Home backup power generator recommendations

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nobbie48 said:
If you get really small appliances the 1000 might work. There are trailer sized tea kettles, coffee makers and if you get a 2 burner hotplate the smaller one would work. It's all in the wattage for resistance type devices. I ran a toaster oven on the 1000 by using a variac but that gets a bit complex although it worked very well with a form of porportional control.

Inductive devices (Motors) vary depending on the inrush which was killing the 2000 for the fridge. Once the fridge was running on the 2500 watt genny it only drew 3.5 amps, even the 1000 would have handled it but not the compression load.

Freezers draw even less IIRC. Put the bodies in them.

Stick an amprobe on the 2000 and try your fridge. Mine is 25 years old and yours may differ. It would be good to know.

The next size up is 3000 watts and it starts getting heavy.
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there in actually li ays the answer, read the wattage draw on the appliance and the startup draw if labeled or fine the spec someplace. My brothers cottage on an island has had the 850w 2 stroke gen keep the fridge going all weekend, 4 yr old fridge. A blow dryer takes more wattage than his fridge. The 600w microwave will run , but not while the fridge is on, and even thought its an 850w gen, it actually only puts out about 725 continuous.4

Please people, if you want to invent your own grid and switchouts, do it on an Island where your the only building on your grid. Not having an actual generator disconnect switch and maybe even an electrician over to check stuff out is just a really bad idea. Thinking the breakers will protect you will get you or worse somebody else killed.
 
CruisnGrrl said:
my fridge uses less than 300W, i suspect my mini freezer (it's 2/3 the size of a full sized chest freezer) uses a lot less, my big issue is the water pump for the well and heating the water.
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Again it's the inrush surge that causes the problems with motor loads. For a split second a motor can draw 3-4 times the running power. I find that conventional gennies can grunt their way through it but the inverter ones kick out.

Water is pound for pound one of the hardest materials to heat. Specific heat is 1.

I found that we had hottish water 24 hours after the power went out so prudent usage could take care of short outages. If you are going to be without power for longer periods and fossil fuels aren't practical (Nat gas, Propane, fuel oil) a 5 gallon electric would get you by unless you have company. You have to take mini-showers. Wet down and shut of water, suds yourself up and then turn on the water to rinse. NO long muscle relaxing soakers. the 5 gallon ones are 120 volt and will run nicely off a 2000 watt gennie.

I had cousins living in a house that only had two 15 amp circuits. One circuit was for lights and the fridge and the other was for receptacles. Stove was NG as was the furnace and drier. The furnace didn't have a blower but rather relied on convection for circulation.

They had to time their tasks. Couldn't wash clothes and vacuum at the same time. Wait for the fridge to shut down before plugging in the tea kettle. Doable but a PITA. They went through a pile of fuses as well.

In reality one could survive nicely with a 3000 watt genny but while I tend slightly towards the Sparton lifestyle, nursing a fridge and freezer got pretty stale.

The other problem is fuel reserves. Rotating gas stocks is a pain but since most cars and bikes run gas it works. Diesel is safer and more stable but still ages and stinks if you get it on you. Do you drive a diesel car so you can rotate fuel? In a wide spread outage can you get fuel? I was lucky in that the gas station around the corner was open.

Survivorism has its limits.
 
If you want it done right you're going to have to spend some money.The best bang for your buck is to go with a system made by Generac .For $2400 you get a 8kw generator and an 8 circuit panel with a built in transfer switch that comes on automatically when the power goes down to run your sump pumps,fridge, dialisis machine or whatever,whether your home or not.It runs on natural gas which rarely gets shut off which will allow you to run indefinitely or it can also run on propane but the run time is limited by the size of tank you have. Avoid gasoline as it has a tendency to go bad after a few months and gum up the carb or fuel injection system.This generator also comes on once a week for ten minutes to exercise itself.Worst thing you can do is let a generator sit for a couple of months and then expect it to come on when you really need it.There are other systems out there but all much more expensive.It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to save a few bucks on electrical work on a house that's worth half a million dollars.Do it right or don't do it at all.Quality electrical work only adds to the value of your home.That's why the Electrical Safety Authority was created to protect people from themselves.
 
Bobo said:
If you want it done right you're going to have to spend some money.The best bang for your buck is to go with a system made by Generac .For $2400 you get a 8kw generator and an 8 circuit panel with a built in transfer switch that comes on automatically when the power goes down to run your sump pumps,fridge, dialisis machine or whatever,whether your home or not.It runs on natural gas which rarely gets shut off which will allow you to run indefinitely or it can also run on propane but the run time is limited by the size of tank you have. Avoid gasoline as it has a tendency to go bad after a few months and gum up the carb or fuel injection system.This generator also comes on once a week for ten minutes to exercise itself.Worst thing you can do is let a generator sit for a couple of months and then expect it to come on when you really need it.There are other systems out there but all much more expensive.It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to save a few bucks on electrical work on a house that's worth half a million dollars.Do it right or don't do it at all.Quality electrical work only adds to the value of your home.That's why the Electrical Safety Authority was created to protect people from themselves.
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Do you have a contact at a company for this 2400 ?
 
chiller said:
Do you have a contact at a company for this 2400 ?
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Home Depot sells them and their prices are very competitive.I'm an electrical contractor and sometimes my suppliers can't beat Home Depot's prices on Generac systems.
 
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