OT: Generator Recommendation

[Steve Turner]

Bub, I think you and I must have come off the same assembly line; some of our mental wiring is nearly identical. :-)

[spaco]

If you don't already understand transfer switches and tranfer switching, take some time and read up on it. You WILL need one for any extended power outages OR you will be running extension cords all over the place. Even with extension cords, you will still have issues with devices that are "hard wired" into your electrical system.

Pete Stanaitis

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shooter wrote:

[Artemus]

For me the only critical hard wired device was the furnace so I added an outlet box and plug right at the furnace in the garage. Art

[Morgans]

Get any brand with the type of voltage outlets and setups you are looking for that is powered by a genuine Honda engine.

It is the only engine that I feel confident in saying that it will start immediately after long periods of time without attention.

They will also start after filling up the tank, while it is very hot from a long, high power run.

[Morgans]

"HeyBub" wrote

I would still not hesitate to buy a Honda, but I read a blog somewhere about tricks to quiet noisy or quiet generators, even further.

This guy welded a short fitting for auto exhaust pipe over the outlet of the generator's muffler. He used a piece of flex pipe to hook up a muffler mounted on the side of the generator frame with rubber mounts; just a cheap car muffler. He said the mechanical noise of the valves and camshaft and pistons and rods going about their way could be heard more loudly than the exhaust note.

He then made up a box from the fiberglass board used to make furnace trunk lines, and arranged it so any noise escaping from the enclosure had to go around a couple corners to get out. By the time it had bounced off a couple pieces of fiberglass board, the sound was pretty much absorbed. He had a good sized box fan mounted to blow cool fresh air across the generator, so it didn't overheat. He said you could stand right next to it running at full load and carry on a conversation at normal volume levels.

Pretty neat ideas out there. I guess the key is to get a large enough generator to run the house air conditioning so the windows can stay shut so you don't hear all of the neighbor's generators. If a person had a super quiet setup, perhaps they could convince the neighbors to make a quite box for their generators. (with a little help, perhaps )

[HeyBub]

Or just tell the neighbors to take their generator inside.

[Larry Jaques]

ROTFLMAO! _That'll_ teach 'em!

-- Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed. -- Storm Jameson

[Steve B]

My BIL had four relatives die from CO poisoning from running a generator in their garage. Their power had been turned off, but they had the money to pay the bill. They never figured out WTF they were thinking. Either about not paying the bill or running the generator inside the garage.

So, even regular people make mistakes sometimes, I guess. Too bad this one was costly.

Steve

Heart surgery pending? Read up and prepare. Learn how to care for a friend.