Jude wrote: * | Thu 26 May , 2022 1:45 am |
In related news, I'm thinking of getting a generator sometime before the next time this happens. Does anyone here have one? Are they straightforward to use?
We have two generators. One is a portable gasoline powered one that we use for power on parts of the farm where it is too far away from the house. It's pretty straightforward to use, but with all the down sides of a small gasoline engine. You turn it on and plug extension cords into it and voila! they are powered. You have to make sure that what you are powering does not exceed the capacity of the generator, but otherwise it isn't difficult to use. The last extended power outage we had at our place, we rotated which appliances were being powered by the generator. Freezers for a couple of hours, and then fridges for a few hours. That kind of thing. It kept the food from going bad, but it wasn't convenient. And it's very noisy.
Last year we got a whole house propane powered generator put in. When the power goes off, it automatically turns on, disconnects us from the electrical grid (so we don't electrocute an electrical lineman) and it runs the whole house. I wanted us to always have power in case my parents move in with us and they had some medical problem that requires power to keep them going. It took months from the time we contracted to have it done until everything came in and they could install, so I'm glad I got it done ahead of time. Since we are out in the country, we had to have a propane tank installed to supply the gas, but if you are in a city and they have gas available, you'd get one that could run on that. The whole house generator is also noisy, but not as much as the gasoline powered one.
I'm not sure what you mean by a solar generator. Is that just a portable unit that you set outside to charge and then bring in to use as a battery?