Standby Generator

[coobie]

This February, we had a freak snowstorm and our entire county was without power. The biggest town was down 3 days, but most were out 4-10 days. We were out for 17! Some others were out for a month. We were just fine with a couple of Hondas. I’ve contemplated getting a 10-15KW diesel genny, but after this experience, I don’t have any fear that we couldn’t make do with these little gassers.

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Honda makes very dependable generators.I have the small honda 2000is gen.Been rock solid for 8 plus years.The main house has a 17 kw propane whole house unit made by generac.

 

[Doofy]

I also have a 2800watt inverter in my plow truck and that also helps if the power goes out. Also, a PTO generator for the tractor might be a thought.

 

[jaydee325]

WOW that is A LOT of hours to be without any power.Do you have a lot of tree conditions in your area as in trees need to be trimmed?

Yes. I’m set up to get text messages from the power company with outage updates. Every time, the message announcing power restored gives the reason “trees”.

 

[coobie]

Yes. I’m set up to get text messages from the power company with outage updates. Every time, the message announcing power restored gives the reason “trees”.

You have DTE power up there ??

 

[jaydee325]

You have DTE power up there ??

Consumers Energy.

 

[coobie]

Consumers Energy.

PM headed your way

 

[check]

I've heard good things about the Kohlers and keep looking at them. At .28 per KWH is would sure get expensive trying to keep one warm enough to start.

My 17 Kw Kohler uses about $80 to $90 of propane per 24-hr. day. Not cheap, but multi-day power outages are rare up here in God’s country.

Sure is nice knowing the generator will start and stop automatically even if I am not there!

 

[shooterdon]

What tipped the decision for me was the cast of propane. It is not only expensive to run but I needed to add another 500 gal tank as my temperatures are too low to vaporize the propane in the winter. It looked like about $10,000 to install and well over $50/day to operate. Nice to have but hard to justify.

We have 2-3 outages a year with most lasting less than 6 hours so the big Honda generator does not even get hooked up most times. Been here for almost seven years and our longest outage was just over two days. I think I used less than 10 gallons of fuel by cycling the Honda every 6 hours or so. Not nearly as convenient but much less expensive. I have had to connect the generator 5-6 times. One time the power came on just as I finished getting the generator ready...LOL.

People in the downstate cities have more power issues than I do and I live in the middle of 4000+ acres of state land with the closest town of 4000 25 miles away. We are about 60 miles from a military base so I wonder if that helps?