Posted on 04/25/2011 2:59:23 PM PDT by spacejunkie01
Do you have to rely on refrigerator/freezer? Can you can or dehydrate instead?
It might not be a bad idea to have both a large and a small generator (so that if the fuel starts to deplete you can shift to powering your most critical devices). Also, very small refrigerators could be helpful for the same reason (to refrigerate medicines, for example).
And, don't forget to give serious consideration to having a transfer switch installed so that you don't end up with extension cords running everywhere and requiring you to keep doors open, etc.
Gas and propane are too volatile for my taste Also, after a major disaster, I would bet that diesel would become available again before propane (since diesel powers many vehicles).
Also, you must add a stabilizer chemical to diesel to get it to store for the long term.
Solar won't give you sufficient power.
I have a 17 kw Seimens propane. The battery doesn't charge during the exercise cycle because it doesn't have an alternator. The battery gets trickle charged from the automatic transfer switch so it's continually being charged. I thought I could operate the generator in manual mode with a manual switch but I had to buy the ATS. It wasn't that much more and I'm glad I did it.
For what it’s worth I’ve got a Genrac / Guardian 15Kwatt (it’s 4 years old). It runs all my lights, refrigerator, well, (I’m also on septic), and gas fireplace and I’m at maybe 5k to 7k watts. I didn’t hook up the heat pump systems because with the fireplace I’m fine in the winter and I also have a gas stove.
Got a 500gal underground propane tank and I’ve been without power for 7 days in the winter and I didn’t burn much fuel. It’s all auto or manual which I use cause I don’t want it running if I’m not home and we lose power.
My input anyway... http://www.generac.com/Residential/Guardian/Products/Guardian_Series_17_kW/
saving
I know SOLAR is a bad word on FreeRepublic, but...
I’ve been running a completely Solar refrigerator for about three years on a single battery charged by an 85 watt panel. The only problem I’ve had is frozen beer when I don’t get to the cabin for a couple of weeks (I live in southern Arizona, and the temps are pretty high in the summer, still no problem for this great unit.)
Check out Sundanzer for information on the fridge, they also sell freezers http://www.sundanzer.com/Home.html. They’re a little pricey, but they work great.
Yeah, we’d get 3 or 4 inches on ice on the tank if the vaporizer went out. And gas pressure of 5 pounds or less.
Big problem.
Hey, I resemble that remark !
If you like to experiment, go to the following website. It’s title is “Construction of a simplified Wood Gas Generator for Fueling Internal Combustion Engines in a Petroleum Emergency”. The information is free and I printed it out some time ago. I haven’t tried it yet but they say you can run a generator off of this design. They even tell you how to change the generator to run off this system. Sounds crazy but it just might work. I’ve seen worse inventions.
Alot of helpful info that I am going to weed through. We want something quiet because if there are riots and absolute mayhem in our country (and the power’s out) the last thing I want is a loud generator alerting the looters to my house.
We’re willing to spend about $5k and my main concern is food preservation.
Sorry, I forgot the website. http://www.webpal.org/SAFE/aaarecovery/8_transportation/woodgas/index.htm
You can get any size tank you want. I've seen 500 gallon tanks, they probably come bigger than that.
What type of load?
Solar will be massively expensive if you are going to power anything significant.
However you can pick up a real nice Generac and then get a tri-fuel conversion kit so that it will run gas, natural gas or propane.
Propane is nice because it has no shelf-life...will remain virtually unchanged for decades.
What type of load?
Solar will be massively expensive if you are going to power anything significant.
However you can pick up a real nice Generac and then get a tri-fuel conversion kit so that it will run gas, natural gas or propane.
Propane is nice because it has no shelf-life...will remain virtually unchanged for decades.
Of course if money is no object then look at the Geneforce battery based systems...
No you don’t. You need to learn how to live without electricity.
I’m just sayin’.
A couple of years ago I considered a backup generator. I checked off which circuits I wanted to back up. In the end only the light circuits were there so I decided on a whole house backup. I looked on the Internet and a 20Kw generator was advertised for $5000... just for the generator! I found a dealer in the area who installed..everything, inluding transfer switch for $5000. So that’s the route I went. With computers and esentials on UPS I haven’t had a glitch....
I never had any luck with any size Generac. Cummins and Kohler are they way to go for me. Caterpillar for larger sets.
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