I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

"Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote in message
ng.com...
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago
and the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through. I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at
the most and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing
the unit to my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I
have all compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich


There are online sizing calculators to determine this, but you need to know
the total wattage of the things you want to power. Most of these devices
will have their amperage written on the nameplate. The single largest item
you've listed is the furnace, which has a pretty large motor. My guess,
assuming some of these motors could start and run simultaneously, is that
you'd need around 5KW. I use a portable 6KW unit to power: 2 refrigerators,
sewage ejection pump, 240 volt 1/2 HP well pump, hydronic oil fired boiler,
and a handfull of lights, TV's and PC's

Rich wrote:
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich


My unit is 5500 running watts (7350 starting) and plugs in through a
transfer box. It can run my furnace, well, refrigerator and freezers
with spare power for some lights and TV. Clothes dryer, electric range,
water heater and air conditioner were too much to add and are not needed
for few days outage as are the aforementioned items. Whole set up
including cost of generator and transfer box installed by electrician
cost about $1,000 two years ago.

on 3/29/2008 6:44 PM Frank said the following:
Rich wrote:
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run
the fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a
few web sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house
instead of just a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I
live SW of Chicago and the longest I've been without power was 3 days
when a tornado came through. I would like to buy one that would get
me by for a day or two at the most and only run the basics. What I'm
having trouble with is sizing the unit to my needs. Sump pump,
furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic
setup, Rich


My unit is 5500 running watts (7350 starting) and plugs in through a
transfer box. It can run my furnace, well, refrigerator and freezers
with spare power for some lights and TV. Clothes dryer, electric
range, water heater and air conditioner were too much to add and are
not needed for few days outage as are the aforementioned items. Whole
set up including cost of generator and transfer box installed by
electrician cost about $1,000 two years ago.

I have a similar setup with a Generac 5500. It runs the whole house
without a problem, but there is a momentary 'brown out' when the 220 v
well pump starts up, but then returns to normal when the pump is fully
running.
On our section of the electrical grid, there are several power failures
a year, but most are just short enough to reset all our electric clocks
and timers to a blinking 12:00. I believe that our section is connected
to the main grid by an extension cord that runs across some farmland,
and a cow occasionally trips over it and pulls it out of the outlet.
:-) Some failures do last an hour or so, and one time more than 72
hours, but that was due to a hurricane.
There's no problem with the generator noise, as most of my neighbors
have generators. One neighbor across the street does not have a
generator and he has a driveway light that's on all night, so when that
light goes on, I know the power failure is over.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

willshak wrote:
on 3/29/2008 6:44 PM Frank said the following:
I have a similar setup with a Generac 5500. It runs the whole house
without a problem, but there is a momentary 'brown out' when the 220 v
well pump starts up, but then returns to normal when the pump is fully
running.
On our section of the electrical grid, there are several power failures
a year, but most are just short enough to reset all our electric clocks
and timers to a blinking 12:00. I believe that our section is connected
to the main grid by an extension cord that runs across some farmland,
and a cow occasionally trips over it and pulls it out of the outlet.
:-) Some failures do last an hour or so, and one time more than 72
hours, but that was due to a hurricane.
There's no problem with the generator noise, as most of my neighbors
have generators. One neighbor across the street does not have a
generator and he has a driveway light that's on all night, so when that
light goes on, I know the power failure is over.


My generator is a noisy one from HD, Powerboss with B&S engine and
generac generating unit. The guys at a Honda dealer actually told me
what to look for and told me to avoid Coleman as if it broke down parts
would be scarce. We're on acre lots and all neighbors have equally
noisy generators. Besides having surge protectors for practically
everything, I have battery backup for computers and even put an old
deteriorating one on a VCR so I don't have to keep resetting from scratch.

See the same momentary brown out when well kicks on. Similar to lights
in kitchen dimming when disposal is used. Watt requirement is highest
when engines first come under load. Even so, I've had furnace, well,
refrigerator and 2 freezers all running at the same time. I suspect if
all came on at once they would pop a circuit breaker.

Rich wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Rich, I also live in the Midwest and went through the same thing about 1
year ago -- after a significant ice storm in the area.

I wanted to run an "average" refrig-freezer, a small chest freezer, the
furnace (natural gas with 1/3 hp blower), a small radio and/or light and
POSSIBLY a 1/3 hp sump pump.

Here's what I got and I'm VERY happy with it:

1. Honda EU2000i portable generator (2000 watt max, 1600 watt rated)
Here's a link to the specs:

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/M...elName=EU2000i

2. Had a simple, manual transfer switch (15 amp) installed for the
furnace circuit so that I could use a regular (12 gauge) extension cord
from the generator to plug into the switch and run the furnace. Here's a
link to the transfer switch I got, a "Reliance Controls 15-amp Furnace
Transfer Switch" - they also have a 20-amp version:

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect....roducts_id=271

Believe it or not, that little generator has run most of the above
appliances, at the same time, without overload AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT
START UP AT THE SAME TIME -- which has never happened in the approx. 45+
hrs of testing I've done in the last year.

The power required at start-up for resistive electrical motors (e.g.,
refrig, freezer, furnace blower, sump pump) is MUCH greater than that
needed to run them. I'd guess (it hasn't happened yet, though) that if
any two of those appliances tried to start at exactly the same time, the
generator would cut off; it has an overload cutoff.

This winter, I routinely tested with furnace, refrig-freezer, chest
freezer and radio all plugged in and with the generator in EcoThrottle
mode without problems. Just last week I tested with furnace, sump pump
and radio plugged in (again, using EcoThrottle) without problems.

In a real, extended power outage, I plan to "juggle" extension cords to
avoid overload and plug in the refrig-freezer and chest freezer only
when needed. I have a couple of cheap but very handy little thermometers
with probes that I'll put in the freezers and be able to determine when
they need to run without having to open them. I'll do that especially if
I need to run the sump pump with the furnace.

The EU2000i is VERY energy-efficient. This winter when I ran 4-hr tests
with furnace, refrig-freezer, chest freezer and radio plugged in, I used
approx. 1/2 gal (maybe less) of gasoline.

As for the break-in and maintenance of the EU2000i: I used Castrol
10w-30 to break it in and now use Amsoil 10w-30 Synthetic High
Performance Oil exclusively.

One other thing, plan to get yourself some high quality, 12 gauge
extension cords but only as long as you really need. I've also found the
short 3-outlet extensions handy. The EU2000i has two 120 volt outlets so
I run two 50ft 12gauge extension cords from the generator -- one to the
basement where the furnace, chest freezer and sump pump are located; and
one upstairs where the refrig-freezer, radio and lights are located. I
then put a short (2 ft) 12 gauge 3-outlet extension on each and plug in
the appliances needed either directly or, if necessary, using a 25ft
12gauge extension cord so that the max. length of 12gauge cord between
the generator and any appliance is 75 ft.

So, Rich, that's what I found seems to meet my backup needs -- hope you
found it useful. As you can tell, I'm very pleased with that little
Honda generator. It's approx 50 lbs fully gassed and can be stored
easily in a small space in the garage.

Best wishes -- with luck, we'll never have to use any generators "for
real" but I'm not counting on that ;-)

In article ,
Erma1ina wrote:

Here's what I got and I'm VERY happy with it:

1. Honda EU2000i portable generator (2000 watt max, 1600 watt rated)
Here's a link to the specs:

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/M...elName=EU2000i

I use this generator and highly recommend it. It's very fuel efficient
and amazingly quiet.

Set on a high-quality scale with a full fuel tank, it weighs 54-lbs.
Anything larger probably shouldn't be considered truly "portable" by one
person.
--

JR

"Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote in message
ng.com...
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago
and the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through. I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at
the most and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing
the unit to my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I
have all compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Your problem is in your approach. You are looking for the minimal machine
to perform marginally. You are allowing for no extras. It is wise to have
more power than you need in these circumstances, rather than not enough to
meet your needs. It is not necessary to overkill, but getting a unit that
is surely adequate is better than one that is borderline marginal. The
oversized one will not work as hard. It will last longer. You won't be
standing there with no power AND a DOA generator. This is the last thing
before darkness and spoiled food. Do you want to take that big a chance?

And buy a quiet quality unit, not an obnoxiously loud cheapo that will wear
out fast.

Steve

On Mar 29, 2:27*pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through..
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

You can get a 6 circuit transfer box for about 400 prewired from
Generac, Lowes gave me one free when I bought a 5500 watt Generac.
Best is a transfer box with meters as you can balance the load and
its alot safer. Backfeeding has alot of risks for an accident to the
generator and you. You can get a trifuel unit, or convert yours.

On Mar 29, 2:27*pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through..
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:
I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.

Thanks for all who helped, Rich

Rich wrote:

"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich


Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

Please explain. Do transfer panels do dynamic load balancing?

Boden

OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.

Thanks for all who helped, Rich

On Mar 30, 5:32*pm, Boden wrote:
Rich wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

Please explain. *Do transfer panels do dynamic load balancing?

Boden





OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.

Thanks for all who helped, Rich- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

While we are on the topic..
does anyone have expreience with the generators that are actually DC
units with electronic inverters to make AC. That seems like a good
idea but I wonder about the surge capability. A regular generator can
handle a very large surge load due to it's mechanical interia is used
to over come the mechnical interia of the motor it is trying to start.
But a gen with an inverter may trip on overload when trying to start a
motor. Anybody have experience with this?

Mark

In article
,
Mark wrote:

does anyone have expreience with the generators that are actually DC
units with electronic inverters to make AC. That seems like a good
idea but I wonder about the surge capability. A regular generator can
handle a very large surge load due to it's mechanical interia is used
to over come the mechnical interia of the motor it is trying to start.
But a gen with an inverter may trip on overload when trying to start a
motor. Anybody have experience with this?

Yes. My Honda EU2000i handles start-up surge just fine.
--

JR

On Mar 30, 4:32*pm, Boden wrote:
Rich wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

Please explain. *Do transfer panels do dynamic load balancing?

Boden





OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.

Thanks for all who helped, Rich- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My 6 circuit Generac has 2 amp meters, one for each leg, you are
supposed to wire the apliance loads to balance it as best you can, and
monitor it through the amp meters so you can visualy see if you are
operating it safely. Im sure expensive multi circuit units are better,
but this is a safe way to do it. It is so you dont try to run
everything off one leg of the unit, and burn it up.

On Mar 30, 5:11*pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message

...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.



Am I the only one that sees problems with this? Like with a normal
generator bought as a unit, isn't there a better governor mechanism
that keeps the speed more constant as opposed to what you will get
with a bolt together approach?

On Mar 30, 5:11*pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:
"ransley" wrote in message

...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.



Am I the only one that sees problems with this approach? Like
doesn't a normal generator unit have a more precise governor mechanism
to keep the speed/freq constant? And won't a 16HP engine use a hell
of a lot more gas than an engine correctly sized for a 5500 watt
generator?

On Apr 1, 8:10*am, wrote:
On Mar 30, 5:11*pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:





"ransley" wrote in message

...
On Mar 29, 2:27 pm, "Rich" madeyoulook@localhost wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of
just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came
through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit
to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

OK I've been looking at more units and switches and I think I'm going to use
my 16HP Briggs engine and get a 5500 watt PTO unit and make the generator
from that. Then use the money I didn't spend on an engine to get a transfer
switch and set this up properly.

Am I the only one that sees problems with this approach? * Like
doesn't a normal generator unit have a more precise governor mechanism
to keep the speed/freq constant? * And won't a 16HP engine use a hell
of a lot more gas than an engine correctly sized for a 5500 watt
generator?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You are right the govenor wont keep a steady rpm when loading and
unloading he is going to have big swings that can damage things, cheap
gens often go from 125 to 100 under full load, my generac keeps it
near to 2 v with electronics and Honda EUs do maybe 1v

"ransley" wrote

Something else to consider, is how you balance the load so you dont
burn our the unit, its two legs make 220, using only one is not
correct, thats where a transfer panel makes it work safely.

Interesting! I wouldnt have thought of that aspect. Still havent got one
and our circumstances are not the same (no intent to hook it to the house
wiring for example) but I'd assume that above would still be applicable.

I was looking at one with 3 'outlets' but some are smaller and have 2.
Could be I'd do better with one that has only 2? We've gone a few times
without power for a few days in hurricane season (happens about every other
year). So far, never lost the freezer load. We keep it's empty spaces
filled with frozen water bottles (at least, we do that when a storm
approaches). If you dont open it much, it stays frozen for 3 days easy.
The one time we needed longer, Ice bags did the trick.

Rich wrote:

I'm in the market for a portable generator and just need it to run the
fridge the furnace and just small things after that. I went on a few web
sites and they seem to be geared to running your whole house instead of just
a few things to get past the storm or what ever. I live SW of Chicago and
the longest I've been without power was 3 days when a tornado came through.
I would like to buy one that would get me by for a day or two at the most
and only run the basics. What I'm having trouble with is sizing the unit to
my needs. Sump pump, furnace, fridge and some lighting but I have all
compact fluorescents.

Thanks for any advice, especially from someone that has this basic setup,
Rich

I've got an 11 HP McCulloch 5100 Watt from Wallmart (FG5700AK), runs my
fridge, freezer, gas furnace, most of my lights are on it(CFL's throughout
the house), with plenty of power to spare. Bought it for less than $500. I
installed a transfer panel kit from Home Depot which ran me $200.
This thing starts 1st time every time. The Transfer panel had a defective
breaker which tripped well below its rating and wouldnt ever reset. I called
the mfgr, Connecticut Electric (which is not in Connecticut BTW, its just down
the road in Puyallup WA - go figure...) and they sent me a replacement
breaker free of charge. Very nice outfit to talk to on the phone.
Back to the generator: I also bought 2 1500 watt electric heaters ($15 each)
Each heater has 3 power settings and at the hi setting actually draws a little
over 1600 watts. Once a month (or sometimes 2 months) I wheel the generator
out of the garage and fire it up for 30 minutes, the 2 heaters provide a good
exercise load. Also, I have Stabil in the gasoline (I only use Top Tier gas),
the oil is Mobil 1 and I always run the carb dry after using or testing it.
Next time, when you turn the fuel back on, you have to wait about 30 seconds
before trying to start it, pull out the choke, 1 or 2 easy pulls and Bang!
off we go. Oh, one more thing, beware of the microwave, they draw a hell of a
lot more on start up than they run at, kinda like a motor. Mines not on the
transfer switch. We get frequent power outages here in winter, I have 2 dozen
D-cells for my flashlights (florescent lanterns), a coleman stove and a
couple small screw on bottles of propane for it, plus the bbq tank is full if
i need it. Gasoline is a problem in extended outages so I've learned to head
into town early in an outage and if the town is still lit, i can get gas till
it runs out due to high demand after about 2 days. I'd prefer to have a NG
fired generator (unlimited fuel supply due to my NG supplied by pipeline),
but i have what i have and adding a tap to the NG line after the meter is
going to be tricky due to short exposed pipe and I sure as hell aint gonna do
it myself on something like that, we leave that one to the pro's) plus I'd
have to install a conversion kit on the generator. So, the generator is full
all the time, and i have a 5 gallon can besides and a siphon hose in my
emergency box for getting gas out of my car - close enough.
It took me 2 separate week long outages in winter (here its typically
30's/40's and rain in winter)to smart'n up and get prepared, now I'm ready
and the last big outage went smoothly, furnace running, fridge cold, coleman
stove running - we (My wife and daughter and me) had it good, our neighbors
were looking for hotels (with genny's) up to 50 miles away and STILL had
problems finding one.
Eric