Gas generators for the home [MERGED]

What do you want to power?

maflynn said:

Any of you folks have a gas generator as a back up power supply for their homes?

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I just (literally last week) had one installed.

We were out for 5 days after the 2011 Halloween nor'easter and would much rather not do that again.


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maflynn said:

Basics of my house, perhaps the frig, TV, my laptop. In the winter heat would be a plus, etc.

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That was my plan too, but the cost difference to a unit that would power the whole house (minus maybe the AC) was relatively small and the larger unit was quieter so we let ourselves get upsold.

B

I live on Long Island and I contemplated one after Sandy as I was without power for 9 days. Kind of lost the desire after my gf asked what good would it do since gas was not readily available after Sandy?

maflynn said:

What I found on my initial research is that the portable units use gas, and you need about 20 gallons a day to run it. Not really feasible to have these types of units going for more then a day since we can't have that much gas stored and I agree that in those situations getting more gas will be troublesome.

They also have the non portable types that type natural or propane gas, those can run a bit longer due to the options of using large tanks for the propane, but the non portable/hard wired are more expensive.

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I live in a condo so the higher end or more permanent solutions are not really viable for me. I also don't want to be storing gasoline in my garage.

maflynn said:

They also have the non portable types that type natural or propane gas

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FWIW, this was the direction we went since we have natural gas running to the property. Apologies if you meant gasoline.

B

My parents have a 5500W "portable" generator. It does a good job powering all the basics. They had a 30-amp outlet installed in the garage and run to a pair of ganged breakers in the box, makes for a simple switchover, runs everything but the A/C, oven and clothes dryer.

As far as getting fuel, if you're in NY I think there is a new mandate (it was proposed anyway) that service stations have connections available to hook up a generator to run the place so they can still pump gas in emergencies.

Also, it may take 20 gallons to run for the entire day but do you REALLY need to run it ALL day? The fridge should be good for a few hours once it's gotten down to temperature and you don't need lights during daylight. Put your network gear on a UPS and that should last between generator runs, though around here if the power is out the internet is also out.

maflynn said:

Any of you folks have a gas generator as a back up power supply for their homes?

We lose power maybe once a year but since I live near the coast and with what appears to be more active hurricane seasons, it got me thinking.

I'm not asking for buying choices as much as opinions if anyone here as them.

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I highly recommend one. We got a portable one that would power the entire house except for the dryer and stove (unless other stuff is turned off). There is no need for us to run it at night (it's very loud and we don't want to leave it unattended outside at night). Like a car, it uses a certain minimum amount of fuel to run but it will use more if you are powering a lot. If you are not powering it at night (7 hours) and keep the electricity use to only where you need it, I found the gas use not too bad. We keep the generator filled with gas and also keep three five gallon containers filled with gas but we still need to make a gas run if the power has been out for days.

hallux said:

Put your network gear on a UPS and that should last between generator runs, though around here if the power is out the internet is also out.

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FIOS FTW. I like that I still have internet even if area power is lost and cable is out. I can also still watch TV with my Roku .

Edit: We have a Generac GP8000E if you are looking for suggestions.

midwest 101

living in the midwest (US), bad weather is always a possibility...

went with a dual approach. don't care about a/c, but wanted enough power for a few lights, fans, hot plate, and the furnace blower. got a small gasoline unit and a conversion kit for running on propane/natural gas. figure 3 different fuel sources meant i should be able to run no matter what when needed. had a nat gas plug piped to the exterior wall with a weather proof quick disconnect that i installed a lock box over the top of. ran a separate electric service to a couple inside rooms, the utility room, etc. which means no cross connection, just a couple plugs to move back and forth (furnace plugged into grid power, or generator power). works well, easy enough the kids can do it.

inside, wanted silent or quiet charging, small device power. went with a pedal power generator. i've been riding/racing for most of my life, so pedal power was a no brainer, plus i've got two kids who like to make a game out of it... an endless supply of energy right there!

nice to have the piece of mind that come with having a back up plan in place. hope for the best, expect the worst and all that.

maflynn said:

I can see that happening, so easily. Living on the coast I'm worried about losing power though we've not had too much of an extended outage. The biggest outage we've had was one when the substation transformer blew in town. I was out of power for almost a week. That was difficult.

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that can also depend.

For example after Ike hit houston power was out for a while but the natural gas lines worked just fine.

This means if you had a home generator that ran on natural gas you were fine.
My parents would cook food for those few days by taking a match and lighting the gas stove that way.

After the 5 day Derecho outage I just got some camping equipment (stove (Propane)) and hand cranked water purifier. These items for cooking and water were the things that I learned that I needed the most.

My biggest concern after a massive storm is a flooded basement and no way to get the floor pump running. This could cause a major mold infestation. Second would be losing all the food in the refrigerator. So, yes, I did buy a small gasoline generator just for those 2 items.

For a larger home, the permanent ones that run on nat gas are a great idea.

Try this Consumer Reports review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66Wm0mFb2Aw

We have a protable 5500 Watt geny for use when power is gone. I have 2 deep freeze and the fridge to run when power goes out so not having any backup is not a good thing.

You do not need to run the geny the entire time. When power was out we usually ran it for an hour or two, left it off for 4-6, then turned it on again. We usually went through 5 gallon of gas in a day.

A family friend lives out in the country and had a whole home generator hooked up about a month ago. It runs on propane and can power his entire house.

Plutonius said:

FIOS FTW. I like that I still have internet even if area power is lost and cable is out. I can also still watch TV with my Roku .

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If only it was an option! They live in what is or has been one of the nicer areas locally (home prices in the $200K-$350K range), and people in that area can generally afford the service but there's no timeline for introduction. There are less-wealthy areas that have it already. I think a lot of the holdup is that Verizon wanted to bury the fiber (not a terrible idea) but the town won't let them dig up next to or under every street to install it. Many areas of town have above-ground copper-based utilities (cable, power, phone) still.

...or is thinking about getting one?

I live in a hurricane prone area (Houston, Tx) and have a pool. Evacuation in past storms has proven to be tenuous (people stuck on highway in giant traffic jams after running out of gas). The last one that hit, power was out for a couple of weeks in some places. This could be a disaster for a pool. Anyway, if you have one, I'd like to hear about it.

My goal is a portable unit, gas operated, with the power to run my pool pump, my fridge, and a small window AC unit. Looking forward to your ideas!

We’ve got a Troy-Bilt, ~6K watt (9K start), runs about 10-11 hours at 1/2 load, nice chassis/tires, plenty of outlets.

That runtime is on ~8 gallons of gas, so you’ve need a decent amount of gas to sustain several days of continuous use.

Only used it one time for an extended period (about 3-4 days).

We have a ton of extensions (for Halloween/Christmas decorations), so it was easy to run lines in from the garage to the main fridge, a couple of fans, some charging stations for phones and computers.

Just ran it backed up, partially out the garage, with the door 1/2 open, plenty of ventilation.

Our gas grill came in super handy too, had a full tank so we were able to grill burgers, hotdogs, warm up things on the side burner.

They have models with electric starters and other features, more output, etc., they all run about $600-900, we scored ours on sale for about $400.

Have to say OP you are the first person I've ever heard say that they want to run their pool off their generator.

How are you planning to hook it up. Your best bet is a transfer switch. You will need to hire a electrician to install a sub-panel but it will be the best way to go. Then you hook up the pool filter to the panel and the fridge and what ever else and just flip the switch.

ucfgrad93 said:

Have to say OP you are the first person I've ever heard say that they want to run their pool off their generator.

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When a hurricane's a comin' I can't hardly think of anywhere I'd rather be than in the pool.

My parents have a ~5200W generator (I think, might be bigger), I think it's a Troy-Bilt also. They had a licensed electrician run a 30A outlet into the garage near the overhead door. When it needs to be used, plug in the cable the electrician built to go from the generator (which has a 30A outlet) to the one by the wall. Kill the main breaker (to prevent backfeed to the street) and energize the breakers for the garage outlet, then flip the switch on the generator. They can run (if the person tending the house is smart about it) the entire house. If I'm running it for them when they're out of town, the only time it's been needed since the outlet was put in, I kill the breakers for the A/C units to prevent overload on the generator.

They regret not having a transfer switch installed when they had the service upgraded for the A/C, but this solution works well. The generator was not a major consideration when the service upgrade was done since they didn't yet have it.

http://m.lowes.com/pd_494338-24212-6258_0__?productId=4774799

My pick if unlimited budget. 20kw. Will run whole house if wired correctly and with natural gas you don't have to worry about refueling. It has propane back up if needed.

I've seen other forums that put it at about $8000 totoal after install.

kevo1011 said:

http://m.lowes.com/pd_494338-24212-6258_0__?productId=4774799

My pick if unlimited budget. 20kw. Will run whole house if wired correctly and with natural gas you don't have to worry about refueling. It has propane back up if needed.

I've seen other forums that put it at about $8000 totoal after install.

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The nice thing about the whole house units is they will start automatically once the power goes out.