Generators

[tacops]

As they say Honda is best, yep I agree.  But my wallet wouldn't support.  I got a Smarter Tools Propane/Gas duel fuel and a healthy supply of propane.  Wired a transfer switch.  I don't plan on putting gas in it unless I have too.  It is a Chonda engine (Chinese engine built on Honda patent design).  6200/7500 Ran it through break in and so far have no complaints.  Also picked up a Briggs & Stratton Vanguard 5250/7350 with tri-fuel conversion also only run on propane.  Two is one, one is none concept.  Wouldn't run them day in and day out but are great for short outages (week or less) and emergency needs.  Can't beat fire and coal oil lamps and candles for long term.  Glad to have them. 

[monkeylizard]

If you diligently watch Craigslist (I use SearchTempest.com for it) you can usually find Hondas for not a lot of dough, but you have to wait for the right deal. I scored my EU6500is for just a few bucks over the new price of an EU2000i. Run time on it was only 8 hours when I got it. It's Craigslist, so some fall through. I drove up to Scottsboro, KY in the snow a couple years ago to get an Eu2000i for $500 but dude never showed. Sometimes it's that way.

[tacops]

Got the chance to run my system for about 4 hours a while back.  Power blacked out right as the Country Music Awards were coming on.  My wife had been looking forward to watching that all week.  In about 10 minutes I had my Smarter Tools unit hooked up and running with everything we wanted in the house operating including the TVs.  I was a hero.  The system ran great without a hitch. 

[Mark A]

 ...My wife had been looking forward to watching that all week. ...I was a hero.

That's what it's all about isn't it? Keeping momma happy, not the hero part.

My wife is a good partner but gives me the stink eye every now and then. So far we've ended up using all most everything at one time or another. The best was when I was out of town and the water main near our house broke. They said it was going to take 14-16 hours to fix. She knew about the (4) 5 gallon buckets I had in the garage. I talked her through how to use it for flushing etc. She was glad to have water at that point.

I decided to come on home arriving about 7:30. She was fretful about having to go to work the next day w/o a bath. I went into the crawl space (pretty limited in storage space in the current house) and got enough pails out to fill the tub up. Heated some water on the stove and she was in business.

I get a LOT less stink eye now

It's all about being a hero.

[tacops]

When I was researching generators and trying to decide exactly how I wanted to set up my system, all I heard was "are you looking at generators again?"  "When are you going to make up your mind?"  "Do you think we will ever need that?" etc.  Then I heard her talking to a friend on the phone -- " He's just killing time on the computer looking at generators."  After the first use I heard "Thanks to that power system Scott put in I was able to catch the CMAs when the power went out"  "you should think about getting a system, it is really nice when the power goes out", " I can do anything I need to even if the power is out".  Yeah, I heard a different tune. ;)

[Trekbike]

Back before the 2010 flood I was looking at getting a generator and I got the, "we don't need that" comments.   During the flood we lost power for about a day.   After the flood, guess who got a generator after the prices dropped back to normal?  It's all in the timing.  Unfortunately many times the disaster has already occurred before some folks can see the value... 

Edited May 27, 2015 by Trekbike

[monkeylizard]

I was in that same boat. Fortunately, my wife has a coworker who drove his genny all the way down to us from way up past Joelton. That may not seem like much in normal circumstances, but with the mess of road closures and crazy traffic, it was a good 3 hour drive for him. It made a world of difference for us those first few days before the power was back on. It let us get several large fans going, recharge power tool battery packs, and run shop lights to keep working on demolition after sunset.

 

I learned 2 things from that: 1: I needed a genny. 2: I wanted one a lot quieter than that Craftsman one. Now I have a Honda eu series inverter genny. Got a killer deal on it on Craigslist. Took about 4 months of watching it closely using SearchTempest to find the right one at the right price and being willing to pass up on some others that were priced OK but not great. Had to go to Knoxville to get it, but it was worth it.