Generators | Page 5 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Generators

backmarkerducati said:
Reality check, a 100 amp service is 24,000 KVA IF the full 100 amps are being drawn (full 100, not slash). For KW, well we need to know the power factor (ELI the ICE man.... for the EEs in the crowd) but for most large home loads I expect it to be close to 1 and therefore close to KVA.

BUT.... what about a 200 amp service.... first, are you ever going to draw 200 amps, very unlikely.... Next, are you going balls to the walls running everything full blast during a power outage or can you be an adult and maybe wait a couple of days.... to run the welder, to do laundry, maybe turn the AC up a couple of degrees or off, wait to run the stove full blast, wait out the EV charge or do it overnight.... Resistive electric heat is a bit of a wrinkle in an ice storm. Next is this an emergency only thing with multiple days on a regular basis or is it a few hours here or there with very rare multi-day???

Of course the guys selling generators say you need to go big.... Just like car dealerships with rust proofing, all the up sells, etc.. Some of the numbers quoted here are silly from an EE perspective. There will be a sweet spot in regards to size vs install costs but a sober second thought may be a good idea. You also need to determine if your NG service can handle the extra load to power the genny plus all the gas appliances.... If the genny guy can't figure out electrical load, how can they figure out the NG!
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I loaned my brother a 1400 watt Honda when he was having problems with power outage basement flooding. Sump pumps need power. The 1400 watts would run the sump pump and a light bulb.

He replaced it with around 5 KW, electric start and transfer switch. He explained that if a tree branch came down in a storm and punched a hole in the roof he could saw up a sheet of plywood, power nail it in place with his air nailer and reshingle the roof.

BS. He couldn't wait for an outage so he could light up his place like a Christmas tree and sip a latte in the garage with the door open so the neighbours could see him play king of the castle.
 
nobbie48 said:
I loaned my brother a 1400 watt Honda when he was having problems with power outage basement flooding. Sump pumps need power. The 1400 watts would run the sump pump and a light bulb.

He replaced it with around 5 KW, electric start and transfer switch. He explained that if a tree branch came down in a storm and punched a hole in the roof he could saw up a sheet of plywood, power nail it in place with his air nailer and reshingle the roof.

BS. He couldn't wait for an outage so he could light up his place like a Christmas tree and sip a latte in the garage with the door open so the neighbours could see him play king of the castle.
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Our old place at Lakeshore / Islington area was prone to a lot of flooded basements. One year there was a major storm and while we were super lucky...majority of the neighbours had sump pumps wired up to the house...all of the houses got flooded except one.

Guy was laughing all day long as he had a generator setup to his pump and was the only house on the street NOT to get flooded.
 
nobbie48 said:
I loaned my brother a 1400 watt Honda when he was having problems with power outage basement flooding. Sump pumps need power. The 1400 watts would run the sump pump and a light bulb.

He replaced it with around 5 KW, electric start and transfer switch. He explained that if a tree branch came down in a storm and punched a hole in the roof he could saw up a sheet of plywood, power nail it in place with his air nailer and reshingle the roof.

BS. He couldn't wait for an outage so he could light up his place like a Christmas tree and sip a latte in the garage with the door open so the neighbours could see him play king of the castle.
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To give the generator a good workout tonsee I'd I could trust it, I hooked up the 2000 watt honda to a tablesaw and did a full depth rip to bevel a 12' board. Performance was the same as when plugged into the wall. Saw working really hard and possible to blow the breaker if you pushed too much.
 
GreyGhost said:
A friends house has 200 Amps to the meter base, with a 100A meter and panel. Seemed strange. Previous owner must have wanted to save a few dollars. He added swim spa and hot tub which together can draw close to 100A so he is planning on upgrading soon.
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This is quite common for underground service to supply the house with 200a capability. Houses in the 60s and 70s had 60 and 100a panels and lower guage feed wires on the house side of the meter.

To upgrade, all you need to do is change the meter to panel wire (typically from 2 to 2/0) and then upgrade the panel.
 
GreyGhost said:
To give the generator a good workout tonsee I'd I could trust it, I hooked up the 2000 watt honda to a tablesaw and did a full depth rip to bevel a 12' board. Performance was the same as when plugged into the wall. Saw working really hard and possible to blow the breaker if you pushed too much.
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I could run a Skil saw off my 1400 but had to double trigger it. At first it would bog down the gennie so I released the trigger and the genie would pick up speed. The saw was still turning enough to generate a bit of CEMF so it then kicked up to full power on the second pul of the trigger.

My 1000 inverter could be used to power a 1500 watt toaster oven on the boat by running the toaster off a variac to limit the voltage and therefore current. It actually worked very well as the heat tended to be very constant.
 
Most warranty power tool problems are from people running a 15amp circular saw on a 200ft 16g extension cord , or an 800w genny at the cottage because its a small job, I wont run the saw long.

High school in lower interior BC just filed a warranty claim on 3 large wood lathes , they turned at rediculous slow RPM. The electrician they hired wired 240V machines up to 120v. He even had a call back , nope all good. Warranty tech shows up , ..... idiots.
( Brother is in the machinery business) .
 
mimico_polak said:
This thing any good?

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Meh. If you want one of those, I'll see if I can get you one cheap. My parents used one to power the garage but they finally bit the bullet and ran a wire. IIRC they have a 7500w (or maybe had if they got rid of it already). They are loud, don't start as well as a Honda and are more likely to hunt if you don't run them often. It always started though. They are bleeping heavy to get into a vehicle (~200 lbs + fuel).

To me, that size/style of generator fits into a middle area that most people neither need nor want. It seems good but due to weight, it is barely portable and humping it from your garage to the backyard in a power outage through the snow is a real chore. Most people would be better served by either a much lighter solution or a fixed install. Now, you can half-ass a fixed install with the generator living in an enclosure in your back yard. Open the doors to use it. That is cheaper than a fixed solution but requires some manual intervention. Given that the tank is 5+ gallons, I would be storing it dry as keeping that much fuel fresh would be annoying.
 
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GreyGhost said:
Meh. If you want one of those, I'll see if I can get you one cheap. My parents used one to power the garage but they finally bit the bullet and ran a wire. IIRC they have a 7500w (or maybe had if they got rid of it already). They are loud, don't start as well as a Honda and are more likely to hunt if you don't run them often. It always started though. They are bleeping heavy to get into a vehicle (~200 lbs + fuel)
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Ever since that last windstorm I've been thinking of one simply because the power went out for 2-3 hours or so and the temperature drops fast in a house that has insulation from the 70s....lol
 
mimico_polak said:
Ever since that last windstorm I've been thinking of one simply because the power went out for 2-3 hours or so and the temperature drops fast in a house that has insulation from the 70s....lol
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2000 watts will run your furnace/fridge just fine. The upside to your old hot water tank is it probably requires no power to operate. Next time fill the sinks/tubs with hot water and change it every few hours. That should be good for ~50K btu of heat perpetually.
 
mimico_polak said:
This thing any good?

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That thing is a GENERATOR, old technology
You set the RPM to produce the maximum load you need, and the thing sits and screams... doesn't matter if it's under load or not... it stays at the RPM you set.
I'd be looking for an INVERTER generator, which is an alternator with a field voltage regulator, and has EFI with an ECU, so when it isn't under load it idles down.
MUCH cleaner sine wave power AND saves gas, with half the noise.

I would also look for a dual fuel unit. Propane is MUCH easier to work with. It is clean, safer than gas, stores forever and after the zombie apocalypse it will be easier to find BBQ bottles than tanks of gas. (Remember the power outage in 2003? After a couple of days natual gas main were losing pressure as there was no pumps running)
 
SunnY S said:


This one is better, cheaper and more powerful.

My Champion rep told me these are a Costco specific model only and fantastic bang for the buck.
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Another thing to consider is fuel usage. A 5 gal container would run a 2kw inverter genie for 3 days, a 10kw regular gennie for 8 hours.

Fuel cost is irrelevant, but the hassle of hauling 5 gallon gas cans around might be.
 
bitzz said:
I would also look for a dual fuel unit.
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Tri-fuel even better....

Hook it up to your bbq line and never have to worry about refilling or silly tanks

www.championpowerequipment.com

8000W Electric Start Tri Fuel Generator with CO Shield® – Champion Power Equipment

Champion’s 8000-watt natural gas ready generator features CO Shield® carbon monoxide auto shutoff system. Also operating on Tri-Fuel technology, allowing it to run on natural gas, gasoline, or propane. This unit meets ANSI/PGMA G300-2018 requirements and includes a 25-foot natural gas hose kit.
www.championpowerequipment.com www.championpowerequipment.com
 
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nobbie48 said:
He couldn't wait for an outage so he could light up his place like a Christmas tree and sip a latte in the garage with the door open so the neighbours could see him play king of the castle.
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Been there, done that. LOL.

Mad Mike said:
A 5 gal container would run a 2kw inverter genie for 3 days,
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Well, not necessarily. Most inverter generator fuel consumption stats are based on a certain load percentage, often 50% or less. On the flipside, it will run even longer at lower loads. But if you're maxxing out that 2kw inverter 22L of gas definitely won't last 3 days.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Been there, done that. LOL.



Well, not necessarily. Most inverter generator fuel consumption stats are based on a certain load percentage, often 50% or less. On the flipside, it will run even longer at lower loads. But if you're maxxing out that 2kw inverter 22L of gas definitely won't last 3 days.
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I based it on generating 1kw, which is 50% load and and way more continuous power than a furnace and fridge would use.
 
A quick cursory search shows me that I have a power source sitting in my driveway…the Volt!
 
What's the usual cost of labour to install say a 22kw gas generator with auto cutover etc?
 
A concern or not?

If a huge percentage of the public gets their own generators does it give the grid the excuse to become lax about reliability?

"You should have gotten a generator like everyone else."
 
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