You have 10 minutes to evacuate

[churchmouse]

That's a god way to electrocute a poor lineman while he is trying to restore your power. Having a generator connected to the house is a fine thing but do it to code man. Use an isolation transformer so you don't kill someone.

If one is attentive this can be done through the drier or any other 220v plug if the panel is configured for it before you plug into the aux. power source. The genny has to be capable as well.
Safety 1st.

When I 1st started posting in this thread I mentioned I powered up my house through the dryer plug. The ensuing dog pile was pretty deep.
Thing is I know wiring. Very well actually as I wired both the houses on the compound and have been around electrical my whole life. 1st step is drop the main any any other circuit's you will not need in the current emergency. In my panels they are well marked. We have ran the drill a few times.

 

[2A_Tom]

A dryer circuit should hold essential circuits as long as the generator is rated for the connected circuits.

ETA Of course with the main turned off.

 

[churchmouse]

A dryer circuit should hold essential circuits as long as the generator is rated for the connected circuits.

Exactly. The dryer circuit will feed both sides of the power panel. Know the loads involved and set the panel accordingly. Always have enough genny.

Back in the olden times....() a member swore he could run his entire house with a 3600 peak output unit. We went back and forth on this and I finally just said ok.
My 3600 has a 20 amp main on it. Hilarious.

 

[rhino]

Exactly. The dryer circuit will feed both sides of the power panel. Know the loads involved and set the panel accordingly. Always have enough genny.

Back in the olden times....() a member swore he could run his entire house with a 3600 peak output unit. We went back and forth on this and I finally just said ok.
My 3600 has a 20 amp main on it. Hilarious.

Maybe his house was really, really small? Heh!

 

[KittySlayer]

Maybe his house was really, really small? Heh!

Maybe he was Amish.

 

[teddy12b]

When we built our house I had a 220v plug put into the garage. This was so I could bring a small welder home and run it if need be. My genny has a 220 plug, and I have a long enough extension that I can have the genny running outside while plugged into the garage wall outlet. I tested mine with an electrician standing right there beside me, walking me through it all, double checking everything. We went through this very slowly, like breaking it down big bird, barney style with crayons and markers. It's not something I want to ever screw up.

Last weekend, I fired up my genny and let it run for an hour, topped off gas in it and the snow blower that was also running. Took an inventory of my fuel status while cleaning out the garage. Currently, I've got a dozen 5 gallon containers for stabilized fuel. A couple of those are in the bed of the truck now that'll get refilled over lunch. If time permits, I could take gas out of everything in the garage and have that much more.

For you guys with generators, whens the last time you ran it and let it run for a while? My Generac is a commercial 8000W running machine, that has an electric start. I don't run it enough that the electric start is ever charged enough to work, so I have a pull cord. I prefer the electric start to not work because it takes away the temptation for my wife to try and run it. I love her more than anything, but she knows less about electrical than I do.

 

[Jeepster48439]

If one is attentive this can be done through the drier or any other 220v plug if the panel is configured for it before you plug into the aux. power source. The genny has to be capable as well.
Safety 1st.

When I 1st started posting in this thread I mentioned I powered up my house through the dryer plug. The ensuing dog pile was pretty deep.
Thing is I know wiring. Very well actually as I wired both the houses on the compound and have been around electrical my whole life. 1st step is drop the main any any other circuit's you will not need in the current emergency. In my panels they are well marked. We have ran the drill a few times.

I use the range outlet to connect my genny. I turn off all breakers to start, plug in the connector and then energize 15a circuits individually until I have essentials powered. Of course the main is off and stays off until the genny is shutdown, the connector is disconnected and the range plugged back in and all breakers are off again.

 

[churchmouse]

I use the range outlet to connect my genny. I turn off all breakers to start, plug in the connector and then energize 15a circuits individually until I have eseentials powered.

Mark those breakers if you have not done so.

 

[Thor]

I like my BO Class A RV with 3kw genny...it's packed and ready to go.

 

[patience0830]

Out of 30 threads. Only one person considered fuel for the road.
How many people keep the tank full and have some reserve ready to load.
I case of fire emergency. A very wet blanket to keep the fuel cool.

As for around the house survival. I keep a generator ready. I built a heavy duty extension cord with a male on both ends. I can plug one end into the generator and the other end into any outlet.

Only thing I really worry about running off the genny is the fridge/freezer to keep the food safe and the gas furnace in the winter. Everything else is as needed and can be wired/plugged in as such. My bug out preps are poor at best. I'm always 500 miles away when anything happens. I'm more likely to need a walk home bag.

 

[SMiller]

Wife, kids, dog, long gun and BOB.

I stay loaded at all times and ready to go, most days I would already have all that in the truck/SUV.

 

[SMiller]

Out of 30 threads. Only one person considered fuel for the road.
How many people keep the tank full and have some reserve ready to load.
I case of fire emergency. A very wet blanket to keep the fuel cool.

As for around the house survival. I keep a generator ready. I built a heavy duty extension cord with a male on both ends. I can plug one end into the generator and the other end into any outlet.

My truck has a full 36 gallon tank at all times, wife's SUV has a full 39 gallon tank at all times, carrying fuel is the least of my concerns.

 

[Dorky_D]

Something I have started and need to re-visit, is a list of what I want given 30 min, 1 day and 3 day lead times with 30 min, probably coming back, 1 day not sure and 3 day probably not. Given these three time periods and degrees of severity, you can have some lists of stuff you want to grab already thought through. The stuff on the 30 minute should be all but ready to pack and go. The more on the other lists that is ready the better.
Whatever is on list 1 is to be included with list 2 and so on.
Just food for thought so you can be ready given different scenarios. Obviously, there is room for on the fly changes, but it helps you to think through stuff ahead of time and be better than starting from scratch when an emergency arises.

 

[bigretic]

If one is attentive this can be done through the drier or any other 220v plug if the panel is configured for it before you plug into the aux. power source. The genny has to be capable as well.
Safety 1st.

When I 1st started posting in this thread I mentioned I powered up my house through the dryer plug. The ensuing dog pile was pretty deep.
Thing is I know wiring. Very well actually as I wired both the houses on the compound and have been around electrical my whole life. 1st step is drop the main any any other circuit's you will not need in the current emergency. In my panels they are well marked. We have ran the drill a few times.

Similar here, but the gen has it's own breaker for the backfeed which can be done from the front or back of the house depending on the situation (220 twist locks) it is wired at the panel to supply the whole house. Only thing I kill (besides the main) is the AC unit if it's summer.

oh, wife, dog, rations, water, guns, supplies, etc.

 

[The Professor]

With my luck, that 10 minutes would find me either sleeping, or taking a shower. Probably the latter, so I'd lose a few minutes to dressing (or maybe not, to the chagrin of the neighbors).

But, our preps are scaled. We have a large Load-out Bag that contains our BOB's, primary weapons (longarm and sidearm as well as necessary accessories) and a full set of clothing in addition to the set in the BOB. Then, we have four (two for each of us) "Vehicle Kits" that are, basically, additional food, fuel, clothing and maintenance items that would be too heavy to carry.

If we had to run with that short of notice, both BOB's, all four Car Kits and the hunting camp tent (a Kodiak 6014 canvas tent) would go into my vehicle (already in the garage). I'd probably take both vehicles, if possible, and split up the load at a later stop.

This would give us at least two weeks of complete self-sustainability if we can find a water source.

If I had longer, say an hour, it'd be the same, but I'd probably empty the safe of weapons (yeah, I do have insurance, but I'd still hate to lose some of my collection) and as much of the storage food as I could tetris into the vehicles.

Pretty much everything else is okay to lose. . .like I said, I have insurance for the rest.

The Professor

 

[7.62]

I keep all the basics packed away in the SUV at all times. About 72 hours of food for my family, water purification tools, fire starting supplies, camp stove, axe, etc. Also keep a GHB with additional supplies and a small medical kit. So with 10 mins I would load the wife and kids first and foremost. Then I would grab couple long guns, ammo cans, as many cases of water I could get, also as many food preps as I could grab. Side note: My EDC is always on me so I would have that in addition to the long guns I would get from the safe.