Portable Generator

[BobRip]

If you have warm weather outages, like a hurricane, then you need to keep the refrigerator running. For winter outages, I just put any perishable fresh food in the unheated garage. The chest freezer, in the same unheated space, will hold for days without power. It only needs to run once or twice a day at most.

Man, what I would give for an unheated garage. Both of mine are heated.:laughing::laughing:

This is a good idea. I could put the small freezer in the carport closet, out of the elements, but cold.

 

[dcyrilc]

Man, what I would give for an unheated garage. Both of mine are heated.:laughing::laughing:

This is a good idea. I could put the small freezer in the carport closet, out of the elements, but cold.

I was just watching the news tonight and on of the cities in Eastern Washington has an expected low for Wednesday morning of -13 and a high of 6. Anyone there with a freezer in the carport sure wouldn't need to use much power for the freezer.:laughing: I wonder how well the defrost cycle works in weather like that?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I was just watching the news tonight and on of the cities in Eastern Washington has an expected low for Wednesday morning of -13 and a high of 6. Anyone there with a freezer in the carport sure wouldn't need to use much power for the freezer.:laughing: I wonder how well the defrost cycle works in weather like that?

Yeah, most of the PNW is below freezing. They are predicting a low of 31 and a high of 22 this afternoon where I am. A whole day below freezing is a rare event in my neighborhood. We have a little snow, but the roads are wet so everything is a sheet of ice this morning. They had serious blizzard conditions in the mountains yesterday.

Better get out your long johns. The rest of the country gets our weather about 3 days later.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

The rest of the country gets our weather about 3 days later.

You must be right because they are predicting double digits below zero through the weekend around here. We seldom have extended power outages, but I may refresh my gasoline reserves just in case.

 

[BobRip]

I feel that if you only have power outages of 2 hours max, then you are wasting your money getting a generator. On the other hand, I do not believe you can predict your maximum length of power outage.
I have add a second tank for my well to increase my water storage. This way I can go longer without the generator before running out of water. I also hung a tywrap out the bottom of the pressure switch, so that if I pull it the switch will turn on, unless the tank is near max. I pull this prior to shutting the generator down to make sure my water tanks are full. Do not do this unless you know what your are doing.

My next door neighbor moved to where he shares main power lines with a hospital. His builder felt there was no need to have a generator because hospitals get priority. He may be able to say his power outages will be short. The rest of us, not so much.

 

[dcyrilc]

The news is reporting that the storm which just came through has left 70,000 without power. The lows will be single digits tonight and they are saying that thousands will not have power until after Thanksgiving. You just never know.

 

[Financegal]

Regarding outages, not having them much and not needing a generator - exactly what I thought. I see many here are in the midwest or cold regions. I'm in VA (at the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains). We're more sheltered from the mountains usually with little snow and rarely outages lasting longer than an hour. Then last year - brutal winter - we got pounded by a couple feet of snow along with a few 10 or 11 inch storms, some with ice. No power for over 5 days during the huge storm.

Wake up time for me. Come spring I began looking at generators/transfer switches, etc. Because of the type switch I had installed, total cost of everything was $1800 (generator down to extragas containers). I could have gotten it done cheaper but my circuit breaker is in the finished portion of the house, it's in an odd location, etc. so I had a Generlink put in. That total cost is absorbitant if I never have to use it or worth every penny if I only have to use it once and it keeps us here all comfy and cozy. Kind of like all the "priceless" commercials.

 

[KubotainNH]

That total cost is absorbitant if I never have to use it or worth every penny if I only have to use it once and it keeps us here all comfy and cozy. Kind of like all the "priceless" commercials.

This is what it all comes down to in my mind. Getting to stay in my own house with enough electricity to stay warm and have food. Good stuff.

 

[BobRip]

This is what it all comes down to in my mind. Getting to stay in my own house with enough electricity to stay warm and have food. Good stuff.

I also think of it as a service to your neighbors. You can provide them with water, bath, toilet, a place to store refrigerated food, a warm place, etc. At least somebody in the neighborhood should have electricity when the power is down. Be sure to offer services to your neighbors when they need it.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I also think of it as a service to your neighbors. You can provide them with water, bath, toilet, a place to store refrigerated food, a warm place, etc. At least somebody in the neighborhood should have electricity when the power is down. Be sure to offer services to your neighbors when they need it.

Amen.