Looking More Compelling: A Power System of One's Own
By ERYN BROWN
MIAMI
UNTIL recently, an approaching hurricane or tropical storm would force Martin Schleifer to shut down his small advertising agency in Coconut Grove, Fla.
"Every time a storm came, it would be a mad dash to prepare," he said on Monday, as Hurricane Rita loomed ominously offshore. "Losing power essentially put us out of business."
But last week, Mr. Schleifer was a paragon of calm. Over the summer, he paid $15,000 to buy and install a large standby generator in the 3,000-square-foot house that serves as his agency's office.
When Hurricane Katrina hit in August, the generator kicked into gear automatically after the power failed. It ran steadily for six days, shutting itself off when power returned. "We didn't miss a beat," Mr. Schleifer said. He estimated that running the generator, which he bought from Americas Generators in Miami, prevented his business from losing $50,000 in revenue and jeopardizing customer relationships.
Powerful, automated generators like his were once found primarily in commercial and municipal facilities, like office buildings. For homes and small businesses, people generally depended on smaller, portable gasoline-powered generators to run a few appliances when the electricity went out.
But these days, with electrical grids stressed and an especially active hurricane season under way, home standby generators - so called because they are always ready to whir into action at a moment's notice - are increasingly popular. Most of these generators burn natural gas or liquid propane gas, though some use diesel fuel. Those that use natural gas can run indefinitely, as long as supplies are flowing, while those that use liquid propane are typically installed with a refillable tank that can provide power for about a week.
Prices can range from less than $2,000 for a 7-kilowatt generator and around $3,000 for a more standard 15-kilowatt version to more than $10,000 for models of 40 kilowatts and above. Installation costs vary from as little as $1,000 for a basic hookup to many thousands for setups that require extensive landscaping, pipe burial or the purchase and installation of propane tanks.
In 2003, the market for standby residential generators was $150 million, said Roberta Gamble, who manages the energy research practice at Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm in Palo Alto, Calif. This year, she said, the business will bring in "closer to half a billion dollars" and should increase "at least 20 percent a year" for the foreseeable future.
It has been an event-driven business. Sales climbed significantly after the blackout in the Northeast in 2003, and rose further after the busy hurricane season in the Southeast last year, said representatives of two Wisconsin manufacturers, Generac Power Systems of Waukesha and Kohler Power Systems of Kohler.
This year, the demand has been unrelenting. Ron Ford, general manager at TAW Power Systems, Kohler's distributor in Florida, said he expected his 2005 sales to be five times the 2004 level. "Every time a storm crops up in the Gulf the phones go crazy," he said. "It's become a joke here that we don't even need to check with the Hurricane Center. We can tell when a storm is coming by when the phones light up."
Greg Cowsert, a sales representative for Guardian, Generac's residential brand, who handles part of the company's Home Depot account, said that his staff began arriving in Louisiana a couple of days after Hurricane Katrina, and set up shop in parking lots."We'll send 66 units, and we'll get rid of them in about a week," he said.
The best-selling generators, at 12 to 15 kilowatts, are robust enough to back up selected circuits, but usually will not power an entire house. But these days, people are investing in units of 30 or 40 kilowatts - enough to run entire households, Ms. Gamble said.
Once installed, they require only periodic maintenance, but setting them up isn't always easy. "If somebody's a very ambitious do-it-yourselfer," said Dan Giampetroni, marketing director for Guardian, "they could prepare the landscape, place the generator, drill a hole, run the gas line, then just hire the electrician and/or a plumber to do your final official connection."
Most people choose to have an outside contractor do the work. But given current demand, waiting times can be significant. And even when contractors are available, it may take them several weeks to get permits and comply with zoning restrictions.
Homeowners in parts of Palm Beach County in Florida, for instance, must show that all doors and windows to habitable space are at least 10 feet from the generator's exhaust outlet and that the sound level is no greater than 75 decibels at the property line, said Rebecca Caldwell, building official for the county.
Add the fact that governments are only now writing the rules of the generator game, and the process can easily grind to a halt.
MR. SCHLEIFER'S permits for his 40-kilowatt Guardian generator took 60 days to process, he said. Bernard Mintz of Delray Beach, Fla., signed a contract with Personalized Power Systems, in Boca Raton, to buy his 25-kilowatt Guardian generator in February. Its installation was delayed while Palm Beach County officials were revising rules.
When Katrina hit, Mr. Mintz was still waiting for the paperwork to go through. "That was sort of disconcerting," he said. "I could have had it in a reasonable period of time, and we lost our power for a day."
But he said he was happy with his generator, which on Friday was hooked up to its propane tank. "It's insurance for us," he said. "If I never have to use it, it wouldn't bother me."