SOLICITING ADVICE: Want to purchase a generator to power home in emergency

[Jack of all Trades]

I have a 5500 Watt Generac that's given me good service for over ten years. During the storm I ran it for about 10 hours and it consumed about 3 gallons of gas. I can run the refrig, well, furnace if needed, lights and the TV. If I manage the load right I can run the electric hot water heater.

The big downfall of a single cylinder 3600 RPM generator is noise. I may look for an 1800 RPM generator to repair in the future, or possibly adapt a small car muffler to mine. It's not a huge issue though since I run it in a detached garage.

Do everyone a favor and have an electrician wire in a disconnect panel since it's very easy to kill yourself, your family or a line crew with a generator.

[norwaypinesavage]

"I’m okay with having to manually start it and manually turn off the (presumably already off) utility feed."

I'm nervous about your (presumably off) parenthetical expression. Even when you have no power it is ESSENTIAL that you turn your main breaker off before plugging a generator into your house circuits. There are two reasons:
No matter how big your generator is, it won't be able to supply the grid, even just that part of it on your side of the outage.
More importantly, you can KILL anyone working on repairing the lines, if you don't turn off your main breaker.

[Libertarian4Bush]

Oh, I know - my comment allows for being out of power during the time it takes me to realize that, get to the generator, etc., and also that I’ll need to get confirmation elsewhere that the power is back on before reversing the steps. In other words, it doesn’t need to be automatic. that would be nice, but might be prohibitive - and let’s face it, I’m getting this for long-term outages, not momentary blips which can be mitigated by my various battery backups.

[Gaffer]

That and being out of phase if the power comes back on....

[Waverunner]

Don’t forget it was Kronberg of Norway whose software enabled the Soviets to redesign their sub props... ( and I don’t buy Toshiba, especially their home size Nuclear Reactors...)

[dickmc]

These GenTran Manual Transfer Switches are both safe, inexpensive, and reasonably easy to install. I have had one of the 15 amp 6 circuit ones that I wired in since the Y2K business.

If you can comfortably install a circuit breaker in a panel you can install one of these. Here's a pdf of the installation instructions.

[wxgesr]

Can I run a diesel generator using the fuel from my oil heater supply? If so, it would be better than messing with ethanol effed up gas.

[whd23]

An easy way to connect the generator to your house power distribution system is to use an interlock kit. You add a 240V breaker to your panel, wire it to the outside for the generator to plug into, and when you lose power you turn the main breaker off and that allows you to turn the breaker for the generator on.

This is one place that sells them.

Using an interlock means you don't need to install a transfer panel or rewire those circuits that you want to supply with generator power. You just use the existing wiring in your house. Of course, depending on the size of the generator, you may not be able to power every circuit in your house so you'll need to turn off some of the circuits in your main panel while the generator is supplying power.

[Libertarian4Bush]

First, I just want to thank everyone for being so kind and volunteering their information.

I’ll try to answer a few questions here and narrow it down a bit.

I’m looking to go PORTABLE. I have a patio outside where my electric box is - this is, presumably, where it would go.

There is no natural gas available here. I’d have to supply liquid fuel manually (or Propane via the “Blue Rhino” type tanks - not even sure if that’s possible). I’d have a hard time selling a permanent tank to the wife.

I’m okay with a MANUAL switch.

I’d like to power the whole house.

I have electric HVAC, stove, everything - so I’d need quite a bit of juice to be comfortable.

I want it to be able to run for AT LEAST two or three days at a time.

I’m becoming more and more mechanically inclined, but I prefer something with low maintenance, as an emergency is no time to be learning.

I’d like to keep the whole thing under $7,000 for the unit and electrical modifications. Feel free to tell me if that’s unreasonable.

[newnhdad]

great advice so far.

[rockrr]

It looks like you’ve received a wealth of good info to chew on so I’ll only share one more anecdote with you. The first year that I had my portable generator I had it set outside on my patio. Even though I had it sheltered from direct exposure to the elements it was still outside and I found it borderline miserable to refuel in the cold - especially when you’re ‘camping’.

The following year I put it in a metal shed that was 60 feet away from the house. I installed some cheap duct to feed it fresh air when the door was closed, and an exhaust pipe through the roof.

I had a little bit of voltage drop due to the length of extension cord to the house, but it was negligible and I was very cautious about overloading the beast.

Good luck with your project!

[PA Engineer]

I have electric HVAC, stove, everything - so I’d need quite a bit of juice to be comfortable.

Do you have your breaker rating for the HVAC (or tonnage-assume 1.9KW per ton)? The stove is a load killer. I would get a propane coleman camp stove. Is your electric water heater standard or quick recovery? 7K will be more than ample for your needs. Fuel storage for three days should not be an issue.

[Betis70]

Bookmarking, and also in need of info.

Would need to run a refrigerator and a well pump at a minimum. Not sure the loads involved, but would probably want 3-4 hours a day for up to a week.

Have plenty of wood for heating in the winter and cooking.

[PA Engineer]

The well pump would pull the biggest load. Do you know the depth and horsepower of the pump?

I am upgrading now, but years ago I spent the money for a battery bank (8-L16s) and inverters to keep the fridge and water running. I used the generator to charge the batteries for a little over an hour a day. Afterwards, I would put it away until the next day. The refrigerator and pump were my minimum priorities.

Refrigerators are easy. Well pumps can draw. Get the info and can make a recommendation. I got this generator and found it to be a good reliable electric start. The battery starter charging runs a bit high. I use a "Battery Minder" in storage and disconnect the battery after starting. For that generator you will need about 18 gallons of gasoline per week for your needs.

I designed my system for approximately 3500 watts per day. With batteries that gives me about 10 days on a tank of fuel (6.3 gallons). If the SHTF, I have panels to put up after a month.

AC is the way to go with well pumps and not DC. DC would require very large cables because of the electrical resistance.

Hope that helps.

[Libertarian4Bush]

well, the blower SAYS 3.3 A, but I have 3 circuits:

(1) 50-amp AND (1) 60-amp to the blower ( > 20 y/o)
(1) 30-amp to the heat pump itself

does that help?

[PA Engineer]

well, the blower SAYS 3.3 A, but I have 3 circuits:

(1) 50-amp AND (1) 60-amp to the blower ( > 20 y/o) (1) 30-amp to the heat pump itself

does that help?

Did not forget about you. The blower sounds about correct. The high amp breakers I think are your resistive backup heaters. Can you check that out? The 30 amp seems about right for the heat pump. It probably is in the 3 to 3.5 ton range.

What are your winters like? Could you get by with alternative temporary heating? For instance a 23K BTU kerosene heater may be used. With one 5 gallon kerosene container you can get 31 hours constant output. Three kerosene cans could cover all of your heat requirements. This would be one way to cover your resistive heating load (much more efficent) and reduce the size of the generator. Can you manually turn off your resistive load and run only your blower? One other question. Is the 50 amp to your hot water heater?

If it is then it sounds like a rapid recovery unit. You could juggle your loads, but would need at least a 10KW generator. In other words you would need to turn everything off to heat your water. When heated you switch off the breaker and turn everything else back on. You will have sufficient hot water in storage for awhile.

[Libertarian4Bush]

you are correct that those go to the electric heat - I could just literally shut them off.

the heat pump is 3-ton, 10 SEER, 11 years old.

the water heater is a kenmore power miser 12 - looks like 3800 watts at 240V.

I had been increasingly looking at a manual switch and receptacle on a utility box outside my house to just “jack in” a portable propane generator, with but it’s starting to sound as if my appliances are going to outstrip the apparent max of 9kW on those. do you agree?

to answer your other question, we can live without emergency heat - or, really, without heat/AC altogether for a while. it’s the lights, hot water, and refrigerator/freezer I worry most about, really.