Very timely! I still have friends near Asheville coming to see me today to do laundry and take showers. Their “city” water is still not potable, flows slightly brown, and is not boil-able yet. Hurricane Helene was September, we are now in November! We used to hear about these long term water infrastructure disasters in places like Flint, Michigan and Palestine, OH and here we are again in North Carolina… Thanks for the video, very comprehensive! I’m going with a larger 240v generator to start well pump, pressurize tanks, and recharge ecoflow battery devices. It then gets turned off and appliances get run from ecoflows for many hours. Ecoflows are silent, important for sanity and can help not draw attention to your powered home. Hot water is on demand and Instant from propane Navien tankless heater. Next time I’m adding far more portable solar panels for additional recharging capability. Just a couple 400watt panels tossed outside makes a huge improvement in recharging battery devices like the ecoflows. Having them portable adds flexibility in case I need to leave this house or loan one to a nearby friend/neighbor. Thanks again for the video, people should download it if they can because when you really need to watch this, you probably won’t have internet.
Great video. We live in South Georgia and when Helene hit, we were slammed with 100 mph winds. 99% of our county was without power for up to 2-weeks. We were on generator power for over 6-days. Our power needs include 240V for a deep well pump and 50-gallon water heater. I grew up in Florida and know the value of a limited capability for "some" air conditioning. With the aforementioned stated, I invested in a smaller 10KW diesel generator a few years ago but actually bartered for most of its cost. It is trailer mounted; water cooled and runs at 1800 rpm. It has a 50-gallon belly tank, and aluminum weather/sound enclosure. It has been battle tested through Idalia, Helene, and multiple power outages before. It powered everything in our 2500 square foot home except our 4-ton heat pump. For air conditioning, we used one 5000 btu window unit in the master bedroom, and one 5500 btu room portable unit in the living room/kitchen common area. All other rooms were closed off during the day. We utilized ceiling fans and two 20" box fans and were quite comfortable. We powered: the deep well pump, alternating with the water heater when heating up a full tank of water, one 26 cu foot kitchen refrigerator/freezer, one 17 cu foot garage refrigerator/freezer, one 18 cu foot garage freezer, one 3 cu foot dorm fridge, a Starlink satellite system, a desktop computer linked to the Starlink via Starlink's wi-fi, 55" LED TV with satellite receiver, multiple exterior LED security lights, a kitchen microwave oven, various cellphone chargers, Septic tank lift pump, and any interior lighting (all LED) as needed. We burned 5-gallons of diesel fuel every 24-hours running the generator 24-7. I stopped the generator once each day for the first 2-days to check the oil level and it didn't use any. So never shut it down again until power was restored. The nearest neighbor is 250 yards away and standing 5' from my generator, I could hear their whole-house Generac's noise over mine. I use less expensive red dyed "off-road" diesel and keep quite a bit on hand, treated with stabilizer. It's good for 5-years since it is "mineral" diesel, not biodiesel. I tie it into our home via a 30-amp L14-30 inlet and power our two 200A main panels using dedicated 30A generator breakers and interlocks. I wanted a trailer mounted generator because I can take it to family in Florida if the need arises. I also had the unit built with a DSE-3110 controller capable of using a remote starter or any industry standard 2-wire automatic transfer switch. Generac's require their proprietary transfer switches. I assembled a 75' wired remote starter which remains on our porch. I open the door, flip the switch and the generator starts. My wife loves it since no choke is required, just one switch. We also have an 8KW backup and a 2KW inverter generator, both gasoline fueled. Backup for water if the well goes down was 50-gallons in one tub, one 10-gallon igloo cooler like yours, and four 7-gallon aquatainers. Last backup is 15k gallons in our fiberglass pool, sterilized with chlorine tablets with algae mainly controlled by a floating, solar powered copper ionizer. I rarely add algaecide. If the pool water is needed for consumption, I have a DIY Berkey type filter system. I only used the backup 8KW gasoline generator once for a few hours while accomplishing maintenance on the diesel unit. Two neighbors have Generac whole house propane generators, and one ran out of fuel 3-days into the event...that was 200 gallons @ $3 per gallon for propane. Small, inexpensive portable generators whether inverter or armature types are "splash" lubricated with no oil filtration. They are meant to be recreational generators, and engine lives can be short, especially if run near their full output limits.
Great - and I mean GREAT! - video. I learned plenty. What camping in a travel trailer teaches you is that while you’re boondocking, you learn as much about conserving energy as you do conserving. During our recent Helene power outage, I laughed at how many people ran their generators 24/7. Another cheap “must own” is a thermometer for your refrigerator. You don’t have to have your fridge plugged in all the time. Know how long your fridge will keep food cold - ours is 3-4 hours. Same can be said of other devices - and LEDs are a must.
Doc, great video. All good ideas for planning for an outage. I took a slightly different tack for power backup. I got a whole house battery backup (6000w) that's tied in with an automatic transfer switch. Power goes out, battery backup kicks in in under 30 milliseconds. As the battery depletes, it can be replenished by solar. In the event that there is not enough sun to be useful, THEN the inverter generator gets fired up and run only long enough to charge the battery, then it gets shut off again extending available fuel for much longer than running the generator alone. This generator can be as small as 1000 watts. Replaced the hot water heater with a hybrid. It only uses 600 watts to provide hot water in heat pump mode, again extending available power. Downside is cost. This scenario costs more than most people can afford, but I felt it was worth it.
Thank u Doc u actually covered ome of my questions and all ur hard work is appreciated I know alot of time and effort goes into editing these videos ur dedication doesnt go unnoticed brother
🏆I really like the way that you explain things. You answer the questions that the common homeowner has. Side note. Your property looks beautiful from what I can see. Thanks.
Wow, you've made my day. I live in eastern Canada and our winters are long, cold and power goes off regularly. I am in the process of setting up my house with a backup generator and this video has definitely help in making the right choice. I looked at a lot of videos lately and I am so glad I found yours. I am now a subscriber and will review your past series so I don't miss anything. Thank you soooo much.
Great video Doc, you make some great points. I run my dual fuel generator on propane only, not gas. Propane is a cleaner fuel than gas , and it can be stored indefinitely without losing effectiveness. Safety 1st! Thanks for sharing the video!
i have several Honda portable generators. I basically only use a Honda eu2200 inverter generator about 10 hours a day during outages. very fuel efficient and quiet. i am able to run my refrigerators lights, fans etc.
Well done explanation. I recently picked up a 4k inverter dual fuel and it will do 3k continuous on propane. Now I am squirreling away propane bottles as I come upon them. I like that because propane does not go bad. I also have a few backup generators that I have acquired not running and they were an easy fix cleaning out the carb.
Great job. As a resident of Alaska we can lose power in winter. Interesting enough I have a very similar setup, a 7000 watt Honeywell generator from Costco and a 2000 watt Yamaha inverter generator given to me because it leaked fuel. Easy fix. I added a snorkel tri fuel adapter to the large generator for about a hundred bucks. Run on gas, lpg, and ng. On the inverter I added an y to fuel line and a pulse fuel pump that allowed me to add a fuel connection that allows me to run off my boat fuel tank. For water I added a 55 gallon blue water tank from Bass Pro that I fill up once a day with big generator. I have a 12v rv water pump that pumps from the to a hose bib. I turn off the pressure tank and allow the 12v pump connected to a 12 volt battery to pressure the water system and supply water throughout the house. Not high flow but can flush toilets and wash hands as needed. This greatly reduced the amount of time needed to run the big generator, probably 2 hours per day. This tops off water and batteries. Runs the freezer and fridges. No need to run little inverter at night for water. Just thought I would share as I was surprised how easy it was to use the rv pump.
You sir have put into one video many of the things I have considered and planned for in an urban setting. During Milton, I got to execute my plan and it worked pretty well. My generators can run on propane or gas. When you run your generator to the point that it shuts off, I found that there was still fuel in the carb bowl. After Milton I drained everything and changed the oil to prep for the next thing.
FYI, research I did regarding Natural Gas (NG) pumping stations was that 90% of pumping stations are powered by NG. The NG at those locations probably powers a generator for its electrical needs.
I have a Honda EU2200i and it got us through Helene in South Carolina. On City water, so no well, and have a tankless water heater, which needs power only to run its electronics. We Ran: a Ubiquiti network setup with three access points and AT&T fiber, a fan, a refrigerator, and TV as well as some LED lights and our tankless water heater. Only thing that was bad was no air conditioning
We were out of line power for 10 days. We ran a 7KW about 70% of that time. Used alcohol stove to heat meals and coffee when the generator was off. Used hot plates, electric grill and rice cooker ( keeps water boiling ), bbq grill for meats. We used fans as the generator isn’t enough to run this AC. Used a lpg crab boil burner with a 5 gallon pot to heat bathing water. I was fine with the kiddie plastic pool water after sitting in the sun for most of the day. Loaned our 2kw Honda to the neighbor.
I have a 10kva propane generator fed to the house through an interlock. I have a 6 gauge extension from the generator to a plug on the house. Electric start is a life saver at my age.
In Florida during Milton- we fill our bath tubs with water to use for toilets. Had a “1850 watt” 2004 gen that we used for fridge/freezer, coffee maker, & tv. Thank God we had cool weather after. Were only out of power from 11:00pm Wednesday until 4:30pm Saturday and used my dial thermometers in fridge & freezer as gauge as to when to crank gen back on. Older fridge so was doing it every couple hours or so. Needed a 2nd larger gen for well pump for showers. Did spit baths 😂. Also had frozen 1-gal glad bags & used for cold drinking water.
Hey Doc great vid. Are you able to run a microwave on your bigger house generator. Our older microwave would work but the new one doesn’t only turns but no heat. Something about dirty power comes out of the generator.
Doc, do you use a power strip inside your house to split off the 3 outlet extension cord coming from the generator to power other electronics inside or what is the best way to split off the 3 outlet extension to more than 3 electronics inside the house?
Great video, Doc...I have similar well water and hot water tank system like yours. I wonder if you have any issues about using well pump as the inruch current is very high even it only consumes 2000 watts when running. My well pump is 1HP 240 V, 10 GPM @ 180' down. I plan on using them like you suggested here for the next power outage when I will have a larger generator instead of the current 3500 watts one. I am thinking one with 9000 watts starting/7250 watts running. Also, my hot water tank (60 gal) has two heating elements, each consume 4500 watts of electricity according to the label. I do not know if these two heating elements will be on at the same time. If they do, then I may not have enough juice for the hot water tank. What generator do you use for your situation that appeared to be workable? Thanks.
Hey Doc two questions one with that 2000 watt generator can you do the direct plug into the like you do with the big one and also I've seen on the RUclips channel engineer 775 he has pushed for a connector to be hooked into a air conditioner for soft starts I would be curious if you know would that work for other things that take higher startup power I am enjoying the new channel keep up the great work sir I guess we're not prospecting any longer
The small one really is an ext cord unit not for whole house connection. I think the only thing that really needs the soft start would be the main HVAC system.
Do you run the smaller generator with just extension cords or connect to the whole house system? Also, does the smaller generator come in a dual fuel version, and would that be worth exploring? Thanks for a superb channel!
Hot and humid doesn’t begin to describe the discomfort of the environment after a hurricane. Best to select window A/C(s)that can be powered by one of those small generators.
24:49 it could be both better or worse if you have a natural gas water heater and furnace. We dont have central only window ac units so 120volt. 31:32 or buy a running but not driving car and put a 30+kw gen head or something on it. So then you would have a whole home generator with potentially a 20 gallon tank(the stock vehicle tank) and then upgrade to a much bigger tank, that runs for days.
Good common sense of generator usages. However those are plugged directly into your portable generator with various 12g with ground power cords rated for 20 amps. If your cords is over 50 feet you should run 10g with ground . House transfer power not the same and must be unbonded”at your portable generator. That means your generator is not grounded to its frame. Simply remove the generator ground wire connecting the frame. That insure only one bond”at the house panel.
When Nor Cal had power failures the local gas station had no power to pump gas, so the first job was to supply a gas pump with electricity, only then could people buy gas.
Yo Doc live the video, @ 30:35 you started to talk about a well system then… squirrel! You went to an ad on your phone lol! I have 2 wells tied together combined on 1 breaker what to do then?? lol I just have a small 2500 watt peak inverter generator. All electric house and tankless electric using 2 50amp breakers!
You'll need to do some deep diving in the AMPS (watts) used for each and maybe get the specs from the manufacturer. Tankless water heaters are great but they have a BIG draw and must be run at the same time as the well. So you'd have to step up and get a larger unit to have hot water.
Depends on your battery, but what I do with my battery is run everything on the battery and then charge it with the generator. Running the generator constantly is usually very inefficient compared to simply recharging the battery.
If you plan to run that generator while in the enclosure, then you need to consider the material for the floor. The area under a generator can get EXTREMELY hot (test it out). The floor should be protected from extreme heat and not be a fire hazard.
Doc, your well power needs are incorrect. All motors have a start up surge needs. A deep well pump, 3/4 or 1 HP are typical have a start up power need 1 1/2 to 2 times its run power. If you try to size a generator to the run power and add only 10% more, the generator breaker will just trip. You many also damage your well pump from under voltage at start up. Same goes for AC compressors. Unless you use a soft sart . I was an electician for 40 years. People be very carefull with emergency generators, you can kill lineman trying to restore power or ruin your home equiptment. Do get an electrcian. I installed dozens of whole house generators. I dont have one. I use a 9500 watt tri fuel generator to run a 3000 sq total electric home with a 5 ton Heat pump. I can go 2 weeks with gas and and a underground propane tank. Its called load shedding, very easy process. My neighbor had a crooked electrician going to install 22 kw unit. I talked him out of it when i told him his propane tank would last only 3 or 5 days. Beast ate 5 gallons an our. undersize as Doc says. cheaper and longer run. got my 9500 watt at Costco for 699 on sale.
This is like looking in a mirror. I have the same Ecoflow ultra battery bank which will cover one day of normal electric usage. I have an ultra quiet Yamaha 2400w trifuel generator which is my go to for warm weather outages running on natural gas. I have a 10500w trifuel inverter generator so I can charge the batteries in 2 hours a day on 1_gallon of gasoline but I run it on natural gas at 60% of the cost. If you do the math that is much cheaper than grid power if you discount the initial investment. My Generac trifuel is 4000w (6000 surge) with 240v and will run my well furnace and freezers if required. I lay in 75 gallons of gasoline and 200 lbs of propane for the winter months and use the gasoline up in the spring. I also have solar to cover normal usage when the sun shines. I know this sounds excessive but I would rather have enough to help my neighbors and family than go begging for help myself. Understand I live in a snowbelt south of Buffalo NY where we concider 3 feet of snow a dusting and 7 feet a minor inconvenience.
For most generators it's not practical. My HVAC draws 42 amps x 240 volts= 10,080 watts. So a10,000 Watt capacity generator working at 100% capacity could run it assuming that's startup usage. My choice is a10,000 BTU window unit. If you know a storm is coming, crank your central ac down to 65, or whatever you choose, before you lose power, then the window ac coming on periodically can maintain cool temps.
I live in Asheville, do anybody knows with the knowledge of DOC how to install a new power panel for my Honda EU2200i....Because using long AC cords from generator to inside house...Mmm is safe?
Not always. The gas companies are aware they will need to factor in the expense of hardening their infrastructure due to the proliferation of whole house generators.
Very timely! I still have friends near Asheville coming to see me today to do laundry and take showers. Their “city” water is still not potable, flows slightly brown, and is not boil-able yet. Hurricane Helene was September, we are now in November! We used to hear about these long term water infrastructure disasters in places like Flint, Michigan and Palestine, OH and here we are again in North Carolina…
Thanks for the video, very comprehensive!
I’m going with a larger 240v generator to start well pump, pressurize tanks, and recharge ecoflow battery devices. It then gets turned off and appliances get run from ecoflows for many hours. Ecoflows are silent, important for sanity and can help not draw attention to your powered home. Hot water is on demand and Instant from propane Navien tankless heater.
Next time I’m adding far more portable solar panels for additional recharging capability. Just a couple 400watt panels tossed outside makes a huge improvement in recharging battery devices like the ecoflows. Having them portable adds flexibility in case I need to leave this house or loan one to a nearby friend/neighbor.
Thanks again for the video, people should download it if they can because when you really need to watch this, you probably won’t have internet.
Great video. We live in South Georgia and when Helene hit, we were slammed with 100 mph winds. 99% of our county was without power for up to 2-weeks. We were on generator power for over 6-days. Our power needs include 240V for a deep well pump and 50-gallon water heater. I grew up in Florida and know the value of a limited capability for "some" air conditioning. With the aforementioned stated, I invested in a smaller 10KW diesel generator a few years ago but actually bartered for most of its cost. It is trailer mounted; water cooled and runs at 1800 rpm. It has a 50-gallon belly tank, and aluminum weather/sound enclosure. It has been battle tested through Idalia, Helene, and multiple power outages before. It powered everything in our 2500 square foot home except our 4-ton heat pump. For air conditioning, we used one 5000 btu window unit in the master bedroom, and one 5500 btu room portable unit in the living room/kitchen common area. All other rooms were closed off during the day. We utilized ceiling fans and two 20" box fans and were quite comfortable.
We powered: the deep well pump, alternating with the water heater when heating up a full tank of water, one 26 cu foot kitchen refrigerator/freezer, one 17 cu foot garage refrigerator/freezer, one 18 cu foot garage freezer, one 3 cu foot dorm fridge, a Starlink satellite system, a desktop computer linked to the Starlink via Starlink's wi-fi, 55" LED TV with satellite receiver, multiple exterior LED security lights, a kitchen microwave oven, various cellphone chargers, Septic tank lift pump, and any interior lighting (all LED) as needed.
We burned 5-gallons of diesel fuel every 24-hours running the generator 24-7. I stopped the generator once each day for the first 2-days to check the oil level and it didn't use any. So never shut it down again until power was restored. The nearest neighbor is 250 yards away and standing 5' from my generator, I could hear their whole-house Generac's noise over mine. I use less expensive red dyed "off-road" diesel and keep quite a bit on hand, treated with stabilizer. It's good for 5-years since it is "mineral" diesel, not biodiesel.
I tie it into our home via a 30-amp L14-30 inlet and power our two 200A main panels using dedicated 30A generator breakers and interlocks. I wanted a trailer mounted generator because I can take it to family in Florida if the need arises. I also had the unit built with a DSE-3110 controller capable of using a remote starter or any industry standard 2-wire automatic transfer switch. Generac's require their proprietary transfer switches. I assembled a 75' wired remote starter which remains on our porch. I open the door, flip the switch and the generator starts. My wife loves it since no choke is required, just one switch.
We also have an 8KW backup and a 2KW inverter generator, both gasoline fueled. Backup for water if the well goes down was 50-gallons in one tub, one 10-gallon igloo cooler like yours, and four 7-gallon aquatainers. Last backup is 15k gallons in our fiberglass pool, sterilized with chlorine tablets with algae mainly controlled by a floating, solar powered copper ionizer. I rarely add algaecide. If the pool water is needed for consumption, I have a DIY Berkey type filter system.
I only used the backup 8KW gasoline generator once for a few hours while accomplishing maintenance on the diesel unit. Two neighbors have Generac whole house propane generators, and one ran out of fuel 3-days into the event...that was 200 gallons @ $3 per gallon for propane.
Small, inexpensive portable generators whether inverter or armature types are "splash" lubricated with no oil filtration. They are meant to be recreational generators, and engine lives can be short, especially if run near their full output limits.
Great - and I mean GREAT! - video. I learned plenty. What camping in a travel trailer teaches you is that while you’re boondocking, you learn as much about conserving energy as you do conserving. During our recent Helene power outage, I laughed at how many people ran their generators 24/7. Another cheap “must own” is a thermometer for your refrigerator. You don’t have to have your fridge plugged in all the time. Know how long your fridge will keep food cold - ours is 3-4 hours. Same can be said of other devices - and LEDs are a must.
Doc, great video. All good ideas for planning for an outage. I took a slightly different tack for power backup. I got a whole house battery backup (6000w) that's tied in with an automatic transfer switch. Power goes out, battery backup kicks in in under 30 milliseconds. As the battery depletes, it can be replenished by solar. In the event that there is not enough sun to be useful, THEN the inverter generator gets fired up and run only long enough to charge the battery, then it gets shut off again extending available fuel for much longer than running the generator alone. This generator can be as small as 1000 watts. Replaced the hot water heater with a hybrid. It only uses 600 watts to provide hot water in heat pump mode, again extending available power. Downside is cost. This scenario costs more than most people can afford, but I felt it was worth it.
Thank u Doc u actually covered ome of my questions and all ur hard work is appreciated I know alot of time and effort goes into editing these videos ur dedication doesnt go unnoticed brother
🏆I really like the way that you explain things. You answer the questions that the common homeowner has. Side note. Your property looks beautiful from what I can see. Thanks.
Wow, you've made my day. I live in eastern Canada and our winters are long, cold and power goes off regularly. I am in the process of setting up my house with a backup generator and this video has definitely help in making the right choice. I looked at a lot of videos lately and I am so glad I found yours. I am now a subscriber and will review your past series so I don't miss anything. Thank you soooo much.
Great video Doc, you make some great points. I run my dual fuel generator on propane only, not gas. Propane is a cleaner fuel than gas , and it can be stored indefinitely without losing effectiveness. Safety 1st! Thanks for sharing the video!
i have several Honda portable generators. I basically only use a Honda eu2200 inverter generator about 10 hours a day during outages. very fuel efficient and quiet. i am able to run my refrigerators lights, fans etc.
Doc, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you. as always.
Well done explanation. I recently picked up a 4k inverter dual fuel and it will do 3k continuous on propane. Now I am squirreling away propane bottles as I come upon them. I like that because propane does not go bad. I also have a few backup generators that I have acquired not running and they were an easy fix cleaning out the carb.
Great job. As a resident of Alaska we can lose power in winter. Interesting enough I have a very similar setup, a 7000 watt Honeywell generator from Costco and a 2000 watt Yamaha inverter generator given to me because it leaked fuel. Easy fix. I added a snorkel tri fuel adapter to the large generator for about a hundred bucks. Run on gas, lpg, and ng. On the inverter I added an y to fuel line and a pulse fuel pump that allowed me to add a fuel connection that allows me to run off my boat fuel tank.
For water I added a 55 gallon blue water tank from Bass Pro that I fill up once a day with big generator. I have a 12v rv water pump that pumps from the to a hose bib. I turn off the pressure tank and allow the 12v pump connected to a 12 volt battery to pressure the water system and supply water throughout the house. Not high flow but can flush toilets and wash hands as needed. This greatly reduced the amount of time needed to run the big generator, probably 2 hours per day. This tops off water and batteries. Runs the freezer and fridges. No need to run little inverter at night for water. Just thought I would share as I was surprised how easy it was to use the rv pump.
It was long -but very informative -and I for one will use the links for some purchases -thanks Doc
You sir have put into one video many of the things I have considered and planned for in an urban setting. During Milton, I got to execute my plan and it worked pretty well. My generators can run on propane or gas.
When you run your generator to the point that it shuts off, I found that there was still fuel in the carb bowl. After Milton I drained everything and changed the oil to prep for the next thing.
FYI, research I did regarding Natural Gas (NG) pumping stations was that 90% of pumping stations are powered by NG. The NG at those locations probably powers a generator for its electrical needs.
Very good video. Be careful, that truck mounted 58 gal tank is for diesel most likely, don't get caught on the road with gas in it.
Best way to store water long term? Thanks Doc. This was very helpful.
Great video, Doc! This one is in my saved playlist.
I have a Honda EU2200i and it got us through Helene in South Carolina. On City water, so no well, and have a tankless water heater, which needs power only to run its electronics. We Ran: a Ubiquiti network setup with three access points and AT&T fiber, a fan, a refrigerator, and TV as well as some LED lights and our tankless water heater. Only thing that was bad was no air conditioning
We were out of line power for 10 days. We ran a 7KW about 70% of that time. Used alcohol stove to heat meals and coffee when the generator was off. Used hot plates, electric grill and rice cooker ( keeps water boiling ), bbq grill for meats. We used fans as the generator isn’t enough to run this AC. Used a lpg crab boil burner with a 5 gallon pot to heat bathing water. I was fine with the kiddie plastic pool water after sitting in the sun for most of the day. Loaned our 2kw Honda to the neighbor.
I have a 10kva propane generator fed to the house through an interlock. I have a 6 gauge extension from the generator to a plug on the house. Electric start is a life saver at my age.
Extremely helpful. Thanks Doc!
In Florida during Milton- we fill our bath tubs with water to use for toilets. Had a “1850 watt” 2004 gen that we used for fridge/freezer, coffee maker, & tv. Thank God we had cool weather after. Were only out of power from 11:00pm Wednesday until 4:30pm Saturday and used my dial thermometers in fridge & freezer as gauge as to when to crank gen back on. Older fridge so was doing it every couple hours or so. Needed a 2nd larger gen for well pump for showers. Did spit baths 😂. Also had frozen 1-gal glad bags & used for cold drinking water.
You can buy large bladders with a faucet feature that will fit in a truck bed if you want to supplement your water supply.
Hey Doc great vid. Are you able to run a microwave on your bigger house generator. Our older microwave would work but the new one doesn’t only turns but no heat. Something about dirty power comes out of the generator.
Doc, do you use a power strip inside your house to split off the 3 outlet extension cord coming from the generator to power other electronics inside or what is the best way to split off the 3 outlet extension to more than 3 electronics inside the house?
Great video, Doc...I have similar well water and hot water tank system like yours. I wonder if you have any issues about using well pump as the inruch current is very high even it only consumes 2000 watts when running. My well pump is 1HP 240 V, 10 GPM @ 180' down. I plan on using them like you suggested here for the next power outage when I will have a larger generator instead of the current 3500 watts one. I am thinking one with 9000 watts starting/7250 watts running. Also, my hot water tank (60 gal) has two heating elements, each consume 4500 watts of electricity according to the label. I do not know if these two heating elements will be on at the same time. If they do, then I may not have enough juice for the hot water tank. What generator do you use for your situation that appeared to be workable? Thanks.
Appreciate this info. Are there links?
Hey Doc two questions one with that 2000 watt generator can you do the direct plug into the like you do with the big one and also I've seen on the RUclips channel engineer 775 he has pushed for a connector to be hooked into a air conditioner for soft starts I would be curious if you know would that work for other things that take higher startup power I am enjoying the new channel keep up the great work sir I guess we're not prospecting any longer
The small one really is an ext cord unit not for whole house connection. I think the only thing that really needs the soft start would be the main HVAC system.
Thanks doc
Thanks for the info!
After the last major Hurricane 🌀, none of the whole house generators worked in the Houma Thibodeaux area.
Doc!! Your video was very helpful!!!!
Do you run the smaller generator with just extension cords or connect to the whole house system? Also, does the smaller generator come in a dual fuel version, and would that be worth exploring? Thanks for a superb channel!
Small cords on most as they don't have a plug for the whole house connection. You can find dual fuel but I don't think it's worth it in most cases.
Costco has an excellent set (2 each) 50 foot 10 gauge extension cords for $59.00.
Thank you!
Hot and humid doesn’t begin to describe the discomfort of the environment after a hurricane. Best to select window A/C(s)that can be powered by one of those small generators.
My new community has a supplement fuel source of propane. All electric with propane tank for heat. Your suggestion?
24:49 it could be both better or worse if you have a natural gas water heater and furnace. We dont have central only window ac units so 120volt. 31:32 or buy a running but not driving car and put a 30+kw gen head or something on it. So then you would have a whole home generator with potentially a 20 gallon tank(the stock vehicle tank) and then upgrade to a much bigger tank, that runs for days.
Good common sense of generator usages. However those are plugged directly into your portable generator with various 12g with ground power cords rated for 20 amps. If your cords is over 50 feet you should run 10g with ground .
House transfer power not the same and must be unbonded”at your portable generator. That means your generator is not grounded to its frame. Simply remove the
generator ground wire connecting the frame.
That insure only one bond”at the house panel.
Great information. Thanks for the tips
Great job doc. I’m looking at the Anker system with the portable solar panels. What’s your opinion on those?
I'll show the battery systems in the next video
When Nor Cal had power failures the local gas station had no power to pump gas, so the first job was to supply a gas pump with electricity, only then could people buy gas.
Yo Doc live the video, @ 30:35 you started to talk about a well system then… squirrel! You went to an ad on your phone lol! I have 2 wells tied together combined on 1 breaker what to do then?? lol I just have a small 2500 watt peak inverter generator. All electric house and tankless electric using 2 50amp breakers!
You'll need to do some deep diving in the AMPS (watts) used for each and maybe get the specs from the manufacturer. Tankless water heaters are great but they have a BIG draw and must be run at the same time as the well. So you'd have to step up and get a larger unit to have hot water.
Do you think I could get by short-term, (a few days) using a battery pack at night and my standard generator during the day?
Depends on your battery, but what I do with my battery is run everything on the battery and then charge it with the generator. Running the generator constantly is usually very inefficient compared to simply recharging the battery.
Also depends on wattage and energy efficiency of what you are trying to run.
All depends on what you are running, but yes for some basic needs our battery is fine at night then charge during the day.
If you plan to run that generator while in the enclosure, then you need to consider the material for the floor. The area under a generator can get EXTREMELY hot (test it out). The floor should be protected from extreme heat and not be a fire hazard.
We have. using a FRAMED generator on wheels is fine as there's plenty of air flow for cooling.
Good show Doc
I don't see your back up battery system in the link
Next video
Excellent video
Thanks Doc it's bin a awesome video.
Doc, your well power needs are incorrect. All motors have a start up surge needs. A deep well pump, 3/4 or 1 HP are typical have a start up power need 1 1/2 to 2 times its run power.
If you try to size a generator to the run power and add only 10% more, the generator breaker will just trip. You many also damage your well pump from under voltage at start up. Same
goes for AC compressors. Unless you use a soft sart . I was an electician for 40 years. People be very carefull with emergency generators, you can kill lineman trying to restore power or
ruin your home equiptment. Do get an electrcian. I installed dozens of whole house generators. I dont have one. I use a 9500 watt tri fuel generator to run a 3000 sq total electric home with
a 5 ton Heat pump. I can go 2 weeks with gas and and a underground propane tank. Its called load shedding, very easy process. My neighbor had a crooked electrician going to install 22 kw unit. I
talked him out of it when i told him his propane tank would last only 3 or 5 days. Beast ate 5 gallons an our. undersize as Doc says. cheaper and longer run. got my 9500 watt at Costco for 699 on sale.
Hence the previous video showing how to measure peak watts not just running watts.
Where are the links to the generators? All Power and ??
This is like looking in a mirror. I have the same Ecoflow ultra battery bank which will cover one day of normal electric usage. I have an ultra quiet Yamaha 2400w trifuel generator which is my go to for warm weather outages running on natural gas. I have a 10500w trifuel inverter generator so I can charge the batteries in 2 hours a day on 1_gallon of gasoline but I run it on natural gas at 60% of the cost. If you do the math that is much cheaper than grid power if you discount the initial investment. My Generac trifuel is 4000w (6000 surge) with 240v and will run my well furnace and freezers if required. I lay in 75 gallons of gasoline and 200 lbs of propane for the winter months and use the gasoline up in the spring. I also have solar to cover normal usage when the sun shines. I know this sounds excessive but I would rather have enough to help my neighbors and family than go begging for help myself. Understand I live in a snowbelt south of Buffalo NY where we concider 3 feet of snow a dusting and 7 feet a minor inconvenience.
I’m wondering if you turn everything else off can your generator run your central heat/air
For most generators it's not practical. My HVAC draws 42 amps x 240 volts= 10,080 watts. So a10,000 Watt capacity generator working at 100% capacity could run it assuming that's startup usage. My choice is a10,000 BTU window unit. If you know a storm is coming, crank your central ac down to 65, or whatever you choose, before you lose power, then the window ac coming on periodically can maintain cool temps.
Doc get you a laser, or good old fashioned straight line string and get those railroad ties dress right dress! Semper Fi
Where is that? It looks like a dream.
I live in Asheville, do anybody knows with the knowledge of DOC how to install a new power panel for my Honda EU2200i....Because using long AC cords from generator to inside house...Mmm is safe?
Best to consult a licensed electrician, anything the insurance companies can do to not pay a claim, they will.
wondering if this 3600watt would work if I have a freezer and separate refrigerator??
yes
Fridge would be about 400 watts and freezer about the same. So yes. Watch the calc video we just posted.
The link is not working for the yellow generator
www.howtowithdoc.com/home-generator-tips/ Worked for me... gives you a list.
What about the electric ones. I don’t want or need a gas generator.
The best way to measure your needs is to get a power meter that gives you peak watts, amps and total kwh.
Covered in the last video
Natural gas compressors usually have gas generators in case of power outage.
Not always. The gas companies are aware they will need to factor in the expense of hardening their infrastructure due to the proliferation of whole house generators.
I would do a whole house generator even if it cost more.
Good for you.