Generator questions!

[BH-ATL]

I am unaware of any Honda dual fuel units. There are adapter kits but I suspect you void the warranty adding the feed line.

 

[InTune]

Got a Generac 2500. One circuit on a trans. Switch. Freezer on it and my router. Its as big as I want for my camper. Actually would prefer the 2000 for camping but got a hell of a deal. 450. Shipped to the house. It has a hose on the carb bowl to drain fuel. Just open the screw.

 

[GFB]

Thinking about generators and fuel, the question that drives so much of this is “how long do I want to be able to run x, y, and z?” during an outage. Basically, if the power is out for 2 weeks (+) I don’t know how to plan on dealing with that. If we’re talking 48-72 hours, it’s a lot easier to wrap my head around.

 

[basstracker89]

Thinking about generators and fuel, the question that drives so much of this is “how long do I want to be able to run x, y, and z?” during an outage. Basically, if the power is out for 2 weeks (+) I don’t know how to plan on dealing with that. If we’re talking 48-72 hours, it’s a lot easier to wrap my head around.

It would get pricey if you had to run it for an extended period of time

 

[BHPSteel]

Thinking about generators and fuel, the question that drives so much of this is “how long do I want to be able to run x, y, and z?” during an outage. Basically, if the power is out for 2 weeks (+) I don’t know how to plan on dealing with that. If we’re talking 48-72 hours, it’s a lot easier to wrap my head around.

Part of the answer to that is not only thinking about what you need powered, but how long you have to power it per day to help you survive.

A good example is freezers. You have an upright freezer full of food and power goes out - and you have no way of knowing whether it's going to be an outage of two days or two weeks. How do you adapt to that?

Well, you start by not opening the freezer every ten minutes. You find an beer cooler, and every morning, you pull out what you want from the freezer for the day - put it in the beer box, close the door, and don't open the freezer again for a day. Run the generator for an hour every 4 hours. Suddenly, if you can adopt that idea of an hour on, three hours off - you find that you've cut your energy use by 75%.

If you have the expectation of living a life just like it is normally when you flick a switch and GP does all the hard work, then you'll need a big generator, and a lot of fuel storage or a reliable (and I mean truly crisis-proof) supply. With all the complexities that creates.

Economies and decisions like I address above are necessary before anyone just goes out and buys something that Costco has on discount.

 

[rbstern]

I've never had one but after seeing videos from Helene survivors, I have decided that I should get one.

Primary use will be keeping the refrigerators and maybe a few other small items running in a power outage. No stove or A/c.

Secondary use would be either camping or working where there's no power.

I'm pretty sure I want dual fuel as I almost always have propane and gas is a pita to store and keep fresh but I could always siphon some out of the truck if needed.

Right now, I am thinking it may be better to get a pair of 2-3000 watts and run separately or parallel as opposed to one big unit because it would be so much easier to just take one unit if I'm working or camping, plus I could loan one to family if shtf.

For those who have more experience do I seem to be on the right track or way off base?

Any brand to look for or avoid?(I know Honda is great but $$$!)

Is there anything else I didn't mention but should know about?

As always, thanks in advance!

For your situation, if that's all you need to power, consider a 2000 to 3000-ish watt inverter unit. Don't worry about dual fuel. A 5 gallon can of ethanol free gas will keep for a long time. And you can rotate it easily by using it in your car and refilling with fresh; if you have a lawnmower or other gas powered tools, that's what you should be fueling them with anyway.

Nearly all of the generators have a fuel cutoff switch, and that's how you stop the generator before putting it away: Running it out of fuel so there's nothing left in the carb. Do that, and if you use ethanol free gas, that generator will start easily each and every time, even if you don't start it for six months or more.

The smaller, inverter units are frugal on gas, quiet, supply clean power for sensitive electronics, and in general, run really well.

The above assumes that running a couple of extension cords to power strips will handle your needs. If your home isn't friendly to that idea, then a transfer switch may be a better idea.

Hondas are great. But you can get two or three equivalent performance machines for the price of a Honda, and most brands are reasonably reliable.

 

[basstracker89]

^^^^All good info

 

[GFB]

Part of the answer to that is not only thinking about what you need powered, but how long you have to power it per day to help you survive.

A good example is freezers. You have an upright freezer full of food and power goes out - and you have no way of knowing whether it's going to be an outage of two days or two weeks. How do you adapt to that?

Well, you start by not opening the freezer every ten minutes. You find an beer cooler, and every morning, you pull out what you want from the freezer for the day - put it in the beer box, close the door, and don't open the freezer again for a day. Run the generator for an hour every 4 hours. Suddenly, if you can adopt that idea of an hour on, three hours off - you find that you've cut your energy use by 75%.

If you have the expectation of living a life just like it is normally when you flick a switch and GP does all the hard work, then you'll need a big generator, and a lot of fuel storage or a reliable (and I mean truly crisis-proof) supply. With all the complexities that creates.

Economies and decisions like I address above are necessary before anyone just goes out and buys something that Costco has on discount.

Yes, I was talking with someone who has a house in Florida. He wanted to switch to a propane setup because he doesn’t want to mess with gas and he is talking very long duration use. He wants to run everything as normal. I described to him the dimensions of a 1000 pound propane tank and he was surprised. Plus, even that wouldn’t last if he’s going hog wild with it.

I think we do need to come up with a realistic scenario and then decide what equipment and fuel best fits. For me, keeping a couple refrigerators and lights on, maybe a couple fans, are about the extent of what I want. But everyone is different. The logistics of keeping everything running beyond a short amount of time becomes difficult/impossible.

 

[basstracker89]

Yes, I was talking with someone who has a house in Florida. He wanted to switch to a propane setup because he doesn’t want to mess with gas and he is talking very long duration use. He wants to run everything as normal. I described to him the dimensions of a 1000 pound propane tank and he was surprised. Plus, even that wouldn’t last if he’s going hog wild with it.

I think we do need to come up with a realistic scenario and then decide what equipment and fuel best fits. For me, keeping a couple refrigerators and lights on, maybe a couple fans, are about the extent of what I want. But everyone is different. The logistics of keeping everything running beyond a short amount of time becomes difficult/impossible.

Yea, long term would probably be solar. But now you're talking tens of thousands of dollars to run a house. But then you're completely off grid, if you want. Or you could do a smaller set up to run a few things. The cheapest way is public utilities by far. Anything else gets expensive

 

[GFB]

Yea, long term would probably be solar. But now you're talking tens of thousands of dollars to run a house. But then you're completely off grid, if you want. Or you could do a smaller set up to run a few things. The cheapest way is public utilities by far. Anything else gets expensive

What I was getting at was how to deal with power outages, which is what the op was talking about. If we’re talking running limited stuff a reasonable amount of time, gas doesn’t seem terrible to deal with. At some point, we have to decide what we want to run and for how long and go from there.

Florida scenario was just an example of unrealistic goals.