Advice on emergency generators?

[Lars]

National Electrical Code allows for your Fridge or Freezer to be on a 15Amp circuit if it is by it self. 120v X 15A = 1,800W X 80% for continues duty= 1,440W. Make sure you have a transfer switch properly installed, if not it could back feed the utility and kill the linemen.

 

[Gunner3456]

National Electrical Code allows for your Fridge or Freezer to be on a 15Amp circuit if it is by it self. 120v X 15A = 1,800W X 80% for continues duty= 1,440W. Make sure you have a transfer switch properly installed, if not it could back feed the utility and kill the linemen.

Good info. We recently built a new home and the electrician put all three (fridge and freezer in kitchen and pantry, and additional fridge/freezer in garage) on 20a home runs. I just double checked that.

My $.02 would be that for a temp outage of a couple or three days, I'd just run heavy extension cords to those appliances from the generator and not mess with (bypass) the home wiring.

It would be handy to have it hard wired properly to the system though.

 

[Lars]

It's not that big of a deal to put in a transfer switch. I've just seen some people make a cord with two male ends (my uncle) to back feed the house. I just about had a heart attack.

 

[ZeroRing]

For anyone interested in a generator sizing calculator I stumbled across this one:

Plugging in my "must-haves" tells me that a 10Kw is what I should be looking for and my "would-be-nice-to-haves" bumps me to a 17.5Kw

Still... you can plug whatever you like into the calc and it will give you a rough idea of what size genny you'd need to power what you've chosen.

 

[PBinWA]

If you have a well then you need the generator for water so we have one.

I put in a transfer switch myself and it wasn't too hard. Not sure if I broke a code or not but the quotes I got from electricians were really high.

The nice thing with gas generators is that you can always siphon gas from your car if you are really desperate. I have truck with two tanks so I have lots of extra gas on hand on top of what is stored in the shed. Stabil is your friend.

Don't forget to exercise your generator every couple of months or the magnets can demagnetize over time - at least that's what I've been told. Also, use a good quality oil (i.e. synthetic) in case you have to run it non-stop for a long time.

Also, you can cycle your high energy items like the well and the hot water heater and just turn them on as needed. Your hot water heater won't cool down that quickly so you can heat up some water and then turn it off - then let the well run to fill the diaphragm tank as needed. Obviously, you wouldn't want to run water while your well is not running.

Just some tips from someone that has one and uses it a couple times a year.

 

[Lars]

I've been looking into putting together quotes for generators. Through my venders I'm looking at $1200 for a 5.5kw generator and transfer panel and $4500-5000 for a 17kw NG/LPG auto start with auto transfer switch. I need to check Home Depot to see if these prices are good. Most home owners that are handy can do the little generator on their own. Just get an electrical permit, the utility linemen's lives are at stake.

 

[Randini]

Just to get this in the discussion if you are going to be burning wood then why not steam? it's come a long way since the old days, and its much quieter with a system that recycles the steam.
http://www.greensteamengine.com/

 

[Redcap]

If you have a tractor, watch gov't auctions. I just helped a good friend build a generator setup for his tractor's PTO and 3pt. hitch, it was a 30kw genset that he got for dirt cheap.

 

[zeezee]

FYI, unless you live away from other people I would get something that doesn't make noise (i.e. run on fossil fuels). Do you really want every neighbor knocking on your door to ask you to plug something in for them?

"Hey bro, can I charge my cell phone at your house?" *sniff, sniff* "Hey, watcha cookin? Oh, and I don't have hot water, mind if I take a shower here?"

Look up stories during Katrina...people going door-to-door with machetes trying to steal generators...I'd just throw up some solar panels on the side of your roof that you can't see from the road...but that's just me.

I agree with what you are saying, couldn't you install the gen in your garage & run the exhaust through the roof/side of the house via a hose? Gasoline storage is always an issue, both from a safety standpoint and a thieving standpoint.

 

[MuddyWatters]

Fuel will be an issue. Anyone have experience with propane or natural gas generators? I ended up getting a backup battery like this one to run the 'fridge and fire up the sump pump during outages.

 

[Karma]

I bought a 12kw generator, and also a 2kw generator. The 12kw is wired into the house for pretty much complete backup in case of power failure. The 2kw is in case I need a quiet generator that sips gas. I also setup a couple of house batteries with a 3kw power inverter that is charged off of a battery charger whenever the generator is powered up anyhow. It keeps things running silently while the generator is off. If you need to, you can also charge up the batteries with jumpers hooked to your car or whatever. It works for me.