My neighbor put one of these in during the Y2K paranoia. It's a large, very robust looking unit, sitting on a concrete slab, powered by an underground propane tank. If I remember correctly, it was something like $25K - $30K at the time.
It comes on like clockwork every time the power goes out on our street(seems to happened more in the past 2 years), and it's the first thing I listen for (despite the distance between our homes, it's easy to hear) when my lights go out to know whether it's just me or the whole neighborhood. From what I can tell, it comes on immediately. I mean, so quickly, that I'm not even sure one would have to reset their digital clocks.
Interestingly enough, he passed on almost two years ago (VERY unique and interesting guy, who founded the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and owned a bar called The Main Point which often featured such unknowns as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel and made both staples here in the Philadelphia area well before they reached national acclaim), and the subject came up when his widow and I were talking about a month ago. She considers it a colossal waste; a needless and worthless extravagance, and disagreed with my opinion that it was a nice thing to have. Even he was laughing at himself on January 2, 2000. However, after reading some of the thoughts in this thread, more than ever, I think it would be a decent buy.
It comes on like clockwork every time the power goes out on our street(seems to happened more in the past 2 years), and it's the first thing I listen for (despite the distance between our homes, it's easy to hear) when my lights go out to know whether it's just me or the whole neighborhood. From what I can tell, it comes on immediately. I mean, so quickly, that I'm not even sure one would have to reset their digital clocks.
Interestingly enough, he passed on almost two years ago (VERY unique and interesting guy, who founded the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and owned a bar called The Main Point which often featured such unknowns as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel and made both staples here in the Philadelphia area well before they reached national acclaim), and the subject came up when his widow and I were talking about a month ago. She considers it a colossal waste; a needless and worthless extravagance, and disagreed with my opinion that it was a nice thing to have. Even he was laughing at himself on January 2, 2000. However, after reading some of the thoughts in this thread, more than ever, I think it would be a decent buy.
