My son up on Lanier in Gainesville, was on generator and propane heater for about 3 days. Did the usual, fridge, small appliances, etc. But he is on well water and that pump is 220 and he didn't have any water pressure. He was able to get in and out around the downed trees for more gas and water.
-
ODT Gun Show this Saturday! - Click here for info and tickets!
Grateful for Honda generator !
- Thread starter roundhouse
- Start date
My query was going to see if any of you who utilize a generator had an electrician run a dedicated breaker [?] so you just plug one end of an extension cord into the generator and the other end into the dedicated breaker and run your whole house electricity needs up to the capability of the generator watts. It looks like Rolling_trip does. Just thinking out loud, I believe that is the way I would like to go. Of course, being a non-electrician, I might not know what I am talking about, but I am sure someone on here will straighten me out. Thanks.
Here’s my set up. I have instructions written down inside the panel for the wife in case I’m not home. I keep it full of stabilized non ethanol fuel, and I keep another 5 gallon can pretty full in the garage (it’s used for all my power equipment). I run it every two months. It can run all day and night powering most of the house. I have two refrigerators, well pump, ceiling fans going and lights and TV on. I only run the main level AC, not the basement. According to my calculations it won’t run my heat pump in winter but it does everything else like a champ. I’ve got about $800 in the whole thing: generator and electrician bill.
You must have ESP. Thanks.
Just be careful about running electronics on a non-inverter generator. Though the newer ones tend to utilize an automatic voltage regulator, they still have a ton of THD and the frequency and voltage varies quite a bit on them based on load. Not so important for general lights and things but important for sensitive electronics. It can and will shorten the lifespan of those things. In an emergency you run what you have, but if you’re buying for the future keep that in mind...I don’t want you guys missing out on the ODT because it fried your ‘puter.
I have an older one of these that is about 10 years old - https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-2...nerator-RYi2200GRA/300404697#product-overview I keep it topped up with regular gas with Stabil in it. It has never failed to crank, no matter how long it has sat between uses.
I just ran it for 3 days and topped it off 1.5 gal every 10 hours. It has the auto idle mode that slows down when not under load.
Ran the kitchen refridge/freezer and the downstairs deep freeze, plus a 3rd outlet for charging cell phones, iPad's etc. It's an inverter, so it's safe to run electronics.
It's much quieter than the cheaper Briggs Stratton powered versions.
I just ran it for 3 days and topped it off 1.5 gal every 10 hours. It has the auto idle mode that slows down when not under load.
Ran the kitchen refridge/freezer and the downstairs deep freeze, plus a 3rd outlet for charging cell phones, iPad's etc. It's an inverter, so it's safe to run electronics.
It's much quieter than the cheaper Briggs Stratton powered versions.
You guys are inspiring me .
You will get lots of different opinions
Getting a building permit, paying an Electrictian to wire in a transfer switch and plugs etc, and having it inspected etc, is gonna be expensive.
Although required if you need to run a well pump
I didn’t do that since we are on municipal water and it’s so easy to just run an extension cord in under the door from the kitchen to the back deck.
And if you wire it into the whole house, you’re gonna give to go around and unplug every thing anyway.
many many appliances use a small amount of juice all the time even if they are switched off. every charger for your cell phones etc use juice just by being plugged into the wall even if you’re not charging an thing.
these phantom loads will add up, and you have the risk that someone will for without thinking, switch on something that use a lot of juice.
cant tell you how many times I walked into a room and flipped on the light switch....
And a generator that will run a central AC or water heater is gonna be huge and guzzle a lot of gas.
move seen some neat setups, a friend of mine in Florida’s hurricane alley built his house with a generator in place.
His master bedroom is on one end of the house by itself and has its own AC and water heater, so he wired it so the generator runs the AC or the water heater for the master bed and bath, it won’t run both at the same time.
He also wired the fridge and an outlet in the garage and an outlet in the kitchen to the generator circuit.
He also built the master closet as a safe room shelter with concrete walls and ceiling.
If you buy a generator , get the kind that has the economy mode, where it matches the engine speed to the load, the ones that run full blast all the time regardless of load, are super loud, and guzzle four times as much fuel.
on a quiet day/night you can literally hear them running a mile away.
I will say, I wish I would have spend a little more money on a gas/propane model. I will likely upgrade one day.
My setup is crude and can be dangerous to someone not knowing. I have a dedicated 220V outlet out side for my air compressor. I made up a 12-3 SO cord with male ends on each end that I plug into my big generator and into my air compressor outlet. Kill the main breaker and fire it up.
CAUTION!! Don’t try this at home!
CAUTION!! Don’t try this at home!
