Yes, that is one drawback but there are others: an automatic, stand-by generator needs a dedicated main breaker panel and has to be maintained / serviced if one really expects it to truly 'stand by'.
I too go with a portable 5K generator and find it is the best solution for me. It is just a gasoline, portable generator, about $600 new, and it sits in my garage and is wired into the garage sub- panel. So, when power fails I just open the main breakers on the house, start the generator (by hand- no electric start on it) and fuel it as needed, leaving it running inside a closed, detached garage for as long as power is down. It will run the whole house quite comfortably IF one is sane about it: no A/C unless a small room unit. It will run the boiler, refrigerator, freezer and all small appliances, all lights we want to use, and TV's, cable boxes, computers. It will run ONE burner on the electric stove OR one high wattage heating device at a time: coffee maker, toaster oven, microwave, etc. So we can live comfortably but have to be a little bit aware of what we are doing and be reasonable.
I am not willing to 1) spend the money on a stand- by generator and the associated costs (wiring panel, lockouts, etc.) 2) do the annual maintenance to make sure it works (would rather tinker with the portable generator if / when it needs it or when I need it) 3) spend the money to arrange for sufficient fuel, either diesel or propane (no natural gas available here) and if propane, 4) not willing to try and maintain the large fuel tank on the property filled as the days tick off. It is a very significant investment and commitment installing and maintaining a true stand- by generator and the benefits are just not worth it to me.
Brian
To each his own. When Mrs. E and I lived in Salt Lake City, some cretin ran his car into an electric sub-station up in the Pacific NW somewhere, and the resulting fallout put us without power for 9 days.
Never again.
Regarding maintenance, the only maintenance I've had to do with a Kohler 17kW I had in a previous house was an oil change once a year, spark plugs every 3 years, air filter, and a battery over an 8 year period. That's not much more than I'd do with a lawn mower.
The Generac generators do not have self-adjusting valves, so there's that particular hassle. Of course, since we Connie owners love to adjust the valves in our bikes, we have no problem with adjusting valves, right?
The other part to this scenario that I like is the service I get. When/if a problem happens, the Kohler guy is right there. Kohler, as a company, had to acknowledge the business that Generac was taking, so they came down in price significantly AND they upped their customer service to boot.
Money well spent, AFAIC. YMMV.
