How many have standby generators?

[mfinn]

How long do you all run your portable gens for multi-day outages? The one time I've needed it I ran it for a few hours in the morning, then again at night. I don't think you're supposed to run them for 24 hours straight.

Mine stays on from 6am to 12 midnight.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i had a 6000w gasoline powered portable generator that i had to use few times. Now i have a natural gas powered 18kW standby generator that comes on and off when electric goes out... it powers the whole house though.

 

[ca1ore]

If u use a gas powered portable, as I do, you still need to figure out how to maintain flow in the tank at night when the portable isn't running if you have a protracted outage. In my case vortech battery suffices.

 

[Lubeck]

I have a gas powered unit One of the best investments. Had to use it about a month ago for a few hours. I used to have a transfer switch hooked up but moved to a rental house so I have to do it the old fashion way..........extension cords....blah

 

[bigdookie]

this has been a major concern on my mind especially as winter approaches. i think the last two years weve seen power outages, and im not looking forward to seeing my tank drop to 30 degrees overnight. a generator would be pretty expensive for me in this 3 unit apartment, but i would love to have something "just in case"

 

[Paul B]

I also have solar electric that will also supply an extra 4,000 watts as long as the generator is running. And of course it is day time.

 

[royvoss]

installed a 20 kw a month before sandy hit, it ran for 2 weeks with out a hitch, runs on ng, I started the project shortly after Irene came through. glad I did , wife thought I was nuts, never herd a word about it again.

 

[ectorecox]

since you're asking how many, I actually have two. One is a backup for the backup. Get it? You'll never know when you'll need it.

 

[Mike Ordner]

I have a whole house 14KW Kohler with automatic switch that runs on propane. I have a 500 gallon propane tank. Been in the new house since February and needed it four times already due to short outages. Similar to Paul, I also have solar power. 8.2 kw DC which converts to roughly 7.9 kw AC power. However, most of my outages have been at night, so no help there yet for the generator. Needed or not, generator turns on every Wednesday to run diagnostics and keep battery charged. One of the best things I did when designing this house.

 

[plasma327]

I have two. One 12500 watt that runs the house and a 2500 watt portable just for the tank. Just in case. Can never be to prepaird i think.

 

[ravi197699]

After Sandy I bought 5000w Genrac that is hardwired to the main panel and then 1200w generator that is only for the tank. Beast investment for my family and reef tank.

 

[sfsuphysics]

No generator here, but the only time there has been a major power outage of significant time was during the 1989 earthquake, and I was lucky and was restored before the night, although I have heard others without power for a few days.

One of these days I'll do some research and see if I can't find a really cheap genny that is enough to keep a few low power pumps running. I used to like the battery powered air bubblers, but I don't think they're particularly useful on larger tanks (at least without a whole ton of them)

 

[jda]

20KW. It will do my whole house in the spring/fally/winter, but will not run all three AC units at once in the summer - just 2 of them.

Mine is LP and Natural Gas, which comes in handy. I took natural gas for granted, but after the floods out here washed away roads, pipelines and worse, many areas are without natural gas and might not have it for months and months. Portable LP tanks are a pain, but they are a good backup. Dual fuel generators are the way to go IMO.

I also have a 6.5K Honda in the box still waiting as a backup to the 20K. I have oil and a back-feed cord ready - I always have gas on hand. If either save my reef just once, they are worth every penny.

In 2002, after a terrible Ice Storm a 5,500 Generac saved my reef. I had to take gas out of my V10 ford fuel tank to keep it running for 3 days until the gas stations got power again. Lots of horror stories on the local board after 2 weeks of no power.

 

[Paul B]

I connected mine to natural gas after hurricane Sandy when there was no gasoline on Long Island so generators were useless. I siphoned gas out of my boat which had 100 gallons in it.

 

[shamus]

I have a portable generac for peace of mind!!

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

I have one. It isn't a whole-house generator, but it will run my refrigerator, my freezer, and my tanks.

Me too. Propane generator to run the essentials. Fridge and tank!

 

[Boston21]

Live in an apartment so I have no way of using a generator . When I buy my first home I would love to install one of those pricey Cummin's LP generator's though, my grandparents had one installed and it turns on within like 15 seconds of losing power, and the whole house can be powered off one. As of now im SOL if the power goes out for longer then a hour, I need to get some sort of UPS to run my Mag Drive incase something happens. Rather have minimal flow for a few hours then nothing at all. MagDrive 7's use like 60W of power, so I would assume if I bought a 800W+ UPS I would be able to at-least run my R.Pump for a couple hours. ;\

 

[Fishmommy]

7500w portable wired in to the house to run heat/hw, well, fridge, wifi network, tv, and tanks.

 

[ravi197699]

After Sandy I got my self 5000w Genrac and this feeds the whole house and for my tank I have 1500w small generator that can run all night long with 2 gal of gas incase I decide to shut down the big one... great investment and generator pays of itself after one outage if you have full grown reef....

 

[dburr1014]

I have a 8750 gen, just need to set up a tank to run. LOL