How do you prep for future power outages?

[robbyr]

Only once have I had to run a generator because of a power outage which was Hurricane Ike in '08. We were three days without electricity then. Generator ran the refrigerator, freezer, tv, lamp, and couple fans. Got lucky and was able to get enough gas to run it. How many generators do you keep? How many cans of gas? How long will the gas be good?

 

[/pine]

Preparing for a typical outage that may last an hour or most of a day is different than a natural disaster where it could be out for who knows how long...

I try to keep at least 5 gallons of generator fuel and add another 5 when there are storm warnings etc...

One thing I do keep handy anywhere someone may get caught in the dark if the power goes off are cyalume sticks...

 

[Doofy]

We head in to winter with everything that uses gasoline being full. Sleds, Wheeler, Generator and even the Lawnmowers. Additionally, 10 gallons of Ultra low sulfur diesel for the tractor and around 25 gallons of gas in 5 gallon cans. With what is on hand, we can survive for months.

Heating oil tanks and propane tanks are also full as are all 4 freezers. Winters are exceedingly long here and being prepared is a lifestyle.

 

[grsthegreat]

Whole house backup generator and 1000 gal propane tank filled before winter. Also 2 portable gas generators. Have a 55 gal diesel tank and 20 gal non ethanol gas.

 

[OzKioti]

Grid power to our area comes via overhead wires through timbered country, and we lose power maybe a dozen times a year - sometimes due to planned maintenance or connecting a new consumer to the grid, but other times due trees/branches falling across the lines (and not just in storms either -Eucalypts are notorious for dropping branches on still calm days!)

End result? A generator/s pretty much an essential bit of kit if you want to keep fridges/freezers running, let alone just having lights, water pumps, watching tv etc.

We used to have a petrol-hungry 7kva "dirty" gennie which ran the whole house, aircon and all, but replaced that with two Honda 2kva "clean" output units. Economical, easy to carry around, can be paralleled to give 4kva. Very useful if I just need 240v on the farm somewhere to run a power tool.

Honda/Yamaha etc are the big name ones here, but more generic ones (cheapy Chinese) can be had for about a third the price.

As for fuel, our "standard" petrol is 91 octane unleaded. A workshop mate highly recommends adding a fuel preserver as soon as you get a drum home, and then it should be good for MUCH longer than not adding it!

EDIT: Honda/Yamaha etc - refers to the portable enclosed-in-neat-plastic-housing low output inverter gennies; re petrol (gas) - ULP 91 is UnLeadedPetrol without ethanol. E10 (with 10% ethanol) sells for 2 cents/litre less than straight ULP 91.

 

[Doofy]

Gasoline and diesel keep really well in our cold temperatures. Any that is left come Spring gets used during the Summer.

Please store safely and responsibly. Ours is stored in a locked, unheated old barn that is well away from the house and garage.

 

[airbiscuit]

Have loud 6500W Coleman and a quiet 2200W Westinghouse inverter/generator. I use the quiet one. Our outages are usually only a few hours. Mainly for TV, Dish, Internet, AC. Refigerator and freezer stay cold inless I open the door. I usually keep 5 gallons of gas with Seafoam and stabilizer in it.

 

[Doofy]

My Go-To Generator is also a 2,000 watt Honda inverter/generator. Small, portable and quiet. It will run my Toyo Stove oil heaters with the sensitive electronic circuit boards. Best $1000 gen-set for my needs.

 

[drssg]

I also have a whole house generator that is powered by a 1000 gallon propane tank. When the power goes out, the generator is up and running within seconds.

 

[the old grind]

Last noteworthy power outage was a few years ago. Temps were in the teens and we were down for a few days. I'm lazy and didn't find a need for juice, dressed to be outside, read by candle light and listened to NPR on a battery-powered radio. (just another day with a good book wearing longies, a sweater, Winter coat, and stocking cap. It only lasted two days.

Nat gas was not affected so I turned two stove burners on to medium and lit a few candle stubs in a metal pan downstairs. Most of my food reserves are canned vs perishable, could be heated on the stove, andin retirement I don't need to shower for or after work.

I have a Generac ~7hp 3500w or so gen that powers more than I ever need. I loan it more than use it. What it doesn't do for sour hen crap is start a 1/2 hp sump pump. ("Master plumber pal & I did our best, failed")

Don't have or need that here, but I wouldn't try again with <7kw and preferably 'externally' regulated (Honda if few others) vs more economical 'externally' regulated that stalls more easily and IMO doesn't benefit from auto idle control in many instances. (reefer, AC, or well pump kicks on).

 

[Toyboy]

Automatic whole house generator here also except mine runs on natural gas.

 

[ponytug]

FWIW: We live in an area with fires, and earthquakes, so we have the potential to be without power for weeks in little to no notice. Belt and suspenders rule here. We have a primary backup diesel, with some just in case gasoline backup backup generators if the diesel fails (which it has done)

• 6500W diesel, 120/240 with 15-20 gallons of readily accessible fuel, plus 75 gal more if we need it.
• 4kw gasoline, 120/240
• 5kw gasoline 120 backup, with 40gal fuel.

All fuels get preservative as soon as they get on site. The diesel fuel gets cetane booster/lubricity additive, gasoline (89 (R+M) mid grade) gets Stabil, or its equivalent. They are all stored in metal, sealed, cans which helps keep it fresh. I run the gasoline generators dry when I'm done with them. All the gasoline is 10% ethanol, but I haven't had any issues.

Prime backup will soon be solar with batteries. Dealing with generators to keep the internet up for "work from home" aka "living at work" got old, and we need to keep the water running for the livestock. The local utility has become rather unreliable, as I close to 14 days of outages last year, with no major weather / fire /earthquake causes. Everywhere else that I have lived the utility got more reliable with time, but not here.

YMMV...

All the best,

Peter

 

[airbiscuit]

just another day with a good book wearing longies, a sweater, Winter coat, and stocking cap.

I read your post too quickly. i thought you said "Just another day with a good look wearing longies, a sweater, Winter coat, and stocking cap."

 

[Sigarms]

Flashlights, lots of water, and good coolers for anything in the freezer that could spoil has worked well the past 15 years

 

[Doofy]

LED Lanterns with today's long-life batteries are great additions to your survival kit.

 

[the old grind]

I read your post too quickly. i thought you said "Just another day with a good look wearing longies, a sweater, Winter coat, and stocking cap."

You flatter me, Good Sir! btw, I look my best under several blankets.

 

[deserteagle71]

For the short outages, especially during the winter, a little Honda 2kw to at least power the pellet stove (biggest reason I miss my wood stove). When it sounds like the outage will last a while, I hook on to my trailer with the big Miller welder/generator on it and bring it over to my power panel. When I built this place the power panel was designed so that welder/generator couid plug in to it and take over supplying power to the whole place...as long as I didn't run out of gasoline.

 

[ronjhall]

I have a 12KW whole house generator on natural gas.. Got to use it for 16 hours last month. Also have wood stove that I have gas logs in it for heat. Take about 10 minutes to convert it back to wood. Always have about 30 days of food in house. May not be fresh but it will keep me nourished.

 

[groundcover]

Of the mind set that one is none and two is one. Three wood stoves, added an 80 gallon pressure tank to the water system, then there's the generators. 8K welder/generator, 6K diesel, 6.5 Honda inverter and a couple of Honda 2K's.
Three big guys plumbed into manual hole house transfer switch (one at a time), redundancy is a good thing !
They plug in in detached garage, welder has pipe through metal plate so it can stay inside,( heats garage nicely during a storm !) Don't hear them from the house , really don't knot the power is off .
LP range and tankless hot water heater. Gas jobs stored with VP fuels SEF 94, keep 20 gallons of non ethanol and couple hundred diesel usually available.
Usually good for a doozy ice storm every ten years, outage for a week or two and the the more common trees /wires outages from wind and or snow good for a few hours.
Have seen some very High end homes that thought they were all set fall back to third world conditions when their fancy whole house systems failed ! Had a voltage regulator fail on a high end Generac LP liquid cooled 1800 rpm during an ice storm. Elderly couple with a dog that were not leaving ! After a day of cutting our way up their mountain drive I hooked my diesel rig into their transfer switch and at least got their heat , water and a few lights going. Finally found a dealer a couple of hours away that knew what I needed and left the part hanging at his back door for me. Got it back together and local guy got me dialed in, next morning one of his technicians came to check if for me , his first words were " YOU GOT PARTS FOR A GENERAC, ON A SUNDAY, DURING AN ICE STORM ??? !!!
Couple of others that mice decided to rewire and went unnoticed, then those that ran out of either LP or oil, who knew you should check those kinds of things every week or two that they run flat out !
Then the look of shock the owners of the whole house rigs got after a week or two of non stop use when the gas bill arrived ! Of course they had a party with less fortunate neighbors stay for the duration, not much conserving !