When I built my house in 2009 I put in a conduit through the poured basement wall so that I could later install a whole house generator powered by natural gas. I did get a quote, which I thought was way too high (12K).
Turns out that the power has gone out very few times in the almost 14 years I have been here. It did go out today, high winds in the area. I have a 6000 watt generator that I fired up for the first time, and just hooked up my fiber optic box, router, and one TV/cable box so that I could relax and watch TV on a Saturday. I was going to hook up the 2 refrigerators (one in the kitchen, one in the garage) and one freezer (garage) that I have if the power was out for more than 4 hours. Came back on after about 2 hours, so no need for that.
I have several small UPS units for my computer, router, backup drives, etc. They don't last long, and the cheap batteries inside need replacing every few years. About the only thing they are good for is to give me time to close files and power down.
Since solar is becoming so popular, I know there are now a lot more options for batteries and inverters. I think I can build a pretty hefty backup system that would power all the electronics for a day or more, and use the generator for the refrigerator, etc.
Has anyone done this type of a project? I found a lot of info online, but would appreciate any advice.
I am also considering solar with battery backup, one of my daughter's friends owns a solar install company. I figure I could always hook in whatever I do assemble if I decide to add solar. I have plenty of land for the panels, but I don't live in the sunniest place (western PA).
