That's total crap. Run it for 5 or 10 minutes every couple months. No load needed. Turn off the gas and let it run out of gas each time. Keep a can of ether in case it's hard to start when you need it.
So, if buy gas at a gas staiton that only sells gas and oil, doesn't have a store, and doesn't fix cars...., am I to assume that they are not making any money? Why else would they be in business?
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:
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 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!!
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.
Of course we are prepared for "Man Caused Disasters". There are many lawyers available to defend the MCD suspects and the government has a large supply of prayer rugs, white robes, funny little knit hats and the latest version of The Koran,...the one with the explosives making instructions in the back. The present administration is quite prepared to take all MCD suspects into custody and give them the same rights and considerations as The American People they are sworn to maim and kill. What's the problem? The Obomination is on top of it.
TDD
Whenever there is some sort of disaster, entrepreneurs will load up trucks with all sorts of supplies to sell in the affected area but that was in the past. Now capitalists are charged with the crime of price gouging and often have their property confiscated by government types with guns. I thought it would be interesting to open a warehouse down in Florida well in advance of hurricane season and advertise things like batteries, generators, chain saws, etc at three times the going rate. No one would buy any until there was a disaster and when government types showed up to accuse you of price gouging, you can point out that your prices have been the same for months, what's the problem?
TDD
A fellow from Alaska got involved with a post about using similar fuels for heating and diesel engines along with jet fuel and kerosene for cross purposes. He said they brought fuel in by barge and didn't screw around with having too many categories of fuels. I wish one of our Alaskan friends would speak up and tell us all what will work.
TDD
Guy I know was bragging that he got a practically new generator at half price when he bought at HD as a return after a big outage.
Another point, made by guys at HD, is that in high demand periods, generators are made with a variety of motors and generating units. If you find a cheap unit with a Honda motor and a Generac power supply, you're finding a bargain. A Honda dealer had told me to look for the Generac part which is what came with my B&D PowerBoss.
After perusing thread, I started up my 4 year old unit yesterday as it had not been run in 3 months and it started on second pull of rope.
Exposed, yes, burried no. Frost heaving can fracture the line if not properly installed. Frost can move the ground 2 to 4 inches in some cases, but not a consistant move, someplaces it moves less than an inch, other places much more. Frost is nasty that way!
The bush doctrine WE FIGHT THEM THERE SO WE DONT HAVE TO FIGHT THEM HERE.
Well after the NEXT major attack on US soil:(
It will get changed too:
Bring the military back from peaceful areas of the world like japan and germany, and put them to work HERE for stuff like border security.
our country is broke having given away its wealth buying energy for a generation, and shipping our manufacturing base and even phone support jobs overseas.
we can no longer afford to be the worlds cop......
now its time to protect ourselves.
Airport security and TSA is all about making us feel safe, not about real safety.
a couple terrorists with a SAM can take out us airliners at any time.
having a generator or two, sopme shelf stable food, drinkable water, etc is survivalism its just good common sense........
Peter
There are a number of factual errors in your posting. Fuel gas lines do not have to be below the frost line. Under the miss utility laws of most states the liability is all with the person doing the digging who disturbs an existing line. We have had a number of propane installs done and a single central tank has always worked out cheaper in the long run. When we installed the generator at my firehouse the cost of the gas line was much cheaper than the additional cost of a diesel generator even though that was a natural gas and propane combination unit that needed a gas line run from the street as well as from the propane tank.
The point is that your own experience; or mine for that matter; will not, necessarily extrapolate well to another installation in another location.
-- Tom Horne
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