PDA

View Full Version : On the wonders of generators



Mike Archambeau
09-04-2011, 5:54 PM
Well Mean Irene knocked out our electricity in CT for 7 days. So we fired up the generator to keep the food safe in the refrigerators, make hot water for showers and dishes, and pump water from the well. Life is good when you have the backup generator keeping you going.

I bought a Cummins Onan 6000 watt portable standby generator about 10 years ago. It has a manual transfer switch and we run it on gasoline (could also run it on LPG). It performed flawlessly. Starts right up and purrs like a kitten (or a lioness).

Our power grid is a little fragile in CT where I live due to the fact that the wires run through heavily forrested areas where the trees overhang the power lines.

We were fortunate that we had the generator and I would not want to be without it. Even though the number of times you need it are few, it makes a HUGE difference in the quality of life when you do need it.

GET A GENERATOR AND BE READY!

Charlie Reals
09-04-2011, 6:34 PM
Amen to that Mike. I am in the process of installing a whole house generator now.

Scott T Smith
09-04-2011, 10:52 PM
Double AMEN Mike! I'm embarrassed to admit how many generators that we have here on the farm; they sure have made life much easier when a hurricane or ice storm knocks out the power for several days.

Stephen Tashiro
09-05-2011, 1:50 AM
I was in a small hardware store recently and there was a guy chatting with one of the salesmen. Apparently this guy installed generators. He was talking about installing them for people who lived in the countryside and how some the people were surprised about how much gas their generators used and didn't like the trips they had to make to filling stations. He said something to the effect that a "three pull" generator uses more gas than a "four pull".

I'm curious what he meant. Is this slang for three phase and four phase? Is one more efficient than the other?

Mike Archambeau
09-05-2011, 9:12 AM
The local TV news station did a story of a CT dairy farm, and how they were affected by Irene. They had a BIG backup generator to make sure they did not lose their milk, and so they could keep on milking those girls. They explained that they were using 120 gallons of diesel fuel each day to keep their operation going. At 4 bucks a gallon that is about 500 bucks each day in fuel.
They even made special arrangements to clear the roads leading into their farm so that the milk truck could reach them. During the whole ordeal, they just kept on working, and that it the real story. No downtime and no losses, they just kept on going strong. And we sure appreciate the milk and ice cream that resulted from their efforts!

If I had a farm you can bet I would want to do the same.

Mike Archambeau
09-05-2011, 9:36 AM
The terminology is poles. There is alot that goes into designing those small(or large) generators, but the number revolutions per minute and the diameter of the armature will dictate whether it is 3 poles or four poles etc.. Remember the electrical power delivered to your home came from a generator, and it could have come from a coal fired plant, gas fired plant, nuclear powered plant, hydro electric dam etc. But they all use generators and the number of poles on that generator is dictated by the size of the generator and the speed it is rotating.

A small generator like my 6000 watt generator will use 0.8 gallons of gasoline per hour at full load. If there is not much load called for, it will idle down and use 0.5 gallons per hour. With a manual transfer switch, you can run it for the length of time you need it, then turn it off. I was running mine about 6 hours a day, mostly to keep the temperatures in the refrigerators in the 36-40 degree range. In 7 days I used about 30 gallons of gasoline. So it does take some planning to have the fuel on hand, and/or get out to bring some home. It is for this reason that many folks choose to run on natural gas or LPG, because they usually have the fuel on hand and do not need to haul it home in a gas can (and it does not go bad like gasoline can). These days when weather forecasts indicate that threatening conditions are coming, I gather up those empty fuel cans and head out to fill them up. If we get lucky and the storm delivers no damage, the fuel can be used in the family car.

I once endured a 7 day outage due to an ice storm. That time the fuel stations had no power to run their pumps, so buying gas was difficult. But that car parked in the garage has gasoine in the tank. And it can power the generator just as easliy as it can the car. So if you fill-er-up on the way home before the storm hits, you have a nice backup fuel supply.

One more thought. Those 30 gallons of fuel I used over the 7 day period cost about 120 dollars. Not cheap but what is the food in the refrigetaor worth? Or those meals at the restuarant for 7 days because you can't keep food at home? Or the nights you spent in a hotel room? If I am starting to sound like a spokesperson for generators it is because I am sure that having one on hand and being ready when trouble strikes is the right choice for me and my family in our current situation.

Jerome Stanek
09-05-2011, 10:18 AM
If it was an ice strom then you could have used the cold air to keep your food cold.

Mike Archambeau
09-05-2011, 6:45 PM
If it was an ice strom then you could have used the cold air to keep your food cold.

Yes the cold weather was helpful with keeping food safe during that storm. And the wood stove kept the house warm. At that time I did not own the generator. But I had city water and it was still available. And we had natural gas in that house so we could make hot water for bathing and dish washing.

Now we live in a house where natural gas is not available and our water comes from a well 300 feet deep. So the generator is much more critical now.

Bill Leonard
09-06-2011, 7:55 AM
We installed a whole house generator a couple of years ago when we built or new home. Two power panels where installed with essentials on one and non-essentials on the other. It's a 10kw propane and well worth the money. I believe the total cost was less than 10k. Two days after moving in we had a storm and the area was without power for 27 hours. That is everyone but us. It seems like whenever a cloud comes over the county, the power goes out. But again, not on our 5 acres. Love it, recommend it, can't imagine living without it.