Helping Mom Save Money and Feel Independent

As we get closer to winter here in the Northwest, everyone’s minds start thinking about power outages, storms, and cold weather. Normally we only have a few power outages each year and they traditionally don’t last very long.  Once in awhile, we get hit with horrible storms that cause power outages that can last a number of days.  Where we live, we normally don’t lose power for more than a couple days at a time but my mother’s home is a bit more remote and tends to experience power outages that can last upwards of a week in a severe storm.  Last year my mother had to go through one of those long power outages and we ultimately went over and picked her up and had her stay with my sister for a few days.

My mom is fiercely independent.  She stayed in the cold dark house for 4 days before finally giving in to our pleading to come stay in a warm house until her power was restored.  While she appreciated the hospitality, she really hated the fact that she wasn’t able to stay in her home.  Once the power was back on, she immediately started researching permanent backup power generators.  She needed the kind that automatically come on and use natural gas so she never has to worry about running out of fuel.  Her main concern was keeping the refrigerators going and keeping the gas furnace running.  It turns out that a permanent solution would have cost upwards of $5000 when you include the electrician charges.  When you are living on social security, that’s a lot of money.

A couple weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and was having trouble getting back to sleep.  I started thinking about her options and realized that for a fraction of the cost, we could buy her a small portable Honda generator (inverter) that would power a few lights, her refrigerator and her gas furnace fan.  I started to research options and found that you can buy a Honda EU2000i generator online for about $900.  As I researched further, I found plenty of videos and forum posts talking about how people had done just what my mom needed.  The beauty of it is that it’s incredibly quiet, light enough for her to carry, and can last for 9 hours on 1 gallon of fuel.  After talking with my mom, and hearing the excitement in her voice, I knew it was the right approach.

I received the generator a few days ago and am still in awe of how small and quiet it is.  I’m going to add a furnace transfer switch and test out the generator at her house over the next couple weeks.  If all goes well, she’ll be ready for any storm that mother nature throws her way.