Generators
Fifteen years or so ago, my Father-In-Law acquired a
portable, 5000 watt generator for use in an emergency. Stored in his garage, its presence reminded
me that my family would be better off
in an emergency if we had a backup
power generator. But, whenever the
lights go out at my house, the darkness has never been long enough that I
kicked myself for not having an alternate power source. However, me kicking myself and my wife
wanting to kick me are two separate discussions, and last year a minor (to me)
incident occurred during bad weather at our house that found us in the
Airstream watching The Weather Channel
while the mighty Suburban idled to keep my Overlander’s battery ready to handle
both the furnace cycling, and the TV briefing us on current conditions. So I started casually monitoring the
Internet’s “emergency power” threads.
A few months ago, Kim &
I drove over to see a new workshop her dad was building. As he was building the structure on a lot out
in the county, he chose to use a generator during construction instead of
having temporary power run to the site.
Oddly, he was using a new generator instead of the one I was familiar
with. Come to find out, he hadn’t
started the old one in so long that it was too gummed up to function. Unable to get it running, he had left in a
corner of the new structure & opted to buy a new one.
One hobby that I used to
really enjoy is small engine repair, and I asked if I could buy the old
generator from him. The generator’s
acquisition would have been perfect – a fun project for me and a low-cost
solution to my emergency power needs.
Unfortunately, Kim’s dad had already promised the generator to one of
his nephews. But, the experience
jump-started me into resolving my lack-of-emergency-power situation.
There are many things to consider when selecting a
generator. I boiled my major decisions
down to two: Maximum power required in a
prolonged emergency, and noise level.
After careful consideration & painstaking research, I decided that
our emergency abode would be the Airstream serviced by a Honda EU2000i
Companion for the following reasons:
·
It’s quiet – The
one Kim’s dad had was LOUD!
·
A 2000 watt
generator is strong enough to run a small space heater in the Airstream if we
run out of propane.
·
The Honda
generator is quiet.
·
This generator
will run up to 15 hours on one gallon of gas.
·
It’s quiet.
·
This particular
generator has the parallel kit built in
o Add another EU2000i and the Airstream’s air
conditioner will work should we ever boondock for pleasure.
·
The Honda’s
inverter technology means clean power to the Airstream.
·
It’s quiet.
So, I bought a new Honda EU2000i
Companion and an adapter to allow my Airstream to plug directly into
it. Number 1 son & I slept in the
Airstream the following night with outside temperatures dipping into the lower
40s. The generator did a fine job of
powering the converter, space heater, and LCD TV. Life was good. I could now rest easier at night knowing
that, in an emergency, a less-than-50-pound generator could be toted a short
distance from storage, and placed into operation to keep my family
comfortable. Kim smiled & nodded a
lot as I patted myself on the back about my emergency preparedness.
No more than a month after
my thousand dollar purchase, Kim’s folks stopped by the house to visit. At one point, her dad asked me if I still
wanted his old generator as Eddie appeared to have lost interest in coming over
to get it. I immediately said “Yes”
because the challenge of getting it running was somewhat akin to the mating
instinct of the long-horned elk I used to see in Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.
As an unexpected bonus, Kim was suspiciously receptive to the idea. Did you notice that the title to this page is
plural?
The next day, all four of us
headed out after a big rain to claim my next project. Four-wheel-drive-high with no winch was all
my truck needed, but I left an
Repairs were relatively cheap and easy, and the
generator roared back into service with gusto after its 15 year hiatus. Come to find out, Kim had been paying
attention when I said this type of generator produces 220 vac,
the type of voltage needed to run our house’s natural gas furnace’s blower
motor. While she really likes my
Airstream, the possibility of lounging on our queen-size bed watching the 32-inch
LCD TV in a bad situation had a stronger appeal.
Seeing the calm look on her
face as she watched the generator run, I shouted, over the din, that a transfer
switch & many dollars worth of additional wiring would be required to allow
the generator to interface with house wiring.
After seeing the, “…and what is your point?” look on her face, I
realized the project had been financially green-lighted.
Typically, a backup generator connects to select
house wiring circuits by means of transfer switches. The generator is NOT hooked directly to the
house’s incoming power line for many reasons, the main one being shock hazard
to the Utility Company’s lineman who may be up in a bucket lift trying to fix
the reason the power went out in the first place. After researching the myriad of transfer switch choices available, and
considering how infrequently (if ever) the generator would be used, I opted for
a very simple, two-circuit, outdoor transfer switch (shown at right guarded by
Cookie).
When switched, the generator will power the furnace
and a couple of dedicated, 20-amp outlets in the centrally-located laundry
room. The plan is to run extension cords
from the outlets to the refrigerator, freezer, TV, or whatever we think needs
electricity during an unplanned power outage.
Although completely checked
out, the new system has not, as yet, been called upon to help us out in bad
weather. Looking into my crystal ball, I
foresee that happening when there is a foot of snow on the ground at below-zero
temperatures, and “starting the generator every so often” has dropped off my
to-do list. But, for now, we’re ready!
Footnote:
Most of my fun on this
project came from repairing & load testing the big generator, and figuring
out what gear was needed to hook the generator up to the house. Feel free to email
me with any technical questions. If
there’s enough interest, I will build another web page full of dry, technical
detail.