Last year California was generating so much green power that they had to pay Arizona to buy the excess, because they had no way to regulate the production state wide. It was very expensive to sell. Arizona had some the cheapest power in the country as a result.
Tennis ball based on radar info "in the area"
Natural gas generators would be much better for an outage, since you don't need to tend to them with refueling. Still need to perform oil changes though.
That was correct 5 gallons. The generator I have is an inverter model. Why is that important? An inverter generator can run at a speed that matches the load vs a normal generator that has to run at 3600 rpm to maintain the 60Hz. For efficiency it makes a great deal of difference. Keeping a ICE running at 3600 RPM just for frequency is inefficient. The only way that it is as/more efficient is if both are running at max load over the measured period.
I didn't know that about the difference between the two. Had I known, I would have spent the extra $ for an inverter model.
I've got 2 open frame generators. They have their uses and serve them well.
I had mine serviced and prepped for storage. It just sits and waits to be used. I start it up once a year and then have it serviced and prepped again. Small 2kw Honda though. Had a big one but too much trouble and too little use so sold it and got this one. Easily keep a fridge and tv/internet and phones going. All gas for most other things (heat, water, cooking). 15 gallons of treated, stored fuel for its use, plus what is in one car that uses gas for fuel. Change the stored fuel out to the car and refill with treated once a year too. Worked well for nearly a decade now. Maybe only 3-5 times lost power in that time.
Yeah, I use propane in my generator. Although it can be used for both gasoline and propane, I didn't want to have gasoline sitting in it for long periods of time.
