Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 After windstorms, lines down, contractors ripping up cables and just general failures in this part of my city, I broke down and contracted for a NG generator. Hopefully, it'll be installed before the snow flies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 minute ago, Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 said: After windstorms, lines down, contractors ripping up cables and just general failures in this part of my city, I broke down and contracted for a NG generator. Hopefully, it'll be installed before the snow flies. I live out in the country but luckily have ng , best thing I ever did . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 I'm looking into it as of the last couple days. Trying to get the best deal at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 The news reported this AM the US is expecting natural gas shortages this winter. We live in the 3rd world section of Sacramento, with regard to grid stability. I'd like to have an NG generator, but the $20k price tag is way beyond anything I want to pay. When push comes to shove, it is much easier to hook a sine wave inverter to my truck and run a cable into the house for the fridge, etc. It is easier to take the truck out to refill the fuel tank, than fiddling with rotating gasoline, etc in a generator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Whole house generators are worth it if you can afford one. Power goes down and a few seconds later, you are back in business. I have a Honda and a dual fuel as well, one from the last place we lived, and the dual fuel as backup to the main. Simply comfort and control. Even the little Honda can get you through, though you have to alternate what you are running with it. The power co-op here is wonderful, I think the longest power has been down is 4 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 2 hours ago, Rip Snorter said: Whole house generators are worth it if you can afford one. Power goes down and a few seconds later, you are back in business. I have a Honda and a dual fuel as well, one from the last place we lived, and the dual fuel as backup to the main. Simply comfort and control. Even the little Honda can get you through, though you have to alternate what you are running with it. The power co-op here is wonderful, I think the longest power has been down is 4 hours. It’s sweet, sometimes when the power goes out I hardly notice. I still have my old reliable gas generator and transfer switch if this one ever has problems. The one I put in starts up once a week charges it’s battery . Does it’s own diagnostic. I ran it off of propane when I first got it “before we had ng” . All that’s needed to switch it back and forth is pulling a jumper to run ng .So as long as I have access to ng, propane or gas I’ve got juice. I have a buddy that works for Consumers power and apparently they have allot of excess ng stored in caves in the UP. The price may go up like everything else but at least according to him we would have to have a pretty major disruption to run out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 41 minutes ago, bgavin said: The news reported this AM the US is expecting natural gas shortages this winter. We live in the 3rd world section of Sacramento, with regard to grid stability. I'd like to have an NG generator, but the $20k price tag is way beyond anything I want to pay. When push comes to shove, it is much easier to hook a sine wave inverter to my truck and run a cable into the house for the fridge, etc. It is easier to take the truck out to refill the fuel tank, than fiddling with rotating gasoline, etc in a generator. Wow!! I’ve been getting estimates for around 5-8 K depending on how much power you want. 20 k is unbelievable but you’re in California where everything is more expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Indeed. I might consider at $5k, but just laugh and walk away at $20k. Here, they charge additional for the install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 hour ago, bgavin said: Indeed. I might consider at $5k, but just laugh and walk away at $20k. Here, they charge additional for the install. Have you contacted Generac direct? They may have some dedicated installers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 The $20k price convinced me beyond all doubt that I don't need a Generac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Daily Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 56 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said: Have you contacted Generac direct? They may have some dedicated installers. I would expect that even if you already had the 20kW gas fueled genset it would cost a lot more than $5k to install it in Sacramento area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 8 minutes ago, J.D. Daily said: I would expect that even if you already had the 20kW gas fueled genset it would cost a lot more than $5k to install it in Sacramento area. It always amazed me how much everything cost when I lived in CA , and although wages were more, they weren’t that much more. But wine was always cheap, I can remember walking into Safeway and they always had boxes and boxes of cheap wine. Maybe that’s why Fred G Sanford always loved his champiple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 51 minutes ago, bgavin said: The $20k price convinced me beyond all doubt that I don't need a Generac. They have one for $2000.00 then figure around that for installation. I’m going with one that just gives me basics like furnace/AC, refrigerator and maybe a couple lights. When the power goes out here it’s usually only a few hours maybe a day but in the winter that can feel like a month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 I was caught without in Y2K, very unpleasant, a lot of food and some other things lost. Bought one as soon as I could. I would recommend that a generator be standard emergency gear. Even a small one can make a huge difference in a lengthy outage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 My neighbor has a portable generator. Honda. He had an electrician install a outside box to plug into, it will keep the basics on. Furnace/AC refrigerator and a couple lights. He got it for Y2K. He’s only used it twice since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 20, 2022 Author Share Posted September 20, 2022 6 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: I'm looking into it as of the last couple days. Trying to get the best deal at this point. 6 hours ago, bgavin said: The news reported this AM the US is expecting natural gas shortages this winter. We live in the 3rd world section of Sacramento, with regard to grid stability. I'd like to have an NG generator, but the $20k price tag is way beyond anything I want to pay. When push comes to shove, it is much easier to hook a sine wave inverter to my truck and run a cable into the house for the fridge, etc. It is easier to take the truck out to refill the fuel tank, than fiddling with rotating gasoline, etc in a generator. COSTCO in Canada has Generac 24kW NG generators selling for $7989.99 Canadian dollars right now with 10 to 15 days delivery. I have a 18kW unit coming they tell me will run my whole house ~ 3050 sq ft.two story. 6300.00 for the genny. Sound absorption pad, transfer switch, battery heater and oil and heater (Cold Canada), wiring and gas plumbing with taxes run it up to $15500.00 Canadian dollars that are running at around .75 cents US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bear Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 Two years ago on New Year's Eve we got hit with a bushfire, 110 homes were lost in the district and power (and mobile phones) were out for 12 days until the army brought in massive gennys that were used for around a month until power was restored. We are now better prepared with our own genny setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 I have a big upright freezer, the regular fridge freezer and another fridge freezer in the garage. At any given time I usually have 1/2 a cow and a couple deer in them. With the price of meat these days it gives some piece of mind to have a generator of some sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 I've had no issue running my whole house on a 5K. Water pump, heating system, large freezer and fridge. Turn on whatever lights are needed and use the computer and television. If I went an automatic type standby, I would go 8K just in case I wanted to work in the shop. JMHO, but I think too large a unit is often recommended. I once had a used 15K that was backup for a grocery store. I don't have electric heat or a large ac either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 California regulators voted a few months ago to ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers, chain saws, and other motor driven tools starting in 2024. "Portable" generators by 2028. Supposedly, propane and diesel fueled generators will still be allowed. The state severely frowns on natural gas, however, and many new municipalities have already banned this fuel for new homes. If you live in the golden tarnished, peeling, brass-plated Newsomian Empire, and if you want a gasoline-fueled machine, be sure to get it before the ban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 We also have a very good electric co-op here. I can only recall a power outage lasting more than 3-4 hours once or twice through the las 15 winters. One good thing is the lack of trees overhanging power lines here. Power outages when I lived in Florida were common. And we even won’t talk about hurricanes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 2 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: My neighbor has a portable generator. Honda. He had an electrician install a outside box to plug into, it will keep the basics on. Furnace/AC refrigerator and a couple lights. He got it for Y2K. He’s only used it twice since then. He should rotate his gasoline regularly, or it will fail when he needs it the most. My Dad used to hoard gasoline during the bomb scares of the 50s... it was unusable after awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rip Snorter Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 You can gradually feed old gas into a mostly full vehicle tank without negative effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 And the gas they have today has a pretty bad shelf life. Since I went to running off road gas in my off road stuff the majority of my gasoline related problems have disappeared. I used up some two year old two stroke gas a couple months ago and it ran great . I have been told that many 2 stroke mixes do help to stabilize gas though. SeaFoam and Stabil also seem to help but I guess that can be argued as readily as 9mm vs 45acp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bob Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 This will help anyone find ethanol free gas. Your 2 stroke motors,ATV’s, etc… will thank you https://www.pure-gas.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 21, 2022 Author Share Posted September 21, 2022 I always add a gas stabilizer to my off-season equipment, i.e. HERBIE, motorhome, lawn mower, weed wacker, snow-blower. It's saved me a lot of grief when it comes time to start them after their off season lay-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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