Stormin,
What are you using to heat your home? If your are hooked up to LP
gas or natural gas, then there are conversion kits which will enable
your generator to run off that fuel instead of gasoline.
There are a few problems with such a conversion:
1) You've got to spend some money ($100 or so) for the conversion parts.
2) Unless you buy a much more expensive conversion, then you can't
easily switch back and forth between gasoline and natural gas.
3) Your engine will produce fewer horsepower, which means fewer watts
being output. Crude estimate - about 10% less power.
On the plus side, you'll usually never fear running out of fuel for even a
long term power outage and you don't have the danger of storing large
quantities of gasoline.
If the conversion isn't a viable option and I were making the decision,
then I'd just buy a couple of large gasoline containers and store another
15 or 20 gallons of gasoline (with stabilizer added). Rotate your stock
every year or two. How many vehicles do you own? If you are concerned
about power outages, then top off your vehicle gas tanks frequently and
have a good gasoline pump available.
If you store the gasoline for a long time in plastic containers, then be
aware that the more volatile components of the gasoline will leech through
the plastic during long term storage. Blend old storage gasoline at least
50-50 with new gasoline when rotating stock to your vehicles. Likewise,
be aware that the generator won't start as easily on gasoline which has
been stored long term in plastic. Have some starting fluid around or
(better yet) keep at least one gallon of gasoline stored in a metal container.
I've got over twenty gallons of gasoline in storage containers. I've got 4
vehicles, with an average total of at least 50 additional gallons of gasoline
which can be pumped out if needed during an outage. If I'm really desperate,
then I've also got a few gallons of assorted gas-oil mixes which can be
blended into the fuel for a generator (about 1 part in 10). Obviously, I'd
prefer to not have oil in the fuel, but a small amount isn't a big problem if
I'm concerned about a serious power outage.
With 70 or more gallons of gasoline at my disposal, I can keep one or both
of my generators running for a fair amount of time. Probably longer than
the short life of those cheap Briggs engines in the generators.
Obviously I'm not going to pump all of the gasoline out of my vehicles,
so I can always send somebody out for more gasoline after I've used up
most of the 70 or so gallons.
Gideon