Then you have no electricity.What happens if you lose your natural gas? People have lost both electric and natural gas.
Prior to the massive infrastructure failure here in Texas, I have always toyed with the idea of getting a standby generator because I'm in an area that seems prone to outages. After this past week, getting one is at the top of the list now.
I've calculated that I need about 15kw to comfortably power my home using natural gas that I can tap in my neighborhood. Don't need the big 20kw generators that you see at lowes or home depot as I don't intend to power literally everything and my home is not massive either. With that said, can anyone provide info on what is generally considered some of the better standby generators? I see Briggs and Strattons, Kohler, Cummins, Champion, and of course Generac. Any others I should be looking at? And any other considerations I should keep in mind?
I recently had a Generac 22KW unit installed. It is enough to power everything in the event of a power failure. I had the local Generac representative come out and sized the unit. I’m happy with it. It’s kicked on once for a 5 hour period. That was from an eighteen wheeler taking out a power pole. It exercises itself regularly. I’m using propane. Propane has more BTUs than natural gas. I don’t know about your city codes or home owner association’s rules. Generac appears to use a rebranded Kohler engine. Biggs and Stratton makes the Cummins air cooled units. Personally, I wouldn’t rely on public utilities to deliver my fuel.
Don't I wish I could find find propane for .89 a gallon. 1000gals would last me a yr.Double quotes. No idea how I did that.
Thanks for sharing. 200 gallons for 4.5 days is reasonable. I could probably make it last 9-12 days if I only ran it as needed.
This was another reason I bought a 1000 gallon propane tank. That, and well, it was all they had at the time. It sure is (or was) nice filling up at $.89 a gallon in the spring.
Have lost power many times … never lost NGThen you have no electricity.
and if you can - shut off auto defrost. Those heat strips really draw power.Have lost power many times … never lost NG
As a long term user of generators … something that’s handy when on backup power is to have a freezer or refrigerator with temp controls on the door. We have a freezer in the garage and if we have a hurricane related loss … I raise the temp when going on gens …
Good point - Yeah … I went and got a cooler out of storage in case we needed to carry food outside but we only lost power for 2 hours when a power line snappedand if you can - shut off auto defrost. Those heat strips really draw power.
The concept of losing your fridge freezer during a blizzard is lost on me- just move the stuff outside into the garage or patio.
My dad's place in Breckenridge is on propane. A few years ago they had the tank buried. That might be the way to go.Really don't care to have that on my property. If I had an acre or acres, sure, but I'm not on an acre.
Bury the propane tank. I just buried a 250 gallon tank. It was not that bigA 200 gallon tank on my property isn't an option.
250 gallon tank. Maximum fill limit is 200 gallons. The unit has load shedding ability. It will throttle back as the demand decreases. The representative said that I could run a week on 200 gallons. If not, call for a propane drop when it gets down to 30%. The first service is due at 25 hours. This is a mandatory service that is required by Generac. They change the oil, filter and adjust the valves. They will walk me through it. I’ve known the representative for a long time. We graduated high school together. I’m getting too old to run wires and haul gas. The automatic transfer switch makes for a smooth transition.I have a 16KW Generac to run 3/4 of my home. I am on propane as well. I have three 100lb tanks. What size tanks and how many do you need for the 22KW?
I've been on the Generac for about 10 years. Never had an issue with it. I use an oversized filter and run M1 0-40 with an oil change every 2nd year with filter. We are up on a little northeast mountain and lose power, now and then. Longest run for the Generac was a little over 80 hours during a 30" snow over 2 days and ice storms induced long-term outage. It was a really big deal with 3 young kids. If the generator failed all we'd have is a fireplace for heat. Never faltered once. Ran like a champ. The only drawback I can think of is noise. It's loud. But so is a portable gas generator.
250 gallon tank. Maximum fill limit is 200 gallons. The unit has load shedding ability. It will throttle back as the demand decreases. The representative said that I could run a week on 200 gallons. If not, call for a propane drop when it gets down to 30%. The first service is due at 25 hours. This is a mandatory service that is required by Generac. They change the oil, filter and adjust the valves. They will walk me through it. I’ve known the representative for a long time. We graduated high school together. I’m getting too old to run wires and haul gas. The automatic transfer switch makes for a smooth transition.
Bought a 6500w Predator. I bought the plug and converted the l6 20 to the new n 14 whatzis. I've yet to go the extra mile for a righteous transfer switch./interlock. Anyway, I mostly need power for a 1 hp well pump and a fridge, the rest is just incidental luxuries. Turns out the 6.5 KW is good for pretty near the whole house with the exception of the dryer and the oven. In fact, I probably could have gone as low as 4.5 KW. Sure, more is better, but more means more fuel too. Next is a means to use gas tanks in cars for additional capacity. Rigging a siphon shouldn't take more than the runtime a full 8 gallon tank gives me. All this is just in case. After a decade of ever increasing storm intensity, my local utility has re-vamped the grid and local arborists have gotten rich clearing fallen trees from nearly every storm. The power lines are fine in the weather, as long as a tree doesn't attack. And every storm affects the grid less and less, because the trees have been cut back so much. So I have yet to need the genny, In a month or so, I'll start cycling its Stabil'ed gas into the cars a gallon at a time.
I checked a few weeks ago before our cold spell and we only used 200 gallons. Our only gas appliance is the furnace though. I also burn wood, which I am sure helps keep consumption down.Don't I wish I could find find propane for .89 a gallon. 1000gals would last me a yr.
Now days motorized vehicles are all almost imposable to siphon gas from. Back around 1970 you could siphon gas from them. But there have been screens or baffles or something put into the fill neck or gas tank inlet area of vehicles for a long time now. Even my 1985 Olds 88 was all but imposable to get a hose down the fill neck to siphon gas. And more recent vehicles are even harder to siphon gas from.
About the only decent way to get gasoline from a modern vehicles tank is to have some kind of a tap after the fuel pump and use the vehicles fuel pump to pump the gas to the tap and a hose from the tap into your external tank. And anything you add has to be crash safe and able to pass inspection. Summit Racing use to sell a tap to check pump pressure. That may be usable and safe, but probably a little slow because it is probably a restriction due to its size.
If you do not believe me, go ahead and try to siphon gas from your vehicles. You will just be wasting money on what ever hose or siphon arrangement you buy, and wasting time trying to do it, because it ain't gonna happen with modern vehicles.