this winter.

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You’re so lucky to love where you live.

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Yes indeed, and to have found love again. My wife Lucinda and I call ourselves “the Lucky Ls.” I took a big leap in April '13 to return to Ohio as a caregiver, and I found love and a great partner and a great home. At first the isolation was a bit difficult after a nice urban experience, but now the only real downside is. . . food. I miss a handful of restaurants in Austin immensely!

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Here our utilities have a rather aggressive tree trimming program, still we do experience occasional power outages at our lake property. It is more rural and isolated, serviced by a local electrical Co-op.

I asked if you had First Energy as it is a holding company for many of the utilities in the area and has been cited repeatedly for distribution system maintenance shortfalls. Additionally inadequate tree trimming along three major transmission lines resulted in a significant eastern US/Canada black-out in August 2003. The follow-up root cause investigation showed first Energy was aware of vegetation management issues along their transmission system, but failed to take appropriate action to prevent transmission line faults.

Tree trimming and vegetation management programs in our region are a direct response to the First Energy event.

I investigated a Generac propane fueled generator recently. My experience with it was the local contractor and Generac were too busy to be of assistance. Location assessments were continually rescheduled. I never did receive an estimate, but I do receive solicitations from Generac’s marketing for a home evaluation and assessment. I do wonder if Generac’s exposure to the Texas winter outages was part of their inability to meet estimate and installation commitments. Apparently many generators did not respond to the loss of power event. Repairs were necessary and replacement parts were not readily available.

People here have waited six months or more to receive a generator! Maybe the zombie apocalypse preppers gutted the inventory!

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Yup. Generators and toilet paper.

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Yes the stand alone gennie demand is up and Generac’s ability to meet installs and customer needs falls short. That has not slowed down their marketing team, caveat emptor. You may want to research Kohler. I have several smaller Hondas, but they don’t market anything large enough for whole house service that I am aware of. I’d also need one that operates on propane.

… and Decware SE84 UFO amps, PSA PST transports, and vinyl records.

I’m not ready to do any investigative research on these yet, I want to see if the unusual winter of last winter is repeated, we had no need for a generator the twenty plus years Lucy lived here before. And she’s the one who investigates things like this. . thanks I’ll let her know about Kohler.

Good luck to both of you with it.

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