How to prepare YOUR family for coming electrical BLACKOUTS

[Blimey]

We've been needing a generator for a while now but just can't pool together enough for a good one. Wife uses an O² concentrator so electricity is essential.
Was considering a used military diesel generator but even those are commanding high prices.

Grab an inverter generator—that would give clean power, quietly, and reliably in case you have immediate need for O2.

After the issue here four (?) years ago I somehow managed to get a new duramax dual fuel generator from eBay for $299 delivered. I only run it every 6-12 months for a short while on propane to confirm it’s good. Propane because I knew I didn’t want to deal with cycling gasoline regularly and propane has infinite shelf life.

Course our power has been good since so I’ve never used it in a power outage for more than an hour or two.

 

[spat]

14.5/10KW Generator, Gas Powered

The Mother of all Generators! Powered by a durable, dependable 84 cu. in. four cylinder, air cooled, overhead valve Military Standard gasoline engine, and b

colemans.com

 

[PutnamCharlie]

3k for 14kw is a good deal. 14kw will run a whole house with ac.

 

[Jmac00]

Generators are fine and I have one but power outage means gas pumps don't work.

they do if the gas station has a generator, LOL

 

[spat]

Getting a 15kw solar plant installed with a 20kwh battery bank..

Inverters can do 18kw continuously, and surge to 50.


That should cover things indefinitely.

 

[PutnamCharlie]

No gas stations near me have a gen.

 

[Jmac00]

3k for 14kw is a good deal. 14kw will run a whole house with ac.

freak;n thing will run the a/c while the electric dryer is running

 

[meketrefe]

If we survived the 300 blackouts so we are ready for anything.

 

[MothMan]

Built for propane or conversion?

straight gasoline

 

[drowhawk]

I have a dual fuel (propane/gasoline) unit that i run a 50A cord to a receptacle on the side of the house. There is an interlock on the panel that i engage once the main is off and i can run practically anything including my 2 sub panels. 500 gallons of propane on one side of the house and 120 next to the garage. I also keep 50 gallons in portable cans and another 75-100 between 4 vehicles, the sled, jetski, and mower.

 

[dwa12479]

I'm not 100% sure of this, but after the debacle of Super Storm Sandy, I believe gas stations in NY are now required to have backup gennies to make sure they can pump fuel in a power out scenario.

When the Rochester area got smacked with a massive windstorm in March of 2017, power was out all over the area. I had my generator and transfer switch setup on the house already, but all the gas stations around us were out of power and couldn't pump. I had to find fuel 40 or so miles away. That prompted me to save a couple of 55 gallon drums from work and keep them filled with stabilized fuel as a just in case. I try to swap it out every couple years since then.

 

[Acer-m14]

work at a truckstop and when the power goes out .. no fuel .. no back up gen .. same with all the car gas stations in the area ..

 

[Acer-m14]

when NY had the 91 ice storm .. this was the generator for the lights in the house ..

some 12 volt house type light bulbs .. modify some extension cords .. got lights ..

cooked on the white gas camping stove or on the wood stove ..

2 weeks with no power .. burned a 1/4 tank of fuel ..

good old morpar .. duster .. 318 .. leaded fuel .. just let it idle in mom's n dads driveway powering the light bulbs .


not my car .. but same year .. .. i do wonder if mom has photos of it from then .. i'll have to check ..

 

[SonOfSun]

Getting a 15kw solar plant installed with a 20kwh battery bank..

Inverters can do 18kw continuously, and surge to 50.


That should cover things indefinitely.

Was going to say - if you are worried about power long term solar is the way to go. Though that battery seems undersized if you really are going to draw 18kw constant.

Solar is getting cheap.

$1500 - 5.12 KW LiFePO4 with a 7000+ cycle rating at 80% DoD 48V 100AH LiFePower4 Battery by EG4
$950 - Magnum Energy PT-100 > Power Track 100 Amp 12/24/48V MPPT Charge Controller Solar Panels for Your Home & Energy Efficient Products - EcoDirect.com
$1770 - 6x Canadian Solar CS1Y-395 > 395 Watt Mono PERC Solar Panel - configured in 3 series, / parallel.
$780 - Cotek SD2500-148 HARDWIRE, UL Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Add in another $900-1100 or so for wiring and hardware.

You're looking at ~$6,000 for a system with a ~5KWH capacity with components that should easily last 15+ years of use. The battery design also supports parallel (up to 16 for a max of 82 KWH) so you could have a 20KWH system (and add in an extra 3 panels for another 3 panel parallel set) for around $11,000. That's crazy cheap for what it is. All this is assuming you do the work to install.

 

[spat]

Was going to say - if you are worried about power long term solar is the way to go. Though that battery seems undersized if you really are going to draw 18kw constant.

Solar is getting cheap.

$1500 - 5.12 KW LiFePO4 with a 7000+ cycle rating at 80% DoD 48V 100AH LiFePower4 Battery by EG4
$950 - Magnum Energy PT-100 > Power Track 100 Amp 12/24/48V MPPT Charge Controller Solar Panels for Your Home & Energy Efficient Products - EcoDirect.com
$1770 - 6x Canadian Solar CS1Y-395 > 395 Watt Mono PERC Solar Panel - configured in 3 series, / parallel.
$780 - Cotek SD2500-148 HARDWIRE, UL Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Add in another $900-1100 or so for wiring and hardware.

You're looking at ~$6,000 for a system with a ~5KWH capacity with components that should easily last 15+ years of use. The battery design also supports parallel (up to 16 for a max of 82 KWH) so you could have a 20KWH system (and add in an extra 3 panels for another 3 panel parallel set) for around $11,000. That's crazy cheap for what it is. All this is assuming you do the work to install.

No, 18kw is a peak sustained rate, not a rate that we will draw continuously.

The overnight load that the batteries need to handle is much lower. We will have to be a little mindful of power usage in an outage, but I think waiting till morning to cook a turkey or do a load of laundry isn't going to be too much of a hardship.

 

[SonOfSun]

No, 18kw is a peak sustained rate, not a rate that we will draw continuously.

The overnight load that the batteries need to handle is much lower. We will have to be a little mindful of power usage in an outage, but I think waiting till morning to cook a turkey or do a load of laundry isn't going to be too much of a hardship.

Since you are in the south, did you think about downsizing the solar array a bit and upsizing the battery? Even if you "only" get 9-10 KW out of that system because reality of clouds, etc. it will full charge your battery super fast -AND- the the last part of the battery charge is a LOT slower, lots of that power might get wasted.

 

[spat]

Since you are in the south, did you think about downsizing the solar array a bit and upsizing the battery? Even if you "only" get 9-10 KW out of that system because reality of clouds, etc. it will full charge your battery super fast -AND- the the last part of the battery charge is a LOT slower, lots of that power might get wasted.

Under normal circumstances the batteries will stay fully charged and we will just sell back to the grid during the day, and buy from them at night.

That battery bank is a decent size to get us comfortably through the night as long as we avoid extravagant power usage.

The solar array size will let us use considerably more power during the day (when our AC is likely to run) and still be able to charge the batteries back fully.

The large inverter capacity will let me run whatever I need during the day, including electric hot water, oven and stove, or some pretty hefty welders if I want.

 

[drowhawk]

Was going to say - if you are worried about power long term solar is the way to go. Though that battery seems undersized if you really are going to draw 18kw constant.

Solar is getting cheap.

$1500 - 5.12 KW LiFePO4 with a 7000+ cycle rating at 80% DoD 48V 100AH LiFePower4 Battery by EG4
$950 - Magnum Energy PT-100 > Power Track 100 Amp 12/24/48V MPPT Charge Controller Solar Panels for Your Home & Energy Efficient Products - EcoDirect.com
$1770 - 6x Canadian Solar CS1Y-395 > 395 Watt Mono PERC Solar Panel - configured in 3 series, / parallel.
$780 - Cotek SD2500-148 HARDWIRE, UL Pure Sine Wave Inverter
Add in another $900-1100 or so for wiring and hardware.

You're looking at ~$6,000 for a system with a ~5KWH capacity with components that should easily last 15+ years of use. The battery design also supports parallel (up to 16 for a max of 82 KWH) so you could have a 20KWH system (and add in an extra 3 panels for another 3 panel parallel set) for around $11,000. That's crazy cheap for what it is. All this is assuming you do the work to install.

This is my next move. I have enough propane to run the generator continuously for a month but after that, all bets are off.

What do you think the theoretical life of the batteries are if they are just continuously on a float charge and only cycled when power is out?

 

[1BIGMOFO]

I’m a Generac dealer. I’ll buy, and / or take your guns on trade towards a standby generator system installed at your house. I take credit cards, and have financing options available as well.

 

[spat]

This is my next move. I have enough propane to run the generator continuously for a month but after that, all bets are off.

What do you think the theoretical life of the batteries are if they are just continuously on a float charge and only cycled when power is out?

Depends on the battery technology.

I went with lead acid to give me the biggest bang for the buck. I should get a decade out of them (with an acceptable loss of capacity). But I do not plan on cycling them often.

In an actual permanent power outage where I'm cycling them every night they should last a year.

When they do wear out, I'll replace them with a lithium based pack ( if nothing better comes around in the next decade).

If the S ever HTF bad enough that I'm anticipating not having power for months we will probably make some lifestyle adjustments to drastically reduce our night time power usage and that could stretch the battery life by years.

 

[SonOfSun]

This is my next move. I have enough propane to run the generator continuously for a month but after that, all bets are off.

What do you think the theoretical life of the batteries are if they are just continuously on a float charge and only cycled when power is out?

Depends on the battery chemistry. Lead acid in general are less durable but they can last a good while as well if properly maintained and not heavily discharged.

Lithium batteries, specifically prismatic LiFePO4 cells can last a decade or more of daily heavy 80% discharge as long as you aren't being hard on them with heavy discharge loads. That battery I noted has a 7000+ 80% depth of discharge rating. 7000/365 is about 19 years assuming 1 battery cycle a day, though the batteries would likely suffer some capacity and peak discharge amperage loss due to aging starting around the 10 year mark, though they would still be usable.

You can always add more batteries in parallel to reduce the amperage draw and hence lower battery stress. Generally speaking for lithium you want to keep hout discharge at 30% or less battery capacity for continuous loads.

If I was building a new system I'd go lithium, but that's just me.

 

[Defilade]

 

[Criticalt]

We have a big Generac...probably too big....Its a 22kw Guardian. It was a demo used in my friends store so we got a great deal on it. It runs on propane right now but I can hook it to our NG easily.
We have NG on our property.
Other than that, we have a fireplace in the house and 2 woodstoves that we could put somewhere.....and candles....we have candles.

 

[Defilade]