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Location: Lewiston, NY
Go big or don't bother is my recommendation. Like many others, I went through all the options about 6 years ago after losing power for about 24 on a really hot summer day. My wife was frantic with no power to the freezer and sump pump - and I was 300 miles away. I got a 17 KW natural gas fired Generac, the biggest air cooled at the time was 19 KW IIRC. Just as important, I got the automatic transfer switch and it powers every circuit in the 200 amp breaker box. The generator can only produce around 90 amps but that's more than enough for anything I run simultaneously. Now if I'm away in the Winter skiing and the power goes out I don't have to worry about the heat or the sump pumps.
I'd get a unit big enough to run everything you normally would use at once, an automatic transfer switch for the entire breaker box so you don't have to think about what is and what's not connected, and a 1000 gal propane tank if there's no NG where you are. Cry once and rest easy.
John
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Location: Elizabethtown, KY
11-08-2021, 10:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-08-2021, 10:53 PM by Wild Turkey.)
Lots of good info, thanks everyone! That's why I posted the question. LOML almost "got a deal" on a generator, but it had a B&S gas engine and was only "3450 watts" which wouldn't do much. We will have LP for the back-up heat so that problem is already settled.
But for $150 maybe I should have grabbed it for a shop generator
So now I've got some loads to calculate and prices to compare and then I get to convince SWHMBO that it's money well spent!
(RE her health. Cancer is gone and hip is repaired {finally! only took three tries and several 'clean-ups'} and she is now mobile and as onry as ever
Thanks for remembering!)
"Truth is a highway leading to freedom" --Kris Kristofferson
Wild Turkey
We may see the writing on the wall, but all we do is criticize the handwriting.
(joined 10/1999)
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Location: RTP, NC
Another possible consideration. I don’t know if you expect your wife to outlive you. My dad expects my mom to outlive him. What finally convinced him to listen to me and go big with propane is she need something turnkey, or close to it. She can’t be trying to pull start a gas generator, filling the tank, etc.
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Location: Missouri
Bought a 6800w gen from Sears on 04 or 05.
It will run...
The well pump
Fridge and upright freezer.
Computers.
A few lights in the house and minimal light in the shop.
We have 2 hot water tanks. 1 electric, 1 LP. We shut the electric one off.
Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020
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(11-08-2021, 10:46 PM)Wild Turkey Wrote: So now I've got some loads to calculate and prices to compare and then I get to convince SWHMBO that it's money well spent!
generators- another topic i havent read or heard someone say something like," i should have bought a smaller generator."
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Location: Merryland
(11-09-2021, 02:48 PM)tomsteve Wrote: generators- another topic i havent read or heard someone say something like," i should have bought a smaller generator."
We lost power after an ice storm once for 5 days without a generator. That really sucked
We lost power after an ice storm once for 3 days with a 6000w generator. That really sucked too but we didn't freeze to death as long as we stayed near the woodstove... but the toilets and water heater worked.
We lost power after an ice storm once for 5 days with a 15,000w generator. Aside from having to fill the tank a couple times a day, life was almost normal.
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Location: Traverse City MI
We have a General 8.5k portable. So far I have used it twice- once for 36 hours.
Shallow well (110v)
Propane forced air furnace
Propane range
Various lights, tv, wireless router
Garage door opener
We have electric water heater- I did not run it but we had enough warm water for showers after 15 hours of outage
Fir an extended outage I would turn everything off and run just the water heater as needed
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A few years ago we were out for 11 days. I had a 6000 watt generator I picked up at HD for a song. I put in a small transfer switch that allowed me to run:
Refrigerator Upstairs
Refrigerator in Basement
Boiler (Oil Fired)
Once circuit that has the bathroom lights on it
Well pump (240 volt)
We survived just fine, although I made a number of trips to the gas station to fill multiple 5 gallon cans.
Figure out what is the essential loads are in your house, and go from there.
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I have worked from home since 2004. About 10 yrs ago, we installed a 22kw Generac (LP) with auto transfer installed. Not a single regret.
If you want to avoid computer interruptions while the generator kicks in, get a UPC battery backup (starting about $75; needs to be replaced about every 5 yrs). I keep my CPU, router, and phone plugged into the UPC. Unless the outage takes out my ISP and phone service, the transition to battery backup and back is seamless. I've been on calls when the power went out. My clients had no clue and I never lost my computer connection. Much better than the early days sitting in a running car on my driveway to power my laptop and mobile hotspot.
