Generator for home during power outages

[diesel1959]

It will run it, sure. Until the lift pump or injector pump or injectors wear out prematurely. Many studies have been done on additives for the older diesels. I did an impromptu study myself when I first got my diesel and wound up with a bad pump on the highway while towing a large trailer right next to a sign that said "no services this exit". After a very expensive tow bill I did a lot of inquiring.

Low Sulphur Diesel - Beware and Remediate

Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel was NOT the norm when your vehicle was produced. We highly recommend owners read this bulletin directly from Bosch. Cliff Notes: Use a Fuel Additive such as Stanadyne

support.expeditionimports.com

in this link you'll find a pdf from bosch about ULSD that was written before the ULSD was federally mandated about premature wear on pump components.

B5 is certainly better than B20 but ULSD has poor lubricity for pumps and injectors compared to the older D2.

I experimented with b20 and got terrible mileage to boot. B20 was 10% cheaper than B5 and resulted in 20% less fuel economy on the same trip with the same vehicle. I was looking into B100 as a fuel source but quickly decided against it.

My experiences over the last two decades are much different than yours. The biodiesel added into the blend makes a better lubricity enhancer than anything you could add. I’ve run B5 in old Benz diesels, a first-gen Dodge Cummins, and three different Toyota LandCruiser diesels. I’m currently running it (when I can find it) in a BMW X5, a Ram Ecodiesel, and a Mitsubishi Delica diesel. ALL of them have done well on the stuff.

Biodiesel—even in concentrations as low as B5–performs the lubrication function that sulphur used to perform in diesel fuel. That’s been proven many times over.

 

[lightflyer1]

Here is a report I have followed for years as I drive VW tdi diesels (since 2005). Todays fuel is much improved in my opinion since the start of ULSD. Used B100 pre 2006 and the new CR's will take B20 at the most without issue. Some states don't even require any notice be given under a certain percent, so some small percent may still be in the fuel.

Not a definitive report but encouraging.

https://www.infineuminsight.com/media/2228/infineum-wdfqs-2018-v10-14112018.pdf

 

[dobarker]

Thought I’d update what I’ve been working on since March. Little by little.
Generac gp8000e generator converted to natural gas in a home-made quiet box with exhaust fan, driving manual transfer switch with temp correlated indicators to avoid overthinking/overloading.
Has 5 run hours on it so far breaking it in without problems.
I’m currently working on a quiet 2kw inverter to run on ng overnight to keep the noise down a bit more.

The quiet box knocks the rasp out of the big unit, it just sounds like a neighbor mowing grass two houses down.

 

[dobarker]

Here you have it. Believe it or not, that’s enough to keep you comfortable during a freeze if you have a natural gas furnace.
This little unit is enough to start and run our natural gas furnace (6.5 amps starting) and start and run the fridge (right at about 6.5 amps starting).
That, to me at least, Is enough to stay comfortable when all else is frozen or to not make the neighbors hate me overnight running the 10k unit.

on a side note, it was a great opportunity to figure out how to convert my propane grill to natural gas. I now no longer have to go find tanks half way through cooking (and can cook indefinitely during an outage). Same line that feeds the grill now feeds the little generator (that’s why there’s that double ball valve there).

 

[SA_Steve]

Here you have it. Believe it or not, that’s enough to keep you comfortable during a freeze if you have a natural gas furnace.
This little unit is enough to start and run our natural gas furnace (6.5 amps starting) and start and run the fridge (right at about 6.5 amps starting).
That, to me at least, Is enough to stay comfortable when all else is frozen or to not make the neighbors hate me overnight running the 10k unit.

on a side note, it was a great opportunity to figure out how to convert my propane grill to natural gas. I now no longer have to go find tanks half way through cooking (and can cook indefinitely during an outage). Same line that feeds the grill now feeds the little generator (that’s why there’s that double ball valve there).

In the case of your gas furnace: do you have to jumper the common and ground at the furnace plug to get it to turn on ? Apparently some of the lock-out sensors on some units use the ground as a signal return and some generators float and the jumper gets things going.

 

[Tnhawk]

My furnace(gas) unit is powered thru a 110v plug (hot, neutral, ground). Furnace control circuits are 24v. No jumper is used. The generator is connected to an earth ground, as every generator should be.

 

[leVieux]

I have an older 5k watt generator that i had around and pulled out and prepped during the February extended freeze. Although I didn’t have to resort to using it, it was nice to have around.

It a older non-inverter and LOUD generator. I’ve been thinking about selling it and buying a smaller (2-2.5k watts) generator as it would be smaller, quieter and also more fuel efficient.

Anyone care to share their generator experience during this freeze and what would you have done differently regarding using a generator to keep the home running?

TIA!

.
I doubt that 5KW could run much electric HEATING.

Our 22KW just shut-off for "overload" when our small home's heating came on !

Be warned. I've never heard anyone complain about buying a "too big" generator. Sorta like "gun" safes !

leVieux
.

 

[BillM]

I have an older 5k watt generator that i had around and pulled out and prepped during the February extended freeze. Although I didn’t have to resort to using it, it was nice to have around.

It a older non-inverter and LOUD generator. I’ve been thinking about selling it and buying a smaller (2-2.5k watts) generator as it would be smaller, quieter and also more fuel efficient.

Anyone care to share their generator experience during this freeze and what would you have done differently regarding using a generator to keep the home running?

TIA!

We have a 7500 watt generator that would have came in handy for last Feb, but I called to check on my neighbor and his wife told me he may have to go in the hospital because his cpap machine didn't work and he couldn't breathe so I loaned him the generator. Do far I have powered a freezer, an ac unit and light and tv, all at the same time and it worked well. We got by charging our phones and batteries with the solar panels I have for just such occasions. Just need to find some rechargeable candles somewhere.

 

[Haystack]

I have an older 5k watt generator that i had around and pulled out and prepped during the February extended freeze. Although I didn’t have to resort to using it, it was nice to have around.

It a older non-inverter and LOUD generator. I’ve been thinking about selling it and buying a smaller (2-2.5k watts) generator as it would be smaller, quieter and also more fuel efficient.

Anyone care to share their generator experience during this freeze and what would you have done differently regarding using a generator to keep the home running?

TIA!

I have an 11,000 watt generator. It will run "almost" everything in the house at one time. It's max power output is 50 amps. I found out the hard way that it will not run my heating system. The breaker kept throwing on the generator. I have a heat pump, not gas heat. If I had gas heat, it would run the fan just fine. But it will not run the heat strips.

We survived by burning almost a cord of wood that week because we were without power for 4 days.

 

[Axxe55]

If you want to run the entire home on a generator, you need to get an electrician to calculate the electrical requirements of the house and get a properly sized generator suited for the peak output. This would typically be a back-ups type generator and is usually permanently mounted outside the house, with it's own fuel supply of some sort. Propane or natural gas are the best options as fuel source, with diesel being much better than gasoline.

Typically for most houses, the electrical requirements of that house, far exceed what most portable generators are capable of providing, unless you wire in the generator with transfer switch and breaker panel that is only supplying power to certain circuits of the house and not the entire house.

I'll also add that when you step into looking at going for permanently mounted, or back-up generator system and the electrical parts like the transfer switch and breaker panel, then factor in an electrician to wire up those components, and a contractor to build a platform or enclosure for the generator, you are getting into some serious money. Also factor in maintenance on the generator as well at least a couple times a year. The generator is virtually useless if it doesn't run when it's most needed because it wasn't properly maintained.

 

[Texas42]

I talked to a couple generac people. The cost of a whole houwe generator was pretty big.

I kinda think one of them was a little wack and said we needed a 38kw to run everything. 24 is a big as an air cooled one they get, and it is unclear to me if my electric heater Would work with it. That and there is not insignificant maintenance.

Kinda seemed like there might be better uses for $16k to $30k. Might wait a few years and re-evaluate a battery and/or solar.

 

[Fullretard]

Whole house generator…. Do you really need to run the washer/dryer, oven, or the rooms you don’t use?

You are kinda screwed if your heat is electric and not gas/propane. You can run a small window unit for AC if you needed too.

I have a 3ton AC that I run off of a 14KW generac, and that was less than 11K all in…


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[pronstar]

Transfer switch, sub-panel, external generator, electrician to wire it all up.

I can run my entire ground floor, including HVAC, and I’m all-in to this setup for $2k

It doesn’t automatically turn on when the power goes out, I have to manually wheel the generator out, plug it in, flick some switches and turn off my main.

Maybe some day I’ll find value in a $15-20k system that does everything for me.
But not today.


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[Grumps21]

Transfer switch, sub-panel, external generator, electrician to wire it all up.

I can run my entire ground floor, including HVAC, and I’m all-in to this setup for $2k

It doesn’t automatically turn on when the power goes out, I have to manually wheel the generator out, plug it in, flick some switches and turn off my main.

Maybe some day I’ll find value in a $15-20k system that does everything for me.
But not today.


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If I had a large enough unit, that’s probably what I would do. Run only a portion of the house since it is emergency use only. When we buy our forever house I think that’s what we will do. We don’t plan to stay in our current house too much longer, so we are currently running a 3500w inverter genset to be neighborly and keep the noise down

 

[lightflyer1]

Make sure your forever house has natural gas!

 

[Axxe55]

Make sure your forever house has natural gas!

Or a large propane tank..........

 

[pronstar]

I think a dual- or tri-fuel gennie would be ideal. Gas + propane+ natural gas.

This way you aren’t beholden to one source of fuel.


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[Darkpriest667]

I have a 4800 Watt inverter that does propane or gas. Getting a manual transfer switch in the garage soon, problem is it will only do 110 so can't run heat, air, or dryer. No issues there I got fans and can plug in electric heaters. It's mainly for my mothers oxygen creator which she definitely needs. I can live without the rest.

 

[Axxe55]

I think a dual- or tri-fuel gennie would be ideal. Gas + propane+ natural gas.

This way you aren’t beholden to one source of fuel.


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What would be cool, is someone invented one that could run on just about any type of common fuel sources, gasoline, NG, propane, diesel, kerosene, etc........

 

[Axxe55]

I have a 4800 Watt inverter that does propane or gas. Getting a manual transfer switch in the garage soon, problem is it will only do 110 so can't run heat, air, or dryer. No issues there I got fans and can plug in electric heaters. It's mainly for my mothers oxygen creator which she definitely needs. I can live without the rest.

The only item I miss that's on 220 if we have to use the generator is the water heater.

Taking a shower or bath ain't no fun without hot water!