Sizing Your Generator

[KLB]

I see to convenience of the whole house natural gas unit. But the NG supply as to be intact for it to work. It takes electricity to move the NG to you know. It is not a stable if the grid goes down for any serious reasons. When the grid fell out on the east coast some years back and cascaded through several states they had NADA. Nothing. No water/NG/power. Nada.

The local water Co. Has diesel pumps but they drop out when the tanks run dry and even then they are limited as to supply volume. Same with you NG supply. It take power to run the supply loop.

Just something to consider.

You scenario affects all fuel supplies. So you only can use what you have on hand.

 

[dudley0]

I see to convenience of the whole house natural gas unit. But the NG supply as to be intact for it to work. It takes electricity to move the NG to you know. It is not a stable if the grid goes down for any serious reasons. When the grid fell out on the east coast some years back and cascaded through several states they had NADA. Nothing. No water/NG/power. Nada.

The local water Co. Has diesel pumps but they drop out when the tanks run dry and even then they are limited as to supply volume. Same with you NG supply. It take power to run the supply loop.

Just something to consider.

I understand that. But I am not using this as a plan for TEOTWAWKI type situations. Maybe an ice storm where we are out of electricity for a few days, or someone downed a pole and the likes.

In the 20 years I have been at the current place we have lost NG one time, for a few hours. Some contractor dug up a line or some such. It is much more stable than the electrical grid, at least in these parts.

As far as the big hit scenario, I can run small heat, lights and communications off my little gas genny. I have enough water saved up that we could survive a while. Long term and I can pop the well head to get to the goods. Food is handled.

I am trying to make a short term electrical outage as convenient as possible for the family. Wife needs her showers and all that.

Hate dropping that much coin right now on a very short term usage item, like the Generac NG generator. I also hate the idea of storing, rotating and tracking a huge amount of gasoline. I don't think the 3500 watt inverter will be able to handle the inrush current from the well kicking in, even if I have nothing else pulling from it.

I am a lazy, whiny butt I guess.

 

[churchmouse]

I understand that. But I am not using this as a plan for TEOTWAWKI type situations. Maybe an ice storm where we are out of electricity for a few days, or someone downed a pole and the likes.

In the 20 years I have been at the current place we have lost NG one time, for a few hours. Some contractor dug up a line or some such. It is much more stable than the electrical grid, at least in these parts.

As far as the big hit scenario, I can run small heat, lights and communications off my little gas genny. I have enough water saved up that we could survive a while. Long term and I can pop the well head to get to the goods. Food is handled.

I am trying to make a short term electrical outage as convenient as possible for the family. Wife needs her showers and all that.

Hate dropping that much coin right now on a very short term usage item, like the Generac NG generator. I also hate the idea of storing, rotating and tracking a huge amount of gasoline. I don't think the 3500 watt inverter will be able to handle the inrush current from the well kicking in, even if I have nothing else pulling from it.

I am a lazy, whiny butt I guess.

Oh you lazy whiny folks.....

Yes it can be a drag to store/track fuel but not as bad as folks seem to think. We use the 5 Gal Poly jugs we had for fuel when we had the race cars. The store easily in smaller places and they seal up very well. 5 gallons and a bit of StayBil and under the shelf. Not saying how many I have stashed around the compound but just know that is we have a long hit we are good for 30 days of managed power. Probably more once the food is gone from the fridge's and freezers.

I cycle it out in the spring and the fall. Fill the tanks on the tucks and off to the station to fill the jugs. This is a X's 2 procedure but well worth it.
Also, when the spouse was deathly ill and hospitalized the fuel reserves came in very handy during those troubled times.
Its just the way we do this.

Tomorrow I pick up the proper SOOW power cable and make 2 drop cords for the genny's. The switch's will be wired into both houses soon.

 

[dudley0]

Can you link me the info on the jugs? I just use the 5 gallon store bought and they don't seal. They don't store well because of the fumes. Have them in a little shed outside the detached garage now. Some are the 'safe' pour versions which never work well, so I popped a hole in them to get airflow when dumping them out.

 

[churchmouse]

Can you link me the info on the jugs? I just use the 5 gallon store bought and they don't seal. They don't store well because of the fumes. Have them in a little shed outside the detached garage now. Some are the 'safe' pour versions which never work well, so I popped a hole in them to get airflow when dumping them out.

Sure. It will be a minute. Look on Jegs. That is where I get mine. Several styles available.

 

[woowoo2]

I don't think the 3500 watt inverter will be able to handle the inrush current from the well kicking in, even if I have nothing else pulling from it.

What size breaker is it on?
Any idea what kind of pump you have?

 

[dudley0]

Sure. It will be a minute. Look on Jegs. That is where I get mine. Several styles available.

[h=1]JEGS 80211 ?[/h]Are you able to store these in the garage or workshop with no worries about venting?

What size breaker is it on?
Any idea what kind of pump you have?

It is on a 20 amp double pole breaker. I don't know the size of the pump. I have not had reason to pull it (thankfully). When I get back there I will loop my amp meter around it and see what the inrush is.

Didn't factor any of this in until last night after I was already gone from there.

Currently I have a 110v pump. Had the plan of removing the 240v and replacing with a new 110v unit. My well guy talked me out of it, at least for now.

 

[churchmouse]

[h=1]JEGS 80211 ?[/h]Are you able to store these in the garage or workshop with no worries about venting?

It is on a 20 amp double pole breaker. I don't know the size of the pump. I have not had reason to pull it (thankfully). When I get back there I will loop my amp meter around it and see what the inrush is.

Didn't factor any of this in until last night after I was already gone from there.

Currently I have a 110v pump. Had the plan of removing the 240v and replacing with a new 110v unit. My well guy talked me out of it, at least for now.

Thy have a positive air vent closure. I put a piece of tape over it to insure it remains closed in the heat of summer. They usually do but occasionally one will pop open on a 95* day. Also they sell replacement caps seals and vents for them. Some of mine we have had since the mid 8's when we ran the midget in the USAC series.

 

[churchmouse]

[h=1]JEGS 80211 ?[/h]Are you able to store these in the garage or workshop with no worries about venting?

It is on a 20 amp double pole breaker. I don't know the size of the pump. I have not had reason to pull it (thankfully). When I get back there I will loop my amp meter around it and see what the inrush is.

Didn't factor any of this in until last night after I was already gone from there.

Currently I have a 110v pump. Had the plan of removing the 240v and replacing with a new 110v unit. My well guy talked me out of it, at least for now.

He is correct. The 240 volt unit has bigger balls.

 

[bobzilla]

Being rural ng isn’t an option. Our gas powered isn’t quiet but it runs the necessary things. Runs about 8hours per tank but even if we were out of power it wouldn’t run constantly. Just enough to fill toilets and tubs with water, maybe take a shower and cool down the fridge and freezer cook. I figure we could run it 2-3 hours a day total to keep us in good shape. With the fuel in hand we could go weeks if need be before siphoning out of the vehicles.

 

[dudley0]

Thy have a positive air vent closure. I put a piece of tape over it to insure it remains closed in the heat of summer. They usually do but occasionally one will pop open on a 95* day. Also they sell replacement caps seals and vents for them. Some of mine we have had since the mid 8's when we ran the midget in the USAC series.

So these should not be stored horizontally. That would help with space, but beggars and choosers I guess.

Will probably grab one of these to test, although I would get free shipping if I snagged five of them. Use one for the mowers and have four in reserve for the genny, then rotate as needed. They are thicker and seem a lot more rugged than the box store bought crap you find nowadays.

 

[churchmouse]

So these should not be stored horizontally. That would help with space, but beggars and choosers I guess.

Will probably grab one of these to test, although I would get free shipping if I snagged five of them. Use one for the mowers and have four in reserve for the genny, then rotate as needed. They are thicker and seem a lot more rugged than the box store bought crap you find nowadays.

They are serious fuel jugs. And no I would not stack them on the sides.

 

[indyjohn]

7500 watts, runs on gasoline or LP. I run it primarily on LP. Under average load charging batteries it consumes 4lbs / hour.

 

[dudley0]

LP definitely has a longer shelf life. Is it the same efficiency as gasoline?

Is converting a genset to run on both a labor of love?

 

[indyjohn]

LP definitely has a longer shelf life. Is it the same efficiency as gasoline?

Is converting a genset to run on both a labor of love?

Shelf life, storage, portability are exactly why I run LP. LP does not have the same Btu value that gas has but I see it as a reasonable trade off.

Converting from gas to run LP was easy thanks to this company.

https://www.motorsnorkel.com/motor-...propane-and-gasoline-conversion-kit-4397.html

 

[dudley0]

That place is pretty cool.

Did you get the tachometer?

Looking at hooking it to NG as well. Potentially the best of all worlds, except no instant on without more add-ons.

I wonder if the whole house Generac units can switch form NG to LP on the fly?

 

[woowoo2]

I wonder if the whole house Generac units can switch form NG to LP on the fly?

Yes...,
Well, not "on the fly" but they can be converted.

 

[indyjohn]

Did you get the tachometer?

Yes. I installed the tachometer before converting to LP. Got a baseline rpm running on gas that I tuned the LP setup to match.

 

[Leadeye]

When we built the house I sized the generator to just run some stuff. I heat with wood and have a 110 AC unit that can be easily installed in the basement. The Generac is propane powered from a 1K tank with an ATS, at 14.4 it runs just the essentials.

 

[ISP3435]

I down sized mine to 2200, because it was super fuel efficient/ quiet and I only have a 20 gallaons of gas on hand at anytime.