Generator is working the night shift. UPDATE! Everything has survived over 15 hours with just a 900 watt generator and very little sleep.

[Mical]

I feel your pains & admire your ambition... I struggled for years whether it be from snowstorms here in Minnesota, tornadoes or high winds, etc... I ran a portable generator, UPS's , battery back-ups, inverters from batteries and finally this year we bought and had installed a 16k whole house Generac generator. YES it's an investment but if you own your home It will increase the value, but the better part is "peace of mind" when power does go down - this kicks on and runs everything. I've had it less than 3 months and it's come into play twice now. I let neighbors on either side of me run extension cords to my garage so they can plug their freezers in. My 16kw cost $7800 installed and has been worth every penny.

 

[ScottJ]

Glad you made it through! Your animals thank you for all the hard work you did to keep them safe. My wife and I have talked about a whole house generator before. Reading through this thread makes me want to bring up the subject again

 

[JasonK84]

Glad you made it through! Your animals thank you for all the hard work you did to keep them safe. My wife and I have talked about a whole house generator before. Reading through this thread makes me want to bring up the subject again

If I’m going to make it happen it’ll be at bonus time in December or tax return season. I think it’s what I’m pushing for.

 

[JasonK84]

I feel your pains & admire your ambition... I struggled for years whether it be from snowstorms here in Minnesota, tornadoes or high winds, etc... I ran a portable generator, UPS's , battery back-ups, inverters from batteries and finally this year we bought and had installed a 16k whole house Generac generator. YES it's an investment but if you own your home It will increase the value, but the better part is "peace of mind" when power does go down - this kicks on and runs everything. I've had it less than 3 months and it's come into play twice now. I let neighbors on either side of me run extension cords to my garage so they can plug their freezers in. My 16kw cost $7800 installed and has been worth every penny.

So I’m just trying to figure out how big I need to go to keep everything going as if nothing happened. My highest usage during the hottest months is just over 3,000 kWh for a months billing cycle. Winter time is much lower with the AC not working hard or at all.

 

[JasonK84]

This little guy is a trooper. His tank temp dropped down to 68 degrees. The lowest temp of all the tanks since it is only a 5 gallon tank with only 4 actual gallons of water. (It isn’t staying there. He is temporarily residing in the coral QT until the clowns go to their new tank then he’ll go to the 30 reef with the Anthias. The anthias will join in the 120 once it grows out some).
Glad I didn’t lose this beauty!

 

[JasonK84]

Here is where all of the “action” was taking place. Too much going on in here to not be fully prepared. My build thread badge will take you to a page with links to each tank including the mantis shrimp tank and tortoise enclosure. Check them out and let me know what you think. Still more to come with my custom Octo Aquatics @cromag27 acrylic divider for clown fish pairs. He worked with me from concept to creation starting with an idea I had on a slow day at work over a year and a half ago. Not his fault it took so long. I was needing the outbuilding finished first. It will hold up to 5 pairs of clownfish or 5 separate species tanks like anglerfish or other really cool specimens for display.

 

[Mical]

So I’m just trying to figure out how big I need to go to keep everything going as if nothing happened. My highest usage during the hottest months is just over 3,000 kWh for a months billing cycle. Winter time is much lower with the AC not working hard or at all.

First off there's a couple good brands out there, shop around in your area.

For me I had a Generac years ago in Florida and it was a "God Sent" - it saved my butt tenfold. So when I started shopping here in Minnesota I contacted Generac, Briggs & Stratton and one other who wasn't a contender. Both Briggs & Generac make excellent Gens but the Briggs guy was anxious to make the deal and wouldn't answer some questions I had. The Generac guy was "good people" - no pressure lots of options Whole house or "you pick the circuits" you want protected. The 16k unit was plenty for our 2400sq ft home besides all the basics home electricals, I have a heated & AC 2.5 car garage and NO fireplace. (our old place had a gas fireplace which came in handy in power outages) The pros outweighed the cons.

The generator flips on when power is off for 10 secs automatically & it runs on natural gas. I don't have to drag out extension cords, gas can, plug generator into house circuits, chase gas for generator drudge out in rough weather to sort things out.

Trust me, I know what you're going through I survived hurricanes Katrina & Wilma and probably lost a couple of years off my life drudging electrical stuff to survive but once you have one - you'll sleep better. PM me if you have questions or if I can help

 

[JasonK84]

First off there's a couple good brands out there, shop around in your area.

For me I had a Generac years ago in Florida and it was a "God Sent" - it saved my butt tenfold. So when I started shopping here in Minnesota I contacted Generac, Briggs & Stratton and one other who wasn't a contender. Both Briggs & Generac make excellent Gens but the Briggs guy was anxious to make the deal and wouldn't answer some questions I had. The Generac guy was "good people" - no pressure lots of options Whole house or "you pick the circuits" you want protected. The 16k unit was plenty for our 2400sq ft home besides all the basics home electricals, I have a heated & AC 2.5 car garage and NO fireplace. (our old place had a gas fireplace which came in handy in power outages) The pros outweighed the cons.

The generator flips on when power is off for 10 secs automatically & it runs on natural gas. I don't have to drag out extension cords, gas can, plug generator into house circuits, chase gas for generator drudge out in rough weather to sort things out.

Trust me, I know what you're going through I survived hurricanes Katrina & Wilma and probably lost a couple of years off my life drudging electrical stuff to survive but once you have one - you'll sleep better. PM me if you have questions or if I can help

Thanks for the information. I know a whole home generator is what “I” want but I also need to brainwash the wife to feel the same way! I mean, I do need her bonus check and all if I want to make it happen this year and not have to wait another year. Either way I’m pulling for it but if I do end up needing another year then my next purchase will be a larger portable from my RO/DI upgrade fund. It’ll be 100x better than what I have now. Then when I do finally get the whole home generator I’ll have the small ones to share with friends or family. If I have any questions I will be contacting you. Thanks for being available and for hanging out. I never went to sleep after everything finally came back on yesterday. Just kept going between enclosures and checking in on everything. Last night I went to bed and slept very good!

 

[JasonK84]

Here’s the other building inhabitants that didn’t get any mention during the outage. They are equipped to handle the cold so they were completely fine. My wife’s bunnies. She got them about 3 weeks ago. Pampered little girls.

 

[JasonK84]

And of course the dog, Teddy (Tedward) the 6 year old Yorkie with a schnauzer cut.

 

[Mical]

Love it "Tedward"... And I thought neighbors Doberman "Runu" was funny (AKA Run You M%^$^&)

 

[h2so4hurts]

I have this setup, not quite whole house, takes about 10 minutes to set everything up. We lost power for 3 days a couple years back and running extension cords from the cars just to power the fridge and a couple tank pumps was a huge pain. Now I have 10 circuits to cover the most important outlets/appliances (well pump, septic system, tankless water heater, etc) in the house and ONE to power the pumps on the tank.

10-Circuit 30 Amp Manual Transfer Switch Kit

Reliance Controls 10-Circuit 30 Amp Manual Transfer Switch Kit 310CRK - The Home Depot

This 10-circuit, 30 Amp manual transfer switch kit includes everything needed to make a professional transfer switch installation in a home, office, or small business. It is completely pre-wired and designed

www.homedepot.com

Westinghouse WGen7500DF Dual Fuel Portable Generator 7500 Rated & 9500 Peak Watts, Gas or Propane Powered, Electric Start

https://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-WGen7500DF-Dual-Portable-Generator/dp/B078964VVX/

 

[Mical]

I went with this

 

[h2so4hurts]

I went with this

About $6,000 installed? For how little I use it the manual option seemed more prudent but would love a generac if I was in heavy snow or major hurricane country

 

[Mical]

About $6,000 installed? For how little I use it the manual option seemed more prudent but would love a generac if I was in heavy snow or major hurricane country

In Minnesota yeah $7800 installed (2 state permits are $600 ea) In our case it was an easy but not inexpensive decision and have used it twice since install in July.

 

[JasonK84]

In Minnesota yeah $7800 installed (2 state permits are $600 ea) In our case it was an easy but not inexpensive decision and have used it twice since install in July.

Why state permits?

 

[Mical]

State & local city electrical installation permits. Has to be a certain distance from the house windows (exhaust from Generator) and interior connections need to be certified safe.

 

[JasonK84]

Working on a magnetic coral mount from some old eflux circulation pump magnets. Going to mount my Red Planet acro to the side glass and just let it grow. Can move it until it finds its perfect spot.

 

[JasonK84]

what do you guys think? Should I frag this piece and mount it to the magnet and have 2 growing or mount the whole colony? When I got this from a local reefer I mounted it to rock rubble and it has nearly completely encrusted that rock and is about to start encrusting onto the main aqua scape. So for now I can easily move the whole colony.

 

[Konacorals]

I’ve now filled the generator 5 times. I’m getting a little over 2 hours between fillings. I just used the last of the mix I made at 4:30 this morning and just filled it again.

garage smells like gas so I’ve got the garage door propped open to vent the fumes out.

This might not be helpful... but holy cow! Thank goodness I live in Florida! I have like 50,000$ in coral just in one take, I’d be a nervous wreck! Hang in there!