Homeowner's $3,200 generator purchase sparks warnings about a noisy, gas-hungry 'money pit'

"You are never going to get your $ back on that generator so might as well keep it."

A homeowner's $3,200 generator purchase set off an online discussion about how much it can cost to get ready for a winter storm.

Here's what to know

In Reddit's r/Generator community, the original poster outlined the situation and their plans.

The OP wrote, "I bought [a] generator with a rushed decision because the weather man said an apocalyptic ice storm with 1 inch of ice. End of the world and no power ever again."

They added, "Now that I have time to prepare, here are my thoughts. Install soft start on the 3.5 ton generator. Since we have natural gas I am thinking about selling the powerhorse and getting a trifuel… My goal would be to keep house not freezing and run other items that are a need and not a want."

It was unclear whether selling the unit would bring back the money spent. Several commenters said that seemed unlikely. The homeowner wanted to recover the $3,200 purchase price and noted that the asking price had risen to $4,000.

"You could probably convert that Powerhorse to NG relatively easily. It might even run just as it is. You are never going to get your $ back on that generator so might as well keep it," the top comment read.

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A second commenter wrote, "I just now looked up the data on [your generator] at generatorbible.com. It's much worse than I feared it would be. It has horrible fuel consumption, and it is horribly loud… I would personally hate to be strapped with such a screaming loud money pit."

In the end, commenters suggested either converting the current generator to natural gas to avoid buying another one, or taking the resale hit and moving to a tri-fuel inverter model.

Where can I learn more?

Other homeowners have faced similar trade-offs over generator noise and cost.

• A homeowner measured a standby generator at 93dB, raising questions about nearby walls' effects.

• After pool pipes burst, a homeowner weighed a $3,110 portable against a $22,436 whole-home generator.

• A Redditor bought an old, loud military generator for "tree fiddy."