I keep reading and hearing this winter is gonna be worse then last winter with it being even colder and more snowfall. Almost got into a lot of trouble last year when the ice storm hit and 2 tree limbs almost taking out my power lines. When I bought my house 5 years ago it already had a 5000w transfer installed, so I finally bit the bullet and bought a portable generator after seeing a deal I couldn't pass up. Still have to make a cord for the generator hook up and thinking about getting a second 5 gal gas can just in case.
I'm posting to say your fence is beautiful. The only fences in my area suck and make the properties look like hell, most people don't even stain them once.
Power in my area is so reliable I don't have a generator. I have said if it goes out again this year, though, I'll finally buy one. Of course if I wait until a storm it will definitely be too late.
Thanks, previous owners did exactly as you said and let it go to hell. Took me an 8 hour day to power wash both sides of the fence and and 2 days to stain it. I'd rather try and maintain it then pay for a new one. Power around my house has been iffy all summer for some reason, lost power 3 -4 times and this winter I'm not taking a chance with the wife and kid. Rather be safe the sorry.
Nice gettin all prepped and hardwired transfer gene are the way to do it! Ooooo noooo the Polar Vortex is set to attack again??
I do say that one tree is leaning dangersouly towards that neighbor though..looks like thats the one to worry bout. Maybe cable it up bout 20 feet to stop it from snappin and goin if we get what we got last year.
I started my snowblower this past weekend. It started on the 3rd pull!
I'm still debating about buying a generator. We've lived in my house for 6 years now, and the longest we've been without power has been about 10 minutes. It only takes once though. I have a bunch of saltwater fish and corals that would die with any lengthy power outage. Losing a couple grand in fish and corals would suck.
I would definitely have a backup plan if I had a reef tank. Maybe just a computer backup and a small power head to keep water flowing in an emergency. Something's better than nothing...
OP: I'm sure you know this but it's worth repeating... don't run the generator too close to the house. Last year my neighbor's CO detector went off while the generator was running. He had it outside, but right up against the house. The exhaust worked up into the soffits and filled the attic and his second floor.
Make sure its of sufficient gauge to handle current. Just out of curiosity are you wiring for 220V or just 110V? Been thinking about getting a generator wired into my panel too...
That's a Loud one! Get at least 2 more gas cans, keep them full, add Sta-Bil to the fuel and rotate them at least every 6 months. Put the stored fuel in your car/truck and refill cans. I do 2 at a time, so none of my fuel gets too old to use. My Generac portable 6500 will drink a gallon an hour. Hope none of us need to use it.
Most of the generators I have looked at are between 72-78db, since I'm just gonna use this in an emergency I don't feel so bad making my neighbour's mad. I like your gas can idea. I think I'm gonna have to do that.
Don't believe any of the hype about some brutal winter from the farmer's almanac or others that have no scientific roots in climatology or meteorology. At the very least, it is unlikely that we'll have another winter as cold/harsh as this past winter. We could very well be in for a mild one, impossible call to make this early on. There are a lot of myths floating around on social media (and other sources) that are complete bunk.
That being said, it's good to have a generator just in case. Better to be prepped for outages than to be blind-sided by an outage that lasts days with no electricity/heat, or means of pumping excess water out of your basement.
My wife has been harpin about getting a generator for a few years. We loose power any time we get a decent storm here. It doesn't bother me any as I have a wood stove to stay warm and I like the peace that darkness brings lol. She and her kids freak if they can't have their lights and electronics. The only thing I used to worry about was my salt water aquarium when we first moved into this place. Something in the water killed everything and I never could find out what it was. Had the water tested a few times and always checked out fine.
The best weather forecast anymore is an Indian Weather Rock lol, I never believe what they predict. I hope it isn't as brutal cold as last year though, we went through much more wood than expected. I do hope we get slammed with snow, all winter. I'd like to do some more riding this year and use my Alpine as a hunting rig for a change.
idk if its me but i have a champion and it is a PITA i make sure to start it at least once a month just to make sure i can get it started when i need it
I've read some generators can lose their magnetism if allowed to sit idle for months at a time. If this happens they won't produce any electricity so its a good idea to start them up and run under a light load every month or so just for routine maintenance.
Growing up in New York 50's I remember how the winters used to be, they've been pretty mild for awhile. Think back, the snow plows didn't have plows, they had giant snow blowers on the front of them, the trains had plows on the front of them, they even had (flame throwers) or whatever they were called. The snow would pile up so high that I didn't need a ladder to get up on the roof, the kids made snow tunnels that ran through the yard to the neighbors house. We burned coal for heat and cooking, oil lamps or candles for light, we always lost power for a few days. Even the party line would be down.
Good post! We just wound up getting a generator for free from a family member! It's just a little Honda 1850, but enough to keep the sump well empty. Be nice to have one that could handle the fridge as well, but if its winter, we don't need to worry.
Also if you didn't already know that make sure you have a tx switch or if cost is an issue just back feed it into a side spare 2 pole breaker and turn off the main. You don't want to be that guy pushing juice out onto dead and down lines on the street.
Or buy a camper/with generator/solar charging. The last two floods we moved into my camper and lived normally, a little cramped but way better than staying at the Red Cross on cots in the school gym for a couple weeks.
I use a propane generator so I don't have to worry about fuel rotation. It will also take gas so that is a backup option. I have a few 20lb tanks and 2 100lb tanks of propane. At 50% load the 20lb tank lasts around 16-20 hours.
I only run it once or maybe twice a year and have never had an issue. Never heard about the coils losing magnetism etc.
Also, I know gas goes bad after a while but I never add any stabilizer to any of my gas. The longest I have sat something and have had gas cans sit full is 10 months with absolutely no issues. So from personal experience 10 months is good to go on having gas sit. (Garage stored not temperature controlled.)
My house doesn't have a transfer switch. I thought of just using long outdoor extension cords and plug directly to a surge protector. Do you guys use a a ground wire if not hooked up to the house wiring?
Pulled my snow blower out the other day changed the oil, plug and filter, put some new gas in it. let it run for 10 min-Me and the Boss are planning on getting a Generec Natural Gas Generator next year.
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