Generators

[Mortblanc]

You can run the numbers and decide how much or how little power you need, but the real trick is deciding how to use the gen set in the first place.

Go with the largest output you can afford. You will often find that when you have the money to buy a gen set without being in a panic you can get a more powerful unit "on sale" than you expected. (I saw a 4000w unit on sale at Home Depot last week for $250 U.S.) Often the large units are flat in their fuel consumption so a 5500kw unit burns no more fuel than a 3500-4500kw unit.

Not using part of the capabilities that you have is easier to live with than desperately needing more power and not having it.

From personal experience;

1000w unit (got one) will run your charger, a few light bulbs, hand tools such as drills and skill saws.

Looking at things practically, you are just as well off with a 1200w inverter hooked to your auto battery. I have one rigged up for use on my garden tractor. I can hit the breaker box and turn off everything but the lights and plug the house into the tractor with the motor idling. I can run a couple of dozen 5w LED bulbs off the inverter.

2500w unit (got one) will power stationary tools like table saws, heavy drills, drill press. I built a complete house using a 2500w unit for all power tools and a couple of light bulbs when dark came and I was still working. You will get into many situations where you have to make decisions with the 2500w unit; either freezer or fridge but not both, fridge and one light and the charger but not three lights, freezer and only one bulb....

At this power level you will eat almost as much fuel as the larger units and most 2500w units have very small fuel tanks holding one hour at best.

5500w unit (had one sold it) will run three huge freezers and power the house and all your chargers, except for the water heater, clothes dryer, stove and HVAC.

Back around 2005 we ran the 5500w unit sitting between the neighbor's house and mine. Ran a cord across the road to the neighbor's freezer. We duct taped the freezer doors shut to insure a firm seal and did not open them. We ran the freezers for one hour morning and one hour at night and no one lost a single ounce of food during a 5 day power outage. We ran the gen set for a couple of hours into the night and the neighbor watched TV and burned a couple of lights but we generally reverted to oil lamps and such to save generator fuel. We emptied the refrigerators into ice coolers on the first day and did not run the fridges at all. Cooked on grills and camp stoves and did very well.

We probably ran the generator 15 hours total through that 5 days and burned less than 20 liters of fuel.

Most of the generators you find will be LOUD. I find the noise very irritating and it nearly drove my wife crazy. There are all kinds of trick people do trying to deal with the sound but the real trick is to install an auto muffler and limit use time.

I got rid of my 5500w unit due to physical limitations of not being able to move the unit around as I did in my younger years. They are big heavy machines, even on wheels.

None of my generators were expected to replace grid power 24/7. We used them as power to do the job we needed and turned them off when not needed.

I have a line with a double male plug which I can plug into the generator and then into the 30amp outside outlet to the house. I disconnect the main breaker and turn off the systems I do not need. Power can not flow back to the main grid and my own system is powered off the current entering the buss bar.