What have I learned from my power outage.

[Farmer17]

First, own a generator. If you can only afford a small one then buy it. A small one should power your gas/propane heater motor, refrigerator/freezer, and a few lamps all from extension cords. If you have electric heat I'm not sure a small, cheap generator will have enough power. I'm on a well and aerobic system which are hardwired to the electric panel so to power them also I would need a disconnect switch at the panel so I don't back-feed the wires and electrocute a power company employee during repairs. The disconnect switches can be bought on line for around a $100-$150 and an electrician should charge a minimum service call to install one. Then you can buy a generator for $700-$1000 that will power the essential items in your house but not at the same time, but no annoying extension cords. Your electric clothes dryer could probably run with your heater and refrigerator and a couple lights and that's about it. Spend $3-4K dollars and the generator could run most everything and a little more money you could have it hooked in to your natural gas or propane so no gasoline filling every 3-5 hours. This was the first time I've been without power for more than a day so because most electric around me is underground but it wasn't fun being without electricity and I'm looking at the options and costs to be better prepared next time. I have a power inverter that plugs into my truck cigarette lighter and that proved invaluable with no generator. I powered my laptop battery and my Ryobi 18V limb saw batteries so I could cut up trees and tree limbs that fell everywhere from the ice. I also charged all the flashlight, lantern batteries, and I-phones and we were able to watch movies every night on the laptop using the hot spot on the cell phone for internet. I used a 5 gallon water can that I filled up at one of my construction sites and filled the toilets tanks periodically so we could use toilets, that was a MUST with females in the house. All the food in the fridge/freezer was trashed but that was no big loss, I'm single now so I don't keep much food in the house but it sure got old going out to restaurants and eating fast food and snacking on Doritos and Cheeze-its.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Many years ago I bought one of the really quiet Honda generators (EU3000iS) to power our trailer camper, and over the years have used it for everything I've needed an auxiliary power source for, including outages. One of the best purchases I've ever made. It's light enough to pick up and shift around, although I'd rather have wheels for it (I put it on a small dolly now), but if I were buying one today, I'd probably go for the EU7000iS for the higher output. My 3000 will run over 20 hours without a refill (3.5 gallons), the 5000 will go 18 hours or better. They both have an economy setting which throttles the engine up or down depending on the electrical load. They are quiet enough to have a conversation while standing next to them.

The disconnect switch is a must if you hook it into your panel to power the whole house, but in an emergency, if you throw your main breaker, it prevents backflow into the grid. The times I've used mine for outages, I plugged a multi-outlet box to it, and ran power to the fridge, freezer and microwave, and had a couple of lights available. I have a wood-burning fireplace insert, so heat wasn't a problem. Water was still an issue, I have a well, and the pump is 220VAC.

 

[SASABERANGER]

Generator

Generac Generator 22KV will do the entire house. Drawback is it either needs propane or will run on Natural Gas if available.
Installation, wiring disconnect panel, permits (where required) and associated fees should run about $9K+/-.
Extended warranty for 10 years is about &750 more.
Once installed and operational you are set for anything except a direct hit by a tornado.
Main drawback is the wait time from contract signing until installation...Generac is swamped. I waited about 8 weeks, but beat out the worst of the hurricane season and haven't needed it yet.
Thom Braxton
SWCA #1474

 

[chief38]

My Generac has bailed me out for Hurricane Sandy (10 days) and the most recent storm that were remnants if the hurricane in August (7 days). There were also a few minor times in between when our power went out for 10 hours or so.

With all the modern appliances, creature comforts we have become use to, security features we have in our homes, etc. being without power for an extended period SUCKS!.

 

[mmb617]

This past summer we had two outages that lasted 8-12 hours, enough that I was concerned about the food I had in the fridge and freezer. Both times it was localized to just our neighborhood and the repair work was at a small substation not far from my house. That particular substation has equipment that looks old enough to have been installed by Edison himself.

That got me to thinking that if an outage occurred during the winter even though I heat with natural gas the furnace won't run without electricity. I decided to buy a small generator. All it has to run is the fridge, freezer, a few lights and if it's winter the furnace.

I bought one at Harbor Freight and installed it myself for a total cost of about $500. I did a test run where I pulled my main to simulate a power failure and it easily runs what I need it to run.

It's one more piece of equipment to maintain but gives me a little peace of mind.

 

[Cdog]

We just recently moved, and are obviously not on a high priority line. This is our third day in without power.

We aren’t prepared for three plus days without power. That will change when generators become available in our area again.

We have county water and propane water heaters, water and bathing ain’t an issue. My wife has a vast supply of small lanterns, flashlights and candles, but refrigeration is an issue.

We are using a friend’s 3500 watt generator now. It ran all night on one tank of non ethanol gas.(About 12 hrs) We had our refrigerator, a tv, several lamps and my noise maker fan running without a hitch.

It was nice to turn on the coffee maker this morning!

We’re giving it a rest now. I hope we don’t have to restart it...

 

[Iggy]

Buy the Generac. It prevents outages from happening. I have only had about 30 minutes of outage since we bought it 7 years ago.

 

[Golphin]

Here in Florida we have been there and done that many times. I should put a big permanent generator in but for years I have gotten by with me portable running my well fridge freezer and a few fans and lights. We have been without power for almost 2 weeks at a time and that gets old fast with no A/C.

Generators are like guns and ammo in a way. When the big storm is aimed at us the stores run out of generators fast and then the scalpers bring them in, mark them up and sell them. Then after the storm season the pawn shops will be full of them and the big box stores will have great prices on the new ones.

 

[Stevens]

We recently bought a 22kw Generac, natural gas powered. Since installing it we have only needed it a couple of times short runs a few hours. More and more people are installing these, in the back of my mind I have wondered if the Nat. gas lines will be able to keep up with the growing demand. I asked at the office of the local gas co. the assured me "no problem" (of course). I will say the gas main line along the highway was replaced a couple of years ago, hopefully capacity enough to keep up with demand. I have kept my 7.8 KW PTO driven unit which runs off my JD lawn tractor, just in case!
Steve W

 

[Golddollar]

Generac Generator 22KV will do the entire house. Drawback is it either needs propane or will run on Natural Gas if available.
Installation, wiring disconnect panel, permits (where required) and associated fees should run about $9K+/-.
Extended warranty for 10 years is about &750 more.
Once installed and operational you are set for anything except a direct hit by a tornado.
Main drawback is the wait time from contract signing until installation...Generac is swamped. I waited about 8 weeks, but beat out the worst of the hurricane season and haven't needed it yet.
Thom Braxton
SWCA #1474

You make me glad I got mine installed 3 years ago. I have this same size Generac generator and with all my medical issues it is very reassuring to have. I still have a recollection of over around Baltmore (only 45 miles away from my house) that because of either Hurricane Sandy or an ice storm people didn't have power for a week.

 

[S&W629]

I will say ...my Honda EU2000i...has been a great investment....it will run the gas furnace....the refrigerator....the big screen...two laptops...microwave...on one gallon of gas..for eleven hours!!...with a three gallon marine fuel tank...that I can top off every 24 hours ..without needing to shut down the Honda...has made life livable this week of the freeze outage...

 

[BSA1]

I have a small Coleman generator that is sufficient for keeping the cold stuff cold and running the fan on the furnace. I do have plans to get a dual
fuel generator as part of my Preppers gear.

Propane lasts almost forever but the fuel valves don’t which is why the tanks should be exchanged occasionally.