Sufficient Self Forum

Awesome!!  A generator is a great thing to have!

We had the same issues when we bought our first generator. We had really wanted a diesel, and one with a better muffled exhaust. However, it is better to have one that's not perfect, than to not one. Just having one provides some peace of mind.

Just be sure to keep the tank full (helps keep moisture from forming the tank), and to use a fuel additive to keep the gas stable. Also, set up a schedule to run it regularly, and it should give you years of good service. A lot of people buy one, fuel it up, try it, and then put it up and forget about it until it's needed. Then their surprised when it won't run or start.

Congratulations on you purchase.

The most effective generation equipment I have seen is one that attaches to the 3 point hitch of my small tractor.  You don't have to worry about storing fuel in it and most of us keep some extra fuel for the tractor handy on the farm.
 
This type of generator is usually more powerful than the ones available that are powered by small engines and the tractor can idle (diesel) for long periods of time and remain very fuel efficient.  The drag on the engine from the generator is nearly infinitessimal by comparison to a 5 HP gas engine which will run about 4 - 6 hours on 4-6 gallons of gasoline.  If you are paying $4/gallon for gas (it's $2.84 around here right now) then gasoline motors are NOT cost efficient.  You figure it will cost you nearly $68/day to run a gasoline generator if you keep it going for 24 hours at a time.  (Makes the power companies seem reasonable, doesn't it?)

To my way of thinking, using a generator to charge deep cycle batteries would be a more effective use of the power.  You use the power as you need, and you get the use of almost all of the power in a reasonable distribution.  Imagine how little power is requred to run LED light bulbs or even CF bulbs (13 watt = 60 watts incandescent light) The initial cost for these bulbs and equipment is currently astronomical because everyone is "on the band wagon" knowing that "green is the way to go".   The batteries are rather expensive too. (AGM batteries will cost nearly $300 each)

The result however is that the  batteries will power LED bulbs for a long time and  then your generator doesn't have to run constantly.  This is the same thing that a submarine does. You won't hear the batteries.  You can run the generator at other "high sound times" and not at night when you want to sleep.

Of course, solar panels and wind turbines will do this but they have high cost right now as well.  The gasoline motor generators will give you power immediately if needed for a brief emergency but not great for sustained need.

YMMV
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