Posted on 06/04/2024 8:42:56 AM PDT by eastexsteve
I live in rural NE Texas, and we experience power outages often. Some last for days. This year, we've been hammered by bad weather, and this round is the 12th time I've been on generator power this year. I've played the "generator game" for decades, starting off with one that I thought would be just good enough to keep me going, running the bare minimum appliances until the power came back on. This was torture. In my opinion, most people make bad decisions when it comes to buying a generator. They think small, and short run times. The truth is, here in Texas, you need one big enough to power your whole house, including A/C. For a 2,000 sqft house with a family of four, (that is VERY energy efficient with all LED lights etc.,) you are talking at least a 12KW - 13KW running watt (not surge watt) generator. If you want to stay married and keep your kids from running away from home, don't think about anything smaller. And, you want it fuel efficient enough to run all day. Also, you want one built to go extended run times. Most of these smaller camping or job site generators won't cut it, since they won't run very long under a load between fueling, and require oil changes every 50 hours. You're not powering a tent or a garage shop. You are powering your house, and you may have to do it for many days. Propane/Natural gas generators are VERY inefficient. Gasoline is somewhat better. Diesel is the best. Here in Texas during the "big freeze" a few years ago, some people even lost natural gas pressure! With the world like it is, and getting worse, you need to consider things like fuel, fuel storage, and fuel availability in case of a SHTF scenario. Before you go plop down hundreds of dollars on a generator thinking you need just enough to get you by, you better give it some serious thought.
No. They’re just not building enough. And off the national grid can’t get any help. They chose to be independent and then didn’t do it right. It’s not left or right, it’s hubris.
Thanks, I will do the breaker box math as soon as I get home. Another detail I have run across and trying to sort out, do I want single phase (costs less) or three phase power (costs more)? I cant think of much except the electric oven that might be three phase, but I am guessing three phase is what I get from the utility provider into the breaker box. I see the mid-range house generators are mostly single phase. I guess that works but is not as good or efficient as three phase. At some point there has to be a knee in the curve for cost/benefit.
ERCOT does have a tie-in with Mexico and are planning on connecting to other states in the future but have to be careful not to run afoul of FERC regulations. These would involve AC-DC and DC-AC connections because of the different synchronicity of the two different grids.
Three phase is mostly for industrial use.
Some of your loads like an oven, electric dryer or AC may have two ganged breakers (two that switch together on one throw). Those are your 2 phase loads.
They would not be operable with a single phase generator.
With amount the fuel that hummer will use/day you might as well head to a hotel and enjoy room service.
Anything less than one that will power the whole house for a sufficient amount of time is an exercise in misery. Especially here in East Texas where air conditioning is a must if you want any comfort. I eventually will go solar if things look worse (and, they are). But, it will be a 10KW to 12KW system minimum.
You can get one that will power the bare essentials for several hours. That's what I did with generators at first. I just got tired of living like a cave man every time we had a weather disaster come through. Which, was often.
I have a 7K genset that I back feed 220v/AC thru the dryer outlet. ( make sure the main breaker is open )
Thanks, you made that explanation very simple. I need to double check my central heat and air to see if its two phase. If so then I would need a three-phase generator to keep A/C up and running. (I have not seen two phase as an option in generators). Otherwise a single phase probably works fine for refrigerators, freezers, lights, TV, wifi, and most all other essentials.
Yeah, I have a big diesel tank for tractors and other ranch equipment (”dyed diesel”), and we do have some pretty big diesel generators on trailers. The West Texas heat does a pretty good number on it, even with a flipper to keep it from separating.
But I wanted something to just sit by the house and work when I wanted it to work. We had bullet tanks already because NG to the house is a rather recent improvement, and that’s how we used to heat the house (and still could, in the event NG shut down).
That's why you need a generator you can hook directly to your power panel with a single cutout switch. No extension cords. My generator weighs 1,100 lbs and sits on a slab. If they come for mine, they better bring a fork lift. It also has a service interval of 500 hours. Consequently, it doesn't need service that often. But, when it does, it's no harder than changing the oil and filter in a car.
I grew up with hurricanes, where did you run into that road warrior world?
It uses .45 gallons of diesel per hour. And, the distance I have it from the house, you only hear it at night when everything else gets quiet.
“”””freeze some water in a jar and then put a coin on top of the ice. Then, if your food has thawed while you were away, the coin will no longer be on top of the ice and you will know to throw the food out.””””
Brilliant, that is so much better than what I do.
My way is to lean a half filled jar on its side to freeze and then stand it up, if the water is at the bottom half then it means it thawed and refroze.
Your way is much better and even tells you it melted in case over time the jar gets knocked over.
The thing I’m hearing is Generac used to be the best but are still going strong based on that reputation. But that Kohler is the way to go.
12 gallons a day for a whole house running AC? Riiiiight.
13 KW is a LOT of generator. My house ran just fine on a 7.5KW Kohler. Incandescent bulbs, electric stove and water heater, some resistance heating, several fans to distribute the basement fireplace’s heat.
Just my experience, YMMV.
Well I have a 500 gal tank fuel tank myself and also have a 1000 gal Propane tank for the Greenhouses and a backup source for heat for the house as electric is how I heat..but we don’t get much cold weather in SW Arkansas.
The new RV 12 volt fridges are very efficient as well. 100 watts at peak use. The only thing is they are not reliable yet. I would get one for my place but in the meantime I just use a propane absorption fridge. I can run a 120v fridge on my set up but it’s just one more draw I don’t really need to worry about with 200 gallons of propane.
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