Portable generators

[Matt Matt]

Are you backed up or have a back up Gen at home???

I can say safely say I’ve never had one. But I recently sold my timeshare which had one at each of the 18 units. It is/was LP fed. It was needed for mainly sub pump and was only a 10,000 w unit. Every Wednesday at lunchtime (noon) the power would be shut off for 15 minutes(testing). We were only asked to not use the dryer or dishwasher at this time.

My question is is how many people are using a back up generator quite frequently??? And what are you using it for? Do you have outages exceeding one hour?

 

[Musicinabottle]

Here in North Idaho, yes! We've lost it up to 9 days with the snow storms at the beginning of the season. I grew up in this house of mine and we never had power or phone until I was 17 years old, so the power outages are no sweat to me, but the wife on the other hand...... So we have a little Honda 3000ie which runs her tv and a couple lights as well as our fridges. I like the inverter generator because I can run it at 1/4 throttle for noise and fuel conservation. I have a 5000 watt Generac for my work.

 

[Matt Matt]

A good buddy of mine owns/shares a Island with one other occupant. No Electric power. His wife now needs sleep apnoea Machine that requires a trickle feed of electricity. Well on the island they do everything the old-fashioned way. They’re both in their 80s. They just bought a 1500 W Honda generator over night sleep. Maybe different strokes for different folks.

 

[finn]

We have power outages perhaps six to ten times per year, but they are generally short duration, a couple of hours or less, due to trees over the lines.

Two years ago, power was out for about ten hours, but that’s the longest I remember.

 

[exranger06]

We rarely lose power, but a few weeks ago we had a bad snow storm that knocked the power out for about 11 hours. My wife was not happy about that and insisted we buy a generator. So I just bought one and just took it out of the box and tested it yesterday. It's a Champion 5500w that can run on gasoline or propane. I also just finished installing a generator inlet on my house and an interlock kit on my main panel, so I can power just about anything in the house.

 

[walrus]

I just got done fixing battery for electric start on a a used Gennie I bought. Last october we had a massive wind storm that left most of Maine without power, some for several weeks. Was glad I had it. I finally bought an interlock kit but haven't installed it yet. Need to get an outlet outdoors, under deck so Generator can be wheeled into place. I figure under deck is semi protected. I might build a mouse proof shack over it that can be removed when it needs to be used. Cleaning snow off deck makes it so getting gennie under there when its needed might be impossible. Haven't used it again since then. We generally have an issue once of twice a year. I could care less about a few hour outage its only when its going to last a day or more that I care.

 

[CJM8515]

I have a cheapo chinese unit, we used it when superstorm sandy hit NJ several years back. It was good to run some basic lights, fridges/freezer and so forth. It would power the tv, but the throttle up that happened every few mins (IDK why I guess the load changed when like a fridge kicked on fully) would shut off the computers, dvd player and cable modem. We used it for 3 weeks with no real issues.

Id buy a honda or yamaha if I wanted a nice one that would last.

 

[Lelandwelds]

I just got done fixing battery for electric start on a a used Gennie I bought. Last october we had a massive wind storm that left most of Maine without power, some for several weeks. Was glad I had it. I finally bought an interlock kit but haven't installed it yet. Need to get an outlet outdoors, under deck so Generator can be wheeled into place. I figure under deck is semi protected. I might build a mouse proof shack over it that can be removed when it needs to be used. Cleaning snow off deck makes it so getting gennie under there when its needed might be impossible. Haven't used it again since then. We generally have an issue once of twice a year. I could care less about a few hour outage its only when its going to last a day or more that I care.

If you limit what gets the backup power, an inverter generator becomes practical. It is smaller than a 20 qt ice chest and you carry it with one hand. Testing regularly is an intrusive PITA if done. You tempt failure when needed if you dont.

A large battery powered UPS is an excellent addition or alternative to a conventional genny.

 

[crewchief888]

i bought a portable generator after we lost power a couple times and ended up with a flooded basement. 1st time it happened was morning, a month after we bought the house, and moved in.

if it's storming and the power goes out, i have 5 or 6 minutes (sometimes less) to get the sump pumps running before the pits start to overflow.

i can run both sump pumps, power up the TV/satellite/modems, and run a couple fans if needed.

i try to run the generator every spring for a couple hours, and top it off with fresh gas and sta-bil

 

[Lelandwelds]

i bought a portable generator after we lost power a couple times and ended up with a flooded basement. 1st time it happened was morning, a month after we bought the house, and moved in.

if it's storming and the power goes out, i have 5 or 6 minutes (sometimes less) to get the sump pumps running before the pits start to overflow.

i can run both sump pumps, power up the TV/satellite/modems, and run a couple fans if needed.

i try to run the generator every spring for a couple hours, and top it off with fresh gas and sta-bil

I guess that beats a hand operated bilge pump.

My complaint against the genny is enduring the continuous noise for tiny partial or intermittent loads. I like battery operated inverters so my nerves can get a break.

 

[crewchief888]

I guess that beats a hand operated bilge pump.

My complaint against the genny is enduring the continuous noise for tiny partial or intermittent loads. I like battery operated inverters so my nerves can get a break.

yea, approx 1400 SQ/ft with 8" of water would have taken a while to hand pump.

nearly everyone in my small neighborhood has a generator.

i leave mine sitting in the open doorway of the garage, it's out of the weather, and some of the noise is muffled. i swear the neighbor 2 doors down doesnt have a muffler on his generator, i can be standing right next to mine and still hear his running

 

[Lelandwelds]

Z

yea, approx 1400 SQ/ft with 8" of water would have taken a while to hand pump.

nearly everyone in my small neighborhood has a generator.

i leave mine sitting in the open doorway of the garage, it's out of the weather, and some of the noise is muffled. i swear the neighbor 2 doors down doesnt have a muffler on his generator, i can be standing right next to mine and still hear his running

I remember some old movie that had one with an 8 ft handle and a four inch discharge. I guess it depends on the pump.

Damn! How often does the power go out? No ERCOT where you live? If it wasn't for welding machines, almost no one here would have a genny for home power.

 

[crewchief888]

Z

I remember some old movie that had one with an 8 ft handle and a four inch discharge. I guess it depends on the pump.

Damn! How often does the power go out? No ERCOT where you live? If it wasn't for welding machines, almost no one here would have a genny for home power.

we havent lost power here, except momentarily, for 2 or 3 years...


ERCOT ?

 

[Aaron_W]

We lived in the mountains for 7 years during that time had power outages several times a year ranging from several hours to a week or more. Most were 6-48 hours, longest was over 2 weeks. Usual cause was storms in the winter and wildfires in the summer.

We were able to borrow a generator for some of the longer duration outages.


We were seriously thinking about buying a small one when we moved, but where we are not it isn't a major issue. At most twice a year and all have been less than 24 hours, most under 6 hours.


When we did use a generator it was just to cool the refrigerator and cycle the fish tanks.

We just viewed it like camping in the house, we had a wood stove for heat and a gas stove that could be lit with a match. We have a variety of lanterns battery and oil for light. Through my work we had access to showers for longer duration power outages.

 

[6768rogues]

A good buddy of mine owns/shares a Island with one other occupant. No Electric power. His wife now needs sleep apnoea Machine that requires a trickle feed of electricity. Well on the island they do everything the old-fashioned way. They’re both in their 80s. They just bought a 1500 W Honda generator over night sleep. Maybe different strokes for different folks.

I had a CPAP that used a power supply providing 12 volts. I bought a cord with a car type power plug on it. Then I used a portable jump start unit with a 12 volt power outlet. The battery would run the CPAP all night. I had to charge it during the day, but it kept me from running a generator overnight.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have had 5000W portable for over 10 years. Never had to use it. I figure I could run 2 or 3 of my neighbors houses as long as they are only using it for refrigeration, lights and entertainment. Bring your own extension cords !

 

[James-W]

Years ago when our two daughters were little the wife and I considered buying a generator. We had thought that by owning a generator if the power went out for any length of time at least we could turn on a few lights and run the furnace to keep the kids warm. But the power around here goes out so seldom that I can't even tell you when the last time the power went out. I know some people who bought a Home Standby generator from Generac and have never needed to use it. Now they wished they hadn't bought it. The standby generator works just fine, but if the power doesn't go out, what is the point to it? Now if you lived someplace where power outages were very frequent, whole different story.

 

[BobLon]

We live in Florida, so... hurricanes.
I've had a portable generator for years. It is amazing how much difference a little bit of power can make when the option is having none. Especially when it's 90+ degrees and the same for humidity.

We bought a new house last year and next month we are having a whole house generator put in with a 1000 gallon buried propane tank. We just had roll down hurricane shutters put in so we should be set.

Of course, now having prepared we may not see a hurricane for years, and that's ok too.

My advice on portable generators is fire them up at least once a year if you haven't used it. Just put a small amount of gas in it and run it dry. Mine is 10 years old and starts right up every time.

BobL.

 

[gemniii]

Are you backed up or have a back up Gen at home???

Back in 2003 Hurricane Isabel knocked out our power for a few days and in the years prior to that we suffered several multi hour outages. Each time my wife would go around lighting candles. I was concerned the house would burn down. So at first chance I bought a honda powered 6.5K generator.
Other than testing a few times a year I've NEEDED to run it ONCE, for about 3 hours over the 15 years.

That being written I've a Harbor Freight 0.8Kw, used for camping a few times and a 12Kw PTO generator, again only run for testing/exercise.

I've a "rental" house my son and family live at and I bought a dual fuel 10KW a few years ago, which was used for about a week when their power went out and several times since for running construction equipment.

If you've the money and area I definitely recommend a backup generator.
AND/OR
If you are invested in the DeWalt 20V max or Flexvolt tools buy a DCB1800B. It will run a fridge for a bit.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Z

I remember some old movie that had one with an 8 ft handle and a four inch discharge. I guess it depends on the pump.

Damn! How often does the power go out? No ERCOT where you live? If it wasn't for welding machines, almost no one here would have a genny for home power.

Lot more trees in Indiana than Texas. Ice and wind play heck with power lines when they start snapping tree branches.

 

[Falcon67]

>ERCOT
Electric Reliability Council of Texas - we have our own grid here. Still get power outages, so that's not that special. Used to lose power often on the co-op, now on AEP and lost power twice Tuesday night during heavy lightening. Just seconds, but still. And we have plenty of trees and overhead lines. Worse in east piney woods and south Texas that out here in the west.

Our 6500 Champion would run everything we need should it come to that.

 

[Lelandwelds]

Lot more trees in Indiana than Texas. Ice and wind play heck with power lines when they start snapping tree branches.

I have lots of trees. Some of the 80 yo ones are 15 to 20 ft tall! My place is two ft to sixty ft thick solid rock. It starts around a foot deep. Hard for trees to get very big.

ERCOT is the electric reliability council of Texas. A voluntary ish quasi governmental demand predicting production allocating association.

Ice is to keep beer cold.

I once installed a solar system to power some lights, a fridge, and a rv style water pressure pump. It replaced 20 kva industrial gen set powered by a four cylinder ford engine. They continued to run the genny in the summer for AC. This one was mixed 12v and inverter powered 120v. It had several battery strings. One was diesel batteries. The other was huge 2 volt cells. A single panel charged each string. It usually had a month to recover.

The genny was obnoxious. Inverters are friendly.

 

[crewchief888]

after i posted that,i kinda figured out ERCOT was the power company, but as usual, i was having a brain fart...

apparently we have some high ground water right in this area, it doesnt take long, 10 minutes max, before the sump pits start to overflow. i know there was a problem, in one sump pit theres a PVC pipe from one pit over to the floor drain, couple inches under the floor. originally there were 2 pumps in that pit, set to different levels.

i'd rather listen to the generator than wade through several inches of cold *** water....

 

[Lelandwelds]

after i posted that,i kinda figured out ERCOT was the power company, but as usual, i was having a brain fart...

apparently we have some high ground water right in this area, it doesnt take long, 10 minutes max, before the sump pits start to overflow. i know there was a problem, in one sump pit theres a PVC pipe from one pit over to the floor drain, couple inches under the floor. originally there were 2 pumps in that pit, set to different levels.

i'd rather listen to the generator than wade through several inches of cold *** water....

Hard to argue.

Hard to imagine water just running out of the ground because I live near the edge of a "sub desert" . The idea of frozen water everywhere you look was tough enough.

I just think it is silly to spend thousands to buy and maintain a rarely used tool sized to continue lifestyle as if a cataclysm didn't happen. It reminds me of people at the beach who bring recliners or campers with air conditioners. Lock the world outside and shelter in place?

Save the food. Keep news and communication alive. Keep spirits elevated. Great ideas and easily accomplished. Much better than "let's all hang out at the Dome and see what FEMA can do" at the other extreme.

 

[mjeff87]

After suffering through hurricane Isabel here back in 2001 (?), not having power for almost 2 weeks, I bought a portable 6500. Used that for a couple years when needed (we get a lot of ice storms in winter and thunderstorms in summer), but it was always a spaghetti-mess of extension cords running all through the house. Had a 20K Generac installed in 2009 (natural gas) and it was the best money we ever spent. We've had 3 "major" outages since lasting from several hours to up to 4 days in duration, and it's performed flawlessly. That said, it still has the original battery in it which is still fine but I am replacing it this month just for peace of mind.

I still keep the portable one in the shed as redundancy, JIC something ever happens to the big one, and run it 2X per year for about 30 minutes at a time. I do put a decent load on it when I run it too, not just exercising the engine.

 

[lakelandcat]

About 16-17 years ago we had a big storm come through Memphis (Elvis) knocked everyones power out, after 7 days I decided to take matters into my own hands and drove 90 miles and paid $700 for a back up gen. got home, hooked it up to a fan, light, T.V.,fired it up. Ten minutes later the wife comes home from work, I said "look baby I made power" just then I heard a FRUMP and my power came back on..... $700 for 10 minutes and I haven't used it since.

 

[Bretny]

Recently in the notheast we have been getting bigger and worse storms. Some snow/ice and some near hurricanes. Lots of people with out power for weeks.
The one that stuck in my head the best was Sandy or the snow leaf one Oct. People were driving 60mi one way to buy gas due to stations in the effected zone not having power, or they quickly ran out. I didnt have a generator or power but i did have two flooded basements and one drad sump pump. Found a good used gas generator shortly after the storm. Never really used it but monthly test runs...well that got old quick much less keeping enough gas around to run it for a few days. Few years ago i bought a 5kw diesel military surplus generator that absolutely sip fuel and could run on home heating oil. A fuel that i alreaty store for my home furnace.

I worked for a large state transportation agency at the time of these wide spread natural disasters..the stuff you would see was amazingly bad. People sleeping in there cars in the gas line, delivery at 6am station bone dry by 8am. Not a small engine oil filter to bad had in the whole area. You know its bad when the state is 3hrs from running out of fuel.

Some times its not just having the equipment, its having the equipment and the maintenance items to keep that tool running top notch.

 

[Matt Matt]

I guess my point is how much do you rely on electricity???

I remember growing up and going to the cottage that had no power. My folks would pick up 2-3 ice blocks, One bag of ice cubes, and a bag of coal, for the whole weekend.

My old timeshare, needed it for sub pumps and not missing a beat. They were aiming to be a resort establishment. We sold it because of $3000 a year fee for five weeks....

Honestly I’d rather go camping with nothing but what you can carry on your own back.

Sometimes I feel electricity is overrated! Don’t get me wrong, I can’t live without it. But I think I could live without it for about five days in the worst of any season. I don’t need a sump pump any more...

I can heat with wood(cook)in the worst situations...

 

[Lelandwelds]

I guess my point is how much do you rely on electricity???

I remember growing up and going to the cottage that had no power. My folks would pick up 2-3 ice blocks, One bag of ice cubes, and a bag of coal, for the whole weekend.

My old timeshare, needed it for sub pumps and not missing a beat. They were aiming to be a resort establishment. We sold it because of $3000 a year fee for five weeks....

Honestly I’d rather go camping with nothing but what you can carry on your own back.

Sometimes I feel electricity is overrated! Don’t get me wrong, I can’t live without it. But I think I could live without it for about five days in the worst of any season. I don’t need a sump pump any more...

I can heat with wood(cook)in the worst situations...

I lived off the grid for a couple of when I was single. Up before dawn and asleep shortly after sundown. No tv. No phone. I remember it fondly.

Wife would not tolerate it under any circumstances I can imagine. Flushing toilets are wonderful. Refrigerated food is so convenient.

My backpacking and tent camping days are behind me. A tiny teardrop is the Only way to camp. The kitchen and Dutch ovens are must haves to feed all the kids. My back needs a mattress and I love the ten minute set up and pack it up.

An inverter genny can keep you going for very little money and very little gasoline.

 

[Carroll B]

Power in our neighborhood is under ground, but the feeder on the main road a block away isn't. I have a 5500 watt portable. Bought it mainly for the two freezers, frig, sub-pump, and to pump water to flush with as I have a well. It gets used maybe one time a year. My outside basement stairs has a drain that goes into the sub-pump and could flood the basement if it was raining heavy and I didn't have power. I try to start it every 6-8 weeks as if I wait longer than this I have to pull it 20 times to get it started. Starting it more often I only have to pull it 3-4 times. I had a small Honda that was very quiet but it was only 120 VAC and the well pump is 240, so I sold it to buy the 5500 watt genny.

 

[Bretny]

I guess my point is how much do you rely on electricity???

I remember growing up and going to the cottage that had no power. My folks would pick up 2-3 ice blocks, One bag of ice cubes, and a bag of coal, for the whole weekend.

My old timeshare, needed it for sub pumps and not missing a beat. They were aiming to be a resort establishment. We sold it because of $3000 a year fee for five weeks....

Honestly I’d rather go camping with nothing but what you can carry on your own back.

Sometimes I feel electricity is overrated! Don’t get me wrong, I can’t live without it. But I think I could live without it for about five days in the worst of any season. I don’t need a sump pump any more...

I can heat with wood(cook)in the worst situations...

Need and want are two different things. Im sure you lasted the weekend at a cottage with pre preperation. The probelm comes when you dont have much warning.

In the winter we have a wood stove for primary heat (200gal of oil lasts us about 5 yrs) so it really comes down to convenience. It wouldnt be fun loosing all the food in my fridge, not having water or not being able to take a shower. Thats why we own a generator.

We do go to a off grid cabin 2 weeks a year and live quite comfortable but the place is setup for such living and we are well prepaired. No cell phone service, no power, no running water but miles and miles of ATV trails.
No cell service also means no dialing 911 so your on your own. We would see about 2-4 people a week so neighbors are a long long way away.

 

[slow]

All this talk of generators made me jump on a honda EU2000 deal on Amazon this morning! "Be Prepared" is my motto. Already have a 15,000 watt generac portable if I can keep it fueled, the Honda should handle the fridge easily and could be used for camping and such.

 

[n20junkie]

I have a yamaha 2200 watt inverter generator that can power our first floor as well as run the furnace and blower. House came set up with a generator panel in the garage which is real nice. We haven’t used it a whole lot. But when you need it, your sure glad it's there. It can get cold real fast when a winter storm takes out power lines.

 

[Xpectation]

Greetings from Hurricane Country (Katrina, Rita, Gustav and too many others to recall)!.

When we get hit by a hurricane we can be w/o power for as long as 10-12 days.

I have two small 5KW gas generators which I have used to power my fridge, lights & my 110v window AC units.

That said - your concerns about using gasoline is well-founded. I have about 8 five gallon gas cans that I go fill up when a storm gets in the Gulf.

Last time we had a Hurricane the availability of gasoline became an issue.

I use my generators for other purposes (camp) but if I were doing it again, I'd look at a built-in generator that would be hard-wired to my house.

The idea of having to buy gasoline and transport it to the house isn't a pretty one. We ran 10 days on the portable generator - I got to the point when I could change the oil faster than a pit stop at NASCAR.

A couple of my neighbors have generators that are mounted on a poured concrete pad and are hard-wired into their houses. Power goes out and the generator kicks on automatically.

That said I still have my cheaper generators. Why? (My first thought is If we get hit with another hurricane I'm going to drive north with my boat and come meet some of my THT buddies.)

Probably the real reason is the cost and the upkeep. We've not lost power for an extended period of time (4 hours +) in a few years and I tend to forget how bad it is. I also don't want to have to fool with another engine that needs to be maintained.

If I were to get an outside generator it would be plumbed into my natural gas line so I didn't have to fool with the gasoline issue. (Hauling 40 gallons of gas in a pick-up truck bed is a pain).

Keep us updated on your progress and decision.

 

[finn]

I use a couple of linked 2000w inverters to power the fifth wheel, and picked up a 4000w non inverter cheap on a Menards Black Friday deal ($188) a couple of years ago.

We had lost power for ~8 or 10 hours prior to that after a severe wind storm.

Haven’t lost power for more than an hour or so since I got the generator and disconnect/generator panel, and usually less. Plus, when we loose power, it’s usually dark, raining, and just pure miserable outside, and I don’t feel like braving the weather to go to the shed to pull out the generator.

I do like the security of having 240v available in a power outage so we can have water (well here) to flush the toilet, though.

All in all, though, if I had to choose one “emergency “ device to have in the event of a prolonged power outage, I would put the wood stove above the generator.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

Greetings from Hurricane Country (Katrina, Rita, Gustav and too many others to recall)!.

When we get hit by a hurricane we can be w/o power for as long as 10-12 days.

I have two small 5KW gas generators which I have used to power my fridge, lights & my 110v window AC units.

That said - your concerns about using gasoline is well-founded. I have about 8 five gallon gas cans that I go fill up when a storm gets in the Gulf.

Last time we had a Hurricane the availability of gasoline became an issue.

I use my generators for other purposes (camp) but if I were doing it again, I'd look at a built-in generator that would be hard-wired to my house.

The idea of having to buy gasoline and transport it to the house isn't a pretty one. We ran 10 days on the portable generator - I got to the point when I could change the oil faster than a pit stop at NASCAR.

A couple of my neighbors have generators that are mounted on a poured concrete pad and are hard-wired into their houses. Power goes out and the generator kicks on automatically.

That said I still have my cheaper generators. Why? (My first thought is If we get hit with another hurricane I'm going to drive north with my boat and come meet some of my THT buddies.)

Probably the real reason is the cost and the upkeep. We've not lost power for an extended period of time (4 hours +) in a few years and I tend to forget how bad it is. I also don't want to have to fool with another engine that needs to be maintained.

If I were to get an outside generator it would be plumbed into my natural gas line so I didn't have to fool with the gasoline issue. (Hauling 40 gallons of gas in a pick-up truck bed is a pain).

Keep us updated on your progress and decision.

Last outage my options were waiting in line locally for hours or making a run to Allentown PA for a 2 hour round trip. I would get 15 gallons a trip - which is 2-1/2 days of fuel. My neighbor swapped days so I was getting gas every other day. Worked out well that time.

Jim

 

[krueges3]

Anyone use the Ego ones? They appear to be overpriced but the ability to use it in the house is nice (sump failure).

 

[dcg9381]

I guess my point is how much do you rely on electricity???

This is a valid point. In Ontario. Try living without climate control in states where 6pm temperatures can exceed 100 degrees.

I mean technically, we could get by without it and just cool down the refrigerator, but it's not the same as trying to get by in a northern climate.

Different thing too if you depend on electricity for your water supply (water well or water collection pump).

 

[CJ7VFR]

I have a 5500/8250 240v portable generator and a Manual Transfer Switch with power inlet box to connect it to my load center in the house for backup power.

That heavy October snowstorm Bretny mentioned, along with hurricanes Irene and Sandy made it crutial we had some type of backup for our home. Where I live everything requires electric in the house. We have a well for our water, a septic system, an oil fired furnace for heat and hot water, two refrigerators, a sump pump, and all our communication devices. All require electricity to function and run.

When Hurricane Sandy hit, we lost power for 11 days! If we did not have the generator, we would have lost thousands of dollars in food in the refrigerators, had water backing up into the basement and destroying things, and we would have had to find someplace to stay that would allow us to bring our pets. And buy our meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day we were not in the house.

All of those costs alone would have totaled up to more than what the generator and transfer switch with power inlet cost. The downside was that we had to drive a very long distance to get our gas cans filled, because all the local gas stations were out of power as well.

So now I have several gas cans ready just in case.

Jim

 

[BDR]

I have an old generac 4000xl and live in Northern California, see where this is going? In yet another shutoff currently. I run the fridge, TV and microwave. It used to be the occasional outage due to storms or snow but that really didn't happen for years. Poor generator has been getting a workout lately with 24+ hour shutoffs. Lights I just use battery powered led camping lights that last 40 hours or the old standby lanterns. It had been probably 7 years since the generator had been started, fired right up on the second pull.