I'll try to keep this as short as possible.
Background: My MIL and her companion (let's call them Trish and Harry) are both in their early 80's. They are still pretty independent and live in Trish's home. Their basement has a water problem and they have a sump pump to keep things dry. It has to run several times an hour. During the recent storm, they lost power for 24+ hours. During that time Trish and Harry stayed up all night bailing water so the basement wouldn't flood. I just found out about it today. Trish said they didn't call for help because they didn't want to "bother us." Trish has now taken it into her mind to get a generator. At first, I thought she just wanted a small one to run the sump pump, but she told my wife she would also like to have power to the fridge and a few lights. I was thinking along the lines of a small, easy to carry genny that Harry could handle, but now we're into a medium/large generator and the related hookup. I told my wife about sump pumps with battery backups, but when she suggested it to her mother Trish said that the battery would be dead when they needed it.
The Problems: Trish has no concept of what's involved in hooking up and running a genny, and Harry isn't much better. His idea of maintaining power equipment is putting gas in it until it doesn't run any more. There is no way in hell I'm going to suggest a suicide cord setup to these folks. (Trish and Harry are a couple of the reasons that I'm still stuck in MA. As much as I want to leave this hellhole I haven't reached the point where I want to off my relatives to do so. ) Even if we buy them a genny and install a legal transfer switch it's still not going to solve their problem. I don't think that Trish understands that you can't run a generator outside in the pouring rain or a blizzard. If the power goes out and it's still raining or snowing, they're not going to be able to run the genny, so their basement is still going to flood. The house has no garage, so they can't put a genny in a garage with the door fully open.
Possible Solutions: I'm thinking along the lines of a battery backup sump pump and a small genny. Hopefully, the battery will last until the storm subsides and then they could use the genny with an extension cord to run the pump until power is restored. I know Trish won't be happy with this suggestion, because it won't give her a refrigerator and some lights. I really don't think that Harry could handle a larger genny, even with a wheel kit, nor do I think he has the strength to use the recoil starter. If we buy them a genny with an electric start option, the problem is they really don't have a place to leave it plugged in to keep the battery charged, so we're back to square one. The ideal solution would be a standby natural gas genny with an automatic transfer switch, but I'm guessing that's in the ballpark of $5000 to $7000, beyond my means at this time.
Questions: Is there a possible solution to this problem that I'm missing? Is my $$ estimate on the standby genny realistic? Is there a portable genny that is designed to be run outdoors in wet weather? I know Trish will be contacting us in the next week or two to buy them a generator. She is stubborn, and if I put her off for too long she'll simply get pissed off and go out and buy one that won't solve their problems and I'll wind up dealing with the problems anyway. Any suggestions from the NES hive mind?
Edit: Sorry, Mods, I just realized I put this in the wrong forum. It belongs in Off-Topic. Please move it or merge it with the existing generator thread. Brain fart on my part.
Background: My MIL and her companion (let's call them Trish and Harry) are both in their early 80's. They are still pretty independent and live in Trish's home. Their basement has a water problem and they have a sump pump to keep things dry. It has to run several times an hour. During the recent storm, they lost power for 24+ hours. During that time Trish and Harry stayed up all night bailing water so the basement wouldn't flood. I just found out about it today. Trish said they didn't call for help because they didn't want to "bother us." Trish has now taken it into her mind to get a generator. At first, I thought she just wanted a small one to run the sump pump, but she told my wife she would also like to have power to the fridge and a few lights. I was thinking along the lines of a small, easy to carry genny that Harry could handle, but now we're into a medium/large generator and the related hookup. I told my wife about sump pumps with battery backups, but when she suggested it to her mother Trish said that the battery would be dead when they needed it.
The Problems: Trish has no concept of what's involved in hooking up and running a genny, and Harry isn't much better. His idea of maintaining power equipment is putting gas in it until it doesn't run any more. There is no way in hell I'm going to suggest a suicide cord setup to these folks. (Trish and Harry are a couple of the reasons that I'm still stuck in MA. As much as I want to leave this hellhole I haven't reached the point where I want to off my relatives to do so. ) Even if we buy them a genny and install a legal transfer switch it's still not going to solve their problem. I don't think that Trish understands that you can't run a generator outside in the pouring rain or a blizzard. If the power goes out and it's still raining or snowing, they're not going to be able to run the genny, so their basement is still going to flood. The house has no garage, so they can't put a genny in a garage with the door fully open.
Possible Solutions: I'm thinking along the lines of a battery backup sump pump and a small genny. Hopefully, the battery will last until the storm subsides and then they could use the genny with an extension cord to run the pump until power is restored. I know Trish won't be happy with this suggestion, because it won't give her a refrigerator and some lights. I really don't think that Harry could handle a larger genny, even with a wheel kit, nor do I think he has the strength to use the recoil starter. If we buy them a genny with an electric start option, the problem is they really don't have a place to leave it plugged in to keep the battery charged, so we're back to square one. The ideal solution would be a standby natural gas genny with an automatic transfer switch, but I'm guessing that's in the ballpark of $5000 to $7000, beyond my means at this time.
Questions: Is there a possible solution to this problem that I'm missing? Is my $$ estimate on the standby genny realistic? Is there a portable genny that is designed to be run outdoors in wet weather? I know Trish will be contacting us in the next week or two to buy them a generator. She is stubborn, and if I put her off for too long she'll simply get pissed off and go out and buy one that won't solve their problems and I'll wind up dealing with the problems anyway. Any suggestions from the NES hive mind?
Edit: Sorry, Mods, I just realized I put this in the wrong forum. It belongs in Off-Topic. Please move it or merge it with the existing generator thread. Brain fart on my part.
Last edited: