Backup Generator

Who has a plan for eventual electric outages, short or long term?, and what are you all doing to prepare?. Electric service in the northeast corridor will be less reliable in the future, due to lower investment in the aging electric infra fracture, and increased demand on it. storms, accidents, vandalism,"short for terrorism" can all effect our delivery of reliable electric that we all take for granted. curious who is prepared and how they are going about it, and who does not care too much.

Not concerned, have a hand fed stove no electricity needed. and in the summer I will bathe in the creek if I need a bath

Eric

Just bought a 10K'er having a plug installed and wired to my panel. Irene had us out for a week solid, some I know were out 1-1/2. I'm lucky my mother-law has a dug well so water wasn't and issue, but now I'll have no worries.

winter could mount a challenge bathing in the creek,lol. I recently won at auction, a 10kw military surplus diesel generator. built like a tank. made to run 24/7. tax payers paid $13,600 to have built, 180 original hrs. paid $790. thanks military. go to " government liquidators" nearby auctions in middle of Pa. , new york and Maryland. piped into my 275 h/o tank with it's own transfer pump built in to generator, and manual transfer switch at circuit panel.

homecomfort wrote:winter could mount a challenge bathing in the creek.

Why would I need to bathe in the winter?

Eric

Coalfire wrote:

homecomfort wrote:winter could mount a challenge bathing in the creek.

Why would I need to bathe in the winter?

Eric

coalfire don't be startin w/ your common sense stuff again hell hc, you could keep all of Doylestown lit up with that genny

We have a small 5K gasoline generator which is good enough to keep the basics going, there is enough gas on hand to last for a couple days if it were run continuously. Not sure how long if it were run as needed and if I were to exclude what could be siphoned from vehicles but certainly a week or two.

Heat is pretty much taken care of here and will improve with a small hand fired stove. There is two fireplaces in this house and plenty of wood. In addition to the new flue, there is 3 other flues. 2 for the fireplaces and another that was for the oil boiler and whatever coal heat they had when the house was built that isn't being used right now. Ultimately I'd like to get a cooktop stove with a hot water jacket for down in the basement hooked to this flue just for backup/conversation piece. That's one good think about the Van Wert, it burns buck and I could use it any hand fired stove. I do have storage for up to 15 tons but the way it's looking now there will probably be about 10 tons stored at the start of each Fall.

I'd like like to also add a hand pump for well but haven't really researched it yet. There is at least a months worth of non perishable food always on hand here, probably two months heading into November. Another month if you want to add what is frozen. I'll note this isn't some kind of survival plan, it's typical of my household.

I think anything beyond those preparations would require a very large collapse of society.....

Ed.A wrote:J I'm lucky my mother-law has a dug well so water wasn't and issue, but now I'll have no worries.

My brother has a well like that and he's only 5 minutes from me, he doesn't use it for the house. It's on a hill above his property, he'll siphon it off to top off the swimming pool in the Spring, water stuff or other uses where he needs a lot of water and water quality is not that important.

freetown fred wrote: hell hc, you could keep all of Doylestown lit up with that genny

My Father purchased surplus one years ago that if I recall was 20K, wasn't very practical and the noise was ridiculous. It got toasted in the fire, it's hard to see but it's just about right in the center of this picture, you can see the one outlet. They had piled stuff up here after the fire. Those were my kitchen chairs.

I have a 5k gasoline unit and about 20 gallons of gasoline stored during the winter months. In the spring I used up my stored gas in the lawn mower, and drain/replace the gas in the generators tank with fresh petro.

I have a 2KW propane unit that I got for free, used to run a radio site on top of a mtn when power when out.

Couldn't pass it up for the price!

Basically in the winter I can run my EFM and a a fridge and really thats about all I need

In the summer it will keep the frigde going. don't have AC although I wish at times I did..

Then again I work for a Telco and have access to any generator from 8kw to 85kw should I REALLY need one. Provided they are not needed for use within the network during outages. I've never seen us need them all at the same time before. I have seen the need for 20 or so at a time though.

2K Honda, quiet, pure sine wave, idles in eco mode, powers everything selectively but well, that is a loud 4K that only runs a few minutes a week to fill up several 55 gal drums.

Some electronics/phased shift motors will not run well on cheap generators, that discussed in other threads. A Honda inverter based genny will run everything ..has commercial grade sine wave, some say a bit better than some commercial.

Gave up on big gennys, way too much gas. Me, 2-3 gallons a day running 24 hrs a day though with selective running and deep cycle 440 amp-hr batts, can use as little as 1.5 gallons/day to run a small stoker 24/7 and everything else, Hard to believe? Its all in the strategy of power management. Objectively though, I'm not running any welders or air compressors or cow milking equipment.

I've got an 8k Generac. Bought it during the ice storm of '07 but it didn't officially get hooked up permanently to my house until 2010/2011. Runs just about everything in my house, fridge, septic, oil fired furnace (that never gets run), well, bathroom, living room lights, TV (gotta keep the kids entertained), and even my computer if I need it. I don't necessarily need it for my stove it being hand fed and all but I've been known to plug the draft inducer into it. It gets 18 hours to 11 gallons of gas.

Since I bought it in 2007 it's paid for itself time and time again. I lose power so often it's like I live in a third world country.

3k honda here runs tv and lites very quiet and easy on gas will plug freezer in during long outage never had to so far bedford rural electric great co. if its winter time just put beer out on the porch..thats all that matters, have hitzer hand fired 354 will not freeze to death ,,just kinda do like the amish people do they get by without electric,,