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A few weeks before the last hurricane threat we decided we are getting too old to bail out at these threats so decided to research a basic light duty emergency generator
to see us through possible storm related power outages.

Just something powerful enough to provide some lights and power the refrigerator enough each day to prevent immediate food spoilage.

We found a Champion Power Equipment 4375/3500-Watt Portable Generator on Amazon priced at $326.47
It had good user ratings so we decided to think about the purchase for a while.

Two weeks later as Hurricane Idalia approached we decided to make the purchase.
But when we went to Amazon they had jumped the price to $412.00

Searching the net we found the next better model of the Champion 4375/3500-Watt Generator at Bass Pro for $339.97 with no state tax and free shipping.

It arrived the 5th day after the order was placed.

I’m trying to buy at places other than Amazon when I can. They’ve got everyone “needing” 2 day shipping and have been raising prices. I really hate when I put something in the cart and the price goes up! it’s happened too often to be coincidence, and the price NEVER goes down. It makes me not buy it so I’m not sure what the benefit to them is.

Good job bargain hunting!!

For the people who have the energy to do it, and who keep freezers full of great meats and such, they should be prepared to can everything worth saving.

Canning your freezer wealth would be a heck of a chore and would involve being completely prepared for the effort, but it would be the ideal if things really went bad.

I watched the TV series ‘Jericho’ and it bugged me terribly how they treated the supermarket refrigerated food even though they knew this might be the big one.

The Mayor should have called those small-town ladies and set to canning everything they could from the store, not only would it all be saved but then those precious protein calories could have been distributed with great efficiency and over a longer period of time when they were most needed for survival, instead of wasted or gorged on over a couple of days.

I’ve had a few Champion generators and like them. They’re fairly quiet and the company is accessible, not some generic no-name Chinese company with no way to contact and no support and really bad English in what little literature they have. Champion puts their 1-877 number right on the unit. I’m sure their stuff is made in China but you can buy replacement parts from them, unlike most China stuff.

I’ve got a Champion 4500/3650 and just found a propane conversion kit for it for $80.

https://www.vpowerequipment.com/lpg-conversion-carburetor-kit-for-champion-3000-generators-3201-1/

They also have natural gas kits. Gasoline doesn’t store forever but NG/LPG do. The LPG kit is a three fuel kit, gasoline, NG and LPG. The NG kit is gasoline and NG.

I could get a 500lb tank of propane and run this thing forever. Of course the noise would attract the zombies.

I’ve got 6 - 20lb propane tanks and have been meaning to get them all filled. We’ve got a Big Buddy heater we use on occasion. If electric went out for a couple of weeks due to an ice storm, including in town, there would be no buying gasoline. Having that LPG kit plus full tanks would be a life saver.

This area is known for ice storms(freezing rain/sleet) that can accumulate 2 inches of ice on all surfaces. Might be a once in 50-100 year thing but it does happen. We can also get extreme wind and in both cases, going without electric for two weeks can happen.

In a pinch, (I wouldn’t make a big habit of it) if you have an E85 vehicle you can run those on same with the choke in the near to actually closed position. Full choke gives it close to the ideal fuel/air ratio. I’ve done it on one of my old B&S engines testing it. Additionally, E85 can have 51%-83% ethanol, so if you get a heftier gasoline percentage you just adjust accordingly…YMMV 😎