I am considering a generator for my home in case of power outages. Does anyone have any words of wisdom as to what I should or should not look for or have any recommendations on brands. I am looking for something in the 5KW range.
Thanks in advance.
Ronnie
---------------------------------------- For emergency use, get a standard "Contractor's Generator".
10HP, 5 KW, skid mount.5 gal of gasoline runs 8-10 nhours under full load.
Low cost, noisy, want to run it outside, and change the oil at least once a week. (SAE 30 non detergent).
Buy whatever Sam's, Costco, etc, is sellimg this week.
It's a throw away device.
BTDT,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, keep the T-Shirt.
Lew
Honda
My younger sister and her family lived in the NOLA area through several hurricanes. What they learned is that generators are nice, but if you need one for longer than a few days, there's one thing to consider: where will you get the fuel to keep it running? If *I* were doing this I would look at a natural gas generator, or conversion kit. Even when electricity goes out for extended periods of time, the gas is almost always on.
I'll second the Honda. There was a thread on another newsgroup recently. Someone bought a cheap generator. A small probably inexpensive part broke on it. He cannot find a replacement part. The generator is useless. Your chance of finding replacement parts for a Honda are a lot better than the junk products.
Someone else suggested buying a cheap disposable generator. Fine, but what if it disposes itself when you need it the most. Not a good idea for a backup generator. Pay me now or pay me later. Later could hurt big time.
I built my own generator over twenty five years ago. The engine has a cast iron block and runs at about 2200 RPM, the generator runs at 1800 RPM. It's made to run for long periods of time and it has. I've run it for over ten hours a day for weeks on end, just needs gas and oil. I don't use it much anymore but it's still running, no doubt a 3600 RPM unit would have died long ago. You can get 1800 RPM generators but the are a lot pricier than the 3600 RPM versions. The disposable guy would probably fill his pants if he saw the price of one.
I haven't paid much attention to generators for quite a few years so I'm not sure about the quality of the power they generate these days. They used to come in two varieties. A sine wave generator that produced a clean sine wave that was safe to use on electronics and a dirty sine wave that could only be used for lights and electric motors. Mine is the second variety. It can't power electronics. It will probably fry them.
LdB
In our case, I could borrow gasoline from my pickup, which had a 36 gallon tank, as I recall. The pickup's bed had been modified to make it a dump bed, so when the fuel filler was being modified, I just tossed away the barrier that prevented siphoning. It was also a very convenient way to "bring home" mower gas when I needed to refill a tank.
Micahah
My younger sister and her family lived in the NOLA area through several hurricanes. What they learned is that generators are nice, but if you need one for longer than a few days, there's one thing to consider: where will you get the fuel to keep it running? If *I* were doing this I would look at a natural gas generator, or conversion kit. Even when electricity goes out for extended periods of time, the gas is almost always on.
Having recently gone through Ike two years ago and being with out electricity for 11 days, finding gasoline was the least of my worries, it was every where. NOLA was a fluke and an ill prepared city.
When there is a blanket power outage such as that, the service stations are SOL as well. I always keep my vehicles topped up unless I am on a long highway burn, then I'll let them get down below 1/4. Seldom below 1/2 in the city.
Google 1998 Quebec ice storm and see the kind of trouble you can get into up here. Sample:
Some more info:
Something with a Honda engine is an excellent choice. Last year my brother was in the market for a genset and asked the local repair guys what they'd buy for their own use. Hands down - Honda. They also said to avoid the Subaru Robin engine - it is a good engine but it's impossible for them to get any repair parts. Likewise chinese generators.
If you are considering rolling your own take a look what these guys did.
Buy at least twice what you think you'll need. Do it once, do it right.
Steve
read about heart surgery and how to prepare for it at
That's not always good advice. A large lightly loaded genset can consume more fuel per hour than a properly sized one driving the same load. Art
But figure on 5 KW. Make sure you get 220 outlets. Not all of them do. Honda is a good choice, me thinks.
When there is a blanket power outage such as that, the service stations are SOL as well. I always keep my vehicles topped up unless I am on a long highway burn, then I'll let them get down below 1/4. Seldom below 1/2 in the city.
Google 1998 Quebec ice storm and see the kind of trouble you can get into up here. Sample:
Some more info:
But uh, how many hurricanes do you have up there. ;~) I see the need, for winter up there, but gasoline in the south has been harder to get during the
70 and 80's gas shortages than in my previous 4 hurricanes... Gas stations have generators too, they will be down longer waiting for the employees to find they way back to work than they will be from power outages. These places generally get preferential service since they are not normallly in a secluded area. Oddly the middle of my neighborhood was more secluded than across the street. Neighboras behind us and across the street from us had electricity after 5 days. We listened to the friken generators for 6 days.
Unless you're certain of having a source of fuel, gasoline should be your last fuel choice. A 5KW gas generator running at half load needs about 15 gallons every 24 hours. If you do selective power generation, you can easilly reduce the generator run time to less than
8 hours a day and even lower with some effort on your part. 30 gallons of gas could last 2 days or 6 days or 10 days - you need to work out what you absolutely must power (medical equipment, refrigeration for insulin, etc) and what isn't a necessity. An alternative for low power devices (CPAP, small fridge, etc) could be some big deep cycle batteries and an inverter. Charge the batteries while the generator is running bigger loads; shut off the generator when the big loads are no longer needed and run the essential items from the inverter until the batteries reach the half-charge point; restart the generator and recharge the batteries. (sounds almost lie a solar setup ;-)The next fuel choice is diesel, as the fuel keeps for extended periods if properly sealed, and it's not nearly as dangerous to store as gasoline. Yes, you will pay more for an 1800 rpm diesel generator (you really don't want a 3600 rpm diesel) but it will probably last 20 years.
Better than diesel is LP or natural gas. You can store 500 or 1000 gallons of LP for years and it will still be "like new" when you need to use it. The biggest difference between LP and natural gas is that you KNOW the LP gas is available but you don't know if the natural gas supplier is still functional.
John
Frankly, I'd get something like this:
When Hurricane Yikes hit Houston, FOUR MILLION people were without power for over two weeks! That included most every gas stations for 60 miles.
We had a generator and five gallons of gas. BFD!
Now, when a hurricane hits the Gulf, I've got 60 gallons of empty gas cans that are gonna get filled.
Most generators sound like the hinges on the gates of hell. They are LOUD!
One nice thing about a Honda is that it is considerably less noisy than the rest. This enables you to more clearly hear all your neighbors' generators.
Living in a dangerous place as I did once - we were out 17 days one time and then 11 the other - 11 for a massive earthquake. The 17 was a Pacific Storm.
Mart>
What you will want to do is a watt-load calculation for all of the "vital" devices in the house. Freezer(s), refrigerator(s), furnace(or boiler, or heat pump), one lighting circuit, medical devices, sewage and/or water pumps, radio (not television), and anything else you need (one circuit also for phone chargers)
When you get your final wattage, add 10% then you have what you need. When I was selling generators, people get surprised as to what they will need. 5KW might seem like a lot, but you might only be able to run a refrigerator and freezer depending on the age and condition of them. Switching is a short term solution but after 24 hours, it will not do any good.
When you get your final wattage, add 10% then you have what you need. Find a dealer in generators and see what an LP version of what you need is going to cost you. I say LP as NG might not be operational. LP is in a tank on your property, so it is readily available. Diesel would be my second choice. The fuel stores longer than gasoline but is more expensive than LP to operate and can take longer to get delivered than LP in certain areas. LP dealers usually have an emergency phone number and deliver within hours of calling. Also LP tanks are available at Lowe's, HD, Wally World, or any convenient store. You would just need to make sure that you have the fittings on hand. Again, check all of your options.
Now if you only have occasional power outages (less than 3 per year, each only less than 48 hours), then a decent generator really isn't worth the investment. Then pick up a small generator. But then they take the same effort to install (correctly) than a decent 10-12KW version and would require gasoline. So I would check to see if there are any gas stations that use a generator themselves or you might be up the creek. Many gas stations don't use generators unless they are in a power outage prone area. In this area, I know of only one gas station that uses a generator.
Finally, check with your code enforcement/ building department. If you live in or near a larger metropolitan area, some do not allow portable generators. Some areas require you to have a permit to operate it. There are some things that they could require you to have as well.
Allen
Thank you for that. What you say makes nothing but good sense.
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