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Let’s talk generators


Emerald525

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So even before the snowstorm I have been thinking about getting another generator.  I had a Honda but gave it to my kids when I sold the RV and it came in handy for them.

I was lucky and didn’t lose power but I would have been miserable if I had. 
 

I thought about getting a stand alone generator but given power outages happen maybe once every couple of years it makes more sense to get a portable generator.  I loves the Honda because it was relatively quiet and reliable as hell but I think I would like more power than the 2000. 
 

I also think it makes sense to me from a safety standpoint to have an electrician but in a transfer switch but this is expensive. 
I heard there is a cheaper option of an interlock box. 
 

I also like the idea of the new power stations as they are quiet you can have them in the house and they don’t emit carbon monoxide. 
 

What are peoples thoughts ?


 

 

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18 minutes ago, Emerald525 said:

I sold the RV

Off topic (what's new) but didn't realize you guys got rid of the RV!

On topic (for a change) I have made use of a small Honda gas powered generator a few times in recent years and it was definitely a life saver.  That said, I wouldn't mind moving away from having to have liquid fuel on hand and worrying about clogged carburetors etc.  Don't necessarily need a whole house system but, like Kim, would be curious about other options.  Anything that can be plumbed into NG lines?

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Just now, albertareef said:

Off topic (what's new) but didn't realize you guys got rid of the RV!

On topic (for a change) I have made use of a small Honda gas powered generator a few times in recent years and it was definitely a life saver.  That said, I wouldn't mind moving away from having to have liquid fuel on hand and worrying about clogged carburetors etc.  Don't necessarily need a whole house system but, like Kim, would be curious about other options.  Anything that can be plumbed into NG lines?

Yes sold it to my daughter and boyfriend as they were getting more use out if it than us. 

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I am curious as well to see what others have to say. We recently bought an A-Frame camper and gives me an excuse to pick one up as an emergency backup for my tank as well.

 

I am trying to figure out a dual fuel one so I don’t have to worry about gas with the camper and can just use propane from the dual tanks it has already on it. 
 

Also, we were fortunate not to lose power in Camas during this outage. Overall I don’t think I’ve lost power at our house yet (knocks on all available wood!)

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From personal experience, get a bigger generator than you think you need. Not over kill, like one step up. That will give you breathing room and keep from tripping the generator.  I have a 3kw generator and wish I would have gone up to a 4.5kw.

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I have a honda 2200. It is quiet, starts every single time and got my 300 through a couple different power outages.  Now that I live in the mountains i have a propane standby with automatic transfer switch. It runs EVERYTHING on my system and both our refridgerators.

My 3 cents.  If you have more than 2-3k in your tank its foolish not to have a generator.  Battery back ups are good but in the city, if your power goes out its usually for longer than a battery back up will last.

Honda is a great generator, harbor freight sells honda knock offs that get decent reviews. 

Two things of note.. never ever never run anything but clear gas (non-ethanol gas) in your generator.  If you run it and let it sit for a year the ethanol will react and cause all of this nasty deposits that will clog the carburetor.  So next time you need it, it wont start. 

2nd thing, but a can of starter fluid and put it on the shelf next to your gen.  That way you can be sure you get it running when you need it to. 

 

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21 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

I have a honda 2200. It is quiet, starts every single time and got my 300 through a couple different power outages.  Now that I live in the mountains i have a propane standby with automatic transfer switch. It runs EVERYTHING on my system and both our refridgerators.

My 3 cents.  If you have more than 2-3k in your tank its foolish not to have a generator.  Battery back ups are good but in the city, if your power goes out its usually for longer than a battery back up will last.

Honda is a great generator, harbor freight sells honda knock offs that get decent reviews. 

Two things of note.. never ever never run anything but clear gas (non-ethanol gas) in your generator.  If you run it and let it sit for a year the ethanol will react and cause all of this nasty deposits that will clog the carburetor.  So next time you need it, it wont start. 

2nd thing, but a can of starter fluid and put it on the shelf next to your gen.  That way you can be sure you get it running when you need it to. 

 

Honda’s are great. It sat for like five years in the house with leftover gas in it and started no problem. I will probably invest in another one but they seem to have the brand name markup. Reliability is very important to me. 

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I have a sportsman GEN4000DF. 

https://www.campingworld.com/sportsman-propane-4000-watt-generator-116228.html

I bought it because it can run from propane. Storing gas long term is not easy. Having a couple large propane tanks around is easy. Also if the power goes out sometimes the gas station pumps won't work. I also live in the hills and getting to the gas station in an ice storm is not happening.

The funny thing is that the description of this generator says it is about as loud as a "regular conversation". This is very far from true. It is so loud that I would never run it at night. So in the day I used a couple heaters to get the tanks heat back up and recharge on of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Webetop-155Wh-42000mAh-Portable-Generator/dp/B073J61T3Y

That battery had enough juice to run a super small pump just to break the surface of the water in my 140 gallon. By the time the battery drains I turn the generator on and repeat. I did not have enough power to run the return pump. My power was down for three days and I lost nothing but my tank is lightly stocked with fish. The temp got down to 66 degrees.

My take away from the experience is that you don't realize how un-prepared you are until the lights go out. I plan on getting more battery banks so I can use the return pump. I also am going to build a housing for the generator to cut down on the noise. And don't forget lighting for the house – candles don't cut it and fire can be unpredictable.

Someday a Vortec with an automatic backup would be nice but they are expensive. Of course an automatic natural gas generator would be perfect but I failed to make the life decisions required to be able to afford such a purchase.

 

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I have a Yamaha 2000 and used it last weekend. But I realized how painful it is to hook up heaters, pumps to two different tanks. And I still didn’t have any power in the rest of the house. It was getting cold too and the heaters had trouble keeping up

so I just ordered a champion 7000 inverter generator from Home Depot. This should run the whole house. I just made a suicide cord for the dryer plug. Don’t judge me :)

switch panels don’t run the whole house, only the circuits you decided to hook up to it

 

Edited by Manny Tavan
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15 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said:

Two things of note.. never ever never run anything but clear gas (non-ethanol gas) in your generator.  If you run it and let it sit for a year the ethanol will react and cause all of this nasty deposits that will clog the carburetor.  So next time you need it, it wont start. 

2nd thing, but a can of starter fluid and put it on the shelf next to your gen.  That way you can be sure you get it running when you need it to. 

This is good info and perhaps partly something I ran into with mine.  Question: where do you get clear gas during the winter when all the stations seem to run ethanol mix by default?  I hate to have cans sitting around collecting water but maybe you use some sort of scavenger in them and just have a store of "summer" gas on hand?

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@Emerald525 Great thread!  I'm taking many reefing lessons from what happened.    

I just ordered a WEN 56380i Super Quiet 3800-Watt Portable, seems to be similar to the Champion brand.  Now I need to see if the two gas stations down the hill run clear gas.   

This gentleman pretty much sold it for me:

(11) RV GENERATOR WEN 5630i 3800 WATT | The Perfect Generator For Me! - YouTube

 

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@freddyk good information. I think my best bet is to get a generator that can run off propane and store that. You don’t have to worry about it going bad or the entire house blowing up in the event of a fire. 
 

This is highly rated by consumer reports as far as generators but doesn’t run off propane. I would consider getting this one for the power and features.

609A5B98-1704-4149-A069-A186CE72EAF8.png

 

I think I’m leaning towards getting an electrician to put in a transfer switch and then getting a portable generator that rinds on propane and storing propane. The fancy one @suncrestreef has is tempting but from a risk benefit ratio I think just having a portable ready to go with at least 8000w . Here’s an estimate of power usage.  That’s a great tip if having light sources that don’t run on electricity as lights can use a lot.

B48E44F3-9697-4316-8613-E0B5A559C8E4.jpeg

 

 

Then  maybe a power starion for the night may be what I do.

26CEC3C0-026D-4023-8F49-52ABDB70F620.jpeg

Interestly my dad who lives in Texas has hoarded gasoline in his garage for years. He takes advantage of the points discounts and loads up. We used to laugh at him and also told him that’s dangerous but during the power outage he had plenty of gas.😂 Whose laughing now.

 

The power stations can be spendy too but I would maybe save for that later.  I will wait as I’m sure given all the power failures demand has gone up on all these items.

314FDEA7-3C18-4430-AA7B-5B033BB4D6FD.jpeg

 

 

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As a person that lost power last Friday and still does not have it I find having a generator very important.  I use a portable generator like many others do.  Mine only runs on gas, but a duel fuel is a good option, especially if you have natural gas.  From my research most generators burn through propane pretty quick and I find it more convenient to fill up gas cans than propane tanks.  For the electrical side I have a cost effective but still safe alternative to a full transfer switch.  At my house we have an exterior mounted outlet for the generator.  In the panel there is a breaker to back feed the panel with a lock out for the incoming utility power.  It’s very simple and cost effective.  I just turn off the main breaker which allows me to turn on the generator breaker.  Then I can chose which circuits in that panel to power up.

3E9A5AB2-C7C1-4D21-A1C0-9E92EFE7873D.jpeg

F2E94BB1-EAA5-45E2-A0B2-95E566951FE3.jpeg

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7 minutes ago, jsawyers33 said:

As a person that lost power last Friday and still does not have it I find having a generator very important.  I use a portable generator like many others do.  Mine only runs on gas, but a duel fuel is a good option, especially if you have natural gas.  From my research most generators burn through propane pretty quick and I find it more convenient to fill up gas cans than propane tanks.  For the electrical side I have a cost effective but still safe alternative to a full transfer switch.  At my house we have an exterior mounted outlet for the generator.  In the panel there is a breaker to back feed the panel with a lock out for the incoming utility power.  It’s very simple and cost effective.  I just turn off the main breaker which allows me to turn on the generator breaker.  Then I can chose which circuits in that panel to power up.

3E9A5AB2-C7C1-4D21-A1C0-9E92EFE7873D.jpeg

F2E94BB1-EAA5-45E2-A0B2-95E566951FE3.jpeg

Thanks for showing a picture. Did an electrician put this in for you ?

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1 hour ago, jsawyers33 said:

Yes, I had my electricians put it in when I built the house ( I am a general contractor), but I’ve put them in on past houses.  It is really pretty easy to wire

Oh good to know. Do you have any idea what a transfer switch would cost ? I’m guessing around a grand because of labor.

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Home Depot has an 6 breaker automatic transfer switch for $167 but... yes labor is likely $80 x 6 hours? I do my own electrical work, I think it’s in the realm of possibility some advanced DIYers out there.

I scored this today, it should be enough to run my tank, the fridge, and some lights. Plus I can pop it in the trunk of my Tesla to extend my range 😉

68C14808-D37D-4A32-A57D-563DCBB86A33.jpeg

Edited by Cobalt
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