interesting information at national grid:
"A generator that is capable of supplying the electrical needs of a
household can consume up to 25 gallons of fuel in a 24-hour period.
Consider how much fuel needs to be on hand and how it will be stored.
Approved containers are a must. It is also important to remember that
gasoline is extremely flammable and has a relatively short shelf life.
Avoid fire or explosion by refueling the generator in a well-ventilated
area, and avoid spilling fuel on hot engine parts."
electric company storm safety page is at:
https://www.nationalgridus.com/niaga...generators.asp

Who needs one 24 hrs a day, and that 1 gph figure is for high loads,
3600 rpm, cut your load, and run it when needed. I can show you a Honda
that can run my house for 3-5 gallons a day, a load dependant rpm, EU
2000. I guess your next post is how much can your wife spend in a day.

That's a LOT of fuel. I think the problem is with people's perception
of "needs" vs. "comforts". For example, a fridge, sump pump, well
pump, and gas furnace can be run from a single 5500W Coleman as long as
they're not running all at the same time. In most cases, there isn't
much else in the house that a person NEEDS, at least in the short term.
I know for a fact that the 5500W genny didn't use 25 gallons of fuel
over a 3 day period. It was actually closer to 10 gallons. The genny
was not running continuously, and actually was borrowed for a while by
a neighbor too. It's true we didn't have a humongus stereo and
big-screen TV running, with electric heaters and all the lights on in
the house while we were microwaving TV dinners and surfing the web, but
we were warm enough, had running water, a dry basement, and food that
wasn't spoiled in the fridge.

buy a natural gas generator and run only one heavy load at a
time.atural gas is very reliable, dual fuel gives you options

in a real disaster its unlikely more gasoline will be easily
available

Buy a 1000 watt power inverter, for minor loads and middle of the nite
operation.you wouldnt want a big noisey generator running all nite! rn
off your vehicle

buy a natural gas generator and run only one heavy load at a
time.atural gas is very reliable, dual fuel gives you options

in a real disaster its unlikely more gasoline will be easily
available

Buy a 1000 watt power inverter, for minor loads and middle of the nite
operation.you wouldnt want a big noisey generator running all nite! rn
off your vehicle

louie wrote:
That's a LOT of fuel. I think the problem is with people's perception
of "needs" vs. "comforts". For example, a fridge, sump pump, well
pump, and gas furnace can be run from a single 5500W Coleman as long as
they're not running all at the same time. In most cases, there isn't
much else in the house that a person NEEDS, at least in the short term.
I know for a fact that the 5500W genny didn't use 25 gallons of fuel
over a 3 day period. It was actually closer to 10 gallons. The genny
was not running continuously, and actually was borrowed for a while by
a neighbor too. It's true we didn't have a humongus stereo and
big-screen TV running, with electric heaters and all the lights on in
the house while we were microwaving TV dinners and surfing the web, but
we were warm enough, had running water, a dry basement, and food that
wasn't spoiled in the fridge.


Times have changed. Cousin lives near an upscale area and installs
generators (among other things). He says most of his installs are large
equipment because people don't want to think about managing anything. So
if the utility power is down they can still do whatever they want.

No dubt theu run on natural gas. having a 100 gallons or more of
gasoline stored at home may not be safe, and besides it wouldnt last
long with a full use load. like air conditioning a big home.