Generators anyone? (Anchorage: appliances, house, water heater)

[Crossfire600]

Thanks to those of you who helped with the wood burner thread. Now I am into looking at generators for the house. First off, I know nothing about them since we never really had a need for one where we came from. So, I was out wondering around craigslist and some stores looking at different models and listening clerks trying to sell me ones that will power Camp David. Can someone who actually uses or used these things in the event of a power outage give me an idea of what size I would need to run a minimal set of household "stuff" in the event we lost power for a while? We will have heat from the wood burner so other than a gas water heater and some small stuff I don't see us needed to look like a home from National Lampoons-Christmas Vacation.

[The Grill God]

Get one of those excercise bikes that generate electricity. If the power goes out you can pedal to keep warm and make blended margaritas at the same time....

[warptman]

Guide to Installing a Standby Ba

Make sure you install a switch so you won't feed the powerline back with your generator. Go down to Anchorage and visit AIH on Commercial Drive, they should be able to answer all your questions.

[The Grill God]

Generators | Northern Tool + Equipment

If you don't like my idea fine....here's another one...

[JessE86]

As an Electrician.. I can safely tell you, that for 3k you can power an entire house 100 amp service via propane, natural gas, or diesel (generators)

Now for what you want, a honda generator for about 1k or so will keep the essential items running with no need for an expensive automatic transfer switch.
that's me 2 cents worth !! (for now) !!

[rambrush]

I would also suggest the honda 2000 watt generators I have 2 of em and I can tie them together if more power is required. I also have a setup where they will draw from a larger fuel resevoir so they can run for a very long time without running low on fuel.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by JessE86

As an Electrician.. I can safely tell you, that for 3k you can power an entire house 100 amp service via propane, natural gas, or diesel (generators)

Now for what you want, a honda generator for about 1k or so will keep the essential items running with no need for an expensive automatic transfer switch.
that's me 2 cents worth !! (for now) !!

Agree with you, but I would go to at least 2K to run a few things at a time by plugging and unplugging components to avoid overloading the generator. For example, my well pump runs on 115AC, and so the boiler. However, both of them starting at the same time put quite a "motor starting load" on the generator, so I run one of them at a time. That starting load is what one has to worry about, and applies to any circuit where there is a motor: washer, dryer, boiler, well pump, etc.

I also agree with you about Honda generators. These are quite nice, and provide a smooth inverter sine wave. I have the 2K one, but have been looking at the 3,5K.
Honda has some good information in their web site:
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...g_howmuchpower
Same page, on starting and running power:
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/p...power#Starting

Just add the total power used by the equipment you plan to plug into the generator, then select a generator that running steadily for long periods of time can handle the load. lets say that you figure the total wattage to be 1,200. In this case, buy a 2,000-watt generator, or at least one of 10-25% power in addition to the total power your appliances will use. I always select a generator that is capable of producing steady power runs that exceed the total power of the equipment I plug-in, by 25%. That way I don't have to worry about it.

[starlite9]

Well whatever size you get, don't go smaller than 5 KW. Your water heater alone if it is electric will draw most of that alone, not counting your well pump if you have one. What you need to do is figure out what appliances you have and what the total power load with what you want to run total. Then you need to have a load switch that turns the generator on and the city power off at the same time so you aren't putting power back into the grid where workmen could get electricuted from your generator running.

Then look at what kind of fuel do you use to heat the house, gasoline generators are the cheapest, but use a lot of fuel, propane/NG use may be out with the power unless you have a tank. If you use heating fuel, then get a diesel generator and plum it into your fuel tank.

Or you could put on a battery bank with an inverter and load switch to automatically switch and then switch back when the power comes back on and charges the batteries back up, but that is for the short outages. You could do solar and wind generators for longer outages and won't have to haul around a gas can looking for gas like everyone else will be doing.

[JavaPhil]

All motors have an inrush current that can run as high as 20 times the normal operating current. Meaning, if it's a 5A motor, the inrush current can be as high as a hundred amps. Most motors have about a 10x inrush. Slow-blow fuses or breakers with an adjustable instantaneous trip prevent these from tripping the breaker or blowing the fuse.

As far as ATS's are concerned, I think they are not necessary, but definitely a plus. Problem is that backfeed into the utility can cause major pole problems and possibly a bad fire in the service box if the right sequence of operations isn't followed. JMO of course. The problem is that running an independent source means that the phase might be out of sync with the utility. A 20 degree shift in phase can cause big problems with equipment, and 40 degrees and above, the voltage difference can melt the bussing or the wires. An ATS detects the utility voltage and breaks off from the home genset and then reconnects to the utility. If the utility fails, the ATS will autostart the genset and switch to it after it gets back up to speed.

[Crossfire600]

Originally Posted by JavaPhil

All motors have an inrush current that can run as high as 20 times the normal operating current. Meaning, if it's a 5A motor, the inrush current can be as high as a hundred amps. Most motors have about a 10x inrush. Slow-blow fuses or breakers with an adjustable instantaneous trip prevent these from tripping the breaker or blowing the fuse.

As far as ATS's are concerned, I think they are not necessary, but definitely a plus. Problem is that backfeed into the utility can cause major pole problems and possibly a bad fire in the service box if the right sequence of operations isn't followed. JMO of course. The problem is that running an independent source means that the phase might be out of sync with the utility. A 20 degree shift in phase can cause big problems with equipment, and 40 degrees and above, the voltage difference can melt the bussing or the wires. An ATS detects the utility voltage and breaks off from the home genset and then reconnects to the utility. If the utility fails, the ATS will autostart the genset and switch to it after it gets back up to speed.

ahhh... well Mal, I aaaaa well appreciate ummm...

WHAT?