Posted on 12/02/2011 10:27:02 AM PST by martin_fierro
So electrical power has been out @ my house in smugly Nuclear-Power-Free Santa Cruz county, CA for close to 2 days now.
An electrical generator is in order for the next blackout.
But what brand to buy, and what features? Is it relatively easy to wire into a standard home electrical system?
We'd use it for only the most important stuff: Keeping the fridge running + a modem, router and laptop to FReep by!
Yeah, but Moochelle Obummer likes this generator because she says I am fat and should eat twigs and exercise. It’s win win as far as the Regime is concerned.
There’s a firm in Bangor Maine that will modify your generator’s carb to run as a dual-fuel setup, gas or propane. Central Maine Diesel, I believe.
Other than that, a slow-speed unit will outlast a high RPM unit 10:1.
Funny; I got that memo too.
re: Manual Transfer Interlock Kit
Sweet, just sweet. Thanks!
I have a 7500 watt Diesel. I can run 3 refrigerators and 3 wall AC’s during a power outage and light half the house. It’s a tank.
Agreed. A large fridge will draw 2-2.4 kw starting though.
In your position, I would expand your focus to consider a diesel generator over a gas generator OR, perhaps a propane generator. Not trying to complicate your decision process. Only to enrich it!
It sounds to me, upon buzzing your post, that you are (only) very lightly considering this thing, being inconvenienced due to current circumstances.
Gas storage is not that pleasant. If power is really out, far and wide where you are, then gas pumps will be out as well.
I myself have little or no experience with home generators, but after having read many discussions by people who do and who have thrashed out the pros and cons at irritating length, most seem to elect diesels.
See if you can get to this discussion
http://tickerforum.org/akcs-www?post=197079
At the water company I operate, we have a big boy! 4 cylinder tractor power plant. An automatic transfer switch. Nice, because I don’t have to do anything, remember any procedures, etc.. Nothing can go wrong. Power goes out, it disconnects from the mains, connects and starts the generator. When the power comes back on, it does just the reverse. It also runs the disconnected generator for 15 minutes under “no-load” conditions, to cool it down.
ditto
Santa Cruz has natural gas, right? You can convert a gas genset to natural gas by changing out the carburetor. search “generator natural gas conversion.” Keep the old carb and you can switch it back to gasoline if needed.
Gasoline generators are ok for when you already know the power is going to be out, such as an approaching hurricane or if you have a hunting camp to power for a few days. It can also be good for short term outages when you know you have enough incidental gasoline on hand to run a generator for 1 or 2 nights.
When it comes to long term unexpected outages such as ice storms or earthquakes, it is best to consider only diesel or propane. Natural gas is also an option, but less so for earthquake events. Personally, I would feel better having my own fuel on site, but there is always the possibility of someone pirating your propane or diesel. It is wise to put some thought into securing your generator and fuel during a major long term outage (>1 week). The sound of a running generator can attract unwanted attention from a long way off.
It's a great buy from Amazon, gets good reviews has free shipping and the most important feature for me is that it puts out clean power because has a built in Sine Power system that delivers clean and steady current with low THD...ideal for sensitive electronics. That was the one thing I wanted and could not find in other generators...even more expensive ones.
Check it out. They sell out quickly.
We live out in the country and have a propane tank for our heating and cooking. Would it make sense to go to our propane supplier for an electrical generator that can run off the main tank when the grid goes down?
You can get tri-fuel (gasoline/nat. gas/propane) conversion kits here. Take some time to hunt around the site...lots of info.
Set up my little McCulloch 5700W portable to run on either 20# cylinders or the 500gal house tank as well as gasoline.
http://www.propane-generators.com/
Power in my rural area is usually out for 1-2 days although I have seen two five day outages in 10 years. I just deal with extension cords...furnace, fridge, TV and lamp.
>>FWIW, I’ve read that a typical portable home generator (probably low-end “consumer” model) only has an operating lifespan of about 500 hours.
FWIW, I have a 12 year old gasoline generator that I bought new. Nothing special, not a “contractor grade” model or anything. It has probably run 80 - 100 hours in outages, and maybe another dozen over the years in test runs (I try to pull it out quarterly and run it for about 15-20 minutes). IIRC, it was about $500.
From my perspective, I’ve gotten my money’s worth if it dies tomorrow, which it shows no signs of doing.
My simple tip: whatever unit you buy, make sure it has wheels on it. I’ve had to move mine around the house outside for different reasons and move it in/out of the garage for garage cleaning. My unit is 200lbs.
For someone in California, I wouldn’t consider natural gas. It won’t be there in the aftermath of an earthquake. Big propane tank, or diesel, or gasoline, stored on site.
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