# Portable Generator



## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Hey all, Hope everyone is having a great Friday!! I live on the jersey shore and as you know Hurricane sandy destroyed here. I wanted to get a generator but didn't want to go all crazy with funds. I have a HD credit card so willing to buy from there...any suggestions??


thank you

-Mike


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Look at the appliances you need to run and write down the wattage consumed by each. Decide how much run time you need for each. Most people I know think they need a whole house genset (12,000 watts) when they can live 3000 or 4000 watts. Mine was 3000 and did everything I needed including running a window A/C so i could sleep. Remember you need fuel and if your town has massive power outage, you may need to travel a long distance to buy fuel. I went with 2 55 gallon drums and added Sta-Bil.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

ok i was thinking of getting this: Generac 3,250-Watt Gasoline Powered Portable Generator-5982 at The Home Depot

With gasoline, belive me I know. When Hurricane sandy hit us.. power was out 2 weeks... I live on shore too ... the lines were 1 mile long for gas or they were all out.



paraquack said:


> Look at the appliances you need to run and write down the wattage consumed by each. Decide how much run time you need for each. Most people I know think they need a whole house genset (12,000 watts) when they can live 3000 or 4000 watts. Mine was 3000 and did everything I needed including running a window A/C so i could sleep. Remember you need fuel and if your town has massive power outage, you may need to travel a long distance to buy fuel. I went with 2 55 gallon drums and added Sta-Bil.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I never recommend going into debt to prep, but if you think your need is imminent, that's your call.
$500 can be saved up in a month of two by cutting just a few things.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

only debt I have is my house and few credit cards...but nothing major...but when we get bad snow storms or hurricanes power goes out. I have a 5 yr old wife and a baby on the way... need to make sure they stay warm and we have power



Kauboy said:


> I never recommend going into debt to prep, but if you think your need is imminent, that's your call.
> $500 can be saved up in a month of two by cutting just a few things.


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## JAGER (Oct 10, 2012)

Concur, use your card and get it. That season is upon us so we need to make sure our weeones have what they need to be secure and warm. I have a diesel 5kw and it's perfect. Even has a adapter to run off bottled gas.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

How does this one look?

Generac 3,250-Watt Gasoline Powered Portable Generator-5982 at The Home Depot



JAGER said:


> Concur, use your card and get it. That season is upon us so we need to make sure our weeones have what they need to be secure and warm. I have a diesel 5kw and it's perfect. Even has a adapter to run off bottled gas.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

We have Generators and stored fuel that gets rotated. However we are learning not to depend on electric power. Short term Generators are great. but as time goes on you will not have fuel for them. Best to understand they are mostly short term tools.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Yes, when we were out of power 2 weeks, we had no genertator...



Smitty901 said:


> We have Generators and stored fuel that gets rotated. However we are learning not to depend on electric power. Short term Generators are great. but as time goes on you will not have fuel for them. Best to understand they are mostly short term tools.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

MikeyPrepper said:


> I have a 5 yr old wife and a baby on the way...


I can't stress enough the necessity of proper punctuation.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

sorry! 



Kauboy said:


> I can't stress enough the necessity of proper punctuation.


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## mwhartman (Jun 26, 2012)

Last December, we moved to South Florida (Palm Beach County). A TOP priority was a generator. We purchased a Honda 10,000 watts. It required installing a transfer box but it will power the entire house include the AC!!!!!


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

wow that's awesome... how much?



mwhartman said:


> Last December, we moved to South Florida (Palm Beach County). A TOP priority was a generator. We purchased a Honda 10,000 watts. It required installing a transfer box but it will power the entire house include the AC!!!!!


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Living in Wisconsin winters can have rough spells. Power may go out short term. One year it went out 3 days. Living out side of town we are not a priority. By using a couple smaller generators we can rotate what they power as needed and conserve fuel . If we even think power may go out a fire is started. Generators are started to make sure there are no surprises, then shut down until needed. We would be fine for a few weeks with ease. By long term I am referring to real SHTF stuff.
LP generators work well and they sell a lot here. But at 20 below LP can have issues some times and LP can not be carried in a gas can. Most homes here now heat with LP no problem to hook a generator to the tank if need be. Most of us have 500 gallon tanks
Gas easy to come by start ok in cold engines last . hard to store a lot of fuel
Diesel are considered the best , they cost more, can be harder to start in real cold. The engines last the longest. Fuel just depends on where you are. Farms have diesel around but most people do not have a way to store a lot of it.
Large storage of Gas or Diesel can attract thieves no one steals LP yet.
Generic makes a lot of very good full home systems that are affordable They are well know and respected here.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

mwhartman said:


> Last December, we moved to South Florida (Palm Beach County). A TOP priority was a generator. We purchased a Honda 10,000 watts. It required installing a transfer box but it will power the entire house include the AC!!!!!


What kind of fuel?


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

MikeyPrepper said:


> I have a 5 yr old wife and a baby on the way... need to make sure they stay warm and we have power


What kind of heat are you planning to use to stay warm? A 3000w generator is not big enough for most home electric heating systems. Our home has a heat pump and it would take a 20kw generator to power it. So I installed a 30,000 watt propane heater. Due to our mild winters it will heat my whole house and it doesn't require electricity to operate. I have a 3000 watt generator I use for power outages. It will keep the refrigerator and a few lights on. It will also run a portable room air conditioner for the summer months. Unless you are planning to install transfer switch I would think 3000w generator will do the job.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

We used a Honda 5kw generator in Africa for a couple of weeks, shutting it down only to refuel and check the oil. No problems, plus it's pretty quiet, something that might be important if the power is out for a while. You might not want the whole neighborhood to know that you are the only with power.


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## mwhartman (Jun 26, 2012)

MikeyPrepper said:


> wow that's awesome... how much?


Initially, we purchased the EM5000is but when the electrician tested with the transfer box there was not sufficient power to run the AC The owner that sold us the generator exchanged for the EB1000. Since he had one in stock he sold it for $5000.



paraquack said:


> What kind of fuel?


Unleaded fuel!

The EM5000is was really quiet and used a lot less fuel. Since the president of our company prefers cool to hot the EB10000 was an easy decision:smile:


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

We also have a portable generator a 8kw, generally we run it a couple hours to cool the fridge, and freezer back down, then shut it off for a couple hours. It runs on gasoline, but I've been thinking of getting a kit so it can run off natural gas or gasoline, hadn't got around to it yet.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

You might have to keep it a ways from your house due to exhaust/carbon monoxide. I bring this up because it would be the perfect time for a thief to start looting your stuff.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

For my primary home (bug out is one in the same) I got a 5500 watt that uses propane or diesel, and we can make a decent sum of diesel on site but solar has keep us going. I had to run the generator in Aug just to run it and keep it clean and working. I will again at the end of the mo.

COLEMMAN 1850 POWERMATE

I did get one of these last weekend for $40 at a garage sale though....little sucker runs great too!


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Ok, got a question about natural gas fired gensets. Actually the natural gas. Since the gas is "pumped" thru the pipes to get it everywhere, if we have a major SHTF event, say a massive grid failure, how long before the natural gas pipe pressure goes to zero and shuts down the gensets, furnaces, etc.?


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

paraquack said:


> Ok, got a question about natural gas fired gensets. Actually the natural gas. Since the gas is "pumped" thru the pipes to get it everywhere, if we have a major SHTF event, say a massive grid failure, how long before the natural gas pipe pressure goes to zero and shuts down the gensets, furnaces, etc.?


 Often pretty quick gas gets shut off to prevent explosions. However a quick part swap changes a you from Natural gas Pipe line to LP tank in minutes.
Out here we are all on LP. most have 500 gallon tanks.


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## mwhartman (Jun 26, 2012)

I agree with Smitty! I wanted to install a generator that ran on natural gas or propane. My HOA, however, would not permit. In South FLorida, there is not much space between houses. I imagine their concern is a exploding large LP tank would impact several others thus the restriction.


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## thepeartree (Aug 25, 2014)

We got a 6.5 kw portable gen that runs gasoline. That means it will run on any alcohol from 190 proof and up. I would rather have diesel or natural gas, but there weren't any available, locally. And then, wouldn't ya know it, we haven't had a power outage since. Oh, well, it's good insurance... and prep. If I had unlimited money, it would be a 20kw full standby unit that would run natural gas OR diesel. We have access to a natural gas well, so nobody is shutting off anything, as far as we're concerned.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Keep in mind a whole house generator may be great for a short term power outage , hours but they burn more fuel. Smaller flexible ones can be shut down when not needed ,you can use it to power only what you need. refrigerator ,freeze ect only need to be plugged in once every 4 hours or so. Trying to run your entire home may not be practical if the outage turns in to days,weeks ect. 
Pipe line Natural gas will be shut down in many case so don't count on it. Most engines,stoves and heaters that run Natural gas only need a orifice swapped out to covert to LP.
some thing to keep in mind if you have gas in your home.


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