Advice on reliable portable generator?

[TBRS1]

Last year, we lost household power for several weeks due to an ice storm.

This year, I would prefer to be prepared. I need advice on reliable portable generators.

I'm thinking I will get two - a smaller one that I can multipurpose for off grid occasional power, as well as emergency use, and a larger one for emergency house use only (so not to be moved much).

I'm in the U.S.

Any experiences with portable generators?

 

[Judge]

Last year, we lost household power for several weeks due to an ice storm.

This year, I would prefer to be prepared. I need advice on reliable portable generators.

I'm thinking I will get two - a smaller one that I can multipurpose for off grid occasional power, as well as emergency use, and a larger one for emergency house use only (so not to be moved much).

I'm in the U.S.

Any experiences with portable generators?

Check with @oregano. He's posted about generators before. Sounds like he lives pretty much off the grid, so I suspect that's a critical possession of his.

 

[Aspychata]

First you need to decide on gas or electrial/solar panel l guess?

 

[Outdated]

As a general rule of thumb avoid the "handbag" type generators that are completely closed in with plastic casing. The most common problem with generators is their tiny little carburetors getting blocked up with dust. Easy enough to clean if you can actually get to them. A plastic casing also seems to intensify the amount of dust the carby picks up.

This style is much more practical:

 

[TBRS1]

First you need to decide on gas or electrial/solar panel l guess?

Gonna go gasoline. Solar is totally unreliable during the kind of weather that causes blackouts in the frozen north (Northern Michigan, Lower).

 

[TBRS1]

As a general rule of thumb avoid the "handbag" type generators that are completely closed in with plastic casing. The most common problem with generators is their tiny little carburetors getting blocked up with dust. Easy enough to clean if you can actually get to them. A plastic casing also seems to intensify the amount of dust the carby picks up.

This style is much more practical:

View attachment 146625

Thank you - I've seen both kinds and new nothing. That helps!

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

My house is all electric and in a rural area we have at least one full day outage a year, depending on the weather. For emergencies I had a 10 kW Generac. It was a good generator but could not power the geothermal HVAC system and still took about 5 gallons of fuel every 6 hours. This was a pain to feed for an outage lasting 3 days. I finally put in a capable 22 kW whole house generator and a propane tank. Currently I have fuel for a 7 day outage.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

There are a lot of ways to approach this in Michigan... I am just outside of Grand Rapids... south of you.

1. You can go the solar and battery route... but as we know, if there is a snow load on top of your panels, you don't produce. I wouldn't recommend it if you have roof panels as they are difficult to keep clean of snow. However, if you have a ground mount, I would tip the panels at an angle that matches the lower angle of the winter sun... then the snow slides off. It would require a generous battery... no less than 30... closer to 50kWh or more. Reliable... no moving parts, but expensive $$$.
2. You can go the hybrid solar-battery and generator system. Using an auto-start propane/NG generator that is electronically controlled by the state-of-charge of the battery. When the battery gets down to say, 20%, then the generator automatically switches on to recharge the battery to say 90%, then shuts off. So, during a long cloudy, snowy season the generator is cycling on/off, but as soon as the sun gets shining and the batteries can charge from the sun, then no need for the generator. A little less expensive $$... but still pricey.
3. An auto-start, whole house propane/NG generator like what @Gerald Wilgus has. Not cheap, but another reliable system.
4. A smaller auto-start propane/NG generator tied into an emergency subpanel. Less expensive. High priority circuits only.

You can use the smaller, portable, gasoline-powered generators... they do work, but again, it's not enough to power the entire home, but rather a handful of high-priority circuits. They can be unreliable at times, mainly because they don't get used frequently and because old gasoline left in the engine can go bad... you need to keep these maintained well. If you are out in a rural area where power outages can last several days... you're going to go through a lot of fuel.

As far as brand names... you might consider who you have for local service. Which brands do they sell and service... you don't want to get yourself into a cheaper "off-brand" and then later run into problems where you are struggling to get parts and service.

Best Generator Reviews – Consumer Reports
Complete Generator Solutions - Greenville, MI - Portable Generators

 

[Forest Cat]

If it was me, I would buy a diesel generator from a high quality well-known brand. Diesel gives you better durability and fuel efficiency. But the good ones are expensive, you get what you pay for. Quality is expensive.

But I'm not in the US at all, so maybe it's different there...? I don't know, I have always used diesel anyway, because diesel kicks butt all day long.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

If it was me, I would buy a diesel generator from a high quality well-known brand. Diesel gives you better durability and fuel efficiency. But the good ones are expensive, you get what you pay for. Quality is expensive.

But I'm not in the US at all, so maybe it's different there...? I don't know, I have always used diesel anyway, because diesel kicks butt all day long.

In the US... at least for residential applications... the most popular are the auto-start natural gas (city/suburbs) and propane (rural).

Diesel generators... at least around here... are more for commercial applications, high-load, etc... much larger units.

 

[TBRS1]

My house is all electric and in a rural area we have at least one full day outage a year, depending on the weather. For emergencies I had a 10 kW Generac. It was a good generator but could not power the geothermal HVAC system and still took about 5 gallons of fuel every 6 hours. This was a pain to feed for an outage lasting 3 days. I finally put in a capable 22 kW whole house generator and a propane tank. Currently I have fuel for a 7 day outage.

I already use propane, so I have a pig.

I was considering one of those generators that hook directly into the pig and automatically takes over in a power failure, but of two people I know that had them installed and on a service contract, BOTH failed the first time they needed them.

However, a separate propane generator is a sterling idea - I'd rather store propane tanks than cans of gasoline.

That's a good option. (cheaper to run, too, I think).

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I already use propane, so I have a pig.

I was considering one of those generators that hook directly into the pig and automatically takes over in a power failure, but of two people I know that had them installed and on a service contract, BOTH failed the first time they needed them.

However, a separate propane generator is a sterling idea - I'd rather store propane tanks than cans of gasoline.

That's a good option. (cheaper to run, too, I think).

The 22 kW propane generator uses 3.6 gallons/hr. at full load and significantly lower at less loading. With a 500 gallon propane tank it is filled to 80% capacity. I brought it online in spring of 2022 and it exercises 5 minutes/week. The only maintenance I have done is on the battery and installing communication via my home's WiFi. Right now the propane after exercising for over three years and short power outages is around 70% which gives me 97 hours of coverage. Even without powering the HVAC during three days in winter with a -6 F (-21C) outdoor temperature, with passive solar in a house having Insulated Concrete Form Construction and thermal glass windows, the temperature never dropped below 66 F (19 C ). Because we have two geothermal compressors (one for upper floor forced air, and one for lower floor in-floor heat), if there is excessive electrical demand, like heating, the hot water heater, and oven or induction stove all running at once, it will put a strain on the system, I have devices on the electric service box that will shed loads based upon a priority I set up and hardwired into the system. I also have an energy analyzer on my meter that lets me know the consumption.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Back in the day, the comforting roar of the generator was only heard for Saturday morning cartoons, kids sitting on the floor with their Lucky Charms. Or for football night, where every old hippie in the valley would crowd into the living room.

Otherwise, it was cold quick showers and kerosene lamps. I knew a family that still used gas lamps. That was a fancy setup. There were pipes along the ceiling, and every night one would turn the knob on these little hanging lamps and hold a match to it and then the mantle would glow almost like a real lightbulb.

Seemed everyone had either big propane tanks that looked like steers out in the yard, or little fat boys behind curtains under the sink, piped into the gas stove, the fridge, the hot water heater, and maybe a washer and dryer if they were fancy.

A hot bath was a luxury. Every Sunday night, propane heated! First the men got to bathe, then the women, then the boys, and then the girls. It was cold and sorta gray by the time I got in. But I was so thankful for that bath. And every now and again, Grandma would run me my own special bath, with Mister Bubble. But that was a rare treat.

 

[Mary Terry]

My house is all electric and in a rural area we have at least one full day outage a year, depending on the weather. For emergencies I had a 10 kW Generac. It was a good generator but could not power the geothermal HVAC system and still took about 5 gallons of fuel every 6 hours. This was a pain to feed for an outage lasting 3 days. I finally put in a capable 22 kW whole house generator and a propane tank. Currently I have fuel for a 7 day outage.

We did the same thing. We still have the portable generator in case we need it and we've taken it to our lake a couple of times to provide lights and music over there for big cookouts.

Even with the built-in Generac, we reduce our household energy consumption during outages to conserve the propane.