Generators

[bethben]

We are thinking of getting a generator.  We would like to be able to use it to keep the upright freezer and fridge running in the summer and have ability to plug in heat during the winter.  I have a few questions.  We’ve never been around anyone who has used one—

1.  How much fuel would you need to store?  Where do you store it?

2.  If you’re running it in winter and the generator is outside, how can you plug stuff into it without having cords running through partially open doors?

3.  Can you run it an unlimited time if you have fuel for it?

[KSera]

1. It depends what fuel options you have at your house. Does your house currently have natural gas or propane available? If so, you can run it from that without buying and storing extra fuel. I'll let someone who does do it from stored fuel answer that part, as we connect it to our house's gas line.

2. Ours is wired to the electric panel in the garage. We switch the house from the grid to the generator, to prevent any potential danger to people working to restore lines by having our generator send power back through the lines. If you don't have someone with the knowledge to do that, it is an extra expense to have the generator panel wired.

3. We can run it as long as we have fuel. It's noisy, so we shut it down overnight for the sake of our neighbors (but they all have generators too, so I don't feel too bad), and to save fuel. If it's cold out, we will run it until 10 or 11 pm and then back on around 6am.  The refrigerator and freezer don't get opened during that time.

[bethben]

9 minutes ago, KSera said:

1. It depends what fuel options you have at your house. Does your house currently have natural gas or propane available? If so, you can run it from that without buying and storing extra fuel. I'll let someone who does do it from stored fuel answer that part, as we connect it to our house's gas line.

2. Ours is wired to the electric panel in the garage. We switch the house from the grid to the generator, to prevent any potential danger to people working to restore lines by having our generator send power back through the lines. If you don't have someone with the knowledge to do that, it is an extra expense to have the generator panel wired.

3. We can run it as long as we have fuel. It's noisy, so we shut it down overnight for the sake of our neighbors (but they all have generators too, so I don't feel too bad), and to save fuel. If it's cold out, we will run it until 10 or 11 pm and then back on around 6am.  The refrigerator and freezer don't get opened during that time.

We have natural gas.  Is your generator a whole house generator?  Who would I even contact to find out how to hook all this stuff up?  Sounds expensive!  We’re just really getting unsure about a whole bunch of things that seemed stable.

[Pawz4me]

You can have an electrician install a transfer switch at/in your breaker box.

[Lucy the Valiant]

There are different sized generators which cost different amounts and can handle different loads. We use a gas one when we need it (around 1-2 x / year), and do not have it hard wired to the house, though we may do that someday.

We do not store fuel for it (well, we usually have 5-10 gallons around which we also use for the mowers); we used to, but found the hassle more than it was worth. We usually know when we'll need it, and just fill up our gas cans in advance.

We do run a cord through a window in winter.

[KSera]

1 hour ago, bethben said:

We have natural gas.  Is your generator a whole house generator?  Who would I even contact to find out how to hook all this stuff up?  Sounds expensive!  We’re just really getting unsure about a whole bunch of things that seemed stable.

Ours can handle most of the house. Not high draw things like the oven or dryer. We run heat, fridge/freezer and lights (ours are almost all led, so not much draw). We can even run a TV without problem, which seems a bit decadent when the power is out 😳. Ours is not a standby unit, though. That’s when they are made to switch on automatically when the power goes out. Super nice and convenient. Way more expensive though. We have to roll ours out to the driveway and hook it up to the gas line and plug it in. With natural gas, you can pretty much run it indefinitely, unless for some reason the natural gas line is broken, like an earthquake.

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

You can have an electrician install a transfer switch at/in your breaker box.

Thank you. That’s the word I was looking for and couldn’t remember.

[Catwoman]

We have a natural gas powered whole house generator that automatically turns on whenever the power goes off for a certain number of seconds, and it stays on until the power comes back on. It will run everything in the house, so we can live normally during any kind of power outage. It wasn't cheap, but the peace of mind was worth the expense. 

We bought ours from a Generac dealer who is also an electrician. They also do the yearly maintenance on it for us.

[Ausmumof3]

You can have an electrician wire it up so it’s really easy.    One thing to keep in mind is you need to turn fuel over occasionally or it gets stale and can make it hard to start. This may be more of a problem down here where the fuel quality can be poorer than for many northern hemisphere countries.  Cant remember what ours runs on but I think diesel.  You do have to be careful filling petrol ones.  Dh attended a fire call last year where someone attempted to fill a hot generator with petrol and somehow it ignited.  Not sure how common that is.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Ausmumof3

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/safety-alerts/petrol-powered-portable-generators
 

There is a bit of info here on fire safety if using a petrol generator.

I know we use different terminology for fuels here so hopefully this makes sense.

[Catwoman]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

You can have an electrician wire it up so it’s really easy.    One thing to keep in mind is you need to turn fuel over occasionally or it gets stale and can make it hard to start. This may be more of a problem down here where the fuel quality can be poorer than for many northern hemisphere countries.  Cant remember what ours runs on but I think diesel.  You do have to be careful filling petrol ones.  Dh attended a fire call last year where someone attempted to fill a hot generator with petrol and somehow it ignited.  Not sure how common that is.

Our whole house generator automatically tests itself once a week. It turns itself on, runs for a few minutes, and then shuts off. it is powered by natural gas from the street, so we don’t have to add fuel to it or anything, but I was told that the weekly testing was important to keep it running smoothly.