Kart,
Would you be so kind as to ping the Prepper list?
Thank you.
Thank you
Great thread, and thanks for posting. BTT.
Cool.
I’ve got a bit more money, so I’ve been looking at the more permanent generator solution. The one thing though I would really want is to be able to easily swap from Propane to natural gas. I can get a generator with kits to swap back and forth, and maybe that would be good enough.
My idea is to get a large propane tank buried in my yard, but run the generator on my natural gas (which is, as you said, generally very reliable).
The generator I have in mind is I think from GE, and comes with everything. IT does an automatic switch, and switch back, when power goes out. It is a “smart” system that will allow you to have more total equipment than it can run, and will prioritize so if your A/C needs to run for a while, it will switch off something else until the A/C turns off (like if you had an electric clothes dryer).
My house is mostly natural gas anyway. The point of propane is that if things get REALLY bad, and the gas goes, I’ll still have power. Then I’ll need to equip my heater with electric coils, so if the natural gas goes, I can run it on an electric heat emergency setting.
Unfortunately, we don’t lose power often enough to push me to action.
I think you missed something important...
Generators come in 2 varieties. (3 actually but the third is of no consequence)
Cheaper units run at 3600 rpm. The more expensive ones run at 1800 rpm. The necessary speed of the engine is determined by the number of “poles” in the generator.
The units used in motor-homes are almost always 1800 rpm. There are two reasons for that; First, they are much quieter. Second, the life span of the engine is much much longer. If this is a generator that is going to be run 24 hours a day, you do NOT want one that runs at 3600 rpm - period.
The 1800 rpm units are more expensive because the engine has to be larger, but you really have no choice here.
i bought a diesel generator because i have a 250gal fuel tank that runs my backup furnace(i have coal and electric as primary heaters) because if the power goes out, it'll prolly be out at the gas stations too... and who can store/afford a hundred gallons of gas for a generator???Thank you very much. I have saved this and am going to start putting things together. Thanks again for making it as easy as you could for a non electrician but an experienced do it yourselfer..
Great writeup.
I’m not sold on his enclosure setup for hot weather, but you could always open the doors if it was running too hot.
“1. Be able to power critical items such as refrigerator, freezer, lights, television and radios, and at least one good sized room type air conditioner.”
You may want to look into propane or kerosene refers/freezers, as they can run on next to nothing, and have to require you to fire up a generator for that capability.
“Now a pound of propane is roughly equivalent to a gallon of gasoline and around here a 20 pound tank refill runs about $18.00.”
Sorry, not true. If I had to estimate, I’d say a it would take 10 pounds of propane to equal ONE gallon of gas. I’ll check now.
I think your equivalence on propane is way off.
1 gallon of propane = 4.2 pounds @ 60F.
1 gallon of propane = 84,300 btus
1 gallon of gasoline = 114,100 btus
so a 20 pound propane tank is 20/4.2 = 4.76 gallons
equivalent to 4.76 X (84300/114100) = 3.5 gallons gasoline
Here are some numbers:
“Now a pound of propane is roughly equivalent (in energy) to a gallon of gasoline...”
Propane: 1 pound = 21,500 BTU
Gasoline: 1 gallon = 125,000 BTU
Diesel: 1 gallon = 139,200 BTU
So 1 gallon of gasoline has about 6 times the energy content of propane, and Diesel has even more energy than gasoline.
I misunderestimated the low density of Propane or I would have been closer.
Now for stowing ideas. Mine sits on my front porch. I keep it amongst a few odds and ends stored there. But it's inside a wooden cover built to look like a work table and has stuff laying on top of it. It's more secure there than inside a garage or shed where thieves would look for it.
Thanks Lurker, great job that is very much appreciated.
I was already plan on purchasing a bigger generator, because mine cannot run the water pump. When power goes out I can run the fridge, TV, and some lights but that’s about it.
I had been talking to some neighbors about switching it to propane and thanks to you I now know what I need.
I live in the country with no natural gas, so propane is the cheapest I can get away with, but it’s better than gas.
I have copied your prepper list and will be checking it often.
thanks for all the work and investigation you did.
God bless you and yours.
Chuck
Great thread! I have a simple gas powered Honda 1000W generator that is also used to charge car batteries, run electric tools beyond extension cord range from the house, and camping. It will only handle the fridge and freezer though. I’m need to size up so I can power the well pump too.
everything else is just gravy.
Thanks Lurker. Bump for later reference.
Can I add a couple things?
That means you’ll need to find out how many amps each thing you want to power in your house requires to not only run, but to START as well. For instance my furnace requires only about 5 amps to run, but 9 amps to start the fan motor. You have to take this into account as all electric motors as in air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, furnaces, etc, require more amperage to start them initially.
Exactly right. Here is a good rule of thumb:
The amps shown on the unit (run load amps or RLA) is the operating amperage. You can figure six times that for lock rotor amps (LRA) to determine starting amps if it is not given.
Now you’ll need to connect your gen set to the gas source somehow. Since I’ve opted for a semi-permanent installation (more on that later) I purchased 50 feet of ½ rubber hose suitable for use with low pressure natural gas. This came from the same vendor as the adaptor kit. A quick connect set up on either end and I can hook it directly from my gas meter right to the regulator on the Tri Fuel Kit.
Love that idea. I would add this. Use soap bubbles from a hardware/plumbing supply store to make sure there are no small leaks, ESPECIALLY if you connect in side a building anywhere.
Sounds like a great setup. Thanks
Good job, really nice post.
I’ve had a small genset for more than a dozen years now. My recommendations on maintenance:
o If you’re using gasoline, buy premium and use 2X the recommended amount of Sta-Bil.
o Set a recurring quarterly reminder in Outlook, or whatever you’re using for a calendering app, for a Saturday. Pull your generator out (or open up the enclosure if you go the Suncast route) and run it for about 15-20 minutes so it gets good and hot. Preferably hook up an electric space heater to give it a little load, it will run better. If you are using gasoline, DO NOT USE THE KILL SWITCH TO TURN IT OFF. Instead, close the fuel petcock and let the generator empty out the carburetor to turn off.
o On the Fall quarterly date, set a reminder to change the oil. Yes, change the oil annually even if you only ran the thing for the four exercise sessions. I use Mobil1 10W30, it’s reasonable enough buying it at Costco or in the bulk gallons from Wal-Mart.
I also helped a friend install a large fixed nat gas genset with an automatic transfer switch that his wife impulse bought from Costco after watching the mayhem in the wake of Katrina. And by helped I mean I did all the electrical planning and work, with him helping. Fixed about half a dozen code violations his electrician had left behind after supposedly fixing up the main panel when he moved in, too. If anyone has questions about that, hit me with a FReepmail.
I’ve seen that trifuel site before. I really should bite that bullet. I’ve always got the equivalent of about 2 full bottles of propane around in the three I have, and if I did that, I’d probably add a fourth to the mix. Or maybe even get a 35 or whatever that next size is.
Good info BTTT !