Survival and Emergency Preparedness

aerynsun wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:37 pm

Mac66 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:41 am Finally had an electrician out to give me a quote on my new house. Generec was running a promotion with free* extended 7 year warranty and free* wifi montoring. (we can't get internet out in the sticks unless we go satellite).

For my 1400 sq foot house he quoted a 14kw whole house propane genset for $6900 which includes installation and permits etc. That was a couple K more than I expected.

I'm not sure we need 14kw. Considering we are unlikely to need/use the AC or electric dryer or microwave in an emergency. What we do need is to power the fridge, furnace, water pump and some lights. I requested an alternative quote for a 10kw unit.

I consider a generator for emergency use only in which case we would be rationing power not running the whole house business as usual.

I also plan on getting quotes from other electricians.

*nothing is free, you pay at one end or the other

You sound as if you only want if for very little draw. Get a good inverter generator and a serge protector. You can find them that run on gasoline AND propane.

Also get a quiet generator. Then look up on the net how to build a sound deadening box to keep it even quieter. Two reasons for this:
- people don't know you have it.
- it doesn't get stolen when you are using it.

You may be able to keep it simple and save money with this idea.

https://www.geekonthehill.com/2018/09/2 ... -my-house/

Mac66 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:51 pm

aerynsun wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:37 pm

Mac66 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:41 am Finally had an electrician out to give me a quote on my new house. Generec was running a promotion with free* extended 7 year warranty and free* wifi montoring. (we can't get internet out in the sticks unless we go satellite).

For my 1400 sq foot house he quoted a 14kw whole house propane genset for $6900 which includes installation and permits etc. That was a couple K more than I expected.

I'm not sure we need 14kw. Considering we are unlikely to need/use the AC or electric dryer or microwave in an emergency. What we do need is to power the fridge, furnace, water pump and some lights. I requested an alternative quote for a 10kw unit.

I consider a generator for emergency use only in which case we would be rationing power not running the whole house business as usual.

I also plan on getting quotes from other electricians.

*nothing is free, you pay at one end or the other

You sound as if you only want if for very little draw. Get a good inverter generator and a serge protector. You can find them that run on gasoline AND propane.

Also get a quiet generator. Then look up on the net how to build a sound deadening box to keep it even quieter. Two reasons for this:
- people don't know you have it.
- it doesn't get stolen when you are using it.

You may be able to keep it simple and save money with this idea.

https://www.geekonthehill.com/2018/09/2 ... -my-house/

The thing is I need genset to kick on when I'm not there. We plan on spending most of the winter in Florida so leaving the house unoccupied for several months. Not real important in the summer but in the winter the pipes could freeze. Kind of like the idea of it automatically coming on in case of an outage. We get 3-4 short term outages a year up at the new house. I have a portable generator at the old house which I can wheel out and plug in when needed.