aemeijers wrote:

Pete C. wrote:
Bob F wrote:
Han wrote:
"Pete C." wrote in news:4bef7d01$0$23532
:

I spent about $800 on a generator, about 25 years ago. Maintenance
consists of $4 worth of synthetic oil each year. It has provided
power during many days worth of outages, including a ~72hr
continuous run. Many of these outages were in the winter in the
northeast where frozen pipes would have been a threat had I not had
the generator. Being portable, the generator has also been used on a
number of remote construction projects as well. So yes, a generator
is a very inexpensive and reasonable investment.
That's relative. Until a month or so ago, we never had more than a
few hours of power outage at a time. For that an expense of $1500
today plus the maintenance and risk of storing gasoline etc is NOT
worth it.
To me grin.
If you don't want to store gasoline, siphon it out of your car when you need it.

I'm always amazed by the folks who think storing a 5gal can of gas out
back is some huge risk, and then park a car or two with 15-20gal of gas
each in their garage. Get a grip folks, storing a can of gas is not a
big risk.

Not a BIG risk, no, but gas cans don't have vapor recovery canisters to
catch any fumes outgassing from the tank on a hot day when the garage
gets close to 100 degrees inside.

Have you looked at any new gas cans in the last decade or so? They are
sealed / unvented, and don't outgas.

Not to mention, gas cans are a lot
more prone to getting leaks, or getting knocked over by short people,
sometimes with less-than-tight lids.

Any gas cans in the last decade or so are fully sealed and aren't likely
to leak.

For people without backyard sheds
to keep the gas can in (along with the mower), I recommend they build a
little 3-sided box with a roof, or something, to keep the rain off the
can and the mower. IIRC, at one house my mother had, we used stacks of
concrete block, a few pavers for for a floor, and a hunk of corrugated
roofing that was laying around. Think farmer's equipment shed, just real
small. And if they want pretty, Rubbermaid has a nice line of trash can
enclosures that work well for the task.

Yes, I keep my fuel cans (gas and diesel) along with spare LP tanks in a
little shelter with a tarp (silver side out to reflect sun) covering the
open side.