Thanks Jay! Best not to need it Jay but have it when you do!
al
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Does anyone have advice for a propane generator that would run the whole house? Our furnace and water heater already run on propane, so this would be the simplest option for us. Everyone I know runs gasoline generators, so I haven't been able to get an recommendations.
My friend Dottie has one of those. She loves it. I called and asked her to tell you what exactly she has. I remember her telling me that it starts itself once a month to keep itself in good working order.
I have very little sense of what's an appropriate budget, but I'm not looking for something outrageous. I don't need to be vacuuming and drying my hair and running an air conditioner... just something to keep the fridge, a few aquariums, and some lights running. Since our furnace and water heat with propane there shouldn't be a lot of draw coming from them. Would $1-1.5k be reasonable?
You can easily find several portable propane or dual fuel generators that are under $1000. On the low end, the sportsman line is actally pretty good. I have used their 4000 watt propane genny. It's a good portable. I would not hard wire to a transfer switch. The mid range is something like the duromax line and the generac availible at.home Depot and elsewhere are more pricey. You will want an electrician to wire in a transfer switch. The switch itself is about 150-200...plus labor.
I would look at units in the 5000 plus watt running range. The peak.should be greater.. typically 1000-2000 watts more to compensate for surge's required by some motors.
If you are not opposed to used you can save a bundle on craigslist If you know someone that can check it out with you that understands motors.
Al
This is so helpful. Just googling "propane generator" felt overwhelming since I didn't recognize any of the brands. I don't want to spend $500 extra on a Honda logo just for peace of mind if the cheaper brands are equally reliable. You've given me a great starting place for my research. Thanks Al!
Word is that the Honda generator is the best, hands down. I opted for what I decided was the second best choice.
I mentioned buying a used one on sites like craigslist and wanted to mention a few things more there. You can find some tremendous deals there. Generators that people bought during a storm or just before it... and now havent used it in a year or so and forget why they bought it.
Things to watch out for..
1)seller says it ran fine during the last time it was used but wont start now.... could be just stale Gas...could be a gummed up carburetor especially if its a newer model.
2)starts with starter fluid ... carburetor probably needs cleaning.
3)"brandnew never used...just took it out of the box and broke it in per instructions" ...yeah right.
4)worked great...now "wont start" or" wont produce"..could be something easy to fix.....they know its not.
5)just serviced.....read" I changed the oil" theres not alot of service you can do on most functioning generators outside of oil,air filter and a new sparkplug unless it was broken"...ask what was done.
6) It used to run great...had it running just last "month"now it wont start. Ask how it was stored...many leave their generators outside ...anything could have happened to it.Ask how its stored and check its oil. If the oil is black...dont buy it. Anyone selling a generators taken good care of it will have clean oil in it.
7)what about the old ugly ones? I love them. Solid as a rock....no complicated electronics...easy to work on. reliable but a bit loud. They were made to last and have for decades and decades. Some of the new ones sold now for a few hundred dollars are literally junk...disposables that will die. Do not buy these used. I trust my decades old ugly homelite generator
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that I bought for $100 ($50 plus parts)over a new cheap genny. There is one old style one to avoid though.. theres many old green colemans for sale.
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They are common and often sell for $200-300 for 4000 watt units. These can be very good if they were maintained and stored dry.. most now have carburetor issues. They dont like being stored with todays gas. They arent hard to clean and there are parts availible..but they can be a hassel. Ive worked on several of them. They probably are not a good choice for someone unaccustomed to engines.
Be sure to ask how a used generator was stored.How often and when the oil was changed. Look at the oil it should not be black. Have them start it with you there when its not been running. BRING a drill or hair dryer..try the outlets.
hth
al
Kind of a good thread as we head into hurricane season.
Resurrected thread.
Al
Tracking a cat 5 hurricane that may hit the northeast next week. It may not of course..its still a ways away which is great. If it does it could be a big one for us in the northeast. Now is definitely the time to prepare for it.... both for you and your families safety and of course your fish. The aftermath of a powerful storm is not when you want to be dealing with food, water and power shortages.
Think ahead...plan for worse case scenarios. Some of these storms can leave a wake of power outages that last weeks.
What will you do? How can you protect your family and your fish? Do you have a plan in place?
You really should have at the bare minimum 1 gal drinking water per person per day in storage. Long term shelf stable foods that are easy to prepare. How will you cook with limited to no power? Camp stoves are a good option there(outside use) .. propane does not go bad so ideal for storage. Old fashion coleman camp stoves can be had for cheap and run on coleman fuel or white gas and can be converted to propane easily.
Got bleach? Why bleach. Unscented plain bleach is a life saver. It can be used to sanitize otherwise unsafe drinking water.
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https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and...drinking-water
Generators are great.. now is the time to do your maintenance. Start them .. change oil. Have oil on hand.. have plenty of gas or propane at least enough to get you through a few days. If you dont have one, even a small invert generator can save your fish and your refrigerators content.
Obviously plan on toiletry needs .... and medications.
In todays instant gratification society we are spoiled by the ease of getting things when we want or need them.. Disasters change things in unpredictable ways but planning ahead can mitigate alot of that.
Al
Do you think we will being seeing hurricane force winds higher than category 5 soon. "I do". They are breaking records every day now as far as weather is concerned. Why not hurricanes. We are getting warmer and storms according to scientists are getting worse. But most of us don't need a scientist to tell us that, from what is happening. We've talked about climate change and why for the most part for decades and now we are just starting to see the outcome of over population and capitalism/growth. It's not a good future for the out look of weather conditions and what life was once like here on earth. The far north is warming sooner than the rest of the planet and the animals and people up there are having issues. We have never seen this many fires up north and heat to boot.
I think the trend will continue until we get it into our heads that this world is much like a fishtank.
I think that its a truly foolish person that thinks "everything will be okay" when a storm is approaching , simply because it was all the other times. They are called disasters for a reason.
Enough with the toys, I got a big generator.
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