Emergency Home Generator

[Brokenbear]

Well several forums I visit seem to have folks talking home generators what with the ugly winter weather, hurricanes, power brown/blackouts, wildfires and other calamities so I thought as I was exercising my gen set today I would take a few pics to share ..
To set the stage my wife has medical equipment that requires power period. ..we are also on a major (new Madrid) fault line which a call to our natural gas supplier confirmed the gas shuts of immediately with any seismic activity eliminating natural gas as fuel ..Propane was looked at but a 20lb bottle is a very short run time on any size gen that would run a gen for say an 8 hours sleep
So gas was the energy source of choice ..
I have had this INVERTER gen set now for 4 years ..I buy non ethanol fuel ..treat it with Stabil and every two years run the two year old gas thru my vehicles and refresh the 12 5 gallon cans dedicated to the genset
So I have on hand 60 treated gallons (stay outside by gen shed) 50 gallons in vehicles and 15 gallons yard n tractor cans
All the stuff I caught on sale but at the time of putting this together my finished cost was slightly over 50% of the 2 quotes I had for a Generack installation ..there is sweat equity involved of course ..and I DO HAVE a second cutout or switch over panel beside my regular home panel..I do have to plug (like and RV cord) into my house the power cord and start the genset and manually switch on the cutout panel but I can do that a lot of times for the $$ difference ..I built and wired everything ..then I hired a licensed electrician to go over my work but honestly the wiring was simple with the instructions that accompanied the the cutout panel

NOTE: the garden hose reel to easily scope out and recover the 75 foot RV Cord



Obviously I do not have the hang of the photo process as I Iphoned pic, transferred to laptop, rotated 90 degrees before up loading ..so tilt your head if you want to see ..sorry guys

Bear

[Winger Ed.]

They're pretty popular around here.

I have a duel fuel one, and have accumulated about 10 of those swap out propane tanks.
If they run out, I'll go to gasoline. Between the cars, boat, and a few cans, I figure we have about 75 gallons,
but I don't really want to use gas with it.

We have storms that knock out the power here and there, but usually not for more than several hours.
I just plan to run the refrigerators, and a few lights. In between running the frig. it'll handle the air conditioner.

[georgerkahn]

I feel for you re the medical challenge vis your wife should there be a power outage. A close friend (COPD) has similar re his Oxygen machine -- his "backup" tanks are not good for all that many hours sans power.
I have a Generac AC generator, as well as a Propane-fired one. My brother-in-law convinced me that, with no power, gas stations probably will not be pumping -- while pretty much every quickie-mart has a cage full of propane tanks.
The "new kid on the block" is the teeny power stations. I recently purchased a Bluetti EB3a which provides 100% pure sine-wave power at 600 watts. To complement it, I bought, too, their solar panels -- four folding pieces which charge from zero to 100% in, also, a very few hours -- assuming there is sunshine. You may wish to check out one of there, or their competitors, as yet another option.
BEST!
geo

[HWooldridge]

My first job out of college was servicing emergency gensets for nursing homes. A few were on diesel but most were natural gas or propane, because the fuel doesn’t deteriorate. IIRC, none ran on gasoline - this was in the early 1980’s. We had a milk run across the state and tested them once a month by turning off the utility connection; the genset had to start and run with no delay.

If I needed emergency power for life support, I’d go with some type of vapor fuel; gasoline might be my next choice but I agree with your plan - without alcohol, add Stabil, then plan to dump and swap it once a year. Every two years is pushing it.

[BLAHUT]

Well several forums I visit seem to have folks talking home generators what with the ugly winter weather, hurricanes, power brown/blackouts, wildfires and other calamities so I thought as I was exercising my gen set today I would take a few pics to share ..
To set the stage my wife has medical equipment that requires power period. ..we are also on a major (new Madrid) fault line which a call to our natural gas supplier confirmed the gas shuts of immediately with any seismic activity eliminating natural gas as fuel ..Propane was looked at but a 20lb bottle is a very short run time on any size gen that would run a gen for say an 8 hours sleep
So gas was the energy source of choice ..
I have had this INVERTER gen set now for 4 years ..I buy non ethanol fuel ..treat it with Stabil and every two years run the two year old gas thru my vehicles and refresh the 12 5 gallon cans dedicated to the genset
So I have on hand 60 treated gallons (stay outside by gen shed) 50 gallons in vehicles and 15 gallons yard n tractor cans
All the stuff I caught on sale but at the time of putting this together my finished cost was slightly over 50% of the 2 quotes I had for a Generack installation ..there is sweat equity involved of course ..and I DO HAVE a second cutout or switch over panel beside my regular home panel..I do have to plug (like and RV cord) into my house the power cord and start the genset and manually switch on the cutout panel but I can do that a lot of times for the $$ difference ..I built and wired everything ..then I hired a licensed electrician to go over my work but honestly the wiring was simple with the instructions that accompanied the the cutout panel

NOTE: the garden hose reel to easily scope out and recover the 75 foot RV Cord



Obviously I do not have the hang of the photo process as I Iphoned pic, transferred to laptop, rotated 90 degrees before up loading ..so tilt your head if you want to see ..sorry guys

Bear

Great plan. One question ? If you are not around, can your wife get all this started ??

[metricmonkeywrench]

We got our generator shortly after Hurricane Isabell (wow been a while-2003) after being out of power for about 2 weeks. The highlight of the experience was using water from our above ground pool to keep the toilet full.

We have our process fairly down pat now for extended outages, specific extension cords are run from the 4 available outlets to power specific loads, well pump, fridge, TV/lights and the last goes to either a big fan or electric heater.

Due to utility system changes we upgraded our home from a 100a to a 200a service. The advantage I gained is that the main panel is outside and an easy upgrade to install a manual transfer switch. The ability to plug in and run whatever whenever will be nice. Being an older house I could probably run everything but the A/C. I may build a shelter/container on an old leaf sucker trailer to drag the generator around and be able to be able to run in inclement weather.

I will still have the same problem as mentioned before, I have to do all the connecting and starting…. Mama is just not mechanically inclined to carry it off on her own. I would do a whole house auto switch but the thought of adding a 3rd energy source (propane) on top of my electric and oil heat makes my head hurt.

[Brokenbear]

Yes to wife start up ..the hook up is like our RV and the inside cutout panel is flipping 6 switches and start up is step by step placarded on a laminated "go sheet"

Bear

[MarkP]

You may want to look at aviation fuel. 100LL. Stays fresh for two yrs, but do not put it in newer vehicles.

[Dio]

We got our generator shortly after Hurricane Isabell (wow been a while-2003) after being out of power for about 2 weeks. The highlight of the experience was using water from our above ground pool to keep the toilet full.

We have our process fairly down pat now for extended outages, specific extension cords are run from the 4 available outlets to power specific loads, well pump, fridge, TV/lights and the last goes to either a big fan or electric heater.

Due to utility system changes we upgraded our home from a 100a to a 200a service. The advantage I gained is that the main panel is outside and an easy upgrade to install a manual transfer switch. The ability to plug in and run whatever whenever will be nice. Being an older house I could probably run everything but the A/C. I may build a shelter/container on an old leaf sucker trailer to drag the generator around and be able to be able to run in inclement weather.

I will still have the same problem as mentioned before, I have to do all the connecting and starting…. Mama is just not mechanically inclined to carry it off on her own. I would do a whole house auto switch but the thought of adding a 3rd energy source (propane) on top of my electric and oil heat makes my head hurt.

We went 6 days without power after Isabel...we lived in Manassas at the time

[dverna]

I decided propane was the best choice for our situation after dealing with backup gas generators for 20 years.

It costs me $54/year to rent a 500 gallon tank from our supplier. Coupled with the 500 gal tanks we had we can go a long time if need be.

I still have a gas unit as back up.

[GregLaROCHE]

They're pretty popular around here.

I have a duel fuel one, and have accumulated about 10 of those swap out propane tanks.
If they run out, I'll go to gasoline. Between the cars, boat, and a few cans, I figure we have about 75 gallons,
but I don't really want to use gas with it.

We have storms that knock out the power here and there, but usually not for more than several hours.
I just plan to run the refrigerators, and a few lights. In between running the frig. it'll handle the air conditioner.

How does the cost of running propane compare that of gas?

[Froogal]

I decided propane was the best choice for our situation after dealing with backup gas generators for 20 years.

It costs me $54/year to rent a 500 gallon tank from our supplier. Coupled with the 500 gal tanks we had we can go a long time if need be.

I still have a gas unit as back up.

Bingo!! If I were to install a gen-set, it would run on propane, supplied from a dedicated 500 gallon tank.

[Handloader109]

Even a couple of 100 pound tanks would last a good while. Propane is really the best way to go. Gasoline is just harder to deal with, more of a safety risk stored in plastic containers. And deteriorates quickly.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[metricmonkeywrench]

Bingo!! If I were to install a gen-set, it would run on propane, supplied from a dedicated 500 gallon tank.

That's the quandary, If you home already operates off gas (tanked or piped) its an easy decision. We unfortunately have neither, in our rural area there are not enough homes to be worth running a utility gas line (we just got cable something like 5yrs ago after a large housing development was built down the road). I would love to switch the house to gas but that would require a whole house upgrade for heat, Hot water and cooking surfaces which is an extremely high investment. We currently run a boiler for heating and residential use and electric stove/cooktop. I did at one time have delusions of finding a diesel stand by generator and run it off the heating oil tank (DF2) but given the costs involved and the amount of fuel consumed that idea fell by the wayside.

Mama's plan eventually is for a whole house system and i will likely set up a pair of twin 100's to fuel it to keep it simple. I believe propane installs require a pro for insurance reasons. We did learn in last years northern storm when the power went out for a couple days 20lb exchange propane tanks became real hard to find.

[Shawlerbrook]

We just went the Generac whole house route. Expensive, but automatic.

[HWooldridge]

We just went the Generac whole house route. Expensive, but automatic.

That's basically a smaller and simpler nursing home setup. Like you said, expensive but it works without any action on your part.

[.429&H110]

Part of the fun is you have to exercise a genset at least quarterly.
If you expect to run a deep well pump,
make sure the genset will start the motor,
some well pumps start mighty hard.

I might suggest securely shackling the thing
In Helena Montana the children stole my gas jugs.
(Parking lot video made the cops laugh: 6 jugs, boltcutters, gone in 20 seconds)
In Massachusetts I learned "redhot or riveted or it's gone"
Gensets and gasoline are worth stealing to some people.
Lately it seems we have legalized theft.

[MaryB]

How does the cost of running propane compare that of gas?

A 20 pound propane tank is approximately 5 gallons of gas for run time.

[MaryB]

I went solar and battery, got tired of trying to start a generator at -20f... and now after 2 rotator cuff surgeries on my right shoulder and an unrepaired tear on the left cranking on a pull rope is bad for me. Yes I could upgrade to electric start, still have that frozen oil sludge issue when trying to start it, even with synthetic oils.

Now I just flip the extra inverter on(one runs all the time) and good to go. Have enough battery storage to go weeks on critical loads(fridge, freezers, heat).

[Maineboy]

After moving to our current home in 2005, we quickly learned we lived in an area of frequent power outages, especially during high wind events. We bought an 8000 watt gasoline generator that served our needs for many years but it required having to take it from storage, start it, flip the switches in the auxiliary service panel, monitor its fuel consumption, then shut it down when the power came back on. That was all well and good when I was home, but if I wasn't, the house remained without power and that could be pretty serious if it happened to be an extended outage and the temperature was below zero. And there was no way Mrs. Maineboy was able to take care of it if she was home by herself. In 2021 we purchased a Generac whole house system with a dedicated 500 gallon propane tank and are very happy with it. It has the cold weather "package" that includes oil and battery heaters. No worries when I am away and if we have an extended outage, we have plenty of fuel with the large tank.