CenterBHSFan;661765 wrote:ConAlma, would you consider that a worthwhile investment, considering that for I would have use of it only a few times a year?
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I really don't know. We put it in when the house was built. The lower third of the home or basement walks out to the back yard and Lake Erie. Although our elevation is pretty high above Lake level the combination of sump pump, refrigerator in the summer and heat in the winter being impacted from a loss of electricity was the main reason we added it.

I don't even know if we use it a "few times per year". I know once a couple years ago in the summer the power was out for a significant amount of time...maybe 12-14 hours. It was very warm and there was a lot of rain. That was probably the only time it really saved our butt.

I'd say financially it's probably not an "investment" as much as it is a luxury. There are more expenses than just the initial cost. We had problems with Ohio Edison/First Energy when we put it in even though it's on the other side, or our side, the main breaker.

Thanks for the input, guys!

TedSheckler;661783 wrote:... Also, for resale, you will get your money back out of it.

We did not build or house with the intent on selling it. Our decisions were made based on our wants as opposed to what others might think is valuable.. We've never considered our home an investment. It's an expense.

Our power flickered all night, even a couple times this morning. We never lost it for more than 30 secs at a time though. I heard that over 157k AEP customers are with out power,,,,,, Most till midnight Sunday.

Mine flickered twice last night. Was weird. It was enough to cause my computer to restart, but on the other side of the living room, my TVs and XBox were unaffected (except for brief framerate glitching on the 360).

coal stove and candles