Yet again, another generator thread.

[nota]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Our house is in a neighborhood with all underground utilities. The only utility poles we have are for some street lights.

those are the worst for power outages locally
every hard rain they go down

good idea but hard to do right in low areas with a high water table
esp if done on the cheap by land developers

last bad hurricane the power was off then on then off for days as they fixed the system
we had extension cords running across the street to send power from the working side
or the guys with bigger generators sharing several homes with power

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

You can get smaller generators. I went with the smallest 2-cylinder because a Generac service guy once told me the single cylinder units are less reliable.

I don't agree with that. But the single cylinder (8-12 kW) units are much louder. At least in Briggs and Stratton.

[Evans, Marv]

I keep thinking about replacing my Generac (10kW/12.5kW peak) with a 20kKW diesel because of the noise (could be worse, but I find it really irritating). But I'm in the same boat as others weighing getting a generator against the amount of use it would get. The amount of time we have to run it isn't all that much. If I went that route, I'd also upgrade the transfer switch to power more circuits and add in the well pump - so $$$$$.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by nota

those are the worst for power outages locally
every hard rain they go down

good idea but hard to do right in low areas with a high water table
esp if done on the cheap by land developers

last bad hurricane the power was off then on then off for days as they fixed the system
we had extension cords running across the street to send power from the working side
or the guys with bigger generators sharing several homes with power

No doubt underground is not a panacea. Our area is on the top of a hill. One are of the neighborhood lost power last summer, and it was a bad underground common wire. The power company sent of 5 or 6 crews, from contractors the company personnel trying to figure out where the problem was. They fore spent money (their money no cost to us) to find the problem. The good news is that leg only ran the sprinkler system for the a association. They did track it down and fixed it.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I don't agree with that. But the single cylinder (8-12 kW) units are much louder. At least in Briggs and Stratton.

He works on them all day long, so I would think he knows what he's talking about.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

But I'm in the same boat as others weighing getting a generator against the amount of use it would get.

I looked at it somewhat differently. I weighed the what it costs with the cost of not having power when we need it in addition to how often we might need it. Having no furnace in the winter was a particular concern. Frozen pipes, etc could be a real problem. We have a thousand dollars or so of food in freezers, so having our freezers down for an extended period would be costly. Stumbling around in a dark house was another concern. I have a place for an emergency flashlight but somehow the damn thing is never there.

[Evans, Marv]

We actually went without power for three days last year. They were replacing a bunch of wood poles in the area with huge steel ones. It's being done to mitigate problems in case of fire & high winds. Some of the distribution poles are huge, and the others in between are much taller than the old wood poles. I'm going to wait to see if they reduce or eliminate outages - although like I said, outages haven't been a big problem. If it works out, I won't need to think about a generator.

[Bugsinrugs]

Three days without power here and my Honeywell 5500 ran like a champ. I found it new on Craigslist for $300. Well worth it at twice the price. Next project will be a transfer box setup so I don’t have to run cords everywhere.

[oldE]

We had a small generator which allowed us to plug in fridge and freezer and maybe something else, but it was manual start. It was almost more than the wife could do to start it if I wasn't home.
Now there is an electric start unit in a repurposed shed (with forced air ventilation ) feeding a switchable panel in the house via an underground cable.
Problem solved.
Best
Les

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by legion

I recommend a gererator.

It's hard to beat a good gereator.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by stevej37

It's hard to beat a good gereator.

slap-slap-slap

Like that?

[gtc]

Originally Posted by red-beard

slap-slap-slap

Like that?

Exactly. Just keep clear of the sack and the hootus.

[Robert Coats]

Zeta just blew through the ATL and here in Mariettta, GA we are going on 30 hours now sans power. After loading up 3 five gallon fuel cans, I found an open station and filled them all, then yanked my 3000 watt portable generator out and under our deck, strung all the extension cords I could find, and soon had the fridge, TV, laptops/chargers, etc. up and running. Our cable-based broadband came online overnight, so I can share this message with you.

Having recently retired from the generator part of American Honda, I can tell you from my many customer interactions that a basic 2000-3000 watt portable will do a great job for most homes. It will easily run the basics, as long as you thing of it as 'indoor camping' and understand not every single device is going to get power. Learn to 'load share', i.e., if you need to do laundry, unplug the fridge and plug in the washer. If you have gas heat, it's not too hard to wire up a special plug to run the 120v blower motor. On the other end of the thermometer, consider buying a small window AC unit for use in the bedroom; it will keep you cool enough to sleep at night, and many will easily run on a small generator.

Best of all, a 2k-3k inverter-style generator (Honda and Yamaha make really high quality products), extension cords, fuel cans, etc. will run you $2,100~$3,500, far less than the five-figures it would cost for for a whole-house unit. Oh yeah, the cheaper portables are, well, portable. Nice if your house is doing okay, but a neighbor or nearby family member is dead in the water.

New model Hondas even have an smartphone/Bluetooth App that can report output levels, fuel remaining, etc.

Don't be an idiot and use the stupid f*cking suicide cord. If you are a single hermit, with no family, okay, fine. But if you have a wife, kids, etc. that have 'watched daddy hook up the generator' and now try and do it without you, you are asking for tragedy.

I'll guess most of the people reading this understand the danger of Carbon Monoxide poisoning from engine exhaust, and will be sure to only place a running generator in an outdoor location.

[Crowbob]

I just ordered a dual fuel (gas/propane) 8kw, electric start Champion gererator before I read about their notorious problem with XS oil consumption because Sandwicher can’t pull the cord anymore-which is a bad sign all the way around.

[rfuerst911sc]

We lost our power yesterday at 6:00 in the morning and it's still out ☹️ . Two power poles snapped in half about 3/4 miles from my house. I expect to be without power for the weekend but maybe will get lucky 😁 .

My Honda E3000 generator is humming along powering a fridge , freezer , various lamps and cellphone chargers . Buying more gas today for the next two days . Fun times

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Robert Coats

Best of all, a 2k-3k inverter-style generator (Honda and Yamaha make really high quality products), extension cords, fuel cans, etc. will run you $2,100~$3,500, far less than the five-figures it would cost for for a whole-house unit.

five figures? You must have a BIG house. I paid $9000 all-in for a 20kw Generac and transfer switch with a load shedding switch for the AC. That was 3000 square foot house.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by gtc

Exactly. Just keep clear of the sack and the hootus.

And the cratch, no?

[Rusty Heap]

costco has some decent sized 5K-9K dual fuel generators at fair prices too.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

five figures? You must have a BIG house. I paid $9000 all-in for a 20kw Generac and transfer switch with a load shedding switch for the AC. That was 3000 square foot house.

How loud are the generacs? $6k installed for a 13kw plumbed in gas genset seems pretty reasonable to me.

[IXXI_carrera]

Timely thread for me. We are building a new home and want to plan for wiring (cut-over switch) now and perhaps add a generator later. It'll be connected to natural gas.

Appreciate input for our planning. Now is the time since we are in the design stages.