Foreign.
Speaker BWelcome to around the House with Eric G. Your trusted source for all things home improvement.
Speaker BWhether you're tackling a DIY project, hiring it out, or just trying to keep your home running smoothly, you're in the right place.
Speaker BWith over 30 years of remodeling experience, certified kitchen designer Eric G. Takes you behind the scenes with expert advice, industry trends, and the latest innovations for your home.
Speaker BHome it's everything you need to know without the fluff.
Speaker BNow here's your host, Eric G. Welcome.
Speaker CTo the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker CI'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker CThis hour is brought to you by my friends at Monument Grills.
Speaker CCheck them out@monumentgrills.com here we've got today one of my favorite products out there.
Speaker DBecause if you're like me that has.
Speaker CA generator outside the house, I don't have a place to put it.
Speaker CThat's under the weather, that's safe, and gen tent has got you covered.
Speaker CSolani, welcome to around the House.
Speaker EThank you so much, Eric.
Speaker EIt's such a pleasure to be here.
Speaker CI'm so happy to have you on because we're coming into hurricane season.
Speaker CIt's been hurricane season for a bit, but we're getting into the prime of it as well as wildfires and everything else gone.
Speaker CAnd then the people thinking about the winter storms.
Speaker CSo seems like where it's a great time for prime season for people with generators and how to protect them.
Speaker EAbsolutely.
Speaker ESo August really kickstarts the most intense wildfire season.
Speaker EIt's also the heart of hurricane season.
Speaker EAnd exactly to your point, Eric.
Speaker EIt's when people are starting to think about winter storms, things like that.
Speaker ESo we're really gearing up for probably a tough year ahead, tough rest of the year ahead, rather with inclement weather come forward.
Speaker CYeah, hopefully we dodge it this year, but it always seems like that.
Speaker CAugust, September, and that's the time I usually try to go to the Caribbean, which usually jinx is everything when I do that.
Speaker CIt's that time of year where things get crazy and I think it's really important for generator safety out there.
Speaker CYou know, you've got fire from a generator as far as the heat, you've got electricity.
Speaker CAnd the last thing you want is your generator getting taken out by heavy rains and stuff and getting it hurt or broken when you're relying on it to give you power.
Speaker EYeah, absolutely.
Speaker EThere's so much diversity in power across the country with people having power outages anywhere between a few hours to a Few days, sometimes, sometimes even a couple weeks.
Speaker ESo if your generator stops working in the middle of a storm, it is one of the most unfortunate things that can happen.
Speaker ESo exactly to your point, we're really trying to help people keep their families protected and safe against instances like that.
Speaker CI think it's so dangerous because people have maybe carports or that covered patio.
Speaker CAnd the problem is many times those are tied into the house, at least to the attic space or something like that.
Speaker CCarbon monoxide can do some crazy things.
Speaker CAnd even with some of the smarter carbon monoxide generators out there that monitor it, if you put it in a place that's going to trap that in there, it could turn itself off.
Speaker CSo having A cover like Gen 10, I think is so important just to maintain that unit and for the safety of you inside the house.
Speaker EYeah.
Speaker ESo a little bit more information regarding that.
Speaker ERight.
Speaker EGenerator safety is a life or death issue.
Speaker EOver 29 million Americans own portable generators, and many of them end up using it dangerously, not through any fault of their own, per se.
Speaker EThey just are not aware of the proper things to do.
Speaker EExactly.
Speaker EAs you mentioned, Eric, carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the most dangerous things that can occur with improper generator usage.
Speaker ECarbon monoxide poisoning is the silent killer because one generator actually produces more carbon monoxide than hundreds of cars combined.
Speaker ESo if you think about it that way, you wouldn't run hundreds of cars in your garage.
Speaker ERight.
Speaker ESo then why would you run a portable generator somewhere like a carport to your point, or a garage?
Speaker EIt's just so dangerous, especially with the fact that the gas can really go in through tiny spaces between doors and window cracks as well, and it becomes lethal.
Speaker EIt can accumulate and become lethal in minutes.
Speaker CYeah, it's so dangerous.
Speaker CWe always see the stuff on the news where everybody shakes their head, but so many people just don't know that someone in an apartment that didn't have power for four days, they started up in their apartment, and you're just like, what are you thinking?
Speaker CBut these mistakes happen every year.
Speaker CAnd if you use the generators, they're beautifully safe, but you just got to follow the rules and guidelines and not put yourself in a bad position.
Speaker CAnd especially with Gente.
Speaker CI've got one on my older generator.
Speaker COne just showed up this week to go on my new one.
Speaker CAnd the cool thing is I can keep it 20ft away from the house, away from everything that I needed to be, and not have to worry about that exhaust or carbon monoxide going in the house.
Speaker CAt the same time, I'm protecting That generator that I spent a lot of money on and I know that it's.
Speaker DGoing to be in a safe situation out there.
Speaker EAbsolutely.
Speaker EWe really consider a generator to be an investment and something that you're going to have for many years.
Speaker EYou're going to use it in life saving situations.
Speaker EAnd to your point, keeping it 20ft away is something that's not just what we as Gen 10 say, it's what the CPSC says, it's what the CDC says, it's what FEMA says.
Speaker EWe're really seeing that language being adopted by a lot of generator manufacturers as well as obviously these national associations and government officials as well.
Speaker ESo you really want to keep it that safe distance because anything closer than you really do risk, again, like anything such as carbon monoxide accumulation, but also if it's too close to the house, you risk structural fire risks and that's something you definitely don't want.
Speaker EAnd then again, if you also keep it too far away without any sort of safety protocols, you risk electrocution and ruining your investment.
Speaker CAbsolutely.
Speaker CAnd the thing is, you guys make them for so many different models.
Speaker CThere's things that are super small, there's stuff like mine that's really big, depending if you're going out tailgating or if you're going to be sitting there trying to run the whole house.
Speaker CBecause I don't know about you guys out there in the audience, but last time I didn't have powers for five days.
Speaker CFive days, a long time to be living off that generator.
Speaker CAnd Mother nature can throw everything at you.
Speaker EYeah, absolutely.
Speaker EWe cover over 3, 500 generator models, which is something that we love to brag about.
Speaker EWe really, we cover everything from open frame to fully enclosed.
Speaker EI think you were mentioning that you have a fully enclosed champion.
Speaker ERight.
Speaker EThat we sent over our newest product, which is the Gen 10 XL inverter kit for.
Speaker EBecause what we're really trying to do is not only be built for today's generators, but tomorrow's too.
Speaker EAnd so a little bit about how the generator market is really shifting.
Speaker EWe're seeing the market moving towards these larger units with wider chassis and power output for the whole home.
Speaker ESo you have models like Champion, Westinghouse, Steramax, Generac, et cetera, really building these larger units that can actually power your home for power outages that last for something like five days.
Speaker ELike what you faced area, Right, Exactly.
Speaker ESo anything that you have, such as a smaller unit that's really built for tailgating, we got that covered.
Speaker EAnything that's a whole power, a whole Home inverter unit or something like that as well.
Speaker EWe have it covered, something we're really proud of.
Speaker CYeah.
Speaker CAnd those inverter generators are so great because I've got a ton of electronics.
Speaker CI do my radio show, TV stuff, podcast, and I need all this stuff to be working under clean power.
Speaker CAnd that inverter, really, you don't have to worry about the electronics getting messed up by dirty power by one of the older generators.
Speaker CAnd it just works like when you plug in, it's just, wow.
Speaker CIt's just like the power's back on again, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Speaker CAnd it's nice that technology is doing that for us.
Speaker EIt is great that technology is doing that for us.
Speaker EAnd then speaking of refueling your generator as that pertains as well, something that I love about the Gentemp, for example, is the fact that we have a really easy refueling door.
Speaker ESo that clean power, you can really keep it going very easily.
Speaker EEspecially during situations where you just want to get in and out.
Speaker EIt's raining or it's snowing out there and you're just like, okay, cool, I have to refill this generator.
Speaker ELet me just do that real quick with our open top flap, which is very convenient.
Speaker EBut yes, I agree.
Speaker EI think the generator manufacturers are doing a really good job trying to make things really clean and easy for us to be able to again, use things really safely.
Speaker EThat's exactly what we want to do.
Speaker CI didn't realize how cool that flap was until my last power outage, I think last year.
Speaker CAnd again ice storms.
Speaker CSo we had freezing, it was 28 degrees and raining.
Speaker CAnd so I had trees dropping down in the neighborhood, everything else.
Speaker CAnd I went through 34 gallons of unleaded gas during that time because I didn't have a trifle unit.
Speaker CAnd so I had a ton of gas, five gallons at a time.
Speaker CIt'd go about seven hours, which was great.
Speaker CSo I'd have to shut it down to be safe.
Speaker CI want to get in and get out and get the power back on again.
Speaker CYou go out there, turn it off, fill it back up.
Speaker CAnd that door made it so easy.
Speaker CAnd I was like, oh, I hope this works.
Speaker CAnd I was like, ah, this could not be more perfectly placed to have access but still protect it.
Speaker EThank you.
Speaker EYeah.
Speaker EThe thing with Gente, I think is we really take design into consideration.
Speaker EWe really pride ourselves on being an engineered product.
Speaker ERight.
Speaker DSo.
Speaker ESo with the design of the Gen tent, it's specifically made to be not only have that ease of access for Things like refueling.
Speaker EBut it's also meant to have it to be a tool less full weatherproof enclosure with a clever top down watershed system.
Speaker BStick around.
Speaker BWe're back in just a minute with around the House with Eric G. The only show where mistakes are just custom features.
Speaker ABut kids these days will never understand what it's like to play an instrument, to be in a band.
Speaker BWhat's up?
Speaker CThis is Sticksy Dania and Satchel from Steel Panther and you are listening to.
Speaker BAround the House with Eric G. Yeah, we love Eric G. And you should too.
Speaker A1987.
Speaker AI never wanna leave.
Speaker BWelcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker BThis hour is sponsored by Monument Grills for the best barbecues in their class.
Speaker BCheck them out@monumentgrills.com now let's get back to the conversation about generator safety with Saloni from Gen Tend.
Speaker ESo just like you mentioned, with an ice storm, right, like the ice really just slides right off.
Speaker EAnd so it a system that diverts rain, snow, ice away from not only the electrical panel but just from accumulating at the top.
Speaker EWhat we see with a lot of our competitors by comparison is that they have a flat top model or design and that tends to buckle under rain or snow accumulation.
Speaker ESo we really made it a point to not have that occur with our system.
Speaker CI tell you what, if you're out there shopping for these and you're getting the competitors, you're making a mistake.
Speaker CMy personal opinion, I'm not going to put something that could be flammable around the outside of my generator because you've got heat, you got electricity, you've got probably five gallons of gas sitting there.
Speaker CIf you got a big one.
Speaker CThe last thing I'm going to do is stick something on there that's not rated for that.
Speaker CAnd the imposters out there are big.
Speaker CAnd I tell you what, careful, if you're not getting a gen 10, you could be getting a headache on top of that.
Speaker CAnd nobody wants to see that.
Speaker EYou are 100% correct, Eric.
Speaker EAnd thank you for thinking of generator safety.
Speaker EIt's why we love to do what we do.
Speaker EBut you're absolutely right.
Speaker EThere are so many dangerous knockoffs sweating the market.
Speaker EAnd while it may seem like a cheaper solution in the near term, what people don't realize is that these alternative solutions, while they're marketed as generator running covers, they tend to be made of flammable material.
Speaker EWe do a lot of testing in house, right?
Speaker ENo, we literally what we're doing is we're getting 30, 40 of our competitor products in here, and we're putting it on generators and seeing how they perform.
Speaker EIf there's any form of ignition or spark, and we're seeing these covers go up in flames in seconds that last.
Speaker EAnd these flames last for minutes, if that is, to your point, near anything combustible like fuel, or even if the generator is not, according to protocol, if it's too close to the home, that can start a fire.
Speaker EWe see instances every winter where the generator is actually too close to the home.
Speaker EThere's generator fires, and that's due in part to, obviously, any sort of electrical fire hazard that just may occur due to no cover.
Speaker EBut then imagine if you're actually getting a cover.
Speaker EYou're like, I'm making the right decision.
Speaker EI'm keeping myself protected.
Speaker EAnd in the end, this product is unsafe.
Speaker EAnd what we're doing is we're partnering with associations like the pgma, which is the Portable Generator Manufacturer association, ncoaa, which is the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness association, and naspem, which is the national association of State Fire Marshals, for portable generator safety initiatives, so that we're always designing the safest products.
Speaker EWe're also actively working on a UL standard for generator cover flammability.
Speaker ESo we're really hoping to make sure that the market is safer so that consumers can always pick the safest solutions for them.
Speaker EThat's just what it boils down to at the end of the day.
Speaker CYeah, I think.
Speaker CAnd this is my call out to the Consumer Product Safety Commission every Wednesday on my midweek special podcast.
Speaker CIf you're listening on the radio, I talk about recalls.
Speaker CThere is no reason why those products out there that are flammable should be on the market today and they should.
Speaker DBe recalled, in my opinion, because they.
Speaker CShouldn'T be on people's generators.
Speaker CThat would be like taking a.
Speaker CA blanket that's flammable and wrap it around there and hoping for the best.
Speaker CIt's not a good look.
Speaker CNot a good look.
Speaker EIt sure isn't.
Speaker EBut that's the thing.
Speaker EPeople don't know, because when they're marketed to, they're told that this is waterproof, weatherproof, that this running cover works.
Speaker ENo one's going to advertise, oh, yeah, by the way, we're flammable.
Speaker ESo it's not on the.
Speaker EThe consumers are just unaware because they have the wrong information in front of them.
Speaker ESo you're absolutely right.
Speaker EWe're working to make sure that's not an issue going forward.
Speaker CAnd the good news is, you guys build these for a lot of other brands, too.
Speaker CSo if you're buying one from Champion, let's say that's your unit going out the door.
Speaker CIt's.
Speaker CEven though it's got their brand name on it and it matches theirs, it's a cool thing that you guys are making them for these generator manufacturers, because the manufacturers are going, hey, this is going to be safe with our unit.
Speaker EYeah, absolutely.
Speaker ESo to that point, we definitely have a few OEM partners, and we're super excited to be ramping up with others.
Speaker EBut you're exactly right with your champion.
Speaker EIt's that gorgeous champion yellow.
Speaker EIf you want that matching storm shield that goes that perfect yellow color with it, Absolutely get that.
Speaker EIt looks great.
Speaker EWe have partnerships currently with Cummins as well as Westinghouse as well.
Speaker EAnd we're going to be launching another partnership in the fall, which we're super excited about as well.
Speaker EAnd that's with Duramax.
Speaker CNice.
Speaker CAnd, guys, these are not just great for the storms, but if you're out there, it's football season coming up, college football season coming up.
Speaker COne of these would look great right on top of your generator out there when you're out there getting ready to do this.
Speaker CSo when you're out tailgating at the stadium should have a gen tent on it.
Speaker EYeah.
Speaker EImagine, you know, for example, your little champion verter with a champion storm shield supporting some football champions.
Speaker EHow does that sound?
Speaker CThere we go.
Speaker CI love it.
Speaker CAnd then you guys make all the different parts and pieces, and that's what.
Speaker DI thought was really cool.
Speaker CMy first generator that I got from you guys, I had more of a universal one on there, but I had so many different options of how far down I wanted to have, whether I wanted to have a clear shield.
Speaker CSo I could see the digital readout.
Speaker CYou guys have really spent a lot of time designing these to work for everybody.
Speaker EYes, I. Yeah.
Speaker ESo open frame, we're fully enclosed.
Speaker EWe've got you covered.
Speaker EThe open frame design, we have clamps that directly go mount to generator frames.
Speaker EAnd then with the inverter model, we have an easy strap mount system.
Speaker EAnd as you mentioned, in addition to this, we do take our accessories into account.
Speaker EHaving that clear panel allows you to read things simply.
Speaker EAgain, that's our whole thing.
Speaker EWe want things to be easy, we want things to be simple.
Speaker EAnd we just want you guys to be able to just get in and out when you're doing either refueling, whether you're reading.
Speaker CWhat I like, too, that you guys have for all these different models.
Speaker DI think it's awesome.
Speaker CYou can go on your website, grab the make, grab the model.
Speaker CIt walks you right through the whole thing.
Speaker DBecause you guys have a ton of options for generators.
Speaker EWe really do.
Speaker EYes.
Speaker EWe have our fit tool, which you can access by just going to genent.com bit and exactly to your point, if you put in your make and your model, you'll be able to find the perfect generator to fit your.
Speaker EThe perfect gen 10.
Speaker ERather, to fit your generator, it leads you right directly to that product page.
Speaker ESo we really try to make things really simple for you.
Speaker CYeah, it is great.
Speaker CAnd I think that the fun part with this is it's super easy install this does not take a PhD of mechanical engineering to put this in 20 minutes.
Speaker CYou're ready to rock in most cases.
Speaker EYeah.
Speaker EAnd as someone with absolutely zero, zero knowledge on how to build or assemble anything, for me, IKEA is a task.
Speaker ESo with all of the new employees here at Gen 10, what we do is we make them actually assemble their first gen 10.
Speaker EAnd how it is for someone who has never actually touched this product before.
Speaker EAnd even I, and I say that very specifically, even I, someone who would literally be a dummy in this field.
Speaker EI was able to set it up in 20 minutes max, which is quite the feat, I would say.
Speaker CThere you go.
Speaker CAnd it's so simple.
Speaker CAnd you know what I like too is your website has so much safety tips and everything else, it's got a lot of great information on it.
Speaker CSo if you're worried about generators and you're like, how do I do this?
Speaker CThere's so many great safety tips over there.
Speaker COver there.
Speaker CBecause safety is such a big thing with generators.
Speaker CIf we could cut down the issues that we see out there with generator safety.
Speaker CGenerators are safe, but you just gotta follow the rules.
Speaker CAnd once you know the rules, they're common sense.
Speaker CBut you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker BHang tight.
Speaker BWe're back soon with around the House with Eric G. Where sawdust isn't a mess, it's a decorating choice.
Speaker BWe have a lot more about generator safety with Saloni from Gen Tent after these messages.
Speaker BWelcome back to the around the House show.
Speaker BThis hour is sponsored by Monument Grills for the best barbecues in their class.
Speaker BCheck them out@monumentgrills.com now let's get back to the conversation about generator safety with Saloni from Gen Tent.
Speaker CIf we could cut down the issues that we see out there with generator safety.
Speaker CGenerators are safe, but you just gotta follow the rules.
Speaker CAnd once you know the rules, they're common Sense, but you don't know what you don't know.
Speaker EExactly.
Speaker EAnd that's the biggest thing.
Speaker ERight.
Speaker ELike we really want people to know that Gen 10 is not just a product, it's a safety company first.
Speaker ESo having those safety tips on our website is a very important part of who we are.
Speaker EAnd if you want to access any of those, you can just go on our website, gen10.com you'll find them there.
Speaker EOr you can just go directly to gen10.com safety for our generator safety toolkit, which offers a lot of different diagrams, best practices and just general information that's so useful to know.
Speaker CSolana, when it comes to generators, there's so much in that safety thing.
Speaker CAnd with the flammability of these other products out there, you guys have really dove into the facts and really tried to make these things as safe as possible.
Speaker CTo me, as a real good complement to the generators.
Speaker EYes, thank you so much.
Speaker EThat is by design as well.
Speaker ESo all of our products are NFPA rated, which means that every single component of the hardware as well as the canopy itself is flame retardant.
Speaker EAnd that's obviously really important because what you never wanna have is any sort of heat from the exhaust causing your generator to generator cover to go up in flames and cause any issues.
Speaker CNo, it's so great to see that you guys are doing this to make sure things are safe.
Speaker CAnd it's just so sad to see some of these other products out there that, that are, are potentially dangerous.
Speaker CAnd little tease for you guys out there.
Speaker CI think I might play with some fire and do some testing myself and we'll see how Gen 10 goes against these other guys out there because I'm curious to see how bad can it get.
Speaker CDon't worry, I'll be working with some pros out there to see what we do on this, but could be coming up in a future TV segment.
Speaker CSo a little tease for you out there.
Speaker EThat's pretty exciting.
Speaker EWe're really excited to see the results.
Speaker COh yeah.
Speaker CPlay with fire with some firefighters is not a bad way to go.
Speaker CSo fun when you're doing it in a safe environment.
Speaker EYeah, absolutely.
Speaker CWell, Solani, thanks for coming on today.
Speaker CI really appreciate it in that website.
Speaker COne more time for Gente.
Speaker EAbsolutely.
Speaker EThe website is gente.com that would be G-E-N-T-E-N-T.com.
Speaker DAll right.
Speaker CFor the people out there that are sitting there that are like, oh my gosh, I gotta get one of these, where do they find them?
Speaker EAbsolutely.
Speaker ESo you can find it on a lot of places.
Speaker ESo you can get it on our website@gen10.com that would be g e n t e n t dot com.
Speaker EYou can also find us on Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart or other online retailers such as PD Power Equipment Direct.
Speaker EOr you can also call our friendly U.S. based support system here in Brentwood, New Hampshire.
Speaker EThat number, if you are looking to call in directly is 781-334-8368.
Speaker CYeah, that is perfect.
Speaker CAnd you guys are so helpful over there.
Speaker CIt's so nice.
Speaker CI've had a call in once and go hey, am I doing this right?
Speaker CI was but I wanted to make sure.
Speaker CBut it's great talking to people that are jam packed full of knowledge that understands this product inside and out.
Speaker EThey really do.
Speaker EAnd they're so helpful, so kind.
Speaker EYou can email, you can call in.
Speaker EThey will do so much in order to make sure that you have that set up correctly.
Speaker CThat is great to find.
Speaker BIf a Gen tent will fit your generator, head to gentent.com now let's head out to our weekly segment, the around the House Nugget.
Speaker DTime for an around the House Nugget.
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Speaker CNow here's your quick tip.
Speaker DHey guys, it's Eric G. From around the House.
Speaker DLate summer's here and your AC is.
Speaker CWorking harder than a cat trying to avoid a bath.
Speaker DWant to save on your power bill first?
Speaker DFirst, close those blinds on sunny windows.
Speaker DThink of them as sunglasses for your house.
Speaker DSecond, run your ceiling fan so you can nudge the thermostat up a couple degrees without sweating like you're in a sauna.
Speaker DAnd lastly, check that H vac filter.
Speaker DA dirty filter makes your system work harder and your wallet cry louder.
Speaker DA few simple steps and you'll stay cool without giving your power company a vacation bonus.
Speaker DMake sure you tune in to our back catalog of around the House podcasts.
Speaker DYour Go to for Smarter Home Improvement.
Speaker DI can tell you what.
Speaker DOver the years I have learned a lot about generators with backup power in my house.
Speaker DHere and in my studio, we typically have a winter storm that'll take Our power out for two, three on average, almost five days a year.
Speaker DAnd usually those five days are all at once.
Speaker DAnd then our power is good to go.
Speaker DBecause here in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the Portland area where I'm at, we get a lot of ice storms and with all these big fir trees, that ice breaks off branches, comes down, takes out power lines, and guess what?
Speaker DWe got a heck of a mess.
Speaker DAnd it doesn't take out one.
Speaker DIt usually takes out hundreds all over the city.
Speaker DAnd so I've learned that having a lot of gasoline does not make sense these days in backup power.
Speaker DFor me, that's a lot to store.
Speaker DAnd the stuff goes so bad so quickly you have to put in a lot of stabilizers just to keep that going or go down and pay a premium for the clear gas that has.
Speaker CNo additives to it.
Speaker DThat's just really simple gasoline without all.
Speaker CThe alcohol in it.
Speaker DThe thing is, I had bought a generator that was a really nice generator.
Speaker DAnd the issue was it had fuel injection.
Speaker DIt was great.
Speaker DBut the problem was I couldn't convert it over with one of the kits to natural gas.
Speaker DThat injection, which was great for starting in the winter time, didn't make it so you could convert it over to natural gas.
Speaker DSo I ended up having to get another generator that was trifle.
Speaker DSo I could run it on propane, I could run it on natural gas, I could run it on gasoline.
Speaker DAnd that makes it so much easier because I could just hook into the natural gas.
Speaker DWe'll be good to go.
Speaker DNow having the gasoline as a backup is great if we have an earthquake, which we will one day.
Speaker DThat makes a lot of sense because now you can have gasoline.
Speaker DI can take it out of my truck, I can you take it out of a couple gas cans.
Speaker DIt's not as big a deal, but really planning ahead for how that's going to work and of course how you pack it into your house.
Speaker DYou don't want to be running extension cords everywhere.
Speaker DSo what you want to be doing is hooking it into your panel so you've got a good system there.
Speaker DAnd so you need to have a shut off so you don't back feed into that.
Speaker DAnd something that's going to really work powering the house.
Speaker DNow the next thing you can do is figure out how big of generator you want.
Speaker DI like generator transfer switches for this because then you can control the things that you want.
Speaker DYour H vac system, the lights, the refrigerators, the stuff that's going to give you comfort.
Speaker DAnd really these days With LED lights.
Speaker CIt works really well.
Speaker DIt doesn't take that much power.
Speaker DNow the big one is if you have an electric water heater.
Speaker DAnd that's why I think if you've got an electric water heater, it's smart converter over into a heat pump water heater, because then for 4 or 500 watts you can generate hot water.
Speaker DIt'll take a while, but if you're running the generator, who cares?
Speaker DIt'll keep it up there.
Speaker DAnd if you're a little patient, don't let it run down.
Speaker DYou'll be fine.
Speaker DOtherwise you need to run a whole big whole house generator.
Speaker DAnd that's a whole other budget.
Speaker DYou can spend 10 to $20,000 super easy on an automatic whole house backup generator here.
Speaker DNow the cool thing with that is it's way low maintenance.
Speaker DIt'll just turn on.
Speaker DYou don't have to go out and turn something on.
Speaker DBut that does change the reliability of how that all works.
Speaker DAnd for an added cost, no matter if you're home or not, it'll turn on and you've got something good.
Speaker DAll you have to do is make sure you stay on the maintenance and do that.
Speaker DAnd you can actually, if you're having a company, put it in.
Speaker DMany of them put in a maintenance plan and things like that, so you're good to go.
Speaker DSo that's a great way to manage your power like that, especially in areas where you.
Speaker DIt's a backup and it's an issue.
Speaker CNow there are ways out there where.
Speaker DYou can have battery power backup like the Tesla power walls and that kind of stuff.
Speaker DBut unless you have a solar system that's feeding it, those can be pretty darn expensive and they're not going to last for a long time depending on the power use.
Speaker DSo of course, for the price of those, you could have just bought a.
Speaker DA whole house power generation system that runs off natural gas or diesel or whatever you have in your area, or propane.
Speaker DThere's a lot of different systems out there, but just make sure you stay on top of that whichever way you're.
Speaker CGoing to do it.
Speaker DAnd I know that coming up here, we're going to see this with wildfires that we see all across the country.
Speaker DWhen we get high wind events in the summertime, when it's dry in our area or anywhere else in the country, you're going to see power companies shutting down your power to reduce their liability.
Speaker DAnd that makes a lot of sense for them because they don't want to get sued for dropping power lines down and starting some big wildfire because the insurance companies are looking for someone to blame.
Speaker DAll right, everybody around the house.
Speaker DBe right back after these important messages.
Speaker DDon't change that dial.
Speaker CAll right.
Speaker DWelcome back to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Speaker DI'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker DThis hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grills.
Speaker DCheck them out@monument grills.com I tell you what, I have been buying parts and pieces for my house, trying to get it finished up to put it for sale.
Speaker DSometimes when I can't find what I'm looking for or have to order it, I go to Facebook Marketplace, sometimes Craigslist.
Speaker DBut sometimes when I need something, it's found right there and I can get it at a discount.
Speaker DBut I tell you what buyer beware out there is.
Speaker DI am seeing more and more companies out there that are wholesaler or retailers that are hiding, trying to pretend that they're selling things as a they close out or whatever on Facebook Marketplace.
Speaker DBut when you ask about it, all of a sudden they want you to call some 800 number or toll free number and talk to the boss and be very careful of that.
Speaker DSo here's the thing.
Speaker DBe really careful on Facebook Marketplace.
Speaker DI tell you what, I'm finding more and more of this where it's not what they say it is or even more importantly, they're not who they say they are.
Speaker DAnd that gets a little sketchy.
Speaker CSo buyer beware out there.
Speaker DMake sure you know who you're talking to.
Speaker DI was needing a window.
Speaker DSomething simple.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DSomething a little custom though, either.
Speaker DIt wasn't going to be on the shelf of a home center or something like that.
Speaker DI had a seal broken and I didn't want to wait a month to get a window.
Speaker DAnd so I found a few of them.
Speaker DOne of them I reached out to and oh, no, all of a sudden I'm getting the run around.
Speaker DCan't tell me a price.
Speaker DThey said they had it, but I had to talk to the boss.
Speaker DSo just be really careful out there, guys.
Speaker DSome of these people are online sellers that are trying to play it off as being someone with a bunch of extra things in their garage, for instance.
Speaker DSo just buyer beware out there.
Speaker DThere's a lot of things out there that might not seem what they are.
Speaker DAnd when we get into these times where building materials are expensive and the economy as far as in the building and construction is slowed down, that's when these people come out to pray the most.
Speaker DSo be very careful now I do.
Speaker CFeel bad though for a lot of.
Speaker DOur non profits out there because they are struggling because so many of us, including me, and I'll be the first to say it, are taking the extra building materials we have from a project and we're putting it up for sale on Facebook, Marketplace or Craigslist instead of maybe donating it.
Speaker DAnd so what happens is these companies or non profits that rely on that are really getting concerned because they're getting less and less donations and there's less that they have to sell because people are buying more from there.
Speaker DSo It's a catch 22.
Speaker CWhen in doubt, donated.
Speaker DI'm putting some stuff up on there.
Speaker DI tell you what, I'm not having any luck on some of this stuff.
Speaker DI'm just gonna go donate it, I'm gonna put it over there because I tell you what, sometimes it's better just to give it a good home.
Speaker DAnd then those pieces you've been saving, they can end up someplace else.
Speaker DAnd instead of paying to get rid.
Speaker COf it, it you can just go.
Speaker DAhead and donate it and maybe it's a tax write off and then they could put that to good use in.
Speaker CEither a project that they have or.
Speaker DSomebody that needs it can use it.
Speaker DToday in this last segment of the show, I wanted to talk about some.
Speaker COther safety stuff that we have to.
Speaker DBe careful with out there.
Speaker DWe were talking about generator and generator safety with Gen 10.
Speaker DLove those guys, great stuff.
Speaker DBut I really want to take some time today and talk about some things now that we're cruising into late summer and fall that we can be doing to make sure that we're ready with kids going back to school and everything else.
Speaker DI like a little bit of safety.
Speaker DSo first off, there are some new products out there that we've talked about in the past that I want to remind you.
Speaker DAnd these are great products that you can put on your home that I think are great safety things beyond our traditional smoke detector, smoke alarm, slash carbon monoxide alarm.
Speaker DI want to see make sure you put in some kind of sensor that's going to measure your indoor air quality.
Speaker DThat's great.
Speaker DYou can see if you've got other issues going on.
Speaker DAnd one little tool you can get off of Amazon or at your local tool store is a combustible gas detector.
Speaker DIf you have natural gas in your home.
Speaker DI tell you what I am seeing on more the inspection sites.
Speaker DSo many gas situations where they have leaking natural gas.
Speaker DAnd I think that's a bigger issue out there that's costing us money and Leaking natural gas can also be a serious problem.
Speaker DSo make sure that you've got that and just go around and test your gas appliances from time to time.
Speaker DNow, when in doubt, at least in my area, and I think almost all gas companies are that way, if you go, hey, I think I smell it, call them, they will send somebody out.
Speaker DWorst case, call the fire department if.
Speaker CYou can't get a hold of them.
Speaker DBut usually your gas company has people on call to come out.
Speaker DThey'll take a look at it, they'll test it.
Speaker DIf something's broken, they're going to red tag, turn it off and say, fix this.
Speaker DSo then you could turn it back on again because the last thing we need is a fire or some other safety issue that could go really badly.
Speaker DSo take your time, get that dialed in.
Speaker DAnd that's a good thing to have around your house just to go test.
Speaker DAnd if you go, oh, wow, I'm testing a little bit around the range or a water heater, go get it taken a look at.
Speaker DAnd the other thing too is carbon monoxide detectors usually measure at a higher rate.
Speaker DThat's healthy for you anyway.
Speaker DIt's basically trying to prevent your death.
Speaker DIt's not a bad thing, right?
Speaker DBut the thing is, a little bit of carbon monoxide, it's not good for you either.
Speaker DSo if you're bad at turning on the range hood, if you've got a natural gas stove or you don't have makeup air, those kind of things, make sure that you've got something in that indoor air quality sensor to make sure that it's measuring.
Speaker DBecause sometimes if it's low, you need to deal with it.
Speaker DAnd that's a good time to deal with it before it gets dangerous.
Speaker DAnd so that's an extra warning sign for you for that.
Speaker DNow the other thing is here is if you've got small children or like in my garage where I've got lots of batteries for battery power tools, I have what they call flame detect.
Speaker DNow, flame detect is really cool because that looks for flames and I forget that I have it out there.
Speaker DSo I'll light up the torch.
Speaker CI could literally light the torch up.
Speaker DWith my back to the sensor.
Speaker DIt'll say it send it off saying, there's a flame measured.
Speaker DSo it's looking for it and it's looking for reflections and stuff off of walls.
Speaker DThis is so sensitive that you could have it in a child's bedroom.
Speaker DAnd if the kid is hiding over in the corner trying to play with matches, I bet you it's going to catch it.
Speaker DSo that's a good thing.
Speaker DSo if you've got small children, if you want something that's going to go minutes ahead of what a smoke detector is going to do, flame detects great.
Speaker DAnd it's affordable and it's going to be one of those things I can think can really save your house because it's going to send you a push notification on your phone.
Speaker DIt's going to give an audible alarm.
Speaker DIt's not a bad thing.
Speaker DIt will tell you what's going on.
Speaker DThat's a great safety thing.
Speaker DNow the next one I want you to check out with your insurance company as well.
Speaker DYou've heard me talk about them, they've been on the show before.
Speaker DBut Ting Fire this plugs into the wall in a regular outlet.
Speaker DYou hook it up to your WI fi, it monitors your home electrical system and it will sit there and absolutely sense any electrical faults.
Speaker DSo if you've got a.
Speaker DLet's say you've got one of those outlets with the stab connectors in the back where the wire gets pushed into the back, it's not wrapped around the terminal and that becomes loose like many do.
Speaker DWell, this will see that because anytime you have an electrical signal like that, it's going through that is going to give off wavelengths and stuff.
Speaker DAnd it's looking for that in the power.
Speaker DSo it's going to monitor everything that's plugged into the power all the way up to the transformer and tell you what's going on.
Speaker DAnd if there's an issue, it's going to warn you.
Speaker DAnd it comes with a thousand dollar policy.
Speaker DSo if it catches something like hey, I've got an issue, they want to know what that sounded like.
Speaker DSo they've got a thousand dollar insurance policy to send an electrician out to take a look to fix the issue that they caught.
Speaker DSo that way they can verify and make sure that's it and it's not a bad deal.
Speaker DSo take a look at that.
Speaker DAnd that's a really great way to go.
Speaker DThat's Ting Fire and many insurance companies.
Speaker CNow are actually paying for that.
Speaker DAnd we'll send it for free.
Speaker DBefore you go spend the money, call your insurance company.
Speaker DNone of these are commercials.
Speaker DThese are the things that I have around my house for safety and I think it's really smart.
Speaker DThe other thing is that's really cool is that I have something that's awesome and I think this is really trick.
Speaker DThese are many things you can do in your house for water.
Speaker DIf you have a water pipe break in your house, it will automatically shut off because it's going to sense that pipe break.
Speaker DThere are a lot of different water sensing solutions that go in line.
Speaker DSo this goes into the water main coming into your house.
Speaker DIf the line breaks it will automatically shut it off and send you a warning that it shut off the water.
Speaker DSo this can be huge.
Speaker DMy buddy William here a number of years ago, probably two years ago had a, we had an ice storm, house froze up.
Speaker DHis cabin did up in the mountains.
Speaker DWent onto his camera system when the power came on and went what is that?
Speaker DThat was water coming out of the can lights in the lower floor.
Speaker DHe had hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage from a broken pipe.
Speaker DAnd if this would have been installed in there, it would have sensed it and it would have turned it off and it would have stopped that.
Speaker DSo it could have been a five thousand dollar piece of damage versus a hundred thousand dollar damage.
Speaker DSo these are things that can really help you out when it comes to that.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker DSo these are some great things to add to your house.
Speaker DGreat things for added safety and let your insurance company know you're putting them in.
Speaker DMight help you with a discount as well.
Speaker DAll right everybody, this wraps up today's show.
Speaker DThanks to our friends over at Gen 10 for being a part of it today.
Speaker DAnd if you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthehouse online.com for more information.
Speaker DI'm Eric G. Thanks for tuning in to around the house.
Speaker BYou've been listening to around the House with Eric G. The only show where power tools and questionable decisions live in perfect harmony.
Speaker BWe will see you next time anywhere.
Speaker ABeyond the me Love is a love song let's be lovers we're all over the radio Take my hand I know where to go all over the radio with you.