As I am writing this, we have been without power for four days. We live directly in the path of hurricane Beryl. We have two homes on the same street, our home and my mother’s, both without power still (we just got our internet back).
Last year I spent a substantial amount of time converting a propane generator to use natural gas, replumbing our hot water heaters to add a gas valve, buying a second generator, and hiring an electrician to install interfaces I bought on Amazon which would allow us to safely plug the generators directly into our breaker boxes.
At the time, my wife (who cannot live without AC) questioned the amount of time I was spending and kidded me throughout the process that we would “probably never need any of this”. Today she is singing my praises, and, for those of you who are married, you know that this victory is greater than winning the lottery.
We have had full electricity, including air conditioning, at both houses and have not had to worry about fuel. I am not saying this to boast, but to share that, sometimes, on rare occasions, when we follow our DIY passions, the dividends are large. Tomorrow is a new day, but today I am savoring this sweet victory.
I made this video because, when Beryl was approaching, my wife said, “You have to teach us how to work this stuff.”
I hope that at least one person finds this helpful. Do not follow what I do here because I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm sure I've made mistakes.
Enjoy.