Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
#2996368
12/18/21 10:59 AM
12/18/21 10:59 AM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338 Omaha Ne
TJP
OP
I Live Here
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OP
I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338
Omaha Ne
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I am contemplating looking into a back up power source for the house as we are all electric. So where else does one go to get straight (mostly LOL) no BS answers, MOPARTS. I have talked with a few people over the years that have had them and if I recall correctly most said they were a BIG PITA. Due to several outages a year, some that go for 18 hours to 4.5 days (worst one). Most are less than 12 or so hours, but the longer ones are a real PITA. Unfortunately we do not have natural gas and due to our distance from the line it would likely be cost prohibitive coupled with the cost of the generator. So that leaves propane, don't really want a 100+ gallon tank and I'm not really sure where I could place it out of sight but still be accessible for filling So next would be diesel or gas. Realizing that both would require numerous trips to for fuel, my thought was to possibly drain the unused fuel before it went stale and use it in the tractors or cars. Diesel is more efficient but we use less of it through the year. My last Idea was a 3 point generator to run off the tractor itself. It's the cheapest but will likely require frequent fill ups and I'm not sure about having it outside in cra--y weather and running nonstop for days at a time Would really be nice if they would come through and just bury the flippin lines but that's not likely to happen unless somebody like Warren Buffet moves nearby Any comments, ideas, suggestions are appreciated
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: TJP]
#2996400
12/18/21 12:01 PM
12/18/21 12:01 PM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,696 Bitopia
jcc
If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
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If you can't dazzle em with diamonds..
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,696
Bitopia
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This may not apply to OP, but others should always consider these seldom noted aspects, any high water will kill a Genset, most enclosures are not rated for high hurricane winds, gasolene powered for more than a day is expensive and very inconvenient, most gensets fail over time from lack of use, automatic transfer switches vs manual are an ,expensive another item to fail at the worst time, utility supplied NG lines are often disrupted in high wind events from uprooted trees, diesel fuel has a limited "shelf life" but is the cheapest long use fuel IMO, and the luxury/cost of running a full house on a properly sized genset is in most cases a waste of money and mainly for bragging rights, .
Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: TJP]
#2996417
12/18/21 12:32 PM
12/18/21 12:32 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,424 Florida STAYcation
dOrk !
The village idiot's idiot
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The village idiot's idiot
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,424
Florida STAYcation
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Budget? Well I'm not a Rockefeller, or related to Walter Scott but don't want constant issues with maintenance etc. 5K +/- 5 k should get you there EZ with a good USED RV gen .... My buds house is on 12 foot pilings .... I think he’s setting the gen set up 10 foot high.
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: TJP]
#2996429
12/18/21 01:11 PM
12/18/21 01:11 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 25,777 Rio Linda, CA
John_Kunkel
Too Many Posts
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Too Many Posts
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 25,777
Rio Linda, CA
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I am contemplating looking into a back up power source for the house as we are all electric.
If you want a full backup with heat and A/C, you'll probably need at least a 20KW unit.
The INTERNET, the MISinformation superhighway
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: dOrk !]
#2996541
12/18/21 07:24 PM
12/18/21 07:24 PM
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,427 Dandridge TN
Dabee
master
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master
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,427
Dandridge TN
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daBeez ... isn’t a Generac a bit loud ? No can’t hear it In the house
Last edited by Dabee; 12/18/21 07:24 PM.
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Dabee]
#2996549
12/18/21 07:52 PM
12/18/21 07:52 PM
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,593 USA
VS29H0B
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,593
USA
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Generac propane system has been in place for more than 10 years - works great - not that loud and as previously stated not heard in the house.
Like the women I have dated --- Always looking for a better deal ....
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Andrewh]
#2996604
12/18/21 10:55 PM
12/18/21 10:55 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338 Omaha Ne
TJP
OP
I Live Here
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OP
I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338
Omaha Ne
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thanks for all the replies The outages are year round it's just the Wife and I but I'm getting a bit tired of freezing my butt off, or sweating it off. Last summer we lost the food, which wasn't that big of a deal, it's more to do with no internet, TV, lights, hot water as well as other inconveniences. Might be a bit of the age thing as well. The last time I looked into having them run a NG line up it was pretty pricey but its worth another call, all's they can do is laugh the backsides off Any one else with input good or bad is appreciated
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Powerflow]
#2996624
12/19/21 12:38 AM
12/19/21 12:38 AM
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,154 Cruising!
QuickDodge
super stock
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super stock
Joined: Dec 2005
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Cruising!
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A few years back, we had a power outage that affected a large area around our home. The majority of people in several counties lost power. That power outage was unusually long, lasting 11 days. Some people had to wait over 2 weeks to have their power restored. At the time, I was using a gasoline powered generator. Unfortunately, most of the gas stations did not have power. The few stations that were open sold all their gasoline in a short amount of time. So buying gasoline required driving an hour away from home!! (And then waiting in line to buy it!!!) Every two days, I had to spend two hours of driving time just getting fuel for the generator. By the time I started looking for some extra gas cans to purchase, there were none to be found!!
Second thought, during that power outage, a LOT of generators were stolen. Having the generator well secured would be very wise.
Edit: The amount of noise that is acceptable varies from one person to the next. I would suggest, at the minimum, locating the generator away from one's bedroom!
Last edited by QuickDodge; 12/19/21 12:53 AM.
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: TJP]
#2996629
12/19/21 01:02 AM
12/19/21 01:02 AM
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,044 N.W. Florida
Fat_Mike
master
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master
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3,044
N.W. Florida
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Disregard what everyone else said (I didn't read it either). EDIT What's your goal? Keep your food cold, keep your @$$ warm, keep your lights on, etc... You can keep your food from going bad with a small generator and a couple extension cords. Opt for something larger based on your needs.
Last edited by Fat_Mike; 12/19/21 01:02 AM.
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Fat_Mike]
#2996638
12/19/21 01:53 AM
12/19/21 01:53 AM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,203 Someplace you aren't
SomeCarGuy
I Live Here
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I Live Here
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Someplace you aren't
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I moved to an area served by Duke energy. Never before in my life have I had to deal with outages on a regular basis. It’s totally ridiculous how often we deal with this, in the suburbs of a big city no less. I even moved a few streets away to a neighborhood with BURIED utilities, only to find out they are sent power via the same crappy lines as before, no main feed that is more secure. It’s just unbelievable.
Will be made much worse with the coming of the electric cars I’m sure.
My solution so far has been a Yamaha 2000 watt rig from Costco. Cost like 550 about three years ago when we finally had enough and at least wanted to keep the fridge on. I bought a good heavy cord and this gets us by for the most of a day we are left hanging usually. Just depends on what you want to do.
IIRC a 5k budget won’t get you anything near the juice to run a whole house, at least not a new setup. Trying to think what it cost when I looked about three years ago and I want to think it was more like 8k. As much as it sucks, it would only be worth it if the power is down for several days. You have to keep that jewel up. So far all I’ve done is fire up the little guy a couple times a year and it’s been flawless at running the fridge and then the freezer switching it as needed.
I want my fair share
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Underthinker]
#2996675
12/19/21 10:51 AM
12/19/21 10:51 AM
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,511 AZ
Mike P
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pro stock
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,511
AZ
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Just a few thoughts/experiences with my generators.
I’ve got an older portable 8K gasoline backup Generac that’s hooked up to our old house (my daughter and grandkids are living there now). It’s enough to run the essentials like the swamp coolers, refrigerator, microwave etc. The house in on natural gas so it works out ok. Our power out here is pretty reliable, (we only loose power about once a year so) it doesn’t get used that much. I keep 20 gallons of fuel in cans on hand for it and run it about every 6 months to exercise it and make sure it’s good to go if needed.
Biggest problem is fuel. It burns about a gallon an hour under load. Besides the 20 gallons I figure I can usually pull another 80 gallons out of the vehicles around here if needed. I don’t trust the fuel in the cans to stay good much longer than 6 months so I usually pour it into one of the trucks and refill the cans every 6 months. When I shut it down I cut the fuel off so the carburetor drains and then drain the gas tank to make sure there is no stale gas in it when I go to start it. It’s a PIA but it gets us by when the power goes out.
My wife and I moved into a smaller (1000 sq ft) house a couple of years ago that’s all electric. I’m currently hooking up an 18K whole house standby generator to that house. I went propane for a couple of reasons…..the gas company not wanting to run a new service for just a standby generator made the decision pretty easy though (LOL). Propane has a couple of advantages. It doesn’t go bad and if what ever caused the power failure affects the NG supply I’ll still have power. Running propane also allows the 18K to put out the full 18K power. If I was running NG I would have needed a 20 or 22K generator as the 22K power rating drops to around 19.5K when run on NG.
Our new generator is set to automatically start when the power goes off which I opted for as the wife and I aren’t getting any younger.
Something else to think about when picking a generator is if you will be if you or your wife will be able to get it going in a few years. When my mom started going down hill several years ago we originally set her up with a portable generator. She lives in the mid west and it worked great but someone had to come over and get it started. The first bad winter storm she had it took 2 hours before someone made it there. That’s when we upgraded her to a whole house generator with the auto startup.
Just my 2 cents.
1957 Plymouth (Hemi, Dual Quads, A833 4 Speed 9 1/4 w 4.10) Sold 1937 Dodge Pickup (Hemi, 6X2 intake, 46RH, Dana 60 w 4.56) Sold 1968 Plymouth Valiant 2dr sedan (354 HEMI, 46RH w/4.30 gears)
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Re: Back up generators? Thoughts, Experiences ??
[Re: Mike P]
#2996868
12/19/21 10:45 PM
12/19/21 10:45 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338 Omaha Ne
TJP
OP
I Live Here
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OP
I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,338
Omaha Ne
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It would be a lot simpler if the idiots that built this place had taken up the local utility company on their offer when they ran the gas lines through the area. I've been told by the neighbors they offered to run the line for free if you signed a contract to have at least ONE gas appliance for 10 years. that was a no brainer IMO. The biggest hog is the heat pump/AC unit. I may give them a call to see if there is any current "deal". The way the property is laid out, aesthetically it's going to be enough of a challenge to locate a unit much less a Propane tank. I'm assuming they need reasonable access to fill it In addition, not sure how fond the driveway would be of a loaded propane truck Just a side note, we're a good 700 ft off the street. thanks for all the comments and suggestion so far.
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