The sound of a generator

[pc farmer]

We been without power for 28 hours now. They say 80 mph straight line winds. Poles broken all over the place. Glad I have a generator to run the house. They say power by Friday 5pm. Local gas station is on a generator so I can get gas for it. Cousin has a pto generator to run is dairy. Getting water for the animals from him. No gen at the barn. Maybe it's time for one

 

[pc farmer]

I know there was a generator thread a bit ago, everyone needs one to run the basics

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

You don't need one until you need one.

We were having regular outages a few years ago. Every time the wind would blow they would cut our power. We were using a 5000W propane super quiet generator with cords running all over the house.

I bought a whole house natural gas one and before I even had a chance to get it connected to the house they moved us to a different grid. The only power outage we have had since then was a couple days ago when a lightning storm (very rare over here) knocked out the power for a couple hours.

 

[normanaj]

I pull both my gens out of the shed once a month and run them for a few minutes just to make sure everything is working.

 

[crazymoon]

PCF, I am finally breaking down and buying a 14K whole house Kohler generator. Our power seems to go out every time a mouse sneezes. Loss of power for me is aggravating but having a farm like you would be horrendous.

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Had my Coleman 6250 for over 5 years and never needed it. Then Helene hit hit us and didn't have power for 10 days. Dang thing is loud as can be but kept me going.

 

[hoity toit]

We been without power for 28 hours now. They say 80 mph straight line winds. Poles broken all over the place. Glad I have a generator to run the house. They say power by Friday 5pm. Local gas station is on a generator so I can get gas for it. Cousin has a pto generator to run is dairy. Getting water for the animals from him. No gen at the barn. Maybe it's time for one

Sorry to hear that. Two generators I have are the Westinghouse 12500 Watt Dual Fuel Home Backup Portable Generator, Remote Electric Start, Transfer Switch Ready, Gas and Propane Powered and also a Predator 3500 watt inverter generator. Both units are solid. Got the Westinghouse from Amazon and the Predator from Harbor Freight. Wishing you the best in your situation, we have been there also.

HT

 

[clifish]

Got a text from PPL that we lost power in NEPA, pike county...only lasted an hour or so. If I lived there full time I would have a whole house generator installed, hooked into the propane tank.

 

[millerbuilds]

We used to live in on a small property in rural wisconsin. When the power went out it either came back on in 2-3 minutes or 2-3 days. Being on a well, septic with a pump and needing to keep my sump pumps running, I finally got sick of running a small generator with cords everywhere, I finally broke down and installed a whole house Generator after losing power twice in a week.

We moved to Texas and I kept the small generator, after moving it around my garage for 7 years I sold it. The next year we had Snowmageddon and I had no back up power source... house dropped to 42 degrees in the Master bedroom and 51 in the warmest interior room on the 2nd floor. Lost power off and on over 4 days, ran out of firewood on day 2.... never again!

I now have a back up generator and small portable A/C unit (could not afford/justify a large enough Generator to run the air conditioning) and keep enough firewood stocked up to get us through 7 days without heat.

- Jason

 

[sandyut]

I know there was a generator thread a bit ago, everyone needs one to run the basics

TRUTH!

WOW! glad you are ok! that sounds rough. Be strong.

Generators: Our home came with an older Gererac that run on natural gas (pretty sure they make them for propane as well). its on an automatic switch, so when the power goes out, the garage, both refers, gas fireplace and several outlets turn on. not a whole house, but thats not really needed and very $$$. It is a life saver and if/when it dies, I will get a new one that day.

Last fall we had a 5' snow storm and power was out for over 48 hours. I had heat, refers on, lights on. Thats when you learn the value.

Before we moved to the mtns, I used a small gas generator. it worked for the refer and few other small things, but not the best solution but by far the cheapest. got it used for like $300. Still have it and will never let it go.

Cost wise: i hear the install is spendy to add the auto switch. Generator cost is based on load needs.

Justification: if you lost everything in your refer/s freezers what would that cost?

Hope that helps any thinking about it.

 

[bmudd14474]

You can borrow one of mine if needed Adam.

This may be my next one https://amzn.to/43jG15h

I really want this one for the fuel efficiency but don't like the price. https://amzn.to/43jG15h

 

[hoity toit]

You can borrow one of mine if needed Adam.

This may be my next one https://amzn.to/43jG15h

I really want this one for the fuel efficiency but don't like the price. https://amzn.to/43jG15h

I can vouch for the Westinghouse 12500w generator. Well built and solid.

HT

 

[JckDanls 07]

You can borrow one of mine if needed Adam.

This may be my next one https://amzn.to/43jG15h

I really want this one for the fuel efficiency but don't like the price. https://amzn.to/43jG15h

Both links are the same genny...

I have the super quiet Yamaha 6300... Wired it myself to my breaker panel... Runs everything but the AC... I do have to trun some things off to heat my water, but turn it back off when it gets hot...

 

[tallbm]

It's funny how this thread pops up as I've been doing some prep for getting a hybrid inverter (Sol-Ark 15k) for the house where I can also plug in a generator if/when needed as well as setup a home battery bank.
I bought this home and it had solar panels on it that have been working like a champ, but about 3 years ago it seems all the electric companies got super greedy and I now have an electric bill again because there is now no way I can possibly sell back enough power to build credit or break even.
My panels easily generate over 1.5x the amount I use but the surplus I can't use during solar generation times sells back at 2.4 cents/kwh where power I get from the grid during non-solar hours is bought at 17.5 cents/kwh so I am setup to lose.

What would be really neat is if I could get my hands on the not-yet-existent Dodge Ramcharger that has a 92kwh hour battery capacity and 130kw generator (generator runs on gas to charge batteries and run all electric drive train). Then I would have my emergency/outage battery bank AND generator in a mobile setup AND I would still get a battery bank for the home geared towards storing my surplus panel power so I don't have to pay a dime to the energy company.... until they figure out how to screw me over with another plan that doesn't give credit lol.

Anyhow, this is all interesting and timely discussion that I'm totally in on reading more about :D

 

[sandyut]

I can vouch for the Westinghouse 12500w generator. Well built and solid.

HT

that think looks beasty!