Our power was out 2 weeks after Irma. Doesn’t take much of a generator to run just the well pumps and a light or two and a fan or two. Sure was miserable with no AC the first week. By the second week, our bodies had adjusted to the heat to the point where we’d FREEZE just walking into a convenience store. I had always wondered how my ancestors could possibly survive in south FL without AC. Now I know
We’ve used a gasoline generator for years, an 8000 watt unit we plug into into its own circuit at the back of the house that runs everything but the AC. But any day now, our solar system will be connected and operational! Ironically, the only thing in the house that the backup batteries we had installed won’t power is our tankless water heater, which will have to occasionally borrow electricity from FPL. My husband is affected so negatively by the prospect of no hot water in the rare eventuality that the power grid goes down (and it’s a cloudy day) that he insisted on getting a small tank unit just for emergencies. I figure if that happened, it would more than likely be in after a hurricane in the summer when the “cold” tap water is at least 77 degrees anyway... but he loves his hot showers at any time of the year!