Powering your home during power outages

[Ray Clark]

We have a 22KW generator that supplies power to one of our two house breaker panels. The generator is propane fueled since we do not have natural gas service. Heat pump over propane aux burner is how we heat the house in the winter (Iowa climate). We have a 1000 gallon propane tank.

With care, we can operate as normal (AC or heat as the season dictates, well water, most lighting circuits, refrigerators and freezer, and the shop does have power to keep it heated in the winter).

We had several outages this year with all of the severe weather. The longest outage was 21 hours. I'm glad I don't have to mess with gasoline. The automated nature of the backup generator means I don't have to be concerned about my wife dealing with it if I'm not home when the outage occurs.

 

[Lost But Happy]

We have a 22KW generator that supplies power to one of our two house breaker panels. The generator is propane fueled since we do not have natural gas service. Heat pump over propane aux burner is how we heat the house in the winter (Iowa climate). We have a 1000 gallon propane tank.

With care, we can operate as normal (AC or heat as the season dictates, well water, most lighting circuits, refrigerators and freezer, and the shop does have power to keep it heated in the winter).

We had several outages this year with all of the severe weather. The longest outage was 21 hours. I'm glad I don't have to mess with gasoline. The automated nature of the backup generator means I don't have to be concerned about my wife dealing with it if I'm not home when the outage occurs.

Forgot to mention we have the auto transfer panel as well. Very nice feature and well worth the extra coin.

 

[moedelawn]

We just lost power from hurricane Francine for a few days and I used a 6 kw light tower. It’s has a 1800 rpm Kubota. I installed an easy start on my ac (3 ton) it ran it with no problems. I don’t have NG in my neighborhood and didn’t want a propane tank. I can run 1 220 device at a time along with freezers refrigerators lights etc. I burned 8 gallons a day running nonstop. It has 30 gallons built in and I had 55 gallons extra. I’ll use the diesel at my camp so it won’t go bad. The only downside is its not automatic and the led lights flicker a lot. The regular bulbs didn’t. I installed some amp gauges to monitor the amount of draw. The unit is quieter than the neighbors gas 5500 watt unit

 

[thill]

When I first moved to Washington there was a huge ice and wind storm in the Pacific Northwest. Power was out in several states. Being in a rural area our house had no power for three weeks and intermittent power for another six weeks.

I installed a 240V outlet at the panel, shut off the main breakers and back fed the house with a 6kW generator. It wasn’t ideal but we could run the fridge, a few lights and watch TV. Fortunately the furnace was propane.

I had similar incidents at my remote log cabin in California. No power for two weeks.

Funny that this topic came up. The power is out right now. I’m out for a bourbon and a sandwich. Cheers!

That sounds like us here. Pick up some gas while you are out. Hopefully, it will be back on soon.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

I don't how long my generator will really run on it's 7-gallon tank. Knowing that will tell me how long my 18-gallon auxiliary tank will last. Between the 2 tank I'll have 25 gallons. I have to count all of my gas cans. I will report back.

When I add up all of my approved fuel containers I can have 140 gallons of fuel.

 

[Pianobluz]

I have a 9400 w gas generator that I back feed into my electrical panel. I have a separate breaker for this generator and it will theoretically power the whole house including HVAC. In the event of a power outage, I have to shut off the main breaker in the house to avoid backfeeding electrical power to the grid. I had this box installed so I can plug directly into the house via a 40-ft electrical connection. As long as I have gas, I can power my home for as long as I need.
For a shorter power outage duration, I had this Bluetti 3000 W Inverter with 2 3000 watt lithium ion batteries.
With this I can power essentials for a few days.
If needed, I can recharge with 2 800 watt solar panels.
I hope to never have to use any of it.

 

[Crazyboat]

I have a 9400 w gas generator that I back feed into my electrical panel. I have a separate breaker for this generator and it will theoretically power the whole house including HVAC. In the event of a power outage, I have to shut off the main breaker in the house to avoid backfeeding electrical power to the grid. I had this box installed so I can plug directly into the house via a 40-ft electrical connection. As long as I have gas, I can power my home for as long as I need.
For a shorter power outage duration, I had this Bluetti 3000 W Inverter with 2 3000 watt lithium ion batteries.
With this I can power essentials for a few days.
If needed, I can recharge with 2 800 watt solar panels.
I hope to never have to use any of it.View attachment 123026View attachment 123027

I like this set up, expensive, but I like it! I like others members have mentioned as well, I just don't have the need for that much power.

 

[Crazyboat]

I've read that some of the battery back up systems (the smaller ones) will recharge from a wall outlet in 1.2 hours or so. All I need is a small 2,500 watt inverter and run it to charge the batteries. Again, per the battery makers they can run the fridge for about 24 hours. Charging a laptop or two intermittently and a few cell phones won't be much of a draw. I don't see why this "plan" won't work, please if someone thinks it won't let me know why so I can alter it.

 

[LDUBS]

I've read that some of the battery back up systems (the smaller ones) will recharge from a wall outlet in 1.2 hours or so. All I need is a small 2,500 watt inverter and run it to charge the batteries. Again, per the battery makers they can run the fridge for about 24 hours. Charging a laptop or two intermittently and a few cell phones won't be much of a draw. I don't see why this "plan" won't work, please if someone thinks it won't let me know why so I can alter it.

This is all way over my head. When it comes to essential power demands, I would also want enough juice to power the wifi router (or whatever it is called).

 

[Crazyboat]

This is all way over my head. When it comes to essential power demands, I would also want enough juice to power the wifi router (or whatever it is called).

I neglected to add that in this post, but yes, it is in my previous post. In an emergency situation (where I am in NJ) power has never in my life gone out more then 24 hours at a time. So whole house genset and having all the luxury items some have also aren't needed. I just want to keep the food from spoiling, have a light or 2 on as needed and be able to watch a movie on a laptop.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

In an emergency situation (where I am in NJ) power has never in my life gone out more then 24 hours at a time.

You must be well inland to have escaped Sandy. My daughter had just moved to NE NJ and lost power for a week. She had to drive to Middletown NY to recharge cell and laptop. Not to mention the nervous parents in upstate that couldn’t reach her.

 

[airshot]

We have a 22KW generator that supplies power to one of our two house breaker panels. The generator is propane fueled since we do not have natural gas service. Heat pump over propane aux burner is how we heat the house in the winter (Iowa climate). We have a 1000 gallon propane tank.

With care, we can operate as normal (AC or heat as the season dictates, well water, most lighting circuits, refrigerators and freezer, and the shop does have power to keep it heated in the winter).

We had several outages this year with all of the severe weather. The longest outage was 21 hours. I'm glad I don't have to mess with gasoline. The automated nature of the backup generator means I don't have to be concerned about my wife dealing with it if I'm not home when the outage occurs.

Years back, some friends in Florida were involved in a hurricane and went without power for almost 5 days. They have a big propane powered emergency generator that runs their entire home. After 5 days of constant service it hardly made a dent in there propane supply from their 500 gallon tank.