18 HRS. NO POWER

[bearfoot]

we have been haveing storms almost daily this past week. wed. about 4:30 pm power outage. a large area from what i could find out. knew where the propane light was, stored in coffee cans. mantels were w/ the lantern. had 2 small propane tanks. coleman stove was on stand by. couldn't find a perc coffee pot i have. when the power come on, 1st. thing made was coffee. already had the air shut off, all power boxes in the rooms were off. lost 90% of fridge, 85% of freezer. never opened the freezer of fridge. deer meat was at the bottom of freezer, still frozen solid. so now is the time on checking for fresh supp;y for the rest of the summer and winter coming. any thoughts, info welcome. thinking about a generator for fridge and heat. everyone have a good weekend. another storm maybe sunday afternoon. most of the steams and rivers at flood stage in pittsburgh/ pa surronding area. most streams have dumped their excess material up on the roads.

 

[chief38]

When we lost power for 7 days during Hurricane Irene I said that's enough and went out and bought a Generac. The very next year when Hurricane Sandy hit us, we lost power for 10 days but this time we had the whole house operating like nothing had happened. In those 10 days it was very cold, we had 7 inches of snow and temperatures were in the 20's - 30's at night. Had it not been for the Generac we could not have stayed in the house.

Since that time we've lost power for 6 or 7 hours from time to time - nothing major but I did fire up the Generac a few times. I'd say I am VERY HAPPY with my decision!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The whole house systems are great, but don't always fit the budget or take a while to line the contractors and permits up!

So in the meantime have a free standing generator (Most likely gasoline), I use a 4 Kilowatt (4 KW) Coleman with a 5 gallon tank. It will run all night or more without a refill. Have a good cord go straight to the appliance/ furnace and correctly wire it in. I permanently put a plug system on my furnace. Once that is done I can hook up heat in about 8 to12 minutes. make sure your generator is someplace well vented, like outside or an open breezeway, The fumes are killers! The noise is pretty bad with stock mufflers! They can be heard for a good half mile in the country so I always had it lock and chained to a big tree when in use.

If you don't plan on going with one of the better built in systems that are on natural gas, you have to use stabilized gas! I would also go to a TSC or NAPA, and get a small tractor muffler. These attach using pipe threads and can be adapted to your generator to greatly reduce noise.

4KW won't run and electric furnace or a whole house A/C! But it will run a well pump, a gas or oil furnace, a smaller window A/C, a freezer and refrigerator (one at a time), several CFL lights, TV and C-Pap machines.

If you want a all the house, all the systems, all the time set up; You will need to bring you wallet and get a 17 to 25 KW generator, and have it plumbed into the gas or propane line and the correct switching control installed. Then when the power company fails, you will only experience a few second blink for the automatic switchover.

Ivan

 

[tops]

I have a 4kw Coleman. I can alternate the freezer and refrigerator to keep from losing them. I have a plug in the well pump wire and the propane furnace wire that I can unplug from the main power and plug in the generator. I have never used the gen. for the furnace because the basement stairs are in the middle of the house and we have a wood stove in the basement and open the door to the basement stairs. Larry

 

[phantomcycle]

We have power outages every year and I live out in the country so I've had to make my house outage proof i have a 10k gas/propane generator thats wired into a switch over box next to my main circuit breaker box I can run 80% of my house on this generator and for heat I have propane infrared plaque heaters mounted to my house walls in the middle and bedroom end of my house
Propane has saved me from having to store gas for generators or heating and I've built a small shed for my generator next to my house it keeps my generator outta the weather and kills alot of the noise from a running generator
There are 2 propane tanks a 250 gal thats for house use and a 100 gal that we use for the generator or house
I also have a smaller generator for my well its a 5500 watt that also runs on gas or propane that I can power my deep well pump this generator has its own 100 lb propane bottle
This whole setup has taken a couple of years to setup but its bullet proof now as long as I remember to keep my propane tanks full
A couple years ago we had a ice storm I was without power for 2 weeks and I never had to leave my house to get gas or water

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[chief38]

Generac also makes a wonderful portable gasoline generator that is 8K with 10K peak ratings. In general terms without getting too technical, 8K (8000 Watts) will supply around 68 Amps of electrical current at 220 volts. Generator manufacturers recommend that their products be run at 50% max for long term use, so that would mean an 8K generator will run pretty efficient at 34 Amps or less. Even though a modern large size home today will probably have 200 Amp service, 34 amps will run pretty much an entire home EXCEPT central A/C. Remember, a homes appliances and equipment do not all run and start up at the same time which is when the largest current draw occurs. I doubt the average home draws more than 30 Amps continually and an 8K generator is well sized unit for sustained power losses.

The Generator model I am talking about specifically is the XG8000E. It is NOT their "Home Depot" series, but it IS their built in the USA Contractor grade unit (available in other sizes too). On sale they are available for about $1,100.00 - 1,200.00 and are built to last. DO NOT confuse the Generac XL Contractor Series with the big box store GP Generac line up! They are NOT the same! The GP line is built with Chinese components and is not rated for the longevity the XL Contractor USA built series is.

No need to spend big bucks for a whole house generator if you can not afford it or simply don't loose power very often. The Whole House Generac's major expense is not the unit itself, but the PROPER, LEGAL AND LEGITIMATE installation. Our township has strict rules & regs and the final installation must be inspected and will be taxed! Portables are NOT subject to that!

 

[bearfoot]

thanks for the ^^^^^^ tech. info. we hardly every loose power!! let alone for 18 hrs, heard someone took out several poles up the road. thinking more on winter useage. didn't even know about the propane generators. happy father's day to all that have children.

 

[chief38]

Bearfoot:
Unless you have one of those 300 - 600 gallon Propane tanks at your home, don't get a Propane fed generator. They are not very efficient and they will suck out a BBQ sized tank in an hour or so. Go with natural gas if it's on your property or good old Gasoline. Actually Gasoline powers the generators more efficiently than Propane or NG however the unlimited supply of NG does make it attractive even if it is only 80% efficient.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

After Hurricane Ike, I had three weeks with no power and six months with my 87 year old Mother-in-law with her 91 year old boyfriend.

 

[ladder13]

Get a whole house, you'll be glad you did. I started off with a pull start 5500 Generac many years ago.
After using a pull start we upgraded to an electric start Generac, just in time for Sandy. Well, just try finding gasoline during a week long outage. I had to travel all over the universe to find gas, and when I did the prices were inflated.
And no, I would never store a weeks worth of gasoline on my property.
So, right after Sandy I put in a whole house propane powered Generac. No fuss, no muss. No getting up to start the thing, no refilling of gasoline, no searching for fuel.
We just built a new house and we were told "generator?...no one has them down here". Well, I do! Had a NG 22k Generac installed before we moved in.
Peace of mind.
I don't drink, smoke or play golf, so money well spent.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

After Hurricane Ike, I had three weeks with no power and six months with my 87 year old Mother-in-law with her 91 year old boyfriend.

So are you saying this is a good thing? MY 85 year old mom (sans boyfriend) lives two condo complexes from me (about 2000-2500 feet) in a blizzard I have resources for one place, I'll get her to my place. I the heat of summer, she can come sit in front of a fan with us, or risk it at my brother's 4 miles away, but zero back up, but less power outages!

It ain't perfect, but it's what I have! To have the permits and installation of a whole condo continuous power system at my place is just under $5000. I have a lesser system already, I want the $5000 for guns and ammo, vacations, or just sitting in my check book.

Ivan

 

[NYlakesider]

Bearfoot:
Unless you have one of those 300 - 600 gallon Propane tanks at your home, don't get a Propane fed generator. They are not very efficient and they will suck out a BBQ sized tank in an hour or so. Go with natural gas if it's on your property or good old Gasoline. Actually Gasoline powers the generators more efficiently than Propane or NG however the unlimited supply of NG does make it attractive even if it is only 80% efficient.

Yes but gas even with stabilizer gets old, double that if all you can get is that junk E10 stuff. For that reason if you have a GOOD supply of propane go for it!

I kept 30 gallons for emergencies both car and generator. Live way rural and outages are common especially at -20. I would continuesly swap out so I could keep my gas even with stabilizer within 6months. Then when we could get real None E gas so even with stabilizer I swapped it out so no gas was over a year. That gas feed my 5,000 portable Generac which was could be legally hooked up to a sub panel that could run 6 vital circuits.

Now on a whole house propane Generac systen and we have a 500 Gallion tank. We were on this system for 35 hours a couple months ago.

 

[chief38]

Yes but gas even with stabilizer gets old, double that if all you can get is that junk E10 stuff. For that reason if you have a GOOD supply of propane go for it!

I kept 30 gallons for emergencies both car and generator. Live way rural and outages are common especially at -20. I would continuesly swap out so I could keep my gas even with stabilizer within 6months. Then when we could get real None E gas so even with stabilizer I swapped it out so no gas was over a year. That gas feed my 5,000 portable Generac which was could be legally hooked up to a sub panel that could run 6 vital circuits.

Now on a whole house propane Generac systen and we have a 500 Gallion tank. We were on this system for 35 hours a couple months ago.

NYLakesider;

I have a Gasoline storage regiment that I stick to ever since hurricane Sandy. I NEVER let my Automobile gas tanks go below 1/2 - my SUV holds 28 gallons and my wife's car 21).. I do store 25 Gallons in fireproof metal gas cans. I keep the portable Generac generator full (holds 10 gallons). I also have a Harley that I always keep full (6 gallons). Aside from the cars (and MC when in riding season) I treat all gasoline with Startron Enzyme which will keep gas fresh for over a year. Any gasoline that does not get used within a year gets dumped into the cars tanks and used. There is no waste and then the storage tanks get refilled with fresh gas & new Startron Enzyme. Between all my vehicles, portable generator and tanks I've got over 100 gallons of gasoline available in case of an emergency. Some what of a minor chore (only once a year) but the feeling that I can be self sustained for at least 10 days with no power is gratifying. In my area we don't loose power that often, but when we do it's usually for a long time at a clip. I also have 5 plastic 6 gallon gasoline cans that I normally keep empty but can and do fill at a moments notice when a huge storm or hurricane is on its way. If they don't get used they get dumped into the vehicles.

I could convert the portable generator to natural gas but since I use it for other reasons a few times a month and run it on regular gasoline I have not done so. When a generator is being run on Propane or NG you need a fuel conversion carb. kit and different temperature spark plugs that needs to be installed. Don't want the hassle of going back & forth.

I also use a Safety Siphon to transfer gasoline so I do not have to pick up heavy metal containers to do the gas transfers or while emptying tanks of the generator and other equipment tanks.

All this might seem like a big pain in the butt, but it's really not once you get into the regiment - and again, it's only once a year I need to swap out old for new gasoline. Startron Enzyme is your friend!

Oh, BTW another reason a portable generator is good (EVEN if one has a whole house NG Generac) is because during some natural disasters like hurricane Sandy, some blocks has their NG shut off by the utility Co. for fear of fire and explosions. If one relied solely on a NG generator they would have been SOL! Now admittedly they don't shut off NG service often but in the case of Sandy they did in some areas. Just saying..........

 

[Bugkiller99]

In 2004 we experienced 3 hurricanes here, with associated power outages. We borrowed a friends generator for the first one, and it didn't last 1 day. I took it to a repair shop, which had row after row of portable generators that needed work
As they did not sell generators, I asked them for advice on what to buy. Short of commercial grade, HONDA. Period.
Took the advice, and purchased a 5K Honda portable generator. It got me through the next two hurricanes, and everything since. I pull it out every few weeks, give it a pull or two, and off it goes.
Not cheap. But it's been absolutely reliable, and still running 13 years later.

Update: Pulled it out just now. Two pulls, ran like a champ. Put a load on it, didn't even hiccup.

 

[rwsmith]

Be sure you....

..... disconnect your house from the grid before connecting a generator. We around here were used to Hurricanes, but nothing like Hugo, and several linemen were electrocuted. I'm sure you guys know this, but I'm putting it out there because it became new knowledge to us in a very bad way.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...I own a 5500 watt generator...used it in outages several times and was happy with it...then the intake valve on the ten horse Briggs and Stratton started sticking open every time I shut it off...I've had the head off quite a few times now unsticking the valve with penetrating oil and a hammer...it runs for a while then sticks again...I remember when Briggs and Strattons were extremely reliable...not anymore I guess...

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

any thoughts, info welcome. thinking about a generator for fridge and heat. most streams have dumped their excess material up on the roads.

I've got a couple Honda generators. EU2000 and EM5000.

For keeping a fridge running something like the EU2000 would work fine. It's a gas miser, quiet, and as portable as a generator can be. Fuel consumption is an issue worthy of consideration when choosing a generator. If you get serious about buying a generator, recommend mayberrys.com.

As far as heat... I've got a ventless log fireplace. If that fails I've got a couple 20k BTU kerosene heaters. And if I need heat right NOW I'll crank up my zillion BTU forced air heater.

 

[phantomcycle]

My smaller 5500 watt generator runs off propane or gas hybrid no special kit needed
I can get 16 hrs run time on a 20 lb propane bottle so its not a propane sucker my larger 10000 watt propane/gas generator didnt come propane ready I had a very smart propane mechanic do the propane thingy to make it a dual fuel hybrid unit too and like my other generator all I do is choose which fuel I want to use
I much prefer propane due to long term storage possibly using it over gas
I live out in the country and my house is a propane Appliance house stove- clothes dryer-hot water heater and house heat even my oven is propane and its much cheaper then a all electric house
( just besure the generator is a dual fuel hybrid unit) rather then one rated for gas or propane or ng
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[les.b]

I don't have natural gas on any of my properties, so I use gas generators. I cut a lot of grass, and it is easy for me to use all of my stored gasoline during the summer and so always have relatively fresh gas. Still use stabilizer when I stock up for the winter. Here at the cabin, I have a permanent interface with the breaker box, with separate breakers, and an outside box to connect the generator to. Electric start, a permanent trickle charger to keep the battery up, and the circuit that the charger runs off of is one that is powered by the generator. I start it up every month and let it run for 15 minutes or so.

We often lose power, usually not for more than 8 hours or so, but once, for two weeks. I understand the limitations of the gasoline generators, and my GF's dad has a whole house natural gas Generac, and it is really cool. But I don't have natural gas, and don't have a propane tank, so that is pretty much out for me. So far the gasoline one has been satisfactory, but I am taking note of the idea of a tractor muffler posted above, as it is somewhat noisy.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Rustyt1953]

Sorry to hear that Rich. I wish I would have had a cord long enough to reach.