Choosing a Generator

[SupremePossum]

How much do you need a generator? I mean at some point you get in a car and drive to o some place where they have electricity and stay in a motel.

Small supply of parts for main generator.

Battery bank & Inverter?
.
Storing enough gasoline for any serious running of a generator is a PIA.

500 gal tank of propane? It's the only fuel with zero issues for long term fuel storage.

I live in DE and the electric CO-OP has spent serious money on grid resiliency. I have two heat pumps with electric booster colis. Would need a serious generator to run them.

I bought a 10 KW dual fuel generator. Not sure what I might do with it. But if it's a serious outage I will put wife & dog in pickup and drive.

I like having electric/AC etc, its really not nice being without. I also work in IT and have quite a lot of hobby IT equipment and servers at home. Shutting down my home network is quite the process, and I'd rather it all just stay on

Driving somewhere else simply does not work. Every one here in Houston that doesn't want to spend the money on a generator says that, but quickly realized during 2 disasters, the Houston Derecho, and Hurricane Beryl, that its just not possible. You and half the city had no power, so you go somewhere with power, sure, but everyone else is doing the same thing, and half the hotel/motels have no power. Plus, the roads are flooded and covered with trees etc, good luck with that. Then, your house is now sat empty with no power, possibly subject to crime

Already have small parts of main generator, batteries, inverters, etc. I love all things related to power

I keep 82 gallons of gas in the garage, and keep my truck topped off. The 82 gallons should get me about a week on a portable unit

 

[Donald]

I like having electric/AC etc, its really not nice being without. I also work in IT and have quite a lot of hobby IT equipment and servers at home. Shutting down my home network is quite the process, and I'd rather it all just stay on

Driving somewhere else simply does not work. Every one here in Houston that doesn't want to spend the money on a generator says that, but quickly realized during 2 disasters, the Houston Derecho, and Hurricane Beryl, that its just not possible. You and half the city had no power, so you go somewhere with power, sure, but everyone else is doing the same thing, and half the hotel/motels have no power. Plus, the roads are flooded and covered with trees etc, good luck with that. Then, your house is now sat empty with no power, possibly subject to crime

Already have small parts of main generator, batteries, inverters, etc. I love all things related to power

I keep 82 gallons of gas in the garage, and keep my truck topped off. The 82 gallons should get me about a week on a portable unit

Are you rotating that gas? That's got to be a PIA. I hope the 82 gallons is in some kind of metal tank not a row of red 5 gallon containers.

If you really want a backup to the backup generator I would think about propane.

With your intended backup can you run your A/C?

Personally I like the truck mounted generator I saw on eBay. It had a 10K generator to start the "big" generator.

 

[SupremePossum]

Yeah I rotate it out between 3-6 months. I just empty into my truck and fill the cans. Not much work at all really, I enjoy playing with stuff. I have a bed divider that can hold the cans easily. 4 on the left and 5 on the right, and I have a spacer so I can take just 2 if I want. I usually let my truck get a little low so I can do 4 at a time

Wavian NATO cans, the best you can get! 100% sealed. I have 14 of them currently

Propane for me doesn't make too much sense, it would be the only thing that can use it, and filling a big tank is kind of a pain if you need a truck to come out. Plus filling propane around here is kind of a hassle, the closest place is U-Haul a few miles away, the Shell station down the street for gas is much easier

Yes, my current backup, and of course any proposed backup will run the AC. I have a 4 Ton AC with a soft start, however we don't really use it too much, instead we mostly use our 3 x Mini Split AC's, which have 0a inrush current, will easily run on a very small generator

 

[spasm3]

Yeah I rotate it out between 3-6 months. I just empty into my truck and fill the cans. Not much work at all really, I enjoy playing with stuff. I have a bed divider that can hold the cans easily. 4 on the left and 5 on the right, and I have a spacer so I can take just 2 if I want. I usually let my truck get a little low so I can do 4 at a time

View attachment 284012

Wavian NATO cans, the best you can get! 100% sealed. I have 14 of them currently

Propane for me doesn't make too much sense, it would be the only thing that can use it, and filling a big tank is kind of a pain if you need a truck to come out. Plus filling propane around here is kind of a hassle, the closest place is U-Haul a few miles away, the Shell station down the street for gas is much easier

Yes, my current backup, and of course any proposed backup will run the AC. I have a 4 Ton AC with a soft start, however we don't really use it too much, instead we mostly use our 3 x Mini Split AC's, which have 0a inrush current, will easily run on a very small generator

What spout do you use on the wavian cans? The wavian brand has the sliding valve, can you get a spout for those cans with out the valve ?

 

[SupremePossum]

What spout do you use on the wavian cans? The wavian brand has the sliding valve, can you get a spout for those cans with out the valve ?

I use these, work great

https://www.amazon.com/VALPRO-Long-Nose-Flexible-Nozzle-Military/dp/B081HZGDDD

There is a small problem that if you reallllyyyy fill the can like I do, gas can leak out of the vent hole, since these spouts are just spouts with no valve or anything. I have gained the skill of just grabbing the can by the back, and the spout and putting my thumb over the vent, and when the can is over and pouring, you can remove your thumb. Hard to describe, but when you get the hang of it, its easy and works well

 

[spasm3]

I use these, work great

https://www.amazon.com/VALPRO-Long-Nose-Flexible-Nozzle-Military/dp/B081HZGDDD

There is a small problem that if you reallllyyyy fill the can like I do, gas can leak out of the vent hole, since these spouts are just spouts with no valve or anything. I have gained the skill of just grabbing the can by the back, and the spout and putting my thumb over the vent, and when the can is over and pouring, you can remove your thumb. Hard to describe, but when you get the hang of it, its easy and works well

Thanks.

 

[k1xv]

or a huge tornado comes along, sending the utility line, the back up generator, the back up to the back up generator, and the home to be served, sending them all to Oz.

How do you locate a back up generator to Oz when your house lands there with you inside it? Are you prepared to deal with Munchkins?

 

[Donald]

Yeah I rotate it out between 3-6 months. I just empty into my truck and fill the cans. Not much work at all really, I enjoy playing with stuff. I have a bed divider that can hold the cans easily. 4 on the left and 5 on the right, and I have a spacer so I can take just 2 if I want. I usually let my truck get a little low so I can do 4 at a time

View attachment 284012

Wavian NATO cans, the best you can get! 100% sealed. I have 14 of them currently

Propane for me doesn't make too much sense, it would be the only thing that can use it, and filling a big tank is kind of a pain if you need a truck to come out. Plus filling propane around here is kind of a hassle, the closest place is U-Haul a few miles away, the Shell station down the street for gas is much easier

Yes, my current backup, and of course any proposed backup will run the AC. I have a 4 Ton AC with a soft start, however we don't really use it too much, instead we mostly use our 3 x Mini Split AC's, which have 0a inrush current, will easily run on a very small generator

If I was going to use propane I would get a large tank and have a truck fill if. It can stay for years or decades with no issues.

 

[Ausfahrt]

https://www.centralmainediesel.com/...hler-5kW-Diesel-Generator.asp?page=yanmar_4kw

I seriously looked at this when we were considering an off grid property a few years ago.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Sadly the PowerWall's or any battery don't really make a lot of financial sense. A single PowerWall is 13.5kwh, and the prices are through the roof, and they have no generator support. I have 17kw of solar on the roof, with Enphase Microinverters. Enphase has batteries that will tie into the system, and do support generator input, but the cost is crazy. I'd have to spend over $60,000 to make it a full day without generator

I'd love batteries, though!

I was looking at the Panasonic Evervolt battery system that does support a generator input. The combination of a battery and a generator could make a lot of sense. The battery would provide you with uninterrupted power and also that initial kick for starting large inductive loads. Meanwhile the generator could cover the smaller running loads. I was about to pull the trigger on this when all of the tarrif and trade disruption started. According to my solar installer the Panasonic battery systems are currently unavailable as they are channeling their battery capacity to fulfill commitments to Tesla.

 

[Inked]

or a huge tornado comes along, sending the utility line, the back up generator, the back up to the back up generator, and the home to be served, sending them all to Oz.

How do you locate a back up generator to Oz when your house lands there with you inside it? Are you prepared to deal with Munchkins?

I’m current on my Guild union dues, so yes.

 

[SC Maintenance]

It seems to me that you need to have a conversation with your power company.

That being said, liquid propane is your best storage option by far. Diesel is better than gasoline. Diesel might last two years if you add alcicides.

Gasoline is the worst possible option. It is higly volatile and explosive. E0 will probably last for two years. I say this from experience as opposed to idle speculation. The suggestion of a battery backup system as your primary followed by generators as your secondary sounds like really good advice.

Ours goes out fairly often also. At least once a month, sometimes more often - for anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours.

2 years ago our main feed coming in to the house failed (the aluminum cable got nicked on install 10 years ago and it corroded). I only lost one phase. Anyway they sent 2 contractors over to dig it up and fix it - nice guys, was hot as a pistol so I brought them my giant patio umbrella to cover where they were working. Anyway a supervisor from Dominion showed up, so I asked - why is our power going out here all the time? He said they had just completed a back feed into the neighborhood - whatever that is, I assume creates a redundant loop - and it shouldn't happen anymore. But nothing has changed.

Our neighborhood power is in the ground but everything coming in is on a pole. I suspect its the part on the pole that has issues?

 

[SupremePossum]

I don't want to count my eggs before they roost, but I'm taking delivery of a different ex-sunbelt Marathon MLT3060 light tower with around 5K hours, and a good record of maintenance and history of running through Hurricane Beryl with no issue, for $1200 locally this weekend

Very excited

 

[BlakeB]

Yeah I rotate it out between 3-6 months. I just empty into my truck and fill the cans. Not much work at all really, I enjoy playing with stuff. I have a bed divider that can hold the cans easily. 4 on the left and 5 on the right, and I have a spacer so I can take just 2 if I want. I usually let my truck get a little low so I can do 4 at a time

View attachment 284012

Wavian NATO cans, the best you can get! 100% sealed. I have 14 of them currently

Propane for me doesn't make too much sense, it would be the only thing that can use it, and filling a big tank is kind of a pain if you need a truck to come out. Plus filling propane around here is kind of a hassle, the closest place is U-Haul a few miles away, the Shell station down the street for gas is much easier

Yes, my current backup, and of course any proposed backup will run the AC. I have a 4 Ton AC with a soft start, however we don't really use it too much, instead we mostly use our 3 x Mini Split AC's, which have 0a inrush current, will easily run on a very small generator

You could trade that truck in on a truck with the 7.2 kw Pro Power Onboard generator.

 

[Lubener]

I see a lot of whole home generators being sold used. They probably went broke supplying natural gas to it during an extended outage. You thought your heating bill was expensive running your furnace on and off during the winter. Just imagine what the gas bill will be when the generator is running full time during an outage. A portable generator will run your fridge and furnace as needed. I keep my fridge/freezer fully stocked. However, the food isn't worth what the gas consumed amount will be.

 

[SupremePossum]

I see a lot of whole home generators being sold used. They probably went broke supplying natural gas to it during an extended outage. You thought your heating bill was expensive running your furnace on and off during the winter. Just imagine what the gas bill will be when the generator is running full time during an outage. A portable generator will run your fridge and furnace as needed. I keep my fridge/freezer fully stocked. However, the food isn't worth what the gas consumed amount will be.

What are you basing this on? I hear this a lot from people who have no clue how much it costs to operate an NG Generator

Here are the ACTUAL numbers based on current gas cost where in live in Houston TX from CenterPoint Energy, along with real world examples from long generator runs last year that I experienced

At most I was paying $15/24 hours for NG. Of course you have to deduct electric cost which I would usually be paying from that too. So lets call it an even $10 per 24 hours. Would you pay a measly $10 to live your life as normal during an outage, running the AC, washers dryers, watching TV etc? I would!

 

[SupremePossum]

You could trade that truck in on a truck with the 7.2 kw Pro Power Onboard generator.

Don't remind me! I ordered one and paid the deposit in 2021, and waited, and waited, and waited and waited.

Eventually I got the VIN and it was sat in a lot waiting for some components and it reached the year mark, I called and got my deposit back

My truck is paid off, so now I question if I really want to spend $60K

 

[Cujet]

I don't want to count my eggs before they roost, but I'm taking delivery of a different ex-sunbelt Marathon MLT3060 light tower with around 5K hours, and a good record of maintenance and history of running through Hurricane Beryl with no issue, for $1200 locally this weekend

Very excited

That will be a great backup generator for your house! IIRC, they produce 240V and about 6000W.

 

[dlundblad]

I have made a few posts about specific generators, but I want to make a single post that I can keep updated with my search. Also I just like generators

I have a Generac RG027 Standby generator, which is a really nice 1800 RPM Liquid Cooled unit that does 25kw on Natural Gas. It has a 200a ATS. But, I want to have a good reliable backup to this unit, if the natural gas were to ever go out (It never has here, but, you never know!) or if the Generac decides to break at the worst time. I did have a mag pickup go bad just after buying it, and I just hate having nothing to cover me (Though, I did, details below)

I have a Champion 100520 8750w generator that I got before the Generac, its 8750 starting watts and 7000 running watts. I have a Nashfuel Tri-Fuel kit on it so I can power it via NG if I need to. Its a cheap generator, but it has proven itself, as I loaned it out to many people during Hurricane Beryl and it ran perfectly. I of course keep it very well maintained. I do keep 82 gallons of gas on hand too, which should get me through a weeks outage no problem, if I can't use NG for some reason

But, its a Chinese cheap generator. I want something SOLID as my backup. I have made a spreadsheet with solid options

Everything must have electric start, auto-choke (if gas) and be very reliable

View attachment 283692

A Honda EU7000is maybe fits the bill, but 5.5kw, no oil filter and over $4000? Jeez that is expensive. I would love a Kubota Lowboy generator as you may have seen from my other threads, but again, very expensive.

Currently I'm looking at light towers. I can source a light tower with a Kubota D1005 and under 3000 hours but the catch is it has one of the Capacitor Regulated 6kw Pancake generator ends. It seems they are not ideal for home backup power from my research, but it seems that some people say they are good to go, others not, so would love any feedback

Any other good options worth looking at?

What do you need to run if your whole house generator decides to poop out on you? I also have a whole house and am looking for a backup. A Honda EU 2000i (or whatever it is) would run all of my essential 120v circuits. I’d just have no water sadly since my well is 240v. I could live without AC or hot water.

The Kubota light tower is tempting. I also like that it’s on a trailer so you can lend it out if needed too.

Another thing I’m considering is a 10kw that goes on the back of my tractor that runs off the PTO. I could use it and so could my dad, but not my brother as he doesn’t have a tractor with a 3 point that could run it. I’d like to find something we could all use.

Best bang for your buck seems to be this guy. https://www.harborfreight.com/4550-...ator-with-co-secure-technology-epa-59192.html

 

[BlakeB]

What do you need to run if your whole house generator decides to poop out on you? I also have a whole house and am looking for a backup. A Honda EU 2000i (or whatever it is) would run all of my essential 120v circuits. I’d just have no water sadly since my well is 240v. I could live without AC or hot water.

The Kubota light tower is tempting. I also like that it’s on a trailer so you can lend it out if needed too.

Another thing I’m considering is a 10kw that goes on the back of my tractor that runs off the PTO. I could use it and so could my dad, but not my brother as he doesn’t have a tractor with a 3 point that could run it. I’d like to find something we could all use.

Best bang for your buck seems to be this guy. https://www.harborfreight.com/4550-...ator-with-co-secure-technology-epa-59192.html

I have one of these, it’ll run nearly anything if you have the HP to pull it. A general rule of thumb is 2hp per 1 kW.