Sunday, March 10, 2013
Interested in getting a generator? Here are the facts.
By Nicole Macon, Capital News Service Maryland residents who fear the next winter storm will cut their power supply might appreciate CDS Logistics President Roy Cranford’s vision of stationary generators one day becoming as commonplace as air conditioners. He sees generators incorporated into new housing projects and more and more residents adding them to their homes to protect themselves against a potential power outage. The part of the company that handles generators, CDS Emergency Power Services, has an “unprecedented level” of demand for stationary, or standby, generators, with a backlog of over 400 installation jobs, according to Cranford. “Due to the combined impact of hurricanes Irene and Sandy, along with the 2012 summer …
Friday, November 2, 2012
Costco is recalling two models of Champion portable generators.
Costco is recalling two models of Champion portable generators that were sold between December 2011 and July 2012. Approximately 8,600 units are being recalled. There have been 11 reports of fuel leaking from the generators, including eight reports of the generators catching fire and two reports of property damage, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Both models have a black frame with black and yellow control panels, a bar handle and two wheels. The generators can be returned to Costco for a full refund. For more information, see the recall notice on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The price tag of a commercial generator can exceed $50,000, "The Washington Post" reported.
After the June 29 derecho left Chevy Chase Supermarket without power for several days, Jason and Kevin Kirsch, co-owners of the family-run supermarket, tried to save the store's goods by moving them into a refrigerated trailer outside the store, Patch reported. But, when the trailer's power went out, the goods were all lost. The store's estimated loses were $100,000, Jason Kirsch told The Washington Post. Still, the Kirsches won't be purchasing an electricity generator for the store—it's too expensive, Jason Kirsch added to The Post. "The cost for a commercial generator can exceed $50,000," The Post quoted expert Dale Davis as saying. Davis is president of CMI Solar & Electric, a Newark, Del.-based company that serves customers in Maryland…
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Noise Free America's technical adviser offers a few suggestions for quieting noisy generators.
With generators humming away during power outages, and occasionally making just a little bit too much noise for neighbors, Patch contacted Robert N. Andres, technical adviser of Noise Free America, for some advice in quieting noisy generators. "The simplest type of noise control for generators or other gas or propane-powered engines in a residential setting is a simple composite noise barrier curtain on a framework, constructed of materials similar to those [pictured with this post]. This type of barrier of sufficient size and height, with an open top, will usually reduce the sound by about [12 to 15 decibels] at a reasonable cost," Andres wrote in an email to Patch. "It is important that the enclosure be designed to allow adequate air …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Chevy Chase Village police received several complaints about noisy generators during the power outage after the derecho.
A power outage lasting several days during a heat wave is frustrating on many levels. There's no air conditioning, refrigeration or TV. If you're used to falling asleep to the quiet hum of a fan, air conditioner or white noise machine, you're out of luck. And, if you are near a neighbor who has an electricity generator, you could be stuck listening to that all night. Some small generators cost less than $200 (those can be used to keep a refrigerator cool), while others are $2,000 to $20,000—a high price tag, but not unaffordable for many residents of Chevy Chase, one of the more affluent ZIP codes in the country. In Chevy Chase Village, where the houses were built closely together, it can be hard to ignore someone else's generator during a…
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Town of Somerset Council is researching whether or not it can set its own noise regulations—separate from those of Montgomery County—on the use of generators for health reasons.
Donald Buchanan of Warwick Place in the Town of Somerset needs power in his home to live. “‘You cannot stay in your house without power,’" his doctor has told him. Buchanan has a generator that turns itself on once a week for 15 minutes to test that it is working, but he doesn’t have permission to use it when necessary, even though there has been no specific complaint about it. Buchanan’s generator would only exceed county noise restriction levels at the rear of the house, said town engineer Larry Plummer at the Town of Somerset Council meeting Monday night. The Town of Somerset adheres to the noise restrictions in place in Montgomery County. But, council members admit that generators—which are generally noisy machines that sit outside the…
Todd Jasper
6:38 am on Tuesday, August 7, 2012
$50,000 for a commercial generator is expensive--but $100,000 of lost produce is even worse. Mitigating risk is a complex process and can include insurance, standby contracts for portable generators, emergency fuel deliveries, etc. more ›