wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2018 14:42:02 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/14/2018 2:27 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 9/14/18 2:15 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/14/2018 12:14 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2018 11:28:55 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 9/14/2018 10:50 AM, Its Me wrote:
On Friday, September 14, 2018 at 7:47:42 AM UTC-4, John H wrote:
On Thu, 13 Sep 2018 21:34:54 -0700 (PDT), Its Me
wrote:

Well, after we had to evacuate the house for nearly a week while
new hardwoods were being laid, sanded and finished,we are back in
the house today just in time for Florence. At this time the
biggest worry is power outage... the storm is down to a Cat 1,
but is moving so slowly it will dump lots of rain.Â* We're on a
hill so no worries of flooding, but power is a concern with a
well. Should have pulled the trigger on a gen, but we've briefly
lost power twice in ten years, so it hasn't been at the top of
the list. Work is 10 minutes away, and we have a huge gen,
kitchen and showers so really no big deal.Â* Plus I have about 5
ways to cook without electricity, so we are OK.

Hope anyone in the path fairs well.Â* I'll probably just spend my
time painting the newly remodeled parts.Â* All new appliances next
Tuesday!Â* Then we'll have a complete kitchen again after almost 3
months.Â* Whew!

I've heard nothing but good about this generator from the RV crowd.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3500-w...tor-63584.html


As soon as I find a buyer for my Honda 2200, I'm getting the
Predator.


Thanks, but I need 240V@30A to run the well pump.


I don't necessarily need 240v (split phase) but if my Honda ever gives
up the ghost I'll shop for one.

Speaking of the Honda ... I just pulled it out of the storage shed and
gave it three pulls.Â* Fired right up.Â* Last time it was used was last
winter when we lost power for a couple of days.Â* Still has the same
gas in it that it had then with a splash of Stabil in it.Â* I have it
running right now, trying to run it out of gas so I can use fresh gas
if and when I need it again.Â* It's just purring away on the old gas.

So much for the stories that gas goes bad in a month or two.Â* It may
lose some of it's BTU's so an engine can't develop it's full HP rating
but I see no evidence of that.Â* I put a 1500 watt space heater on it
as a load so it burns the gas faster and it runs just fine.



That is the good thing about propane. It doesn't go bad. The problem
is it may be hard to come by and very expensive after a storm. My
generator will run both.



I forgot that Harry looks down at little, gasoline powered generators
because *he* has a big, whole house generator, supplied by a 1,000 gal
propane underground tank.Â* It starts once a week, runs for 10 minutes
and shuts off, similar to my neighbor's generator whole house
generator he installed three years ago. My neighbor is actually hoping
for a longer term power outage just so he can justify the investment
he made.

I've used my generator twice since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, not
counting the summer the stone cutters used it everyday when installing
the pool.
Each power outage was of relatively short duration and we got by just
fine with it.

I don't look down my nose at gasoline powered generators. I don't know
if a gasoline-powered generator is available in the size we have that
would be adequate to run one of our furnace/heat pumps, the well pump,
and some appliances and lights. The well pump and heat pump require a
substantial generator to start up and run. In the winter, if you don't
have some heat available, the water pipes in the walls can freeze.
Fixing that would cost a lot more than a generator.

Oh, it's a 500-gallon buried tank. We did have one four-to-five day
power outage in which the genny served us well.


I ran the furnace and circulating pump (7 zones) in an eight thousand
square foot house using the 2000 watt Honda. It also ran a refrigerator
at the same time although it grunted a bit when the compressor first
started.

I agree though, it would never be adequate for heat pumps/ central air
conditioners, well pumps or anything that requires 240 volts or current
draws of more than 13 amps or so. I just have never had requirements to
do that (other than once in Florida). Our power outages up here are rare
and typically occur in the winter. They also don't last long. As
previously mentioned, I can only recall
two in the past 13 years and combined they lasted a total of 3 and a
half days.

I have been here 34 years.
I only remember one outage here that lasted a whole day (Irma).
Charley was about 20 hours and we have had a few that were more than 8
but most of the time we are only out an hour or so, still pretty rare.
Occasionally we have had short outages that were so short that the UPS
kept the TV and my PC going and we didn't even notice until we saw the
kitchen light was out. The dog usually alerts tho when the inverters
in the USP's kick on.


We have underground utilities where I live. So rare for a power outage.
Longest was about 20 hours when the transformer at the bottom of the street
blew up.