Ferrari Mailing List: Storm Outages and Emergency Generators

[Scott Carpenter (scscottc]

After losing power for four days in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabelle several years ago, we had a 12KW propane whole house generator installed.  We have since used it more times than I had really anticipated.  I noticed the first time we used it we were the only house in the neighborhood that had power. Talk about announcing what you have... :-) Since then I've noticed that the neighbors on either side of me have also had generators installed.

Ours is propane because we already use propane for heating and have a 500 gallon tank buried in the backyard.  When they installed our generator they plumbed into the line coming into the house from the tank.  Our install included a separate circuit panel that the generator provides power to, so all we had to do was figure out which house circuits to move to the generator and the electricians moved them to the new panel.  Now when the power goes out there is a built in 30 second delay before the generator kicks on.  So within 45 - 60 seconds we are back to power at the circuits that matter to us.  In our case we provide power to all of the fridges and freezers in the house, no more wasted food, the A/C and Furnace for the main level of the house, well pump and septic pump (gotta have water and toilets),  the master bedroom and bathroom, and the family room so we can still watch TV or play Xbox.

Assuming we have a "full" propane tank which is really only 80% full or 400 gallons, as the propane company will only fill to 80%, we should have enough to run the generator for at least 6 days.  I could probably get more out of it if I am careful... I am thinking of building a new garage that will go where the propane tank is now, so we will have to move it.  At that point I will probably upgrade to a 1000 gallon tank, but more so we don't have to get refilled as often in the winter.

We also have an RV with a 6.5KW generator that we can use for some sort of long term solution if for some reason we were to get into a long term situation without power.

Addressing your thoughts on using a gas generator the only issue I can see with that is storage of the proper amount of gasoline that you may need, and the possibility that when you need to use it either the gas has gone bad or the generator has gotten gummed up from lack of use.  Our whole house generator automatically runs for 15 minutes once a week to keep everything running smoothly.  We also have it serviced every 6 months by our HVAC company to ensure it is working properly, this includes changing the oil.

The advantage to a gas powered generator is that depending on the reason for your power loss you can always drive somewhere to get more gas.  In my case if my propane delivery company can't get to me then I am stuck.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Bennett <pbennett [at] macnet.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 1:52 PM
Subject: [Ferrari] Storm Outages and Emergency Generators
To: Scott Carpenter <scscottc [at] gmail.com>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>


The recent storms brings probabilities of more bad weather and I'm
wondering...those who already have emergency power systems, what size
generator do you have or wish you had.

I know the tradeoffs of basic needs vs gasoline useage and even
noise.  For a 3 day to 1 week outage, The
freezers/refrigerator  would need some time as would some lighting
and even the tv system (computer?).  One kw would possibly do this
but that seems too minimal .  2.5kw perhaps?

Googled to find gas consumption for 5.5 kw Honda to be 1/2 gal /hour
at half load, so a large rotating storage lawnmower can or two would
be part of the emergency plan.  It would be nice to build a new house
with emergency circuits built in but lacking that, a special premade
extension cord cut to reach necessary appliances from the outside
generator location without having to leave doors/windows open.

We rarely loose power (every ten years) but one rare time I ran the
motor home generator output into the house and was the only one in
the neighborhood with TV lighting being quite obvious from the
street, but became acutely aware of the problem of finding and
running a long cord inside.

What are you doing now or plan for the near future?

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