Generator etiquette

RallyJon · 07-20-2006, 06:13 AM

Ya know, just because the power is out doesn't mean you can run a barely muffled portable job-site style generator in your suburban driveway all night.

It amazes me sometimes how selfish people can be.

Joeaksa · 07-20-2006, 06:17 AM

At least they did not put it in the garage and close the door.

Would think that the least they could do is put it in the back yard and try to muffle it a bit but then some people do not think much...

singpilot · 07-20-2006, 06:24 AM

Geez, the solution is obvious. Buy a bigger one, and use it to run the Christmas lights as well as the A/C from your front driveway.

You might want to rethink your emergency supplies situation. Everyone in this country should be completely independant (including power, fuel, cooling, water, food, refreidgerator and heat) for a minimum of three days.

I'd bet your neighbor has the ability, as well, to defend his right to run that generator if you decided to take it away from him in extremis.

Think about it.

RallyJon · 07-20-2006, 06:30 AM

Well, one neighbor has a RESIDENTIAL generator that is whisper quiet. The issue isn't with generators per se, but with inconsiderate people. My one-year-old woke up every time the damn thing coughed and sputtered under load.

Have to stroll over and have a chat tonight. Knew that sound pressure meter would come in handy for something other than comparing exhausts.

Checked the local code: 57 dB(A) from 7:30AM to 10:00PM, and 52 dB(A) from 10:00 PM to 7:30AM. Seems to me that's pretty quiet.

notfarnow · 07-20-2006, 06:33 AM

bah! My neighbors behind me ran a compressor outside their garage until 1am in the fall. Apparently it was too loud for them inside the garage. I made a point of thanking them for their consideration the next day.

Last Wednesday took the cake... they started paving their driveway at 1130pm. I had just gone to bed after driving 13 hours. I called the police, they made the neighbors stop work... wouldn't even let them roll it out. Looks like crap, and it'll crumble with the first wet freeze. Too bad!

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

Who is the inconsiderate one there? I'm freakin glad I dont' live in yall guys neighborhoods, the things some get on about...

I had a neighbor two driveways down who loved to go out for fun and shoot the largest bullets he could from a shotgun... didnt' bother me. Peace and quiet - then CAPOWWW! It'd echo too as we are in a valley...

notfarnow · 07-20-2006, 06:43 AM

Tervuven, I see your point, but often issues like this don't come to loggerheads over isolated events. In my case this has been an ongoing issue WRT noise.

If my other neighbor had decided to pave his driveway at 11PM I may have gone out to help him. But he wouldn't, because his considerate of his neighbors.

singpilot · 07-20-2006, 06:51 AM

Jake;

You and I see so eye-to-eye on everything! I went over your house the other day. It was 3am your time. The sun was up over the horizon. Was it still light at 11pm? Might make a difference in the perception for those south of the border....

Yes, I was LOL at that picture.... paving at 11pm. Only in NB.

Z-man · Z-man's Garage

You know those aluminum sheds that are put together with 1,000,000 little screws? Do know what a loud noise the aluminum sheets make when you're tearing down an old shed and putting up a new one? Especially at freakin' 7:00 in the morning?!?!? These are the same neighbors that have thrown beer cans and cups into the back of my yard (it's a wooded area). And the same neighbors that have a yearly party till 3:00 in the morning - yeah, they turn down the music around midnight, but the constant yacking of the wife with her yackaty-yack friends carries up from their house into my bedroom and right into my eardrums so well, you'd think she was two inches from my face!

Rant over - but I DON'T feel better now...

-Z-man.

singpilot · 07-20-2006, 06:56 AM

Z-man! Did the gust front Tuesday night knock down their old shed?

notfarnow · 07-20-2006, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by singpilot
Jake;

You and I see so eye-to-eye on everything! I went over your house the other day. It was 3am your time. The sun was up over the horizon. Was it still light at 11pm? Might make a difference in the perception for those south of the border....

Yes, I was LOL at that picture.... paving at 11pm. Only in NB.

Jeeze I'm only an hour's drive from Maine! The sun sets at 915!

A white SC targa with Texas plates did drive by my house the other day though, wondered if it was a Pelican.

As for my neighbors, the big kicker was the next day, I went over to make sure they knew it was ME who called the cops, and I noticed they had cut down 2 of MY trees while I had been away. They said they wanted more sun in their yard.

Z-man · Z-man's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by singpilot
Z-man! Did the gust front Tuesday night knock down their old shed?

Would have been better - taken less time / shorter noise annoyance...

-Z.

wilke3169 · 07-20-2006, 07:42 AM

After hurricane Hugo hit here the worst part was the generators. We were without power for 2 weeks. Next door neighbor who we had little to do with had a generator that he decided to position just outside our open bedroom window. It ran out of gas the first night at about 11 so this guy refuels it and it runs until 2 am. I called the cops who asked if i had spoken with him. I went next door and said somethng has to be done to which he apologized and said it hadn't even occured to him. I walked outside and moved it for him. We shook hands and walked away. Problem solved. Some people just don't think of how things affect others unless reminded.

Jims5543 · 07-20-2006, 08:08 AM

When the power is out we basically ran our portable gas generator until 11 PM then shut it down for the night. We were sleeping there was no need for it especially when it could not run the A/C.

After Hurricane Wilma last year the temps outside were in the 60's there was no need for A/C so open windows worked perfectly.

I have a Generac Propane Generator now that is capable of running the whole house. I am not sure what to do about evenings with it. Its not loud but our houses are close together. My neighbor next door is needy last year I ran both of our houses off my 5500 watt generator. Because they were too stupid to know to drain the gas out of theirs the season prior.

I know if I ask about running the new one they will want to hook up again. So there will be no conversation.

About a year after we bought our house I was re-tiling the entire living area. I had to jack hammer out all the existing tile. I started at about 7PM and would work until 12. I did this for 2 nights it was the only time I had to do it. I was up at 6 the next morning heading off to work.

The third day the lady next door knocks on my door to complain. I told her it was 2 nights and that I was done.

Meanwhile I cannot step into my yard (for 12 years now) without her dogs barking non stop at me every minute I am out. I cannot enjoy my own back yard. After I got my Dog her dogs would bark all the time from inside her house. This bacame a problem as they were bothering her now and not just me. So she put up a privacy fence and took down the shadowbox. It was quiet for a couple of years until the Hurricanes knocked the fence down. She then put up shadowbox again, now they are barking again.

I guess well all have our little problems.

notfarnow · 07-20-2006, 08:27 AM

Yep, I think the key is maintaining civility. If I'm going to be making noise into the evening, I usually go to my neighbors and let them know. I don't even like to mow the lawn if I see them out having dinner etc...

When problems do arise I usually try to address it before it becomes a major frustration. A quick chat usually covers it, people often don't recognise they're impacting others.

Luckily the guy next door to me is a champ. If he hears me banging away at something, he's more likely to come over to help than to complain. We're both at wit's end with the ####ing mouth breathers who live behind us though. We've addressed them directly, we've told them when they're braeking the bylaws, but they really just don't care. I'm afraid if we escalate it will become a feud.

What can reasonable people do to deal with unreasonable people?

RallyJon, have you spoken with your neighbors?

Jims5543 · 07-20-2006, 08:27 AM

When the power is out we basically ran our portable gas generator until 11 PM then shut it down for the night. We were sleeping there was no need for it especially when it could not run the A/C.

After Hurricane Wilma last year the temps outside were in the 60's there was no need for A/C so open windows worked perfectly.

I have a Generac Propane Generator now that is capable of running the whole house. I am not sure what to do about evenings with it. Its not loud but our houses are close together. My neighbor next door is needy last year I ran both of our houses off my 5500 watt generator. Because they were too stupid to know to drain the gas out of theirs the season prior.

I know if I ask about running the new one they will want to hook up again. So there will be no conversation.

About a year after we bought our house I was re-tiling the entire living area. I had to jack hammer out all the existing tile. I started at about 7PM and would work until 12. I did this for 2 nights it was the only time I had to do it. I was up at 6 the next morning heading off to work.

The third day the lady next door knocks on my door to complain. I told her it was 2 nights and that I was done.

Meanwhile I cannot step into my yard (for 12 years now) without her dogs barking non stop at me every minute I am out. I cannot enjoy my own back yard. After I got my Dog her dogs would bark all the time from inside her house. This bacame a problem as they were bothering her now and not just me. So she put up a privacy fence and took down the shadowbox. It was quiet for a couple of years until the Hurricanes knocked the fence down. She then put up shadowbox again, now they are barking again.

I guess well all have our little problems.

Paul T · 07-20-2006, 08:54 AM

Speaking of generators, does anyone know roughly how much a small, propane powered generator costs? I don't need some massive unit to power the whole house, but we just lost power for about 30hrs, and the lack of water (we have a well) is a problem after awhile - especially after working up a nice sweat cutting up downed trees! I'm thinking of a smaller, quiet unit I could power up just to run a few circuits (well pump, fridge, a couple of lights).

singpilot · 07-20-2006, 08:57 AM

I keep getting this deja'vu feeling.

fastpat · 07-20-2006, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by notfarnow
Jeeze I'm only an hour's drive from Maine! The sun sets at 915!

A white SC targa with Texas plates did drive by my house the other day though, wondered if it was a Pelican.

As for my neighbors, the big kicker was the next day, I went over to make sure they knew it was ME who called the cops, and I noticed they had cut down 2 of MY trees while I had been away. They said they wanted more sun in their yard.

You can have the trees appraised for value by an Arborist and then bill them for the value and the appraisal. Then take them to court for non-payment of a valid debt.

fastpat · 07-20-2006, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
I have a Generac Propane Generator now that is capable of running the whole house. I am not sure what to do about evenings with it. Its not loud but our houses are close together. My neighbor next door is needy last year I ran both of our houses off my 5500 watt generator. Because they were too stupid to know to drain the gas out of theirs the season prior.

I know if I ask about running the new one they will want to hook up again. So there will be no conversation.

What size Generac did you buy? More than 5500 watts, but less than 10KW I'd guess.