Generator use in extended outage

[Jokarva]

DH and I are have a 'discussion' about our generator use during outages so I figured I'd ask here how others use theirs...

We have a new Generac 20,000kw generator that kicks on and powers whole house when electricity goes off. It runs on propane and I believe we were told it takes 3 gallons per hour to run (I could be remembering that wrong though). It's hardwired in so there's no option to just plug certain things into it to run...it's all or nothing.

Anyway, if you have a similar setup do you allow the generator to run nonstop during an outage...or would you turn the whole thing off and on a couple times a day to run freezer, wellpump, take a shower, etc? We have an insert and woodstove for heat and cooking, plenty of lanterns, radio...so one of us feels we could just use it a couple hours a day for essentials while the other wants the sports channel to be available 24/7.

Not saying who is who here of course

[cfabe]

Running generators is really expensive! I would just run it as necessary, but I just use a small portable generator to power critical loads. The whole point in the automated backup generators is the convenience of going about your normal life without having to worry about it. You've spent a ton of money on the generator system to have that convenience and peace of mind, so maybe burning through a few hundred dollars of propane if the power's out for a few days is not a big deal for you?

The other thing to keep in mind, how big is your propane tank? In an extended outage, would you want to burn up your reserve in a few days to have lights on, or would you want to conserve it for heating purposes. In the aftermath of a bad storm, the propane company might not be able to fill it for a week or two. If you have less than a 1000 gal tank, you might want to upgrade the size, or have a separate tank set for the generator.

[Harry Chickpea]

Not goinna touch this one with a ten foot pole...

[gwithrow]

we have the same generac generator and we live in a rural area that is often last on the list for power restoration.....we use the generator sparingly...we turn it on several times during the day...and operate as usual....opening refrigerators and freezers and such, then it goes off and gets turned back on in the evening...we cook with gas so that is a non issue and we have gas logs for back up heat...at night after showers and any necessary computer use, we turn it off....we go on batteries for reading and getting around..knowing that if we need it we can always power up again...

.this area has been without power for as long as 10 days so we try to make sure we use the propane only as we need to...the generator allows us to keep the freezers cold and to stay in touch with the rest of the world...if we want to.....I really like knowing that I can open the frig or freezer and not worry that I will hasten the demise of our home raised goods....

if the power goes out in the middle of the night...I get up and turn it off until morning...

[davel745]

8 on 16 off will keep things cold and allow TV and showers and save a lot on fuel. 8 on is 24 gallons and 16 off saves 48 gallons, if your generator uses 3 gallons and hour. This sounds like a lot and if the generator doesn’t use all it power you will save some on fuel. a 22 KW generator uses about 1 gallon an hour on 1/2 load and 2 gal an hour at 3/4 load, So keeping lights off and use minimal stuff will save a lot. Spoken from the end of a 12 foot pole Ok Harry

[where I want to]

The longest I've used the generator is a 3 week period. I ran it about 4 hours each evening, doing without the rest of the time. Propane was a lot cheaper then and it was costing me about $350 a week to run it 8 hours per day. Ouch........

[Callieslamb]

YOo could get an electrician to rewire it so you can choose what to run when. DH did that when we hooked up ours. It took a lot of work and effort but he finally got it. We still won't run it non-stop. You run what you need when you need and only when you need. Go to bed early and get up late. With wise usage and lot of warm clothes and calisthenics (sp?) we can make it through an entire winter. Eventually, we will have back-up batteries that can extend the lights and other small items.

[farmerj]

I have used generators for extended periods in the army. They are expensive and high maintenance. During maintenance shut downs, we went so far as to have a back up generator to allow for continuous operations.

For the really LONG placements, we had a 3 generator system. Figure that one out cost wise.


Generators are a nice supplement, not a replacement for power. Maybe a short term 1-5 day operation.

[highlands]

I did a lot of research on generators for our farm. Haven't bought one yet but one of the things I learned is that they do have load shifting and balancing stuff that can be used to not overload the generator and to power critical loads vs shutting down non-critical loads during an outage. You could do this manually with a circuit breaker panel.

[HilltopDaisy]

Why don't you buy a little gas generator that you can plug the tv into? That way you can both be content.

[Bearfootfarm]

I'd cycle it.

Also, you should be able to shut things off at the circuit breakers to lighten the load

[tyusclan]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

I'd cycle it.

Also, you should be able to shut things off at the circuit breakers to lighten the load

That's what I was going to suggest. Turn things off at the breaker or at the device to lighten the load. Everything turned off lowers the fuel usage, to a point of course.

[jlrbhjmnc]

I'd cycle it, too - the minimum hours needed to keep things together. The other thing I'd do - and we have been making progress on this in the last two years - is reduce the electricity you use now. Find all those easy ways to cut back and see what percentage you can cut your kilowatt hours month to month and still be happy with your lifestyle. That way, when you do need to expend your propane, you'll use less however long the generator runs. Why pay to power something you aren't using and don't need (I'm thinking especially of electronics that use power even when off)?

[Gianni]

I would cycle every 3 hours. I might consider a second, smaller generator to run for the times that you might need to run a small load.

[PhilJohnson]

I'd have a battery bank myself and keep it charged with the grid. Then you could watch TV and have electric lights. When the power goes out use the generator to charge the bank and run the fridge, freezer, and what ever else that needs more juice than what the battery bank can provide. When the power goes out at my place I keep my internet and a light or two up using a couple of batteries and an inverter. I also have a cheap Chinese generator that is just enough to keep the fridge going. I also use it to charge the batteries back up too.

[foxtrapper]

You've got a good sized generator, and you spent a lot of money to make sure it never lets the electricity go out. Haven't you answered your own question by what you've already done?

[Our Little Farm]

I used to turn things off to lessen the load on ours. But at night time, it would have been nice to have the thing turned off totally, and also be able to put it on a timer during the day. I am sure this can be worked out.

[bruceki]

You can set up a system with an inverter and batteries, and run your house off of it. While there is grid power, the inverter can keep the batteries charged, and life is good. When the grid goes down, the inverter can either run the house on batteries, or start the generator, or both:

Most inverters can monitor the battery voltage, and switch the generator on when the batteries are at some preset charge limit -- like 80%. This means that when you're watching TV or whatever, you aren't drawing much current, and you're on battery. When you do something that requires more, the inverter looks at the load, battery charge and so on and makes the call for you.

After the load goes away, or the batteries are charged, the inverter switches the generator off, and life is good again.

I got introduced to inverters making power supplies for computer rooms, and used one in a converted highway bus that I drove to alaska a couple of times.

This companies product is what I used, but there are others. Basically you have 24 or 32 golf cart batteries, a 3000 to 7000 watt generator, and an inverter. Properly combined, that's all the juice you need, you'll use a minimum of fuel, and your house will operate as normal no matter what the grid is doing. You could also add solar to keep the batteries charged. The inverter will allow alternate power inputs and do the right thing with it.

---and best of all, if you do manage to generate more than you use, it'll sell the power back to the grid.

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com

[bruceki]

Oh yea; on generator sizes. Don't buy a diesel generator that you'll be running at 20% of the load. Diesels work best if they're running at 100%. I'd say don't buy a 10,000 watt generator if your average load is 5,000 watts. Buy a 5000 watt, or, maybe, a 5500 watt, and have something soak up any power that isn't going to a load. like a battery charger.

[davel745]

Originally Posted by bruceki

Oh yea; on generator sizes. Don't buy a diesel generator that you'll be running at 20% of the load. Diesels work best if they're running at 100%. I'd say don't buy a 10,000 watt generator if your average load is 5,000 watts. Buy a 5000 watt, or, maybe, a 5500 watt, and have something soak up any power that isn't going to a load. like a battery charger.

I don’t understand about diesels working best at less than 100% load. Diesels will run at any % of load and work well. They won’t carbon up like they used to. And they won’t load up the top ring like they used to do. If you size the generator to close and you need the AC later on because of a power failure in the summer time, you will be glad for the extra capacity. We used to run diesel engines all day at idle waiting to go to work as needed. I agree they may be more efficient at 100 % load but most engines are.