Amy L wrote:
I have a couple of questions for those who went down this path.

I am interested in purchasing a generator for "emergency" situations.
I am looking for something that is strong enough that could power the
heater, sump pump, Fridge, etc (also, it does not need to do this all
at once). I am also looking for something that has 240 out in
addition to 120 so I can backfeed the house.

1.) What are the good brands of generators?
2.) Is there anything I should specifically look for in a generator
(warranty, serviceability, reliability, gas efficiency)?
3.) Would you ever purchase one online? If so what site have you
used or heard of other using with good success?

Amy.

I have a Coleman 5000 Watt, 30A unit; 120 and 240 out, battery start,
auto-idle under no-load, and wired to a transfer switch for 8 years now.
Works like a charm, never a problem, not very loud, hardly hear it from
indoors. It can power my 1 HP well pump and the fridge, or without the
well pump, lites, garage doors, TV, radio, coffee pot, microwave, etc etc..
The Transfer switch has current meters on the front so it's easy to check
how much current is being drawn on each leg of the 240; keep blanced, in
other words.

Next time, if/when this one gives out though, I plan to go for a diesel
powered unit. Gasoline in any useful quantity is difficult to store safely
and must be outdoors, and since we're at 9 degrees F at the moment, I'd hate
have to be going out to fill the tank.
So my next one will be diesel; that fuel can be stored in the garage at
least, in properly marked containers and my ins company, fire dept, etc.,
have said they'd give that kind of storage their blessing. Gasoline is
another whole story.

24 hours of "low" usage will eat up the 5 gallon gas tank on the Coleman
and in harder use, it'll take closer to ten gallons to do 24 hours. So, to
keep say 5 days of emergency fuel on hand it takes a fair amount of gasoline
to have to store! We live on 5 acres & love lawn work so using up the gas
before it gets too old isn't a problem for us, but it could be for others.
Yes, I've tried to figure out how to siphon gas from the cars easily; no
can do, in case anyone has any ideas on how to do that. During the Storm of
'98, I had to pull the fuel line off the Buick's carb and use a clip to
power the car's fuel pump in order to get more gas. Baby, it gets COLD
outside!! G We didn't have power to 7 1/2 days.
I heat with #1 Fuel oil, so getting it from our furnace pump for the
generator would be a cinch; I wouldn't even have to keep much of a spare
supply on hand as long as the generator was running; much better fuel
source from a practical view.
NO experience with diesel units, but willing to learn when the time
comes!

HTH
Pop`