So
last month, I finally decided to have a full-house automatic generator system
installed. I’d scrimped and saved $6,500 for the project, and I fully intended
to stay within that budget and not spend a penny more.
The
first two generator companies I called for estimates nearly caused me to give
up and just go buy a case of candles because one wanted $10,000 and the other,
$11,000. When I happened to mention
this to my insurance agent a few days later, he suggested that I call an electrician
friend of his who has connections (pun intended).
I
called the electrician and he advised me to buy the generator myself at one of
the big-box home-improvement stores, and then hire my own electrician and gas
fitter. He said I would save a bundle that way. So I followed his advice and
bought the generator – a powerful Generac system for a little over $2,500. Then
I called back the electrician, told him I’d taken his advice, and asked him if
I could hire him to hook up the generator for me. He said he’d just begun a
huge project rewiring an entire mobile-home park, and made it sound as if he
wouldn’t be available until about December of the year 2020. So I called the
electrician who’d originally wired my house and asked if he could install the
generator. He said he’d get back to me. He never did. Finally, I found another
electrician who was willing to do the job right away for $2,400.
Then
I searched for a licensed gas-fitter to connect my underground propane tank to
the generator.
Well,
as luck would have it, I was out walking my dog one afternoon and a neighbor
I’d never had the opportunity of meeting before was outside in his yard. I
stopped, introduced myself and struck up a conversation with him. When he
happened to mention what he did for a living, I couldn’t believe my ears. He
was a licensed gas-fitter! Fate had intervened! I told him about my generator and he said he’d be glad to do the
work for me.
I
think, however he probably regretted that decision after he arrived to size up
the situation.
If
I had wanted to put the generator in the middle of my driveway, then it would
have been a snap to connect. But I wanted it hidden behind the house, over 100
feet from the gas tank.
“I
think the best way to go about this is to run a line from the gas meter through
the basement and then out to the generator,” he said. “It should cost about
$800.”
After
he measured my basement, however, he didn’t look too pleased. “The farther the
line has to go, the bigger it has to be, and the more expensive it gets,” he said.
“Let me check with your gas company to find out if running another pressure
line directly from the tank to the generator might be a better option.”
The
gas company recommended the pressure line. “The trench for it has to be 18
inches deep after you’ve added two inches of sand,” they informed me. “Let us
know when you finish it.”
They
sounded as if they wanted me to dig my own trench! Me, who digs like an aging
gopher and would have to hire a live-in chiropractor afterwards? So although I
knew it would further strain my budget, I called an excavator. He said he could dig the trench and provide
the sand for the bottom for a total of $400.
I had no clue what the going rate for trench digging was, but $400
sounded OK to me, especially since I could forgo chiropractor.
The
trench digger arrived on his Bobcat two days later and proceeded to dig the
equivalent of the San Andreas Fault Line in my yard. And the trench has to
remain wide open until the gas line is laid and the building inspector approves
it. I have visions of small animals, particularly skunks, roaming through the
yard at night and falling into the abyss. Or, if there’s a period of heavy
rain, I’ll end up with my own private moat.
Meanwhile,
the electrician asked me to pick out 12 things I wanted to connect to the
generator. The first few were easy – the furnace, the well, the water heater,
TV and the refrigerator. Then it became
more difficult. Did I want the automatic garage-door opener or the backyard
floodlight so the dogs wouldn’t stumble around out in the dark and accidentally
end up “doing their business” on the bulkhead?
Or did I need a bathroom light so I wouldn’t end up stumbling around in
the dark and accidentally “doing my business” in the bathtub? It took me over
an hour to decide, but I finally chose the 12 things I wanted hooked up. The electrician then spent seven hours
getting everything wired.
After
he left, I realized I had forgotten to connect something really important – the
water purification system in the basement. Without it, the water will come
straight into the house from the well.
And the water in my well contains 10 times the normal levels of arsenic.
So
I guess I’ll have to remember that the next time there’s a power failure, not
to invite anyone over for iced tea.
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