20kw standby gen, 200 amp service rated transfer switch. The whole house is on gen when utility is out, easier than telling the misses what she can and cant run. I'm an electrician so it was the logical choice for me.
Heating with wood...but
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I do the same with mine. I plug it into the welder outlet and back feed my house through that breaker. My barn comes off my electric meter separate from the house panel so when I shut my main breaker off in my house my barn is still powered by the grid. When the light goes on in the barn I know I can shut the generator off because power was restored.
My biggest downfall is the gas can. It's never full at the time of a power outage unless I plan for a big storm.
I typically dont start the generator unless power is going to be out for a long time and having a wood furnace I need power for heat. I like to make my family sit in the dark for a while with no TV so they appreciate heat and electricity. Lol.
I have one of those liberty water back up sump pumps but they dont pump real quick but will get by for a few hours if it's not a down pour.
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Same here, 6500 w diesel generator that stays in the garage, can connect to the welder outlet with suicide plug, throw the main breaker in the house and backfeed from the garage.
greenskeeper
ArboristSite Operative
So I'm not the only one! Lose power and we're back to the 19th century lickity-split
We get our water from a spring, so the water is out when the electricity is out. We have a 8000w generator and a manual transfer switch to operate a small sub panel with a few choice circuits on it, water pump, microwave, fridge, a few plugs & lights. I make hot water by circulating it thru the wood stove. Can also cook on the wood stove. Our power is rarely out but we could survive for weeks if necessary.
We rarely use ac and that's what I do for a living and if you want it warm in here I better be home because I cut and split all the wood. It's all there it just takes effort. So if the wife doesn't want to learn the steps to starting the generator or how to get the wood furnace to heat then the family can wait until I'm good and ready, or cold, to power up the house in an outage lol. The back up sump pump is for when I'm not home. I gotta remind them y they keep me around lol. I do it every fall too when it's getting cold out and I wont heat the place. Call me a **** but with 2 young kids living in the country I want to show them that work pays off and heat and electricity aren't free.
They spent the night in the living room, and I believe when they left for work they turned the natural gas fireplace off.
Our daughter-in-laws brother is an electrician. Katie was on her way home from work when he let himself in late in the afternoon. The power came on while he was there. Our son and I had just picked up a 5k generator and were 30 miles out, and he called us. We turned around and took the generator back.
When the fireplace was on the previous night, it was throwing more light than heat.
Thanks for all the comments.
I'm thinking it would be smart to get a transfer switch installed at the very least.
We have an appointment to go over our State and Federal taxes on Tuesday.
That's another topic...
MountainHigh
Selective Tree whacker
US Intelligence World Wide Threat Assessment Report
China can disrupt US gas pipelines for day to weeks- now!
Russia can disrupt the US Electrical Power Grid - now!
. . . Page 5 and 6 of the DNI report:
https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf
VIDEO:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...to-cyber-attack-by-china-russia-1435041859919
We heat with wood stove (nat gas backup) and have 5500 watt (8000 peak watt) Gen backup with dual panel lockout from main grid. Generator runs well pump and fridges and freezer plus some more. If there ever is a cyber attack, anyone in the city that has to rely on public systems is going to be hooped if the main power grid is cut mid winter.
In today's wacky world, best to at least have some kind of backup plan.
China can disrupt US gas pipelines for day to weeks- now!
Russia can disrupt the US Electrical Power Grid - now!
. . . Page 5 and 6 of the DNI report:
https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf
VIDEO:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...to-cyber-attack-by-china-russia-1435041859919
We heat with wood stove (nat gas backup) and have 5500 watt (8000 peak watt) Gen backup with dual panel lockout from main grid. Generator runs well pump and fridges and freezer plus some more. If there ever is a cyber attack, anyone in the city that has to rely on public systems is going to be hooped if the main power grid is cut mid winter.
In today's wacky world, best to at least have some kind of backup plan.
We have a fireplace with insert.
I have a small generator that is extremely fuel efficient, so we just run it a few times a day, let the gas furnace heat the whole house up good. Run the fridge and freezer, make a pot of coffee. Heck we will watch a movie if I have plenty of fuel on hand! I have a well and pressure tank for the yard that can be backfed Into the house if needed as well never had to but every time they raise my water bill I’m more tempted to just shut it down. The 4K generstor burns 7or8 gallons a day if you run it 24 hours at mild load. I keep a 30 gallon drum of Avgas 100LL, it has additives in it that make it ideal for storing.
We’re in Texas so we never have more than a couple days of issues. If I lived up north again I’d have a LP generator on a switch those 2 week plus deals get rough.
If it was the end of modern civilization I keep some supplies on hand for that too. I’ve never yet felt like I should start curing the freezer beef.
I have a small generator that is extremely fuel efficient, so we just run it a few times a day, let the gas furnace heat the whole house up good. Run the fridge and freezer, make a pot of coffee. Heck we will watch a movie if I have plenty of fuel on hand! I have a well and pressure tank for the yard that can be backfed Into the house if needed as well never had to but every time they raise my water bill I’m more tempted to just shut it down. The 4K generstor burns 7or8 gallons a day if you run it 24 hours at mild load. I keep a 30 gallon drum of Avgas 100LL, it has additives in it that make it ideal for storing.
We’re in Texas so we never have more than a couple days of issues. If I lived up north again I’d have a LP generator on a switch those 2 week plus deals get rough.
If it was the end of modern civilization I keep some supplies on hand for that too. I’ve never yet felt like I should start curing the freezer beef.
NSMaple1
Addicted to ArboristSite
What fuel does your genny burn?
I used to back feed till my dumb gen over produced and burned a hole in the new carpet, could have easily burned the house down. I got rid of it and now have a 22kw Generac with an automatic transfer switch. I just make sure the green light is on and that it exercises weekly. Got a 1000 gallon LP tank to feed it, so I can go a while off grid.
066blaster
Addicted to ArboristSite
My power went out a week ago, thankfully it was about 40 degrees, but I thought it would be a good time to test the generator on my insert. I just have a 2500 watt Coleman. I ran a 50 foot cord to the stove and it would not run the blowers. It has a variable speed switch, I'm wondering if that is what is making it not work. my son brought some watt tester home from school for a project and it said the stove was only drawing 120 watts. the power was only out for an 2 hours so not a big deal.
Hmm blower fans shouldn’t be an issue for even the smallest generator.
MountainHigh
Selective Tree whacker
Gasoline Gen... 136 litre tank under my truck
- siphon at hand.But yes, it's not a perfect backup plan when/if the gas stations go dry, however, we also have lots of water close by so in worst case scenario, the most we would lose when the gasoline runs out, is what's in the freezer (if it was in summer) and some sweat carrying water to the house.
Did you make sure the generator is actually making power with something else? Light bulb or drill or something?
066blaster
Addicted to ArboristSite
I did, and it did run a lamp and phone charger. after leaving it plugged in for awhile it ran the blowers at maybe 1/4 speed and surging. the generator was running good, so I'm not sure what the problem is.
Bobby Kirbos
Scrounger of Cellulose Based BTUs
Is it an inverter generator? If so, is it a pure sine wave inverter? If it is a modified wave inverter, that may be your problem. Motors do not like modified sine wave inverters.
I have a diesel powered roadside light tower. Everyone wonders why I have it. It's a great generator that will last for years, has and enclosure, trailer mounted and holds 60 running hours of fuel. Plus if I feel the need I can light up 7 acres if I want to cut the lawn at night or split wood. They can be found on craigslist for short money. If I really got pressed for fuel I have 2 full 275 gallons tanks for the backup oil heat that I could also use to run the generator. The diesel fuel has a very long shelf life and I have a small solar panel to keep the battery charged. After years of back feeding I've installed transfer switch. It's pretty easy if your comfortable with electricity. I've installed them in my rentals as well. I think I worry more about my rentals when the power goes out than my own home since I can't monitor the temperature in them.
I heard this morning on the local news that over 200,000 homes were effected by the outage and the last of the homes would be back online today, 02/11/19, at 12 noon.
I've got a couple of 4000 watt dual fuel generators and plenty of propane. Also a wet leg to fill my own cylinders. Still haven't bothered to work on synchronizing 2 generators, but i'm pretty sure it can be done. Would be better if they were inverter so no issues with synchronization of them but... The longest I have been without power was 5 days after an ice storm. I didn't have power, but thankfully because of my wood stove, i had heat.
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