Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
3y
Power outages are common but don’t last long. Whole house generators are very expensive. It’s not something I would bother with. I do love me some big John though!
Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 153 posts · 104 votes
3y
I have a couple of cabins between PF and Wears Valley. We only lost power once this winter and our guests didn't even mention it until I asked them about it. It was a non-issue. If we started to have to give refunds to guests then I'd consider installing one. Until then I don't see it being worth it. Frozen pipes are the bigger issue for me. I hope that's solved for next year.
Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
3y
Power outages are common but don’t last long. Whole house generators are very expensive. It’s not something I would bother with. I do love me some big John though!
Lender · Orange County, CA · Member since 2019 · 299 posts · 255 votes
3y
Same, only lost power briefly 1 time this winter. Sevierville cabin near Gatlinburg. Last winter though our power went out maybe 4 or 5 different times, including one that lasted 3 or 4 days. After that I looked into backup generators but determined it still wouldn't be worth it. Especially since you'd be relying on the guests operating it correctly.
Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
3y
So for 3 of my cabins, we have a power outage every now and then, but they are usually brief and don't last long. My buddy on the other hand has a 6 bedroom pool cabin with propane fireplace and he has a ton of power outages every winter that last for days. The first year he had his cabin, the new guests lost power, and that is when he learned the prior guests used up all his propane. It was costing him big bucks in refunds so it was worth it for him to install one. I don't feel like it's worth my time and money to install one at my cabins due to the amount of times the power goes out. Now my mountain cabin that is at 2000 ft elevation I have more risk there, but we tell people if a storm is coming pack food, water etc.. and if its gonna be bad storm, we give them the option to cancel with a full refund. They can get iced in up there and it's just not worth the drama.
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
3y
John, a whole house generator like a Generac is pretty expensive ($7,000 - ish I believe) That's a lot for a STR where you only need it once a year or so.
As a guy who has some experience with generators due to living in the country, I can say that for $1000 - $2000, you can get a very adequate generator for occasional use. They would run some lights and the fridge, plus some space heaters....It would help in the event of a slightly longer outage....
Rental Property Investor · Central NY · Member since 2019 · 31 posts · 21 votes
3y
We have no generator at our 2/2 in PF and have lost power twice in almost two years. It was out less than 4 hours each time and the guests completely understood...so far.
Real Estate Agent · Smoky Mountains, TN · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 984 votes
3y
I have 11 properties there, none have generators of any sort. We just deal with it as it comes up. I had a guest tell me it enhances their cabin experience (insert favorite emoji here).
I noticed several neighbors at our PF cabin have whole house generators.
Our neighborhood has underground electrical, but the main roads are all obove ground.
I only saw the electrical go out once for a few hours this winter and the guests were very understanding.
For those of you that own a cabin in this area do you have a generator and if so how often has it been needed over the years?
With a well you lose water also when power goes out.
We do have 1 gas fireplace but it doesn't put out any significant heat.
Good timing, I’m having outages here tonight at my places In Cosby. Dealing with the guests is not ideal.
I think the answer to this question as with anything is, it depends. I think if you have a property making 100k plus in profit a year, it’s not a bad idea to have it. I think you could even advertise that and mention very few people have that. Maybe it gets 1 extra booking a year? If this is on a property that brings in up to 1k a night during peak and holidays etc then it very well may pay for itself in a single season. I’m looking into this strongly at one of my properties this year.