Home emergency generators

[Hellisht]

How big a generator does one need to make it thew a power outage. To run a furnace, fridge,freezer and a lite or two. An the tv of course. Lol

 

[aandpdan]

It varies considerably. How much do you WANT versus NEED to run? Do a load calculation.

I've gone 5 days with an 800 watt generator. That was a small TV, computer, router, a couple of CFL's and the boiler OR the fridge. Neither has to run 24/7. I only ran the generator about 4-5 hours a day tops.

What will the fuel source be?

 

[jayoldschool]

I bought a 9000W from Costco about six years ago. It's brand new, in the box, still sitting in my garage. I should return it.

I bought it to run the fridge, oil burner, well pump, sump, lights, TV, satellite.

 

[AndyA]

I would hate to spend a lot of money for something you only use once or twice a year (if that). Consider buying an engine drive welder. A miller bobcat will cost you around $3500. It is a 9500 watts (11000 watt peak) generator.

You can use it as a generator those two days a year when the power is out, and you can weld with it the other 363 days.

The downside is it isn't a full-integrated generator. You'll have to manually connect it and crank it up.

 

[Morrison]

I bought a 9000W from Costco about six years ago. It's brand new, in the box, still sitting in my garage. I should return it.

I bought it to run the fridge, oil burner, well pump, sump, lights, TV, satellite.

You think they would return a 6 year old generator?

 

[motoretro]

I run a Honda 5K Generator, I typically lose power 3-4 times a year. It's set up to plug into lead for transfer box for protection. I run a furnace, sump pump, fridge and a few lights, no problem. I drain the carb after use and use a anti-ethanol additive.
Good luck,
Motoretro

 

[Rogue1987]

You think they would return a 6 year old generator?

Costcos cool like that, they probably wouldn't blink when you asked to return it.

 

[J Dogg Z28]

About the smallest auto start, hard wired generator I've seen is a 7 kw unit that is wired to run the essentials only. 14 -17 kw gen sets could run nearly everything in the average home, and 20 kw runs it all no question.

The problems with smaller portable generators is 1) If you're not home, they don't work; 2) You have to run extension cords all over your house or hard wire a back feed; and 3) You have to venture out into whatever nasty weather caused the outage in the first place to connect and start them up. Two years ago, my wife had to go out in the middle of a hurricane at night by herself to get our generator going, while I was stuck at work. With a baby in the picture now, that is no longer an option.

When I got mine, the cost to go from a 14 kw, dedicated loads setup to a 20 kw whole house setup was just under $1000, due to more labor involved in moving the dedicated circuits over to the new generator switch box. Everything in my house is electric (heat, well, hot water, sump pump, etc.). It was an easy decision for me. Expensive insurance / peace of mind.

 

[Morrison]

Costcos cool like that, they probably wouldn't blink when you asked to return it.

Good to know!

 

[Rogue1987]

Good to know!

From what I know of their return policy they would even take it back if you'd been using it for the six years - if you were unsatisfied in any way.

 

[p_mori7]

I have a 5000W constant, 6250 starting PowerStroke generator.

I paid about $500 + taxes for it from Home Depot last year.

Add another couple of hundred for the proper cable to the proper hook-up.

It has a Chinese Honda clone engine.

It runs:
-Sump pump
-TV
-Phone/Internet router
-All lights
-Fridge
-Freezer
-Microwave
-Blower fan on my propane 35K BTU stove.

Have used it 2x in the past year. Work perfectly.

It runs on regular gas (certified E10 Ethanol).

I keep it about half full of gas, with fuel stabilizer added. I keep about 15-20 gallons on hand in the garage all the time (stabilized & circulated through my yard tractor).

I run it 20 minutes every month or so, shut off the fuel petcock so the carb runs dry afterwards.

It produces nice clean 60Hz power.

It is pretty quiet for a non-inverter model.

I find it very well built. Wheels and hand-truck style handle were included.

 

[bearskinner]

we are looking at a 11KW LPG unit, 200 amp transfer switch, with a few 220V and about 14 more 110V circuits. that will cover our well, elect water heater and enough of the kitchen, master bedroom, living room to keep it seamless. If its long term, I can shut it down and run the Honda to just keep a couple things going. Look at your full usage needs, than your must have needs

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I bought a 9000W from Costco about six years ago. It's brand new, in the box, still sitting in my garage. I should return it.

I bought it to run the fridge, oil burner, well pump, sump, lights, TV, satellite.

Waiting until an emergency arises and then attempting to unpack, service with oil and gas, and get a generator running, is, to put it bluntly, a pretty stupid thing to do. You have no idea if this is a "Friday or Monday" generator that is planning on throwing a rod after a couple of hours (and now the warranty is long gone), or whether the generator is going to put out power or not, or if you are going to have a gas leak, or carb troubles, or whatever.

Power is out, wife is screaming to do something, you are under pressure to get the unit serviced and running, and you FORGET to put oil in the engine (EXTREMELY COMMON mistake by people buying new gas engine products). Now what do you do?

I bought a generator that was in that same situation. It was ten years old, the couple were divorcing, and a co-worker got it and resold it to me for less than half what it sold for new. It was still in the plastic wrap, and had never been serviced with fuel or oil.

Charles

 

[Allenw]

Big enough to handle the furnace and a bit more for the lights and TV, you can cycle the refridgerator a couple of times a day and the ffreezer once a day if you stay out of it. You could probably get buy with about 3000w or a bit more if you didn't run every thing at the same time. The fan motor in the furnace would be your biggest load.

 

[thammel]

i have an automatic standby 8kw winco generator which is fueled by my buried propane tank. Works fine to handle all the necessities.

These are well pump, multiple fridges, etc.

Tom

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

My question is how are you all storing enough fuel to run these big gen sets? My little honda will run me out of fuel pretty quick running 24-7
The gas around here goes bad pretty fast. I don't think with stabil it will last over a year. I don't think changing out large amounts of fuel every few months is very feasible either.

 

[James-W]

Unless the power in your area goes out and stays out for a considerable length of time on a regular basis, I have my doubts whether it pays to have a generator on hand. I mean, around where I live the power rarely goes out and if it does go out it is only for a few minutes. With that in mind, for me to buy a generator and keep in handy in case of a power failure, in my opinion I would say that it is sort of silly. On the other hand, if I lived somewhere where the power would go out on a regular basis and stay out for days at a time, different story.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I have a 17kw backup generator on my house and unfortunately I use it quite often. Mine is wired into an automatic transfer switch and powered by propane so I don't have to do anything during a power outage, it's all automatic. I have the furnaces, refrigerator, upstairs A/C, 220v Microwave, basic lighting and plugs throughout the house. It's not quite full house backup but it works for me. If you want to run stoves, A/C units and such you are looking at 12kw or bigger. you have to have enough power capacity to handle the initial power surge when something kicks on.

In my area I wouldn't be without a backup generator. When I built the house I was more concerned with outages in the winter but I ended up using it more in the summer months, from power outages due to thunderstorms and hurricanes, then I use it in the winter months.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I've gone 5 days with an 800 watt generator. That was a small TV, computer, router, a couple of CFL's and the boiler OR the fridge. Neither has to run 24/7. I only ran the generator about 4-5 hours a day tops.

Impressive load management on 800 watts ! My personal recommendation would be 2000-3000 watts. Spend the extra and get an inverter generator !

If you are going to go with the cheap HF 900 watt generator, remember it is 2 stroke so have 2 stroke oil on hand and buy a couple of American/Japanese spark plugs. The Chinese ones are ****.

Buy 2, they are cheap, and buy the extended warranty !

 

[coljar]

My question is how are you all storing enough fuel to run these big gen sets? My little honda will run me out of fuel pretty quick running 24-7
The gas around here goes bad pretty fast. I don't think with stabil it will last over a year. I don't think changing out large amounts of fuel every few months is very feasible either.

The gas company sends it to me through a pipe.

 

[aandpdan]

Impressive load management on 800 watts ! My personal recommendation would be 2000-3000 watts. Spend the extra and get an inverter generator !

I've since upgraded to a 3kw generator. It was a pain to watch the loads on the 800 watt generator. Fortunately, the boiler only draws about 420 depending on the circulators and the fridge is about 580 watts.

If you are going to go with the cheap HF 900 watt generator, remember it is 2 stroke so have 2 stroke oil on hand and buy a couple of American/Japanese spark plugs. The Chinese ones are ****.

Buy 2, they are cheap, and buy the extended warranty !

That's what got me through the 5 day storm. X2 on the spark plugs. It ran/runs very well and is quiet. Fortunately it's easy on the gas too.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Impressive load management on 800 watts ! My personal recommendation would be 2000-3000 watts. Spend the extra and get an inverter generator !

If you are going to go with the cheap HF 900 watt generator, remember it is 2 stroke so have 2 stroke oil on hand and buy a couple of American/Japanese spark plugs. The Chinese ones are ****.

Buy 2, they are cheap, and buy the extended warranty !

On those two cycle 800-1000 watt Chinese generators sold at various stores; don't overlook the break-in running time..... Expect to do some baby sitting prior to putting those things to normal use...

Just giving a Fair warning for the Folks who have one still in the box and think: """ it is there if I need it"""


I agree with your recommendation to go with a bigger unit..

 

[theoldwizard1]

On those two cycle 800-1000 watt Chinese generators sold at various stores; don't overlook the break-in running time..... Expect to do some baby sitting prior to putting those things to normal use...

Just giving a Fair warning for the Folks who have one still in the box and think: """ it is there if I need it"""

Proper break in is IMPERATIVE !

I would also take off all of the heat shields/covers and check all the fasteners to be certain the are tight. Maybe a drop of Lock-Tite on the carburetor/intake manifold bolts, a dab of high temp anti-seize on the muffler bolts.

I have heard a lot of issues with the fuel lines and fuel shutoff. Replace the lines with Tygon and replace the fuel shutoff with a good one.

After every 3-6 tanks of fuel, I would go through the same procedure.

 

[motoretro]

There are lots of factors here, some that change with the seasons. After last winter, 2-3 days without power is problematic with the chance of freezing pipes and just plain freezing. We have a high water table and unless the sump pump cycles at least once an hour, you'll be bailing. After 2-3 days, you'll have a couple feet of water in your basement to deal with. On my street, we call it generator alley, imagine (10) generators running for 2-3 days.......
Motoretro

Unless the power in your area goes out and stays out for a considerable length of time on a regular basis, I have my doubts whether it pays to have a generator on hand. I mean, around where I live the power rarely goes out and if it does go out it is only for a few minutes. With that in mind, for me to buy a generator and keep in handy in case of a power failure, in my opinion I would say that it is sort of silly. On the other hand, if I lived somewhere where the power would go out on a regular basis and stay out for days at a time, different story.

 

[Paul1956]

Just get one of these...

http://www.norwall.com/products/Gen...ator-RD03024?gclid=CIH5_t-91MACFc1i7AodjWcAbw

...then get the city, HOA and whatever permits to have
it installed and you are golden.

That is what we have here.

 

[rlitman]

Impressive load management on 800 watts !

Agreed. I have a 1000W Honda that I used in a similar situation. The fact that it sips gas is great. The fact that I can plug in my boiler and a TV, my refrigerator OR my freezer, but no two of those at any time makes it a major pain.
I've since picked up a 2000W Honda inverter. That thing is AWESOME! With only 120V out, it cannot power my whole house (like my big generator), but it covers all my power needs (just not some wants, like air conditioning or a microwave). And the portability makes it really convenient.

As said above, having something bigger, with a transfer switch, makes it much more comfortable to use. No need to refuel in the rain, or move around extension cords in bad weather (because who uses an emergency generator in sunny weather).

Something not mentioned in this thread, but should be brought up.
If a generator sits for too long, the windings can lose their residual magnetism, and will need to be re flashed. You're not going to be happy when you unbox a "new" generator that's sat for too long and runs great but doesn't put out any power when you need it.

 

[MFortie]

I'd like to hear opinions on fuel types for gensets. Consider usage to be once or twice a year (knock on wood) power outages.

And while it may or not be cost effective for the little usage, my well & pressure pump are electric and I have an elderly relative living on property that needs heat/AC for health reasons.

 

[Falcon67]

We have a 3500 Champion we use at the track a lot. At a little more than half load, it'll run through maybe 4+ gallons in 8 hours. That would be an AC unit that pulls 17A / 120V in 100F, plus some minor stuff like a radio, lights, computer and small floor fan. Just running lights and misc it ran 6 hours last weekend and hardly used any fuel. It'll be good enough for us. We have an electric furnace, so forget that. I'd need 15,000+ watts to get than thing running, or a 6500 minimum if I took the furnace apart and disconnected all but one element.

 

[EOC_Jason]

It's funny whenever a hurricane comes, people buy any and every generator possible. After storm season or next spring you see them all on craigslist CHEAP because people don't want them in the garage anymore or they never drained the gas and the carb is gummed up.

 

[bczygan]

Well dang, we screwed up.....

Shoulda bought a welder instead of a generator!

 

[sprchrgd1]

I purchased one of the el cheapo 7000 watt harbor freight ones 4 years ago. I have only used it once 2 years ago when a tornado tore up our neighborhood. I was the only one with power for four days! My wife laughed at me when I bought it. I was the one laughing when everyone else in the neighborhood was throwing away everything in their refrigerators and freezers. More than paid for itself just one in one use. I keep it filled with stabil, gas and run it every couple of months for about an hour.

 

[sourdough]

I have a portable Craftsman (Briggs & Stratton) 5.6K gasoline powered unit ($700 7 years ago) and the house is wired with an isolation 2-pole "transfer" breaker at the meter-base power panel feeding the main panel in our triple-wide modular 2100' house. My main concern is powering a forced-air propane furnace (winter only), a septic pump and controls, a microwave, a refrigerator, and two freezers, which it does nicely even when all six "appliances" run at the same time. We have a propane cook-stove (electric ignitors) and a propane water heater (standing pilot). The stove rangetop can be lit off with a match but the oven won't run unless the genset is running. Enough power to run interior lights when the genset is on. Power sharing is the key.

Biggest problem is setting the genset up in very inclement weather but my wife and I just tough it out in that situation and only run the genset until the refers are up to temp and the house is over-warm (74* setpoint), then repeat the cycle in a few hours. The fuel costs are minimal compared to freezing in the dark and having a thousand pounds of food go bad in the refers.

Jim

 

[Ben Buck]

Bought this from Sam's Club $799

Going to have it wired direct to the panel through an outside box and a panel interlock on Monday.

Our power goes off when a bird flies by a transformer and farts.

One just has to be ready,the 3500 watt unit we have will be a standby, can't wait to plug the big one in and let it rip!!

 

[Charles (in GA)]

My neighborhood is unusual, one well and one house on the EMC, while the remaining two wells and 30+ houses are on GA Power. The Cable booster boxes are powered upstream from us by EMC, so If EMC goes out, the cable quits after a couple of hours (backup batteries in the booster boxes die). Happened Sunday nite. Serious bad weather in the late afternoon and evening. Lots of lightning, more than I've ever seen in one storm. I got home and got the car in the shop, and was afraid to run to the house, too many close hits. GA Power stayed on, but EMC went out.

I ended up taking my generator up to the EMC powered well and pumping the tank back up, which held them till the power came back on during the night (1500 or so gal tank, takes several hours for the pressure to get down enough for the pump to kick back in). Its a max load for my 6500 watt gen, in fact its an overload as the well pump draws about 28 amps, but the generator ran for most of an hour bringing the tank back up to 60 psi, and didn't miss a beat.

Our HOA owns a 10K watt generator, but it doesn't run very well and I've got to rebuild the carb on it I guess. Something to be said for Diesel instead of gas. By the way, the battery was dead on my genny and showed 12.25 volts and the chargers (tried two) would NOT charge it at all, but turn the key and the voltage went to nothing. I ended up pull starting it, which isn't easy, but since I had the genny prepped and ready to run, and I'd practiced pull starting before, I was able to get it running. Try that with your new out of the box, never serviced several year old generator.

Charles

 

[pentavolvo]

I have a small Coleman powermate 1800watt rated with a subaru engine. It will light my house, power fridge, and we can watch tv, all while the furnace is running. Have to be very careful with load sharing but it works. Is quiet and sips fuel. 1 gallon every 4 to 5 hours

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I run a 6500 portable diesel unit in a hush box. Runs my whole house except my central air system. Nice thing is it's portable so when I move it comes with me.

 

[olytdi]

I don't currently have a generator but am considering one. In my research/reasoning, for me a dedicated automatic generac type would make the most sense. I have natural gas so it could have uninterrupted fuel supply. Power outages here generally are a day or two at a time and usually in the winter. But...every 5 years or so, we'll get an ice storm that knocks power out for a week or more. That *****.

Because I have a gas on-demand water heater and a gas fireplace, I can keep warm and shower during these outages. I cannot refrigerate or use lights, or cook.

A portable generator for a week-long outage would take a huge amount of gas that would have to be carted, probably daily. Then there is storage of the portable genset, fuel, setup, etc. It seems easier to me to spend the $4 - $5 K to put in a stationary, automatic unit once and be done. At least in my application.

Only downside that I can see is that here in earthquake country, after "the big one," there likely would be a natural gas interruption rendering my setup useless. But that's once in a lifetime compared to yearly multi-day outages and occasional week-long power outages.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Bought this from Sam's Club $799

Going to have it wired direct to the panel through an outside box and a panel interlock on Monday.

Our power goes off when a bird flies by a transformer and farts.

One just has to be ready,the 3500 watt unit we have will be a standby, can't wait to plug the big one in and let it rip!!

Does that thing REALLY have a label that says "Electric Push Start"?!

Tommy

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I don't currently have a generator but am considering one............ Because I have a gas on-demand water heater and a gas fireplace, I can keep warm and shower during these outages. I cannot refrigerate or use lights, or cook

I think your shower is gonna be a cold one. The gas on demand water heaters use 120v current to operate the controls, flow sensing, temp control, gas valve, etc.

Charles

 

[theoldwizard1]

I purchased one of the el cheapo 7000 watt harbor freight ones 4 years ago. I have only used it once 2 years ago when a tornado tore up our neighborhood. I was the only one with power for four days! My wife laughed at me when I bought it. I was the one laughing when everyone else in the neighborhood was throwing away everything in their refrigerators and freezers.

The neighbor was kind enough to share his 3500 watt generator during The Great East Coast/Midwest Blackout. We could ran 3 or 4 'fridges, a couple of freezers, some fans and some lights.

I told him to keep one of my 100' 12 gauge cords and bought another !