Longest power outage?

[Beltman60]

only had to use my 10000 watt 1 time in 4 years for about 4 hrs but had most the whole house running
If I never have to use it it's the best insurance policy I have :thumbsup:

 

[Turbys_1700]

I can remember Hugo back 25 years ago...
We were out of power 7 days...
Had a bad ice storm in Feb several years later and was out 4 days...
Since then we have been out intermittently a couple days or so...
I live at the end of our service sub station so if the area gets hit hard I am usually later getting back on line than most...
For backup I have a 10K generator and gas logs...

 

[300UGUY]

Wow that is a lot of propane. Do propane generators burn a lot more fuel than gas?

It is a 15kw generator, it burns about 1.7? Gallons per hour running. Doesn't seem to matter about load. In our case, it was winter, nothing to do without power. I sat played on TBN while my wife was at work. I shut it off about 10 pm every night, but the house was getting cold by 6 am. I tried to leave for 4 or 5 hours some days, but that wasn't a option some days. The furnace was running also, the temps were down to -15F. Thinking about it, I need to ad a few days of outage in November to the propane use. I am glad I have the unit, but I hope to never go thru this crap again. After the winter we had, 2 of my neighbors sold their homes and moved into town. 6 days in November and 7 days in December without power was too much for them. I am thinking of getting a 10 kW generator as a back up to the backup. If you wait to the power to go out, you usually can't buy one.

 

[300UGUY]

35 000 layers in 3 different barns
20 000 replacement birds in the fourth & the house

Are you doing organic or free range? Some laying operations in the states have millions of birds.

 

[Hill Farmer]

16 days, Arkansas ice storm January 2009. I worked so many hours I hardly noticed the first week. If I was at home I was asleep. It did get old that second week though.

 

[dragoneggs]

It is a 15kw generator, it burns about 1.7? Gallons per hour running. Doesn't seem to matter about load. In our case, it was winter, nothing to do without power. I sat played on TBN while my wife was at work. I shut it off about 10 pm every night, but the house was getting cold by 6 am. I tried to leave for 4 or 5 hours some days, but that wasn't a option some days. The furnace was running also, the temps were down to -15F. Thinking about it, I need to ad a few days of outage in November to the propane use. I am glad I have the unit, but I hope to never go thru this crap again. After the winter we had, 2 of my neighbors sold their homes and moved into town. 6 days in November and 7 days in December without power was too much for them. I am thinking of getting a 10 kW generator as a back up to the backup. If you wait to the power to go out, you usually can't buy one.

True enough... I bought my Honda 3K inverter generator at the beginning of a bad storm and outage some years back. It already had a sold sign on it holding it for 24hrs. I went back a few minutes before the 24hrs were up to see if it was picked up... my luck it wasn't and bought it immediately. Every Honda generator shop in the whole area was already sold out for weeks at that time. I was lucky. I could have made at least $500 bucks selling it before I left the store but I turned the offer down.

Unlike most people who buy a generator for back up power, I have lost power enough times and it is a dream to have. I start it up a couple times a year at least. Spring and fall and let it run for a bit. The only issue I have is the key ignition doesn't work... I am sure it is just the built in battery that is dead but it starts on a couple pulls anyway. Love that thing.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I have been on so many hurricanes & a few ice storms for months at a time that it is a sore subject with my wife, she says everytime she hears that Johnny Cash song I've been everywhere she marks off all the places that I've been, but I'm in the down hill stretch of my career, so it's fixing to be up to a much younger generation of lineman to get the power back on.

 

[QueBota]

12 days after Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Bought a generator shortly thereafter. Good purchase, we loose power for a day or more at least several times a year with many other less than a day outages. Looking to upgrade to an 1800rpm 12K diesel unit when finances permit.

Q

 

[atgreene]

14 days during the ice storm of '98. My brother was out 28 days. FWIW, propane trucks couldn't deliver for weeks. That's why I went diesel when we installed an auto gen unit. I've got plenty of diesel, propane is hard to come by during a long-term disaster.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ive installed 12 new whole house generators in the past 2 months. Two were 45kw the rest 11-22 kw units. Whole house units are quite the rage. Generac has created a new synergy unit that varies between 1800 and 3600 rpm depending on the need. Im getting lots of request for these units lately.

 

[ultrarunner]

Ive installed 12 new whole house generators in the past 2 months. Two were 45kw the rest 11-22 kw units. Whole house units are quite the rage. Generac has created a new synergy unit that varies between 1800 and 3600 rpm depending on the need. Im getting lots of request for these units lately.

Are these natural gas and or propane units?

 

[MikePA]

According to the Generac site, "The Generac Synergy runs on natural gas and LP fuel, and easily converts during installation without the need for tools."

 

[grsthegreat]

They have a knob that you turn to switch between propane or ng

 

[ultrarunner]

Very cool... I like being self sufficient and don't mind spending money to be so...

I have Winco 5000 watt with transfer switch... good little unit except loud.

I guess my ideal would be a low speed onan diesel of 8 kW... enough to cover all the essentials and not outrageous to run in terms of fuel costs.

The 1800 rpm units have not been able to be sold for a long time here in California.

 

[MossRoad]

This thread made me go out and fire up my generator with a load on it for half an hour today. Many of us forget to exercise these things on a regular basis. It might not be ready when we need it.

 

[tcreeley]

Thursday we just ended 5 days without power due to the rain followed by snow storm we had last weekend. The leaves were still on the trees and with snow- bent down and took a lot of wires and transformers. Poles were snapped. limbs everywhere. Years back we had 5 days without due to an ice storm as well, This was different, The roads were clear the next day. A couple of years ago we bought a generator at Home depot for the frequent 1 day power outages we now have year round. We heat with wood and cook with gas- so it is really for the running water, frig, etc.. Gets old buying gas though. We ran it in the morning and in the evening. Off during the day.

I wired my house panel so that the gen feeds one side. I flip off the main breaker from the road, flip on the 100 amp breaker to my shop, and my gen is set up there through another breaker to backfeed power to the house panel.

 

[dragoneggs]

This thread made me go out and fire up my generator with a load on it for half an hour today. Many of us forget to exercise these things on a regular basis. It might not be ready when we need it.

Good advice. I do it a couple times a year but I tend to agree that regular exercise is better.

 

[MikePA]

My auto transfer switch has a Test Generator option that is off by default. When I change this option to On, the switch starts the generator, lets it get up to speed and when the switch senses it's receiving power, it shuts off the generator. I have a monthly reminder on my phone to run this test.

 

[Looking4new]

My 9,000 watt genny is in a tin garden shed along with about 50 gallons of gas. I cut vents high and low in the walls of the shed so fumes if any can escape. The floor under where the gas sits is 1/2" hardware screen and open to the air. The exhaust side of the genny has a 2' square screened vent. The power cords are already there, so when good old unreliable Ontario Hydro goes out I fire up the genny and plug in the cords, flip the switch for the power and go inside and transfer the essential loads, one by one. (sump pump, fridge and some lights)

 

[3930dave]

My auto transfer switch has a Test Generator option that is off by default. When I change this option to On, the switch starts the generator, lets it get up to speed and when the switch senses it's receiving power, it shuts off the generator. I have a monthly reminder on my phone to run this test.

About how long does the engine run, before auto-shutdown kicks in ?

There have been a few good gen maintenance stories over here http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/oil-fuel-lubricants/271843-your-last-generator-maintenance-run.html

Rgds, D.