Jen-pi
Lovin' The Homestead
WOW.Denim Deb said:
For Those Unprepared, Will It Be Like This..??
- Thread starter DuppyDo
- Start date
k0xxx
Mr. Sunshine
I hate to be a killjoy, but I can't see that working. An efficient running freezer may only use a couple hundred watts, but on start-up, they can pull several thousand. Let us know how it works out.Emerald said:
What does that cost to install. I've seen the generators for around 10k plumbed and wired. Is that pretty accurate for a new unit? What kind of maintenance do they require if they are running for a long time. How much propane do they use. How much noise do they make.SKR8PN said:
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
Oh Crap! I didn't' think about that! But with the car on would it just pop the fuse that is in the inverter? Now ya got me to thinking that more research is needed!. Being an ex-electronic repair gal I should know better than to just go for broke!k0xxx said:
SKR8PN
Late For Supper
I shopped around HARD before I bought my unit.Dunkopf said:
My set up was about 4500 including the 200 amp automatic transfer switch, and ,if I remember correctly, about 6- 700 for installation., but I have friends in low places.
I already had the propane tank and the line ran fairly close to the generator, so the propane company ran a new short section of line and installed the regulator for free. All of this about 6 or 7 years ago as well, so prices may be up a bit.Noise isn't to bad really. The unit sets about 3ft away from the back wall of the house, about 4 ft off our deck, and when it comes on, you can still carry a conversation. You just have to talk a little bit louder!
Maintenance consists of oil changes every few hundred hours and so far the only other thing was a battery replacement. I also bought the optional battery warmer and oil warmer so it starts much easier in winter. It has an exercise program that I set up to run every Sunday afternoon for 20 minutes. That keeps everything lubed and at the ready for when you really need it. The big problem most folks have with a generator, is they NEVER run it, or change the gasoline in the tank, or even add any fuel stabilizer...... Then when they REALLY need it, it won't run.
Or setup doesn't use very much propane at all, but then again, it all depends on how much of a load you are putting on it as well. I am guessing that if need be, and I was FRUGAL with the loads and run time, a 500 gallon tank of propane could last about 6 months.
Sounds like a sweet setup.SKR8PN said:I shopped around HARD before I bought my unit.Dunkopf said:
My set up was about 4500 including the 200 amp automatic transfer switch, and ,if I remember correctly, about 6- 700 for installation., but I have friends in low places.
Noise isn't to bad really. The unit sets about 3ft away from the back wall of the house, about 4 ft off our deck, and when it comes on, you can still carry a conversation. You just have to talk a little bit louder!
Maintenance consists of oil changes every few hundred hours and so far the only other thing was a battery replacement. I also bought the optional battery warmer and oil warmer so it starts much easier in winter. It has an exercise program that I set up to run every Sunday afternoon for 20 minutes. That keeps everything lubed and at the ready for when you really need it. The big problem most folks have with a generator, is they NEVER run it, or change the gasoline in the tank, or even add any fuel stabilizer...... Then when they REALLY need it, it won't run.
Or setup doesn't use very much propane at all, but then again, it all depends on how much of a load you are putting on it as well. I am guessing that if need be, and I was FRUGAL with the loads and run time, a 500 gallon tank of propane could last about 6 months.
rhoda_bruce
Almost Self-Reliant
I live in fairly close proximity to New Orleans. I reside in Lafourche, which is somewhat closer to the Gulf and I was working in Terrebonne Parish @ the time of Katrina, as a nurse. It was a terribly fearly storm.
I could go into details about how all the alarms went off at about 4am and how fast we had to throw all the patients in wheelchairs and rush them to the dayroom, etc, but really, what I feel it taught me was survival skills.
We went without power for about 10 days. We had a generator ordered, which we were expecting very shortly after the storm, but after days of waiting (while our freezer was slowly thawing), we learned that the 18 wheeler carrying our generator was stopped @ the border of LA and the generators were all confinscated.
Our oldest child was in highschool in Nachoditch and it was time for her to come home for an extended weekend, so my husband took the 6 hour trip to get her and returned with her and a 13 HP generator, which we named Katrina. He also bought all the gasoline tanks and filled them there and tanked up his truck long before entering Lafourche....smart choice.
Shortly after hooking up the generator to all our bare necessities, the power was restored.
We lost about 700.00 of frozen foods....very precious shrimp and ribeyes had been eaten as they thawed. It was very discouraging.
Allow me to say at this point that I have no problems with the assistance received on the federal level, except for FEMA, who decided I had structural damage and roof damage and awarded me with 68.00 to repair my roof and 200.00 to set my house straight again.....but my main problem was more the govenor's lack of response. She was the one that was supposed to send the National Guard, but she needed 24 hours to think and ask her advisors, while people were drowning, being eaten by alligators, starving, etc. Also decent people had their firearms taken from them by the police.....thankyou very much. And who exactly was supposed to protect them?
We saw houses and trailers turned over and the sugarcane flat on the ground. Things leaning up against telephone poles, that weren't supposed to be there. It was bad.
But we stay. We stay home and turn off the lights to hide and don't answer our phones, just in case someone tries to force us to leave. We don't have our freezers loaded down with food, but we have some, plus lots of flour, beans, rice, dried goods and Emergency Essentials. We fill lots of clean containers with water before a storm and long before we know we are even in the hurricanes path, we fill every vehicle, generator and spare gas tank we have with gas. Oh........yeah, we have about 7 guns in the house too and we never allow any of them to be out of ammo.
There are about 25 houses down our street and about 5 of them have residents that stay behind, to keep things running smooth.
Honestly though, I read the article about the New Orleans episode. If I wouldn't have been home, I would have wanted the most decent person possible to break into my house, causing the least possible damage, and neatly and kindly assume residence, until they could leave. I mean, I could easily forgive my thawing food being eaten, if the person eating it, would have swept up the broken glass and duct taped cardboard to my broken windows and start piling up broken branches in a burn pile, etc.
I could go into details about how all the alarms went off at about 4am and how fast we had to throw all the patients in wheelchairs and rush them to the dayroom, etc, but really, what I feel it taught me was survival skills.
We went without power for about 10 days. We had a generator ordered, which we were expecting very shortly after the storm, but after days of waiting (while our freezer was slowly thawing), we learned that the 18 wheeler carrying our generator was stopped @ the border of LA and the generators were all confinscated.
Our oldest child was in highschool in Nachoditch and it was time for her to come home for an extended weekend, so my husband took the 6 hour trip to get her and returned with her and a 13 HP generator, which we named Katrina. He also bought all the gasoline tanks and filled them there and tanked up his truck long before entering Lafourche....smart choice.
Shortly after hooking up the generator to all our bare necessities, the power was restored.
We lost about 700.00 of frozen foods....very precious shrimp and ribeyes had been eaten as they thawed. It was very discouraging.
Allow me to say at this point that I have no problems with the assistance received on the federal level, except for FEMA, who decided I had structural damage and roof damage and awarded me with 68.00 to repair my roof and 200.00 to set my house straight again.....but my main problem was more the govenor's lack of response. She was the one that was supposed to send the National Guard, but she needed 24 hours to think and ask her advisors, while people were drowning, being eaten by alligators, starving, etc. Also decent people had their firearms taken from them by the police.....thankyou very much. And who exactly was supposed to protect them?
We saw houses and trailers turned over and the sugarcane flat on the ground. Things leaning up against telephone poles, that weren't supposed to be there. It was bad.
But we stay. We stay home and turn off the lights to hide and don't answer our phones, just in case someone tries to force us to leave. We don't have our freezers loaded down with food, but we have some, plus lots of flour, beans, rice, dried goods and Emergency Essentials. We fill lots of clean containers with water before a storm and long before we know we are even in the hurricanes path, we fill every vehicle, generator and spare gas tank we have with gas. Oh........yeah, we have about 7 guns in the house too and we never allow any of them to be out of ammo.
There are about 25 houses down our street and about 5 of them have residents that stay behind, to keep things running smooth.
Honestly though, I read the article about the New Orleans episode. If I wouldn't have been home, I would have wanted the most decent person possible to break into my house, causing the least possible damage, and neatly and kindly assume residence, until they could leave. I mean, I could easily forgive my thawing food being eaten, if the person eating it, would have swept up the broken glass and duct taped cardboard to my broken windows and start piling up broken branches in a burn pile, etc.
i_am2bz
Lovin' The Homestead
Strange you should say that, rhoda_bruce, b/c I just saw something recently (of course, I can't remember where now), but it was video of an elderly lady being questioned by authorities (NOPD?) after the hurricane went thru...they wanted her to vacate, she refused, saying something like "I'll be okay, I have a gun." So they confiscated it. The reporter (or whoever was filming) turned the camera on her, she looks both furious & depressed at the same time...she throws up her hands, like, so what am I supposed to do now?? :/ Sad, sad, sad.rhoda_bruce said:
rhoda_bruce
Almost Self-Reliant
I may have seen that. The footage I saw, was like you described, but then they tackled her and forced her down and took her handgun. She had done nothing wrong and had food and water and didn't want to leave home.
Some people can't understand me staying. But it is expensive, tiring and sometimes even dangerous to evacuate. Then when will they allow you to come home and what will you come home to?
A lot of people saw the old lady get roughed up on tv and I promise you a lot of people will shut up about their guns now, so they can hold onto them.
Some people can't understand me staying. But it is expensive, tiring and sometimes even dangerous to evacuate. Then when will they allow you to come home and what will you come home to?
A lot of people saw the old lady get roughed up on tv and I promise you a lot of people will shut up about their guns now, so they can hold onto them.
i_am2bz
Lovin' The Homestead
Wow, I missed that part! Disgusting. But, I'm very sorry to say, I'm really not all that surprized at this point.rhoda_bruce said:
Yep. I'd be in that crowd. You're better off keeping your mouth shut. :/
