You have gas stations that only sell gas and oil? We sure don't have any of those here in NC. There is a profit margin on gas but it's generally pretty small. Store sales profit margin is 50% or higher.
most of their money comes from the snacks and drinks. Seriously.
nate
I have lurked on the sidelines and watched this thread progress and I must agree you don't NEED 8KW. However after experiencing several outages that stretched into the 10 day or longer periods it is certainly nice to have some creature comforts along about the 4th or fifth day. Running a generator at full load will shorten the life expectancy of the unit while running it at 50 percent load will allow the unit to operate longer with fewer repairs and use less fuel. It will also provide a cushion that allows you to be neighborly and keep others food from spoiling. By the next outage, they will probably have their own generator so they can enjoy a few creature comforts instead of merely existing. Then when yours goes down you can always walk over with a heavy duty extension cord over your shoulder and not feel guilty. Just my humble opinion from past experience.
=A0(possible)
I have been fine with a 4k one. I can't run the central ac's but I can run both gas furnaces and the kitchen fridge and bar minifridge. I hardwire it to the house and we use the lights, microwave, hairdryers, computers, and other appliances just as we normally would. I do tell everyone not to leave lights on and to consider the fact that we're on the generator. Yoiu can hear it crank harder when the microwave or a hair dryer is usd but most ofthe time it's no where near full load. Typically 5 gal of gas lasts the whole day. I put in a whole house fan to compensate for the loss of ac.
Well spoken Morton. My sentiments exactly. I will install the 8KW, and have the comforts that I choose. Hell, a hot water heater alone takes 5kw, so will have to balance the load when I run that once a day to warm up the water.
Also have to run a water pump, and other misc stuff in the house.
James
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I have lurked on the sidelines and watched this thread progress and I must agree you don't NEED 8KW. However after experiencing several outages that stretched into the 10 day or longer periods it is certainly nice to have some creature comforts along about the 4th or fifth day. Running a generator at full load will shorten the life expectancy of the unit while running it at 50 percent load will allow the unit to operate longer with fewer repairs and use less fuel. It will also provide a cushion that allows you to be neighborly and keep others food from spoiling. By the next outage, they will probably have their own generator so they can enjoy a few creature comforts instead of merely existing. Then when yours goes down you can always walk over with a heavy duty extension cord over your shoulder and not feel guilty. Just my humble opinion from past experience.
Here is the link to the trifuel generator made by Northern Industrial Tool:
James
I've never seen a place that was 100% gas and oil only. Even the most basic gas station has a stand-up cooler with overpriced bottles of soda next to the cash register, and a rack of smokes.
Judging by the looks of those places, though, I would say you're making a pretty safe assumption. Dirty, run-down, old pumps, potholes in the lot... They're not making any money, or they'd make improvements.
Why do they stay in business? Sheer stupidity, possibly. Who knows? Lots of people will continue to forge ahead with a failing business long after it's clear that there's no future.
Some of the places are owned by the fuel distributors, though. I know of two here locally that have signs proclaiming that they're owned by such-and-such oil company... That's called double-dipping. Not only do they get the distributor's cut, they also get the gas station's cut.
Same here. Pumps aren't the latest gee wiz built in advertising monsters, but the gas comes from the same place.
I'm also curious for the cite. Where I am, (NY State, USA) we often have gas lines exposed outside buildings.
What he said.
One station in Clyde, NY. Was in the small town fishwrapper, years ago. The tanks needed to be repaired some how. The owner just quit selling gas, and focussed on quick food, beer, lottery tickets, etc. Other gas stations picked up the slack
During power cut, it's very wise to cut the electric usage to the bone. On your list of essentials, furnace is nice for heat in the winter. Someone who needs 8K continuous run is trying to maintain a party life style during a depression era. Not wise.
Besides, all the neighbors will see all the lights, and come over to live there, and eat you out.
I can't say as I know of any "gasoline only" retail. Every one I know, has mini mart as part of the operation.
According to some, they would be in busines "because others have a need".
I cannot say I've ever heard of anyone who bought a generator to prepare for the next power cut. I may have, but sure can't remember. Most folks buy them during a power cut, for sure. The stores sell right out. I can't say as I remember anyone getting paid back for fuel, or for being given power as return kindness.
What's your future experience on the matter?
One time at a friend's, the electrician left his generator running while he was doing some wiring. They plugged in a coffee maker, you could really hear the engine work harder. I can run a window ac 10,000 BTU, on my 2500 watt generator.
I DID!! Bought one to be prepared many years ago!
Then added a couple more, a tiny one for quiet times, and a bigger one for bigger loads.Added a inverter later:)
My best friend did the same thing before a outage.
No offense but not everyone is unprepared!!
When you exercise a stationary generator, you want to run it long enough to boil away any raw gas or water that may be in the system. I installed quite a few Generac air and liquid cooled generators. My favorites are the 1800rpm liquid cooled units instead of the 3600rpm screamers which are either air or liquid cooled. Raw gas is not a problem with NG or LPG but moisture buildup in the exhaust system and crankcase can cause problems. Getting the whole thing warm tends to drive moisture out of every little nook and cranny which will help prevent corrosion of fasteners, electrical components and windings. One of the most vexing problems involved dirt/mud daubers building nests in every 1/4" opening on a generator especially vent tubes for the gas pressure regulators. This is solved by pinching the end of the tube down until it looks like a double barreled shotgun. Use it or lose it.
TDD
Lotsa former stations around here that now do repairs only, and tanks have been decommissioned in place or removed. In most cases, tanks were end-of-life, and state and/or insurance underwriter said they would have to be replaced with modern expen$ive plastic 2-layer tanks with the seepage alarms and such. There are probably now only 25% as many gas stations that there were in 1960 or so, nationwide. I think there are maybe 3-4 traditional gas and service bay stations left in the town, almost all having converted the service bays to retail space, and most of those eventually replacing the building entirely.
-- aem sends...
It may be common practice, but frost isn't the issue. I have little to no dirt on a property and was thinking about relocating a 500 gal propane tank a little farther away from the house mostly for visual reasons, but also to make winter deliveries up a frequently icy drive easier.
I was thinking I'd have to have some expensive rock trenching done, but the local propane supplier said we could also just mound dirt over the line. The requirement is to protect from casual abrasion.
Well, yes. A window AC has to plug into a bedroom outlet, which means it can't draw more than 1800 watts.
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