We had a 2-hour sudden volts outage today apparently because they had to cut the power to protect some guys doing some emergency work. My UPS behaved well, and by dint of turning off the computers, the UPS lasted just long enough to keep the router and phone system running.
However given that only because our postcode is fed by a tap off the 11kV line crossing the field across the road, did we miss the 8 hour outage that affected the rest of the village a couple of days ago. So I'm minded to look seriously at a petrol driven genny with 3.5 to 5kW output connected via a proper transfer switch. No need for auto switchover, I think.
Anyone done this? If so, what kit did you use and what gotchas should I be looking out for?
Yup, did it about 18 months ago when it looked probable that power outages were possible due to the effects of the kgb gnome and his delusions of greatness. As it turned out, that did not come to pass - but it has been handy for a couple of "several hour" outages of the more normal "you are on the end of a long overhead HV line" kind.
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Switching kit shown in the wiki page. The genset is a Pramac P3500i,
3.5kW unit.
(I was going to get a Hyundai HY3200SEi initially - but then it turned out there was no actual stock after ordering! Pleased with the Pramac though)
3kVA petrols are normally crap short lived things. Petrol sat in the tan goes off. 2 strokes are especially unreliable. Diesel gennies are a vast improvement IMLE, would take an old one over a new petrol any time.
I will leave that as a decision for most people :-)
Much depends on what you buy. At the chinese budget end, probably, but at the Honda inverter end, they will last for years.
Can't say I have ever had this problem... spose it might be more of a problem with E10. I routinely leave fuel in my garden tools over winter and never have any problem starting them (but I use E5/Super).
I doubt there are many 2 stroke 3kVA gens on the market these days.
Ex military, or something like a lighting poll rig might be good.
You probably ought to consider what stock of fuel you have at hand.
just be aware that most have short lives. If you only use it once or twice, no biggie but don't expect many hours. We used several that were supposedly wise choices for long heavy site use, all day every day and none survived. Shame I can't remember the makes. Certainly not cheap chinese things.
Most people run gennies 24 hours a day during an outage, depending on what critical machinery in the house needs to keep running. In summer, you might get away with 10-12 hour operation of one.
If you combine a generator with a battery, then the generator can be run in "batches". Say it takes five hours to charge the battery, at full generator output. Maybe the generator only has to run for one session a day, to prop a good sized battery and inverter up.
One company makes a product for this, but the damn thing can either recharge, or it can discharge, but their design does not allow doing both at the same time. There are other products that do support all modes of operation at the same time (run generator, run electric fire, as long as genny > load, the battery recharges). So you can buy such things, it's just that the sad version does more advertising than the good versions do.
A typical battery+inverter, might have a solar input. You might have to look a bit harder to find one with a genny input provided.
During our outage here, one complaint I heard in local reports was "oh, the cost of fuel". There was a lot of whining about that, and how the power company should provide compensation (take the weeks outage off the bill). I don't know what it costs to run a genny at idle. but that might figure into your budgeting.
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"The Enphase IQ Battery is an AC-coupled lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery that comes in 3- and 10-kWh sizes that can be mixed and matched to create a larger battery bank.
In addition, IQ batteries can be connected to fossil fuel backup generators from popular companies like Kohler, Generac, and Cummins."
"...continuous output of just 3.84 kW"
It really depends on how often you think the grid will be down, as to what expense you go to. Having the genny alone, ensures you have some options.
One thing I saw during our outage, is one neighbour ran an extension cord to another neighbour, and the cord must have been a couple hundred feet long and went right across the roadway. I thought for sure this would be ripped to shreds, but the car drivers were nice about it and tried to approach the cord with caution (it's a wide residential street). The cord actually survived the week long "trial".
Engine every time. From looking more into it, these things just aren't rated for much life. Cheapos are even worse of course, there are 60 hour rated engines out there. Most 3kW petrols really are only intended for occasional short use. If that fits the OP's use, ok, if not I'd look at something better.
Often people look at what they want to run & size accordingly, leading to an OTT power figure. If you use fuel for your kettle that figure can be cut hugely.
I have a 1kW inverter generator which was a fairly cheap Chinese model. It lasted quite a few years of very occasional use until recently, when I was testing it there was a VERY loud bang and it stopped dead. It is no longer possible to turn the engine. I haven't yet dismantled it to find out what went wrong, but I expect it is terminal. John
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