whistlepig
Elite Member
A 14,000 watt portable generator is an awful big portable. I'm not an expert on generators but I'm thinking what kind of extension cords would have to be made up for this thing and how long these extension cords should be?
Please post your generator choice and experiences
- Thread starter General Lee
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Natureboy
Silver Member
Figure out what you need to run to maintain basic comfort. For me it was fridge, well pump, igniter on fuel oil hot water tank, sump pump, some lights & outlets, and the microwave. Have an older portable gas genny and bought a newer one, electrician installed a transfer switch, good to go. I don't worry about heat in the winter, got a wood burner.
whistlepig
Elite Member
Op is trying to run a 3 ton AC. That's out of my experience range on portable generators.
dex3361
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,494
- Location
- N. of Charleston WV
- Tractor
- Kubota L4400-1 HST,FEL, 3x3 remotes, TNT. BX1500 54 mmm
I am still on generator power and this evening makes day 7 and it was 99 degrees here. I currently have 2 generators. My primary machine is an Aurora 6.5KW air cooled diesel. My back up is a Coleman Powermate that is 20 years old(it started 2nd pull when we started it for the neighbor when I loaned it out). I will eventually replace the back up with another diesel and I think it will be a PTO unit.
I never thought about it but I discovered in this wide spread outage that diesel is much easier to obtain. I usually keep 20 gallons of on hand in 5 gallon jugs. I also have a diesel truck with 2- 20 gallon tanks and I have 12 gallons in the L4400 and 3 gallons in the BX1500.
When this all started I soon realized how bad it was. Just about all the fuel stations were out of power for about 8 hours so the ones that were open soon ran dry of gasoline. But they all had diesel fuel. It was this way for 4 days.
I have my generators for convenience but in this instance I ended up operating a life sustaining oxygen generator for my father in law and once he came to my house I couldn't shut down for more than a few minutes or he was having trouble breathing.
My father in laws power came back on Wednesday evening and they delivered some oxygen cylinders as well so I felt much more at ease. I was so thankful to have bought the diesel. I was also glad I went Saturday morning and picked up a 12K BTU window unit AC to help keep the house cool. So we really had all we needed to make it through.
So far I have used right at 50 gallons of diesel and I am generating from 3KW to 6KW all the time. For the first 5 days the AC ran 24/7 set on 68 degrees to prevent start surges and to make the house tolerable. Now we shut down when the wife and I are working.
Lessons learned:
1)Know your load and what your unit will run(fortunately I had tested the diesel fairly well during the break in period)
2)Diesel is the way to go in my opinion I would not have been able to keep running if my generators were gas fueled.
3)If you wait till you need your generator to check it out and buy fuel for the event it will be to late.
4) Your system may be put to the test. It may be called upon to be more than a convenience.
I never thought about it but I discovered in this wide spread outage that diesel is much easier to obtain. I usually keep 20 gallons of on hand in 5 gallon jugs. I also have a diesel truck with 2- 20 gallon tanks and I have 12 gallons in the L4400 and 3 gallons in the BX1500.
When this all started I soon realized how bad it was. Just about all the fuel stations were out of power for about 8 hours so the ones that were open soon ran dry of gasoline. But they all had diesel fuel. It was this way for 4 days.
I have my generators for convenience but in this instance I ended up operating a life sustaining oxygen generator for my father in law and once he came to my house I couldn't shut down for more than a few minutes or he was having trouble breathing.
My father in laws power came back on Wednesday evening and they delivered some oxygen cylinders as well so I felt much more at ease. I was so thankful to have bought the diesel. I was also glad I went Saturday morning and picked up a 12K BTU window unit AC to help keep the house cool. So we really had all we needed to make it through.
So far I have used right at 50 gallons of diesel and I am generating from 3KW to 6KW all the time. For the first 5 days the AC ran 24/7 set on 68 degrees to prevent start surges and to make the house tolerable. Now we shut down when the wife and I are working.
Lessons learned:
1)Know your load and what your unit will run(fortunately I had tested the diesel fairly well during the break in period)
2)Diesel is the way to go in my opinion I would not have been able to keep running if my generators were gas fueled.
3)If you wait till you need your generator to check it out and buy fuel for the event it will be to late.
4) Your system may be put to the test. It may be called upon to be more than a convenience.
Gale Hawkins
Super Member
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
- Messages
- 8,265
- Location
- Murray, KY
- Tractor
- 1948 Allis Chambers Model B 1976 265 MF / 1983 JD 310B Backhoe / 1966 Ford 3000 Diesel / 1980 3600 Diesel
The fuel cost is not cheap for gas with out 18 HP B&S old Coleman PowerMate 7500 but it will run the deep well pump or enough electric heaters or a window AC unit by managing the power load. Like in the 2009 ice storm to take hot showers (not needed that much) I had to cut heat usage to min with well off to heat hot water (80 gallons). Then keeping space heaters to min we would run the well pump and all four get a hot shower.
The thing will suck up a gallon of gas per hour so at $4 that is $100 per day for gas since we are all electric house.
$10,000 will get you a nice system and $2000 can get you an OK hack job. It boils down to money.
The ideal solution should work just fine if you in the hospital or dead. Yes dead. Hoaky hacks can work but do we really want to leave the wife and perhaps other family members without back up power?
For most of us this means contracting with a stable firm installing and servicing back up home generation systems. For some that may giving up one horse, a bass boat or at extra tractor or fun skid-steer loader, etc.
Quality mainly only cost once BUT it is always an upfront cost.
I am preaching to myself now but a back up system that requires us to be alive really is not a system with our family in mind. We may be alive but three days out of major surgery or forever limited from a stroke.
Hack jobs (portable equipment) and no code wiring are acceptable in a bind if we know and understand the risk AND do not make a major mistake when refueling at 3 am. In the 2009 we were only down three days (accidently bought the last house one a three phase grid) but had neighbors without power for about two weeks a quarter mile down the road but I can tell you feeding the generator every four hours 24 hours a day got old.
Be safe out there and consider a system that others can and will maintain for a fee if we are not able or around.
P.S. One option is to a small generator gas where you could power the frig/freezer from time to time and own a self contained RV with its on built in generator. Our old 20 year old motorhome if we park it full of gas and propane would give us a back up power living space if it did not become damaged. One plus of the old F700 flat bed dump is it has an open cap filler 50 gallon tank that I park full most of the time so a simple hose gives us access to another 45 gallons of gas right there.
My point is we can think outside of the box and let some of our toys do double duty.
The thing will suck up a gallon of gas per hour so at $4 that is $100 per day for gas since we are all electric house.
$10,000 will get you a nice system and $2000 can get you an OK hack job. It boils down to money.
The ideal solution should work just fine if you in the hospital or dead. Yes dead. Hoaky hacks can work but do we really want to leave the wife and perhaps other family members without back up power?
For most of us this means contracting with a stable firm installing and servicing back up home generation systems. For some that may giving up one horse, a bass boat or at extra tractor or fun skid-steer loader, etc.
Quality mainly only cost once BUT it is always an upfront cost.
I am preaching to myself now but a back up system that requires us to be alive really is not a system with our family in mind. We may be alive but three days out of major surgery or forever limited from a stroke.
Hack jobs (portable equipment) and no code wiring are acceptable in a bind if we know and understand the risk AND do not make a major mistake when refueling at 3 am. In the 2009 we were only down three days (accidently bought the last house one a three phase grid) but had neighbors without power for about two weeks a quarter mile down the road but I can tell you feeding the generator every four hours 24 hours a day got old.
Be safe out there and consider a system that others can and will maintain for a fee if we are not able or around.
P.S. One option is to a small generator gas where you could power the frig/freezer from time to time and own a self contained RV with its on built in generator. Our old 20 year old motorhome if we park it full of gas and propane would give us a back up power living space if it did not become damaged. One plus of the old F700 flat bed dump is it has an open cap filler 50 gallon tank that I park full most of the time so a simple hose gives us access to another 45 gallons of gas right there.
My point is we can think outside of the box and let some of our toys do double duty.
patrick_g
Elite Member
I'm happy to see that I'm not the only belt and suspenders kind of guy here. My LPG powered 17 kw is on a pair of 1000 gal tanks. The 17.5 gas generator can be used as a backup if the LPG unit has a problem. The little LPG unit in my camper could be hooked to house by extension cord as a last line of defense. Prius could be jerry rigged for emergency power. Redundant safety systems is a good thing.
I have central ground sourced heatpump. it is one of the loads on the basement sub panel (50 amp) No problem running it on backup power. It is one of 3 heatpumps. I don't run all 3 from back up genny at same time. I have 5 ton unit for upstairs but usually don't run it on backup generator to conserve fuel and lighten the gen load.
Pat
I have central ground sourced heatpump. it is one of the loads on the basement sub panel (50 amp) No problem running it on backup power. It is one of 3 heatpumps. I don't run all 3 from back up genny at same time. I have 5 ton unit for upstairs but usually don't run it on backup generator to conserve fuel and lighten the gen load.
Pat
Dirtball
Silver Member
Great insight last couple of posts. Many who comment on back-up power haven't ever thought past a 48 hr outage. I once lived abroad for a couple years where electricity was sporadic, there was no hot water heater, outages occured weekly, kerosene lanterns and flashlights were the norm. Cooking was done on a small range powered by a 20 lb propane tank or wood outside. Above brings out alot of what I preach about regarding the "long" power outage and fuel supply. Look around and see how many fuel tanks you have. Do you have a backup genny and fuel or it.
Be reasonable with what you want to power. A 500 gal propane tank spinning a 15kw genny powering a 3 ton central air isn't going to last 2 weeks or keep your pipes from freezing during a 4 week outage from an ice storm. Most of my local gas stations have been unable to pump during outages. Wood stoves = priceless during these times. $250 window AC unit in the largest room and have everyone bunk together so your not powering a 3 ton central unit= great idea. I may add it to my list, though I have an RV as backup for that scenario. I am no doomsday prepper, just a guy who can now afford to own a genny or two or three to keep my family and pets safe. I also don't want to loose a house to frozen pipes secondary to a big ice storm- seen it twice in the last 15 yrs , only 15 miles west and 25 miles north, where they were out for a month.
Tip- keep 2 one gallon square "spring water" jugs in your freezer. First empty a few ounces and freeze, square shape is efficient in a square freezer and acts like ice in an old ice box. When you rest the genny, transfer one to the refrig., then when you power up refreeze it, repeat. Start grilling your frozen food and replace with more ice jugs. Fuel conservation can extend your capabitilties by weeks. I don't care for auto-start 15-20kw residential units , unless it's NG and you have a backup genny and fuel supply. I think they are wasteful, unless you have a family member with serious health issues. I read some hour by hour stories of the healthcare workers in a hospital during Katrina, they are unrecognized heroes.
Most of us here on a tractor forum aren't living in condos , by choice. We can stash 100-300 gals of gas or diesel somewhere safe on the land- cycling it through our autos, home heaters or tractors.
Be reasonable with what you want to power. A 500 gal propane tank spinning a 15kw genny powering a 3 ton central air isn't going to last 2 weeks or keep your pipes from freezing during a 4 week outage from an ice storm. Most of my local gas stations have been unable to pump during outages. Wood stoves = priceless during these times. $250 window AC unit in the largest room and have everyone bunk together so your not powering a 3 ton central unit= great idea. I may add it to my list, though I have an RV as backup for that scenario. I am no doomsday prepper, just a guy who can now afford to own a genny or two or three to keep my family and pets safe. I also don't want to loose a house to frozen pipes secondary to a big ice storm- seen it twice in the last 15 yrs , only 15 miles west and 25 miles north, where they were out for a month.
Tip- keep 2 one gallon square "spring water" jugs in your freezer. First empty a few ounces and freeze, square shape is efficient in a square freezer and acts like ice in an old ice box. When you rest the genny, transfer one to the refrig., then when you power up refreeze it, repeat. Start grilling your frozen food and replace with more ice jugs. Fuel conservation can extend your capabitilties by weeks. I don't care for auto-start 15-20kw residential units , unless it's NG and you have a backup genny and fuel supply. I think they are wasteful, unless you have a family member with serious health issues. I read some hour by hour stories of the healthcare workers in a hospital during Katrina, they are unrecognized heroes.
Most of us here on a tractor forum aren't living in condos , by choice. We can stash 100-300 gals of gas or diesel somewhere safe on the land- cycling it through our autos, home heaters or tractors.
meburdick
Platinum Member
What's a safe, reasonable way to bring home larger quantities of fuel and store it? I could put a 55 gallon drum in the bed of my truck, but there's a liner in there. I doubt the station would let me fill it.
Bringing home dozens of 5 gallon cans seems wasteful just to dump it all into a larger container at home. And, keeping all of those cans is costly too because of how much the cost.
I'm wondering how to best stockpile gas when I know a bad storm is coming and "I might need it" for the generator.
Bringing home dozens of 5 gallon cans seems wasteful just to dump it all into a larger container at home. And, keeping all of those cans is costly too because of how much the cost.
I'm wondering how to best stockpile gas when I know a bad storm is coming and "I might need it" for the generator.
meburdick
Platinum Member
You can measure and adjust all you want... You're still at risk for two reasons. Measurements would be done with a certain load on the generator (presumably no load when you start). As soon as the load changes, so does the delivered power quality. Any fluctuation in engine speed (our tractor engines don't have the same sort of governor system on them that a purpose-built generator motor does to maintain appropriate RPM for the given load) and you get a change in power quality.
For me, I'd rather FILTER the power than try and the generator to deliver it at high quality. I have APC UPS units on ALL of my electronics (every television, computer, etc). Anything that happens to not have a UPS doesn't get turned on when the generator is running (except for critical things like the refrigerator, the well pump, the water heater, and potentially the blower fan for the wood stove).
I'm with you on this one. No way am I firing up my tractor so it can run at PTO speed RPMs for four days just to have electricity. Sure, my gas genny is a little louder, but not when it's running inside of its dog house.
The extreme portability of the PTO generator makes it a useful tool when you're on a large piece of land doing things like cutting boards for fencing on the other side of the pasture. But, it has no value to me as a homeowner.
patrick_g
Elite Member
I prefer the luxury option first (2 each 1000 gal propane tanks) but if supplies are low I have pickup camper with propane heat and propane generator which I can connect to house propane and economize for a long time. Alternative is a propane parlor stove in basement, another in sitting room, another in enclosed back porch all of which are is easy to heat. We also have a propane gas log fireplace. All are piezoelectric pilot ignition (don't need 120VAC)(direct vent) so in a long outage we are good for a very long time. Our camper has solar electric roof and makes up to 15-16 amps in full sun and plenty for LED lights even on dreary winter days if you brush off the snow. Camper has a total battery capacity of nearly 600 amp hours at 12 VDC so storage isn't a consideration. Small propane genset in camper will charge batts pretty efficiently so you can have lights and sat TV at night without running generator.
Pat
Pat
