[TheForge] emergency generator

[Steve Smith]

When we moved to Maine, hearing stories about how long one could be 
without power due to an ice storm, we bought a unit large enough to run 
our typical household consumption. No, this does not include things like 
the plasma cutter and air hammer!

We went with Winco:
http://www.wincogen.com/
for a variety of reasons, mainly opinions gleaned from digging through 
internet news postings. I don't have any hard data to offer to help pick 
a brand. We've had no problems with it during regular testing over the 
first year. Sample of one.

Do remember that a new generator is shipped without oil in it! Before 
you add the oil, however, check to see if it has had oil added (speaking 
from experience here). Mine still had the NO OIL tags, but they had 
added oil at the stock point...sort of a mess.

Be sure to take a look at fuel consumption on these things. They will 
usually list consumption at full load and half load. Half load consumes 
more than half the full load fuel. If you compare a large generator at a 
given load to a small one at the same load but maxed out, the small one 
will consume less fuel. They suck down quite a bit of fuel, and aren't 
cheap to operate. So it helps to size your generator to your needs. On 
the other hand, it is a real pain if you undersize it.

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but it is critically 
important that you have a disconnect switch between your generator and 
the incoming power line. You *do not* want to be putting power back out 
on the line from your generator when there is a power outage. You could 
kill a power line worker pretty easily. You don't need to invest in the 
automatic type (unless that sort of thing appeals to you). A simple 
manual disconnect switch will suffice (but it has to handle all of the 
current, a good sized switch).

The portable units are appealing price-wise. They seem to work well for 
some folks, but they aren't necessarily rated for full time operation. 
We went with the stationary type of unit as we wanted to be able to run 
normally during an extended outage (not on 24 hours a day necessarily). 
If all you're doing is keeping the freezer ok, maybe a portable unit is 
the right way to go. Be sure to read the fine print on output power 
capability. I wouldn't expect long trouble free use if it runs all the 
way maxed out.

Steve


Schade wrote:
> I want to be able to run my submersible pump. I think it's 1-1/2 hp.
> I also want to be able to keep my freezer frozen and refrigerator
> cold. I have a 500 gal propane tank but have been looking at
> gasoline generators. I never thought of propane.
> 
> I saw a used and returned 5000 watt "Dunlite by Onan" (SGRBA 378A)
> w/11 hp Honda engine  for $899.00 I haven't been able to find any info
> on the web for this generator.
> 
> Going looking now to the House of Generators. Thanks for the ideas.
> 
> Bob
> ____