I have great luck with my generator with a propane conversion kit to use propane or gasoline.
I used a kit from here

https://motorsnorkel.com/

The motor runs so much better and efficient. Starting on the first pull.

I can run my generator on a grill size 20 lb tank for 23 hours . Much better than the five gallon tank for gasoline that only runs a few hours.
Many sleepless nights using gasoline and refills.

My plan is to get something like a tri-fuel that runs on NG and hook directly into the house feed.

But, I have a semi-complicated elec panel setup, so it'll take some work to figure that side out.

Where do you operate your generator? Is it secured? No power for 3-4 days? No big deal. No power for 3-4 weeks? People are going to go hunting for generators.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Where do you operate your generator? Is it secured? No power for 3-4 days? No big deal. No power for 3-4 weeks? People are going to go hunting for generators.

Precisely why I'm looking at solar "generators". No noise and I can keep the panels hidden well enough.. The sun ain't great at my latitude, but with enough batteries I can keep the freezers going and that's all I need.

I’d be interested in learning more about solar generators as well. For example, Jackery and similar units. We have plenty of sun out here to keep them going!

quote:

Originally posted by SigFan:
I’d be interested in learning more about solar generators as well. For example, Jackery and similar units. We have plenty of sun out here to keep them going!

Those will be pretty useless for anything other than a computer, Maybe a tv for awhile. Outside of that those types are minimally useful.

Purchased a DuroMax trip fuel generator and have the setup P250 is describing after hurricane remnants left us without of power for about 7 days. I test the system quarterly.

We're ready if it we have a long power outage again.

--K

ETA P250

I’ve got a 3500 portable and just bought a 5k portable.
Back in 2010 I installed a Reliance Transfer Panel which supplies all the necessary items (no AC though).
There is a single plug on the outside of the house the generator plugs into as the feed.

I laminated directions for setup in case I wasn’t home and my wife or sons had to get it up and running.
We keep eight 5 gal gas cans out in the tractor shed that I rotate the fuel twice a year to keep it fresh and use fuel stabilizer.




We got hit hard in Oct 2012 by hurricane Sandy, lost power for 10 days. I had that generator chained to the bumper of my truck. After 4 or 5 days my neighbors noticed people “taking a walk” casually through the neighborhood. We didn’t recognize them, and we all agreed to open carry while outside to let strangers know we weren’t fucking around.

That generator setup saved us a lot of grief, and we had many neighbors coming over to warm up, have hot meals, and take hot showers.

Living in hurricane prone South Texas I had a whole house natural gas generator installed a few years back. Probalby one of the best purchases I have made for my home. As long as natural gas flows, I have power.

The manufacturer suggests servicing every 100 hours of run time so I have oil, oil filters and air filters on hand. I have had to shut it down before to change the oil and then start back up. If I really needed a long term power source then a water cooled generator would be a better choice. Most are air cooled and work fine for occasional but I think a water cooled would be better for long term use.

I do also have a small power bank that can be charged with 120v household power, 12VDC from my 4Runner or the solar panels. That will provide me a small amount of portable power if needed.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:

quote:

Originally posted by SigFan:
I’d be interested in learning more about solar generators as well. For example, Jackery and similar units. We have plenty of sun out here to keep them going!

Those will be pretty useless for anything other than a computer, Maybe a tv for awhile. Outside of that those types are minimally useful.

Well, not if you could afford to roof your house with the Tesla solar shingles and buy a Tesla power wall (that is of course not a portable solar source). If set up properly that would power the entire house as long as there was sunlight. But, that is cost prohibitive except for the wealthy.

By solar generators, are you referring to battery storage devices like Jackery or EcoFlow?

If so, those are very slow to charge via solar and not practical as a mid/long term energy solution.

I have 2 EcoFlow units and they are great for camping, back yard projects and the occasional brief power outage. Also good in a "bug-out" situation if you can't take your generator with you. (I am not a big fan of "bugging-out" unless you are in a metro area and/or have a second home/camp and can get to it without highway intereference)

I’m considering a fairly large Jackery storage with a solar charger. This will be supplemented by a multi fuel generator.

The idea being the generator would make more power than needed while it runs. That additional energy will go towards topping off the battery for use at night, allowing for a stealthier existence. A bit of the one is none two is one school. I learned something this last winter when the inverter took a shit out on the lake at -15. Freezing your ass off focuses one mind to the necessities of life.

I have 5k watts sitting in the basement for camping and emergencies. 4k is the Anker c2000 with expansion battery. That can run the refrigerators and misc. power. Anther Anker 1k for the WiFi and internet.

Also have a couple 100 watt solar panels to charge. Admittedly, that is not enough to charge the big batteries. I can charge with my 2800 watt gas generator. That is the best of both world but it is noisy. A couple hour generator run and the batteries are topped off for a day, plus.

Really need to add a transfer switch to my house solar panels so I can tap that energy source.

A Tesla Powerwall is tempting to add but we are planning to leave this shithole state soon and don’t want to put anymore money into this house if we don’t have to.

If you have an EV that is capable you can power a home up to 3 - 5 days from it on a full charge, it requires a bi-directional EV, and there are several out there, and the connection hardware, no different than hooking up a generator.

GM, Ford, Hyundai, Kia for example, you need a bi-directional charging station or inverter with transfer switch, some EV's have power outlets you can run cords to specific things like a fridge.

Advice from a "been there and done that" friend of mine:

If you use a generator, something you need to be concerned about is noise -- a running gen can attract attention. His advice, based on some of his travels, is to build up some walls around it (think plywood for the panels and sandbags around the bottom to hold them in place), much taller than the gen, to direct the sound upward instead of outward.

Directed at the noise attracts the zombies crowd:
Out of the thousands of generators running during a power outage, why do you think yours is the one that will attract unwanted attention?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
why do you think yours is the one that will attract unwanted attention?

Mine is noisy as hell; everyone else around me could afford Honda.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Directed at the noise attracts the zombies crowd:
Out of the thousands of generators running during a power outage, why do you think yours is the one that will attract unwanted attention?

This……if you live in a hurricane prone area, you know that when the power goes out, there are so many generators going that no one would stand out from the rest.

Just keep in mind that ANY battery system you buy should have a lithium IRON phosphate battery cell. The older lithium ION or lithium COBALT batteries are simply outdated systems.

Lithium iron batteries can be charged to 100% and even discharged without the problems you see in ion/cobalt based systems. Iron based batteries also have 2-3x the number of times they can be recharged before you starting seeing a power loss. Iron based batteries are generally a little heavier. But for a home based system, that doesn't matter.

My EcoFlow battery charges fully in about 8 hrs on the solar panels. We do get strong sun here.

I can run the fridge or furnace for a couple of days on a full charge.

Though I don't have it yet, I will be getting a quiet inverter generator that can be plugged into the main circuit breaker panel. It will be used to recharge the solar unit as needed, and power more of the house if needed.

The inverter gens are a lot quieter than non-inverter.

Any event longer than a week will have our refrigerated and frozen items depleted. For our location and circumstances, this setup is plenty adequate.