Ah yes. My son has a friend in Maine; I don't know if they have a generator but I did check and they have a good wood stove and plenty of firewood. I am sure a necessary in those climes. We live in Florida: the hurricanes present an occasional threat of a few days to a week power outage; but the subsequent days are mild so work crews can easily work to repair all damage.
We bought a 1700 watt generator just before those four quick succession hurricanes in '04. Worked great! Afterwards I tried to talk my son into selling it but he insisted on keeping it. Haven't started it since. I may take it to a shop soon to see if we can put it back in order. You never know. I am diabetic and need to keep insulin cool.
I have a small solar system to pump a well in emergencies. I will try to expand it this year to avoid or supplement the generator. Hard times may be ahead - power shortages, rolling brown outs -- whatever these D.C. tyrants can harass us with.
SLIDE WARNING:
I wonder how often one would need to run a refrigerator or freezer - Could it just be a few minutes daily or maybe even every other day?
I look at getting a good generator like I do an appliance warranty. If I don’t buy it I’ll need it, and if I do buy it I won’t need it. It’s karma insurance. :D
-SB
We live in hurricane country, too....but, are now facing a winter storm/freeze.
We’re thankful for our whole house/natural gas generator.
It’s paid for itself, over and over, since Hurricane Rita.
We have it serviced every summer.
If you only ran it a couple days just drain and replace the oil, gas and clean or replace the plug and it should start. If you can’t or don’t know how to drain the carburetor it’ll probably take some pulling to clear that out but once you’ve gotten it running it should start reliably.
Best way I’ve kept mine in shape is running some power tools or a shop vac to clean car with them. YMMV, but I use 15-40 Diesel engine oil in mine now.