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Bruce Spiegelman

Bruce Spiegelman

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Sacramento seems to have somewhat frequent short term power outages. What size generator should I have as a back up for 24 hours use?
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Sacramento seems to have somewhat frequent short term power outages. What size generator should I have as a back up for 24 hours use?
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You need to calculate how many watts or even kilowatt per hour does your home consume?

Mine on average was consuming 2.5 kilowatt hour. This of course does not include AC use. With AC, my kilowatt bourse use became over 6.5. Therefore, if I get a generator I would need to get one that is closer to 7 kilowatt/per hour to ensure my family is convertible during any outage. If AC is not a concern, i would get 3 Kilowatt hour generator.


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Look at total running time, if you can get one thats propane then it can be converted to natural gas with a flow regulator and then use a virtually limitless fuel supply. It is a bit less efficient power wise than gasoline but wont smell as bad and best of all dont need to worry about storing fuel and the problems associated with that.

That is assuming you have natural gas available which may not be the case. Either way I would still go that way because a bbq grill propane tank can double as a fuel source
 
Make sure to get an inverter generator. They cost a lot more but are much quieter and put out a true sine wave. Not everything will run on a non inverter generator that puts out a modified sine wave which also isn’t as good for your equipment. Did I mention the inverter is quiet? The Champion Duel Fuel 3,000 watt from Costco is nice. It can run on
Propane which won’t gum up the carb. like gas can if not used all the time. It also runs on gas.
 
On the gasoline side (limited experience in all cases) I've used cheap $300 generators with crummy output form as well as the cute little Honda units which seem to cost ~$1,200 for the same output.
The Honda ones are a lot quieter as well as a lot easier to pull start, plus they put out a good clean sine wave in comparison. Not sure how fuel use compares, I was only borrowing it for a few hours. May not be needed for something only occasionally used, but easy to start and quiet are good if you expect to use it frequently.

You might consider your refrigerator/freezer in your power consumption calculations.
 
Bruce do you have a large open area because generators can have alot of exhaust and be noisy. If its just pumps you want to run go battery backup. If its lights and chiller - maybe 3000w might better. then you can run other items too. fridge, tv, etc. don't use microwave ( high draw) Also don't forget about storing oil and Gas if you go that route.
 
* Consider propane.
You will almost never use it, and a generator stored with gas in it for a long time often does not start.

* Check the run time.
You likely need very few watts for your tank, but the smaller ones have small gas tanks, and you
do not want to get up in the middle of the night to refuel.

For frequent short term blackouts, I would really recommend just getting a LARGE battery backup on your pumps and powerheads.
If you spend the same as you would have on a generator, it will likely last a long time.
 
ddrueckh said:
Make sure to get an inverter generator. They cost a lot more but are much quieter and put out a true sine wave. Not everything will run on a non inverter generator that puts out a modified sine wave which also isn’t as good for your equipment. Did I mention the inverter is quiet? The Champion Duel Fuel 3,000 watt from Costco is nice. It can run on
Propane which won’t gum up the carb. like gas can if not used all the time. It also runs on gas.
Click to expand...
I was thinking of getting this one from Costco...https://www.costco.com/Champion-280...tal-Inverter-Generator.product.100284958.html
 
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