[Elecraft] OT GENERAC generators

[Jim Brown]

This is an issue where systems engineering comes into play. I live in 
the Santa Cruz mountains, where we lose power for a few hours or a few 
days a few times a year. Causes include storms that drop limbs onto 
power lines, disruptions because sections of the grid are shut down to 
support fire fighting, or because line. So far, (8 years) we haven't 
encountered an earthquake, but that will set up longer outages and other 
issues.

We heat and cook with propane and have no Air Conditioning -- our 
electrical loads are home appliances like refrigerators, lighting, home 
entertainment, computers, and well motors. I've moved everything but the 
well motors and big electrical loads (like a microwave) to one side of 
120V, and can run it quite nicely from a Honda 2000i running in econo 
mode. That drinks very little petrol, and we let it rest when we're 
sleeping. Internet, local WiFi, and other crucial systems are backed up 
with batteries that are float charged with wall warts and can run for 
days. In my shack, everything but computers and power amps run on big 
batteries that are charged by solar.

We have a much bigger 240V Honda that can handle the well motors and 
drinks a lot more gas. 90% of our outages are handled by the 2000i, and 
we fire up the big one only when we need more.   The well has two pumps 
-- one that pulls water up 100 ft to the tank, and another that 
pressurizes the system. Our water tanks are a few tens of feet above the 
house and hold a lot of water, so we can go for a while without running 
the pressure motors and well pumps. Not a lot of pressure, but enough 
until we need to take a shower. Laundry can almost always wait. We 
haven't used A/C since we left Chicago in 2006.

I suggest that anyone contemplating a generator do this sort of system 
engineering.

73, Jim K9YC