I have a 5500 watt generator also with a Honda engine. It runs about 8 hours on a tank of gasoline. You say so what? If you fill up in the morning you are out when you want to go to bed. It sometimes runs out at night, depending on the load. If power is out area wide, I need to look for gas in about two days since I can store about 12 gallons of gasoline. it would be nice to convert it to propane. Also run your generator periodically and train family members how to do it. I keep jumper cables so I can jump it from a vehicle if the generator battery is down. Learn where the electrical circuits in you house run, i.e., where the power comes from to make the hot water tank electric ventilator work, etc.
Get a GenTran switch which will switch 6 circuits and have it professionally installed if you don’t have the skill. It switches between main power and your generator. Buy or make up about 6 extension cords. You can use them. Buy and keep about 6 flashlights in fixed locations so you can find them in pitch blackness for emergency use. Make sure they work.
Fill your cars/tractors/atvs with fuel.
I like imagining these scenarios in my heads. My husband and I have discussed an generator, but we live in a community that does not have ice storms and rarely do we lose power. But I just lent my hardcover copy of One Second After to a neighbor’s mother, because I like to introduce the topic of preparedness.
We live in a subdivision: I wonder if anyone would notice me storing gasoline in the adjacent arroyo?
I agree all family members should brush up on where circuits are. My husband is out of the country and I only know what to do vaguely.
But I have flashlights in fixed locations around the house.
I am sure that others that have read your post will put your experience to good use. Thank-you for giving us your true to life practices. God keep you.
From Home Depot
CHAMPION 3,000-Running Watts Portable Generator
Item #: 106885
$329.00
I have a couple of these on the theory that redundancy is best. Portable enough to throw in the back of the truck.
Capable little suckers and won’t break the bank.
I have a 10,000 watt generator with a Honda engine and a professionally installed transfer switch. It will run all night and I can store 50 gallons of gasoline. I also keep a spare generator battery on a trickle charger at all times.
We lost power for about 2 weeks a few years back here in the Texas panhandle. Winter, cold and power to our small farming community was OUT.....
That’s that had few problems were those with , wood stoves with cord wood, bed tanks on their trucks for fuel and quiet a few folks that had whole house generators plumbed to either the commercial natural gas lines, stored propane or diesel / mogas stored or siphoned from the bed tanks on their vehicles .
We didn’t have the whole house generator plumbed to NG at the time but did have power inverters on each of our 3 pickups and well as a stand alone Honda 7500 mogas generator.
We used our solar yard lights at night and placed em back outside when we left for work to recharge. Ours used AA NiCads so I even swapped those out for our portable radio and flashlights.
Our plan and equipment in place now is four 4x4 trucks with bed tanks of 100 gallons and 34 gallon OEM tanks, all kept topped off at then end of each day. We have a big glass door wood stove and keep about 6 full cords of hickory stored. Augments the central heat and air during really cold days or heats up to 2500 sq ft by itself if needed.
Power inverters 7.5kw on each vehicle will back up generators if needed. We have Co2 tanks for welding and keep a few spare to make dry ice for the fridge and freezers if gensets fail.
Have about 30 solar yard lights that use AA batteries so we just bring in what we need at night if power is lost. Use them like a sum jar per se.
We charge our gadgets, phones, tablets, laptops on the way to and from work in the trucks.
During the heat of summer we have a storm cellar that is pretty cool to sleep in if it’s super hot out. Stays around 75 on a hundred degree day and is a place to escape the heat.
That’s our plan B if power is lost.
Stay safe !
I converted my Generac to run on either propane or NG. Google Generator Tri Fuel Kit or PM me for the company I got mine from. It works well. Ditto on the transfer switch.