Hey, guys --
I've been fortunate enough to be in a rental house for the past couple of years with a 60-amp sub panel in the garage, so powering all of my woodworking tools & machines hasn't been a problem. However, my landlord is kicking us out (selling the house), so I need to find another rental house with a garage pretty quickly.
I live in the Los Angeles area, where most houses have "detached" garages with little or no electrical running to them. So, I'm thinking about installing a small panel in the garage and powering it with a portable generator. Some of my machines (jointer, table saw, dust collector) run on 220-volts and I'll likely need to power a window AC unit, too.
Any of you guys power your shops with portable generators? If so, what size did you get? Other than it being noisy and having to constantly refill the gas tank, are there any problems with this type of setup?
- Jason