generators

[Fat Freddy]

The Guardian with propane as a fuel supply is a good setup.

Last winter when the big storms hit Western Washington, power was out for almost two weeks. It was a problem getting gasoline or diesel to run the generators because the gas stations had no power to pump it.

[bfreder576748]

Originally Posted by faithfulFrank

I'm a professional firefighter.
When things get bad up here outside of Buffalo, I'm called in, and my house and family must fend for themselves.

I installed an Guardian whole house automatic generator. It runs on a 500 gallon propane tank. When the power goes off, it turns on by itself, even if no one is home. It has an automatic transfer switch. It is safe.

No dangerous stockpiles of gas. No wife trying to get it hooked up and running. No chance of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Frank D.

Hi Frank,
I was thinking of installing a whole house gen. may I ask how much it cost to buy and install, also, how long will a 500 gal. tank last? I know it depends on the load you use but lets say to run the fridge, hot H2O heater, lights and maybe a window ac unit. I live in Stuart Fl and we were hit with 3 hurricains directly and I was miserable in the Fl heat, we were without power 4-5 weeks, I thought I would die!!!! Only positive thing was we could flush the toilets because the city water stayed on. Any info would help, I asked questions at Home Depot and nobody can give a str8 answer about anything. Thanks, Bill

[faithfulFrank]

dear Bill,
Sorry I took this long to reply......just noticed it.
If I remember correctly, it cost me about $3,000 for the unit......they may have gone up some since.

you can buy a guardian unit online at some good prices. it depends on how big a unit you want.....10khw or 13 kwh , 15kwh, etc,etc. I'd have to go to their website to see the latest models.

I can tell you that it was easy to install myself. The instructions were very good, and if you are comfortable working with electrical, gas lines, etc, it was simple.

As to how long a 500 gallon tank would last, I'm not sure, but if I remember correctly, it was well over a week......depends on what other things are using the propane at the same time. If my boiler was also heating the house, it would not last as long. I do not believe the generator engine uses that much propane. Your propane company should be able to tell you that info. If not, Guardian or a authorized installer may know.

We lost power for about 5 hours Tuesday night.....it is kinda cool to be the only house in the neighborhood with lights on.

Frank D.

[GregW]

Just for grins Google Lister CS Diesel. These are very old tech hand started diesel engines that are as reliable as it is possible for a machine to be. If I lived in a place where long (24 hr+) electrical outages were likely (hurricanes, floods, major earthquakes, very severe storms etc) I would have one of these in an instant. If I ever build or buy a place off the grid I would heat and power the house with a Lister type engine. BTW – these engines run better on straight veggie oil than on #2 diesel.