Im building a house in Oakmont/Bryan

How is the grid? Stable?

Yep.

BTU and CSU are both very stable. The biggest factor that affects the grid in this area is if and where trees fall on power lines.

Thanks guys. I have a small generator that'll probably do the trick. I'm just trying to think of all the things I might want while I'm building the place.

BQ_90 said:

---

Barnyard96 said:

---

Thanks guys. I have a small generator that'll probably do the trick. I'm just trying to think of all the things I might want while I'm building the place.

---

Depending on your generator you may have the electrician build in way to plug then generator into your panel to run the critical things in the house

---

THIS!.

We have small single circuit transfer switches for some of our sites. They work well for small loads.

Found a small but quite useful size:
https://naturesgenerator.com/products/power-transfer-kit

You could run refrigerator, kitchen light/plugs, bedroom, bathroom.
That would keep most homes running for a while.

Generator is in storage but I think its a 6500

Cost around $15K for the whole house?

Spend $15K on an attached 200 sq ft room that has a split air, mini-fridge, etc that could be run off a normal $800 generator. Almost like a sunroom.

BrazosWifi said:

---

Running the Natural gas line to the place where a generator may go in the future is also a great idea.
We didn't and I had to have one run and that was a pain.

Wires are easy to re-route. Gas lines, not so much.

---

Could you come off the pool heater line?

Barnyard96 said:

---

BrazosWifi said:

---

Running the Natural gas line to the place where a generator may go in the future is also a great idea.
We didn't and I had to have one run and that was a pain.

Wires are easy to re-route. Gas lines, not so much.

---

Could you come off the pool heater line?

---

I suppose you could, depending on your setup.
Our gas line for the future pool was on the wrong side of the house.

Do a transfer switch and get a F150 hybrid. 7.5 kw generator is the bonus ….

And if im on the road when the power goes out on the family?

We put one in with ours because while building we could roll it into the mortgage. But as noted, it hasn't been needed much.

We have a 8500W portable Generac generator and a transfer panel with all items on it that we want to power during a power outage. There is a plug on the outside of the house adjacent to the electric panels that you plug in from the generator. The generator was about $1,000 and the transfer panel and all the wiring was another ~$500 (electrician did this while we were building our house).

We have the HVAC system, pool equipment, tankless water heaters, garage doors, internet, three refrigerators, and strategic lighting and plugs all on the transfer panel. Worked great.

Great economical option vs the $15k option.

I have learned that our house is either on the fire station or hospital grid - and we very rarely lose power, or if we do, it comes back quickly. We never lost power during the massive ice storm a few years back.

So always find a house on one of the grids and a generator generally isn't needed.

Oakmont did not lose power during the freeze. I believe we are on the same grid as Watercrest, which is "active" living, but also does have nursing facilities.

We gonna be neighbors?

We're going nuclear soon. When do we start getting portable nuclear generators?

Yes, we have lived in Oakmont since June of 2020. We have enjoyed it.

JMac03 said:

---

I have learned that our house is either on the fire station or hospital grid - and we very rarely lose power, or if we do, it comes back quickly. We never lost power during the massive ice storm a few years back.

So always find a house on one of the grids and a generator generally isn't needed.

---

Ha. Yep. Not once have I lost power over these last couple years and all the outages. Pretty sure I am on the same grid as KBTX and the hospital. Felt bad at times because the people across the street actually lost theirs and we never did.

Dumbfounded said:

---

We have a 8500W portable Generac generator and a transfer panel with all items on it that we want to power during a power outage. There is a plug on the outside of the house adjacent to the electric panels that you plug in from the generator. The generator was about $1,000 and the transfer panel and all the wiring was another ~$500 (electrician did this while we were building our house).

We have the HVAC system, pool equipment, tankless water heaters, garage doors, internet, three refrigerators, and strategic lighting and plugs all on the transfer panel. Worked great.

Great economical option vs the $15k option.

---

I have a 5,500 Watt propane generator that will run my frig, freezer, TV and some lights. For heat I have a Mister Heater Buddy that will heat enough of my house and can be used indoors. I probably have $1,200 total in the two and have used them about every three years for a few days. We have probably lost electricity six or seven days in the past 10 years. Good enough for me.

I have a neighbor with a special needs son that requires reliable power 100% of the time, so it makes sense for them.

Also, if you have a saltwater reef aquarium, being without power costs thousands of dollars an hour in damage.

Beyond those two situations, I think our grid is reliable enough to not need a whole home generator.

That's why we had my MIL move onto the other side of Carter Creek Pkwy when she started looking at houses close to us.