Generators 2023: Do you have one, what's the wattage & what equipment will you run with it?

[JonoH]

My Brother in law installs UPS's in hospitals, so i have been in chats with him about having one of these put in for the odd times our power does drop out (Max a couple of hours maybe a few times a year).

Any delays longer than that i could always grab a Generator from work or hire one.

 

[rknapp]

24kVA Generac to run the whole house here. Like someone else said, it’s about piece of mind for whether I am here or not.

 

[Gundy]

All my sensitive electronics are plugged into UPC units. So all my equipment instantly switches to the UPC's I have 4 of them. Then my whole house 35 kw generator starts up, and after a minute of warm up it flips house to generator power. I've never had any sensitive equipment fail with this set up.
I have found that this is the safest way to run a generator with expensive sensitive electronics.
I have easily $50,000.00 worth of sensitive electronics hooked up this way for 10 + years. No failures yet.

What battery backup do you have? In doing a lot of research, the reviews on them were very mixed and negative. Even the one I did purchased failed and it wasn’t a cheap one.

 

[14 foot reef]

What battery backup do you have? In doing a lot of research, the reviews on them were very mixed and negative. Even the one I did purchased failed and it wasn’t a cheap one.

All mine are these, been very very reliable, and you can replace the batteries only as they get older

APC Back-UPS Pro, 1500VA/865W, Tower, 120V, 10x NEMA 5-15R outlets, AVR, LCD, User Replaceable Battery - BR1500G | APC USA

BR1500G - APC Back-UPS Pro, 1500VA/865W, Tower, 120V, 10x NEMA 5-15R outlets, AVR, LCD, User Replaceable Battery | APC USA

www.apc.com

 

[BZOFIQ]

All mine are these, been very very reliable, and you can replace the batteries only as they get older

APC Back-UPS Pro, 1500VA/865W, Tower, 120V, 10x NEMA 5-15R outlets, AVR, LCD, User Replaceable Battery - BR1500G | APC USA

BR1500G - APC Back-UPS Pro, 1500VA/865W, Tower, 120V, 10x NEMA 5-15R outlets, AVR, LCD, User Replaceable Battery | APC USA

www.apc.com

My only reservation with these units is that they are not pure-sinewave.

I'd recommend pure-sinewave UPS units for sensitive electronics. The SMT-1500 comes to mind from APC but their competition has units much cheaper that provide a pure sinewave output identical to that of your outlet being fed by your utility co.

 

[14 foot reef]

My only reservation with these units is that they are not pure-sinewave.

I'd recommend pure-sinewave UPS units for sensitive electronics. The SMT-1500 comes to mind from APC but their competition has units much cheaper that provide a pure sinewave output identical to that of your outlet being fed by your utility co.

I've never had an issue as they only run for 2 minutes while 35 KW generator is warming up prior to auto transfer switch flipping to generator

 

[Malcontent]

Had a power outage last week. I used to live in a 3rd world country so I've been in plenty. But this was the first time I was on the edge of an outage. The houses across the street all had power so I was tempted to run one of my extension cords over...

 

[Iowa_Reef]

I have a 24KW whole house generator, used for the first time last week during a 4 hour power outage.
I also have a UPS for the essentials on the tank. Basically the pumps, since the generator kicks in after a few seconds.

 

[ryan265]

In the way paranoid camp here

One monster 48k and an 8k backup for the “essentials” if ever the big guy stumbles. And I’ve got pull start in the garage if things really get dicey. Again. Paranoid

Nossir. I have backups for all my backups as well…good man

 

[drolmaeye]

Recently had our electrical panel replaced. It was the perfect chance to buy a generator. Went the cheaper route with a Predator 1100/1400W inverter generator from Harbor Freight. It did a fine job keeping about 200W of support going for my little 70 gallon reef during the six-hour install. I am glad I have it in case we have a power outage for any significant length of time.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Skipped whole thread

Will give advice (2 decades in IT consulting, data center, UPS systems, etc.)

1 - whole house if you can afford it. Load shedding and select circuits are fine, but service entrance transfer and rated for whole house is far better if you can afford it.

Generic is OK - but not the best. Kohler is a step up and worth the extra cost (better governor is the biggest advantage). Onan and others a step up. I don't like the Briggs Units.

Buy water cooled if you can afford it, quieter and far more reliable.

2 - if portable is all that you can afford, then do yourself a favor and get an actual Honda Inverter unit. They are quiet, 2 can be paralleled and more importantly THEY ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS START. You can also add on a fuel cells because they have fuel pumps. Look at RV/camping sites.

There is not another portable generator brand that even comes close to the Hondas, period. Expensive but worth every penny.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Ohh also - not sure if it was mentioned or not

Natural Gas - in the event of most natural disasters, natural gas is the last thing to go away. In most cases, the lines are pressurized by compressors that don't need electricity, they run on natural gas. SO TLDR -> if natural gas service is interrupted in disaster, the least of your worries is going to be your aquarium.

 

[BeanAnimal]

One last thing...

I think most of you realize the world has changed a lot in the lat several years. Three things make having a backup/standby generator important.

1- Our labor force has a tremendous lack of skilled labor and responsible people. There are NOT many qualified linemen compared to even 5 years ago. So outages that were once handled in an hour or two may go for 8-10 hours before even being addressed. There is a lack of linemen.

2 - Utility companies used to keep many spares of every transformer type and substation part in their system ON HAND in a yard(s) full of spares. This is no longer the case, and in fact, may regional power companies co-op with parts. So the dead transformer that used to be 10 mins away and replaced in a hour is now 2-3 hours away and replaced in 10 hours. Worse, in the case of regional disasters (severe storms, micro-bursts, tornados, icing events, etc.) there are simply not enough "spares" to repair even a fraction of the system and outages can last days when 10 years ago they would have lasted a hours to a day.

3 - with the increased push toward electric cars, lawnmowers, heat, stoves, water, renewables and away from reliable power (coal, gas, nuke)... our power generation system is far less stable than it was a decade ago. Expect more frequent and extended outages and be prepared...

 

[alton]

This happened to one of our members and a good friend with his NG generator. He was told he had to leave his home because of an incoming hurricane. He left with his generator purring like a kitten only to come home to his NG turned off at his home killing everything in his tanks.

 

[BeanAnimal]

This happened to one of our members and a good friend with his NG generator. He was told he had to leave his home because of an incoming hurricane. He left with his generator purring like a kitten only to come home to his NG turned off at his home killing everything in his tanks.

Yes - it can happen in large natural disasters. NG distribution varies by region and in some areas is likely nowhere near as robust because it is not relied on. But, the "If the NG goes away, you have far bigger issues" sentiment hold.

Propane is an option, but cost of entry is higher (a tank must be set) and there is always concern about having thousands of pounds of propane in an above ground tank next to the house...

Diesel/Gasoline are also very viable. The issue with both is fuel storage. Gasoline oxidizes and gains water over time. Use it or lose it kind of thing.. and how does one dispose of hundreds of gallons of stale gasoline. Diesel is far more stable but grows algae - this too is a maintenance nightmare for a stagnant tank that is rarely used. Even weekly exercise is not enough to keep stocks fresh and replenished. That is another issue. Constant top-offs (exercise uses fuel) so that when disaster does hit, you are full.

Just things to consider....

 

[Scp]

22 kw Generac ….. runs the entire house, including 14 reef tanks .

If you have a Reef tank of value the best investment you can make is a generator.

Before this, I used a firman tri fuel.7500 watt from Costco. It was more than capable of running all my reef tanks (winter time power outages pushed it with the heaters) and the majority of my household appliances just got tired of babysitting. I lose power in five or six times a year for multiple days . In fact, I just lost power for a day this week .

 

[Scp]

my boss let me borrow his, that saved my 400g tank, during a week power out. ran fridge, fans, aquarium return pump, and flow pumps and most important to my wife; coffee maker in the morning, lol. ran for 10hours before refueling


since then i got generator from costco, i forgot what it is, but its 7500 running watts. haven't tried it yet. but hopefully it will pull my a/c unit.

Is it the Firman ? I’ve used that generator for years and it works like a charm.. I lose power 5 to 6 times a year run it for three or four days at a time never had an issue. Just make sure you keep up on the oil changes and don’t let the fuel get stale. Since I lose power so much, I decided to upgrade to a 22 kW Generac whole house generator but I’m keeping this as a back up.

 

[Reefer Matt]

As an update, we just had some bad storms come through here in Michigan. Even though the outlet on my generator tripped, and my basement flooded, all of my coral and fish are alive and well, thanks to the generator. The power just came back on after two days. I would have lost most of everything if not for my generator. Now, I just gotta replace this flooring.

 

[Trilobite]

I have a 20kW generac. Everything in my house runs the same as if the power were on.

24kv here. Runs my house and garage where I have a lot of money tied up in classic cars.

 

[BZOFIQ]

...

2 - if portable is all that you can afford, then do yourself a favor and get an actual Honda Inverter unit. They are quiet, 2 can be paralleled and more importantly THEY ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS START. You can also add on a fuel cells because they have fuel pumps. Look at RV/camping sites.

There is not another portable generator brand that even comes close to the Hondas, period. Expensive but worth every penny.

Agreed.