TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

A couple of suggestions. If you have natural gas available, strongly consider getting a natural gas conversion kit. You can purchase them that allow you to use your generator on natural gas, propane or gasoline. It will prevent you having to store (and dispose of old) gas with none of the safety concerns of storing large quantities of gas. It also runs cooler than gasoline and provides unlimited Run time without the worry of running out of gas. A constantly running generator can easily go through 10 gallons of gas a day, and gas is hard to buy after a disaster (and it can be hard to siphon gas from newer model cars.

Secondly, use synthetic oil -it stands up much better to high heat generated by small engines and will make the generator easier to crank in cold temperatures.

Finally, access your needs - both in terms of capacity needed and run time. A 5 or 6KW will handle most household needs, but will not start or run your home air conditioning - for that you will need something excess of 10KW, and that is in a totally different class from the $600 5kW portable generator. In terms of run time, most low cost portable generators do not have a pressure lubrication system and are not designed to run 24x7. For long-term continuous duty, consider an engine with a pressure lube oil system such as a Honda. Not cheap, but very reliable.

GregS Loc: Central Illinois, USA

Bought a gas portable generator several years ago and haven't had a power failure since! Good insurance.
I keep gas in mine. I use Seafoam to stabilize it. Works great. Starts on first or second pull.

1Feathercrest Loc: NEPA

Expect to pay, at least $5,000 + for one that will start by itself in a power failure. You don't want to be stressed with switches and pull starting a gas generator that will only provide basic power to a few things.

PhotoPhred Loc: Cheyney, Pa

I live in a rural area and lose power often. Last Winter we were out 4 days and it started getting mighty cold in the house. I looked at a portable generator and asked my nephew the electrician to hook me up. His advice was that by the time I did that for another 1,000.00 he set up a 16kW Generac standby and a big propane tank that will run for about 4 days. It is fully automatic on and off. One of the best home improvements I have made. My house was built in 1910. It powers the whole house. That is my suggestion.

19photo30 Loc: Olympia, WA

I have a 10,000 watt Generac. Longest time it was run was six days. Kept everything running except the electric range and the hot water heater. It runs for about ten minutes once a week to excercise it. When power goes out there is a 30 second delay, then generator comes on. No natural gas, so have a 500 gallon propane tank. Top it off once a year. Pretty nice to have a warm house and TV when all the neighbors houses are dark and cold! In my next house I hope to have natural gas and a 20,000 watt unit!

Howard5252 Loc: New York / Florida (now)

Thank you to all who responded with useful information.

Hal81 Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

I bought one and have it mounted right behind my house. I got it a few years ago right after we lost power for a few days. Never had to use it since. I do kick it over once in a while. It uses gasoline so I put in that gas additive.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

In NY you can no longer bury an oil tank. I don't know about propane, but I see the big tanks all around.

1beer2

Hi,
We purchased a 14K Kohler whole house natural gas powered generator after a few power outages, resulting in full refridgerator/s & freezer spoilage. It's kicked on a few times, and while we haven't had to use it for days, it is worth it, IMHO.

1beer2

I have to keep my kegerator cold at all times.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

First question is "How much of a home are you going to serve?"
I have been using them in several places over 35 yrs - my advice is to go to Youtube and watch a few videos about installing a generator - for years we would just run extension cords from a small generator to our fridge and forced air heater and used battery electric lights -
3 yrs ago after moving into a much larger house I bought a much larger generator "gas" and followed the advice I found on Youtube and had it set up so all we had to do is roll it out of the garage - carbon-monoxide from these kill many ill-informed people every year-
start it up then plug in the 220 Vt extension cord.
It is a simple process to install but needs some important item: a saftylock on the main input breaker - a dedicated 220Vt breaker for the input/back feed and the external 220Vt wall plug - if you donot have it directly hard wired in -we use ours for power to run electric chain saws and tree trimmers as well as long term camping so ours is not hard wired and as we run it often year around our gasoline is always fresh and the generator fires up on one or two pul.
Again the videos on Youtube cover all sizes and setups.
Good Luck and a wise move on your part.
Harvey in the Sierras

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

When one connects to the service panel it will run as much of the house as #1 the size of generator compared to what you need to run -
mostly folks buy one to run the lighting, fridge and forced air heat - this can run about $400-$600 and the parts to connect to the panel runs $125 for manual switching and upward like the automatic start generators and auto switch- look this up on Youtube -
lots of info and videos on the subject.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

This video is an exact duplicate of my generator set up - total cost $525 - installation courtesy of one of my grandsons who is an electrition. mine runs 12 hours on 4 gallons of gas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-RPJ3qOKPs

HarleyRiderST

Those of us living in earthquake country are faced with the potential of no natural gas available due to breaks and such and limited availability of auto gas. Propane is a good option but again one would be limited to amount on hand. My choice is solar with batteries and an Inverter. "Sun we got" in Palm Desert, CA.

Bulldog1jack Loc: CT

LOL