Brent S
Top Poster
One more note on generators and electronics. My advice is get a power conditioner. It will help peotect any sensitive electronics. This is espechially important when running a smaller generator.
Time to have a party and invite friends.A series of brief power outages here caused our chest freezer to short out last night, so we woke to find all of our frozen foods defrosted, and had to cook a lot of them. Leftovers all week, then.
If I was single I could live off a genny. It's a lot harder with a family though. With a propane unit at least you're not always having to refuel.I run totally off generators now, at least until I get the house built and solar system installed. A couple things to look for if your thinking about buying a new generator. 1). running watts vs surge watts. Manufacturers are listing their gensets with the surge watts first. That is an important number to know when starting motors but you also need to know the running watts.
2). For sensitive electronics you will want a generator with a low THD of less than 5%.
My well pump needs a minimum of 7500 running watts. The generator I use is 8000 running watts and 10000 surge watts. I'll be installing a couple solar panels with a 1500 watt invertor and battery bank on the well house to run a heater for winter.
For the cabin I can get away with 5000 watt with 6500 watt surge.
If the generator is set up properly there's no problem with fueling. Propane is a great option for occasional use. I'm going with a 10kw liqued cooled Perkins diesel backup unit for the house. This will be tied to the solar panels and will have auto switch gear to automatically start if there's not enough solar to run the house. I'll have a 55 gal barrel for fuel that I can transfer from my truck. My well is 1/4 mile from the house site and has to be on a separate generator. For this I use a gas generator, it only needs to be fueled about every 2 weeks. It will also be started automatically when its connected to the pressure switch on the well.If I was single I could live off a genny. It's a lot harder with a family though. With a propane unit at least you're not always having to refuel.
I thought a lot about diesel. Propane won as it never goes bad. The bad thing about propane is it would be harder to get after shtf. Diesel will be around for at least a couple years before moisture gets to it. I guess there is no perfect plan. If I was really rich I'd set up with hydro. Oh well, I got 500 gals of propane till I learn to rub two sticks together...If the generator is set up properly there's no problem with fueling. Propane is a great option for occasional use. I'm going with a 10kw liqued cooled Perkins diesel backup unit for the house. This will be tied to the solar panels and will have auto switch gear to automatically start if there's not enough solar to run the house. I'll have a 55 gal barrel for fuel that I can transfer from my truck. My well is 1/4 mile from the house site and has to be on a separate generator. For this I use a gas generator, it only needs to be fueled about every 2 weeks. It will also be started automatically when its connected to the pressure switch on the well.
Years ago when my kids were younger I built a cabin in the woods and only had a generator for power. I had propane for cooking, heating water, refrigeratoration and lighting. The TV, phone answering machine and other small appliances ran off 12v. The kids never knew the difference.
I thought a lot about diesel. Propane won as it never goes bad. The bad thing about propane is it would be harder to get after shtf. Diesel will be around for at least a couple years before moisture gets to it. I guess there is no perfect plan. If I was really rich I'd set up with hydro. Oh well, I got 500 gals of propane till I learn to rub two sticks together...
Hydro would be my best idea too, Brent. When I was at school I remember building a model water powered generator, I also like the idea of a wood gassifier generator.
At the moment, I have a simple homemade solar generator that is good enough to provide power for our small electricals and lighting needs.
I also considered propane. Its not a bad choice as it could be plumbed directly to the house tank. I decided to go with diesel for the longevity of the engine. The diesel generator runs at 1800 rpm where gas and propane units run at 3600 rpm. Diesel has a long shelf life too if you add a fuel treatment. And I can buy off road diesel and avoid the fuel tax.I thought a lot about diesel. Propane won as it never goes bad. The bad thing about propane is it would be harder to get after shtf. Diesel will be around for at least a couple years before moisture gets to it. I guess there is no perfect plan. If I was really rich I'd set up with hydro. Oh well, I got 500 gals of propane till I learn to rub two sticks together...
I'm really impressed that 9 yr old diesel could still work! I think a couple years, and that's stretching it, is the most gasoline will last. I plan to dump the genny's gas every two years, and that's been stabilized. I think I have enou propane so I'll never use the gasoline in it, but just in case of a problem I'll refresh/replace it at two year intervals. Last year when I drained it I was able to run it in the small walk behind mower so it didn't go to waste.
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