No power for days

[brad]

My electric is completely fried, major project for an electrician . My neighbor was kind enough to let me run an extention cord to keep the tank alive and freezer running. But I am tempted to buy a generator.

Can I run a gasoline generator for days if I refill it? How loud are they? How hard are they to set up? Do they need a ground? Any advice would be appreciated.

Any recommendations for an electrician?

 

[e7bin]

Yes you can run them indefinitely, they are indeed loud.

 

[bosshog]

Take a look at inverter generators, super quiet with a price tag to match. Honda makes a good one.

 

[brad]

Thanks to a great electrician willing to work on St. Patrick's day Sunday and a lineman who let us turn off someone else's house too - power is back on! It was actually down less than 24 hours.

But this does get me thinking about how to be better prepared. If I run a powerhead off a UPS battery, the next danger to the tank is temperature - especially in winter. Buying a generator seems like a stupid way to generate heat, but I can't think of a good alternative. A generator also lets me run full lights and keeps my refrigerator and freezer running.

Once my divorce is final, as soon as I have money, I will be looking into the Honda. I assume you mean something like a EU2200i?

 

[bosshog]

Yes, I’ve run lots of them and can’t think of any major problems encountered. A friend of mine has an EU7000i that he uses for whole house backup power, it works very well when the grid is down. It’s an expensive unit but very quiet, he claims it was worth every penny it cost him.

 

[brad]

How would that work? Is it hooked to his main panel? Does it kick on automatically or does he need to be home? Is it permanently attached to the house or can he take it with him when he moves?

 

[bosshog]

It’s multipurpose, it’s wired with a plug into the main breaker where the power meter/mains disconnect is. The generator is portable any time he needs power elsewhere. No it isn’t automatic though systems like that are fairly affordable.

Basically there is a disconnect after the power meter, the disconnect is switched over to the generator when the power is out. This isolates him from the grid, backfeeding into the grid is dangerous for linesmen working to restore electricity. The generator is plugged in and supplies the yard, when electricity is restored the generator is shut off, the switch is flipped and he’s back on grid supplied electricity.

I’ve got a similar setup on the farm, only the 12kw diesel generator isn’t all that portable, lol. Several neighbors have Generac units plumbed into natural gas that are completely automatic. When the power goes out, they detect it, flip a solenoid to isolate, start up and provide electricity, when grid power is detected they reverse the procedure and go back to sleep monitoring for the next outage. It’s illegal to setup like that and not have a certified isolating switch, the isolation is the most important part of the setup for safety reasons.

 

[Travenous]

Just a reminder that while generators will run indefinitely as long as they have gas, you typically need to change the oil after a certain number of hours of use. I think mine is every 50 hours.