I knew this would happen

[clovishound]

Power went out last night about 0 dark thirty. Still out when I got up. I sleep late, because of my work schedule. After getting up, wife told me a substation went out during the storm and they expected power back on shortly. I waited, drove around the neighborhood to survey damage. Finally decided I'd better dig out the generator and cords.

I've never used it for real. Bought it a year and a half ago to have for hurricane outages. Fired it up, tested it, and mothballed it. Decided I'd better hook it up and cool the fridges down before going to work. Got out the generator, gassed it up, ran the cords. The tough part was pulling the two fridges away from the wall and moving things so I could get to the power cords for them. Finally got everything hooked up, and went on the internet to see if there was an update on the power.

Yep, power came back on. I was on genny power maybe 20 minutes total. Most of that was hooking up the second fridge.

[Shakey Jake]

We were supposed to get bad weather late Saturday through Sunday morning but it never happened. Sorry you went through that ordeal but at least you know the generator still works.
Jake

[BrokenolMarine]

Our power went out at 645am, so the whole house genny monitors briefly to insure it's actually out, then kicks on. As a byproduct of any power loss, we get multiple alarms. The doorbells both chime when they reset, the printer chimes, the driveway alarm tones as well. Sounds like chapel bells at Christmas.

Power was out until just after ten, then the Genny spooled down. Back on main power. For forty five minutes. Alarms again when the genny kicked back on. power just came back up at two thirty.

Supposed to be steady rain thru Thursday.

[RanchRoper]

We are seriously looking at a generator for our place as well. We lose power often.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

The Power Outage actually did you a favor. I only wish we had a Power Outage like that when we needed one. I'll explain. I was new to Generators a few years back. Bought a nice new one, brought it home and tested both the Engine and the Electrical Components. What I didn't know and learned the hard way, is that you should start and run both, 2 or 3 times a year. It's important to keep the Electrical Components in running order, most importantly, as well as the Engine. Although I would start the Engine periodically, I never knew about the Electrical part.

When I finally did get a Power Outage, luck would have it that it was a few months past Warranty, as the Electrics were dead. I tried everything in the book and finally brought it down to an Authorized Dealer, who checked it out thoroughly and told me that so many parts burnt out, that it wasn't worth fixing. I fought like heck to get the manufacturer to cover it, as I strongly believed it was broke before the Warranty was up, but had no way of proving it. I was out of luck. They would not do a thing for me.

Glad to see that your Generator ran great, most likely before your Warranty is up.

[cooperhawk]

We are seriously looking at a generator for our place as well. We lose power often.

We've also been talking about that. We live in a pretty remote area and we often lose power in the Summer.
going to take a look at Gererack.

[CT_Shooter]

I've had a portable generator for decades, mainly because I have well water. We had an electrician install a switch beside the main fuse box that carries six circuits from the generator to the well pump, furnace, refrigerator, microwave, entertainment system, computers, and bathrooms. The generator itself is 8000 watts, on wheels, and I store it in the garage. When power fails, I move it onto the driveway, plug the heavy cable from the switch into it, and fire it up, then throw the switch to cut the power over. It keeps everything running for ten continuous hours on a tank of gas, though I've only had to use it once or twice a year, at most, and for just a few hours at a time. The longest we were ever without power was about a decade ago after a hurricane: ten miserable days.

[Ernie]

I have wanted a Generac for years. I have two portables large enough to power the house including the well but it is inconvenient and noisy. Have to back feed the main while disconnecting the power line feeder. I did talk my 92 year old father into installing one as he has several sumps the has to keep running during heavy rains or his house floods. His works well and tests itself once a month. In the 4 years since he has passed his wife tells me she has only needed it twice but it good to have ready. Someday I will make the plunge as our power goes out 3-4 times a year.
I have been tempted to convert mine to natural gas so I don't have to keep running to get gas and if the outage is large that can be a real problem.

[RanchRoper]

Other than the house stuff, I run heaters in the horse water tank, and the water pump house which supplies everything. Not good if it's out for too long at 30 below.

[fortyshooter]

I bought a Honda 2200i hand carry unit about a year ago and have used it twice when power would go out. It's plenty to run the fridge and several lights and the TV during a power outage. Technically it could power up my gas furnace according to the watt rating of the system central blower.

[GeoBoy]

My Honda 2000i will power the fridge, hot water heater, furnace and a couple of lights. I shut the main off and then back power the house thru a dedicated 20 amp circuit in my garage.

[Travlin]

Be careful with the backfeeding because it can be dangerous. When I was still active as a contractor you would be amazed at some the "here's you sign" moments. One woman had a new generator and was going to run it in the garage that was part of the house. I told her that she and her children would wake up dead. When I went back a few weeks later, she had returned it. Also remember the more the load or longer distance calls for a heavier cord . I use a number 10 for my 8550 KW Generac .

[BrokenolMarine]

Backfeeding is fine if it's done correctly, with a cutout, that isolates the circuits from the main power lines. When we ran a portable the first few years on the farm, we had an electrician set it up, and a permanent checklist for startup and shutdown mounted beside the connection point.

Incorrectly done you could backfeed generator power into the main powerlines by mistake, and injure or kill the electrical company crewmembers trying repair the lines they have powered down to perform their maintenance. We had the power company check our hookup before we used it.

[Travlin]

Exactly

[Mags]

.
We have a 'Main' breaker that when off isolates the house circuits from the in-coming power line. We also have a start up/shut down check list we follow for connecting and running the generator. The check list includes pad locking the Main in the off position.

That aside, some local building codes require an automated transfer switch.

[clovishound]

While YOU may know how to isolate the box, someone else may come behind you and flip the main breaker without a lockout. If a non code setup kills a utility worker you are in deep kimchee. Not to mention having that on your conscience.

Yes, I sort of looked at this as a good practice run. I thought about firing this genny up last fall, a year from purchase, but never got around to it. Guess I'll be mothballing it tomorrow. I looked into a sub panel that runs a couple circuits, but really didn't feel like spending the money and time on the project given how infrequently we are out of power. Actually, I would never have bought one if the wife hadn't insisted. My one regret on this unit is it has the 3 prong genny plug. That means no 220 ( not that big a deal) and harder to find plugs for hookup to main breaker box. I didn't realize there were two types of gen plugs until I got the unit and found out the cord I bought wouldn't plug in. Did a fair amount of research before buying, but somehow missed that aspect.

[BrokenolMarine]

When we first looked into the whole house genny, the company came out and asked what circuits we wanted to run on the recommended 14k genny. "ALL of them, the whole house, hence the term, whole house genny.". Well Duh.

"That would take like... 20k."

"Well, like, write it up for a 20k install."

He said with 14k, we could run most things, except the shop (where the freezers were,) and the power for the electric fences, and the security cameras...

Oh, and no AC in the summer. If you want to use hot water just flip off the fridge and furnace until you're done.

"Yeah, 20k"