Generators.

[TeeDee]

Thinking of buying a generator because occasional blackouts in my area seems to be a growing trend and I've a somewhat inherent lack of faith in are electrical infrastructure.

Any tips or experience based comments regarding Generators? Thinking currently of a Kerosene based one.

 

[British Red]

Thinking of buying a generator because occasional blackouts in my area seems to be a growing trend and I've a somewhat inherent lack of faith in are electrical infrastructure.

Any tips or experience based comments regarding Generators? Thinking currently of a Kerosene based one.

Having used all sorts of generators I think that propane is the best fuel. Petrol goes off quickly, diesel / kerosene less so but it does spoil & it's hard to store more than a day or two of fuel. Propane cylinders store pretty much forever & most propane generators will also run petrol.

I increasingly like solar generators for backup. With a decent panel array (very cheap now) they can keep you going however long the power cut

 

[Broch]

I bought a Hyundai 5.5Kw (badged as B&D but the same generator) a couple of years ago. It's diesel but will run on 28 sec heating oil with a little 2 stroke added which means, as I have oil heating, I always have a good store of fuel. It's fairly quiet. It's unbelievably effective; we've not had a power cut since I bought it!

The little inverter generators are great for giving portable power for tools and the like but won't turn over my borehole pump because of the 'flat spot' in the power curve.



I won't use gas for static engines; they give off methane which is orders of magnitude worse for the environment than CO2

 

[Big Si]

I've followed this man for years, good sensible advice.

PetePower Honda generator repairs

Honda generator repairs, service, parts, advice and lpg conversions 07856775398

petepowerblog.wordpress.com

I'm not sponsored by him and I've never met him bu the way.
ATB Si

 

[TeeDee]

I bought a Hyundai 5.5Kw (badged as B&D but the same generator) a couple of years ago. It's diesel but will run on 28 sec heating oil with a little 2 stroke added which means, as I have oil heating, I always have a good store of fuel. It's fairly quiet. It's unbelievably effective; we've not had a power cut since I bought it!

The little inverter generators are great for giving portable power for tools and the like but won't turn over my borehole pump because of the 'flat spot' in the power curve.

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I won't use gas for static engines; they give off methane which is orders of magnitude worse for the environment than CO2

Yes - also have heating fuel and will probably still have heating fuel down the road which is why I'm favouring that route. And odds on are I would need it in winter when maybe Solar isn't as readily effective and has limited day light hours.

 

[Pattree]

Don’t have a generator but totally agree about fuel.

 

[demented dale]

Thinking of buying a generator because occasional blackouts in my area seems to be a growing trend and I've a somewhat inherent lack of faith in are electrical infrastructure.

Any tips or experience based comments regarding Generators? Thinking currently of a Kerosene based one.

https://gardenpowertools.co.uk/generator-reviews/bohmer-ag-w4500i-camo-petrol-generator-review/
I bought one of these TD. it is very good and I use it as my main power source. Someone mentioned solar. I am building an array at the minute. I think its good to have a few options. the generator was £400 and I could have that and basic solar set up for about a grand I reckon. Long term I am leaning more towards something that doesnt involve anyone else; ie Fuel

 

[Pattree]

I had the best chance I’ll ever get to persuade the household that we should have one.
A power cut in the middle of the Wimbledon final but the moment passed.

 

[slowworm]

Any tips or experience based comments regarding Generators?

No, but I've been thinking about one for years.

We also get quite a few power cuts but none long enough to justify a generator. Our freezer seemed to cope with a 24hr cut and as it's getting old I plan to replace it with a chest freezer that should last even longer.

One thing I have been doing is checking high drain devices with a plug in energy meter, that way I get an idea of what load they require to start.

Do you need a large output for a long period of time? Do you need pure sign wave output? One option could be a solar battery generator and a basic small generator to charge it up in an emergency.

If you're not running it much Alkylate fuel will keep for several years and power petrol equipment.

 

[Dave Budd]

Generators are something that I have a little experience of, sadly. I would say avoid the inverter ones unless you have to have something small and quiet; they are expensive to buy, prohibitively expensive to repair and are much more likely to breakdown when you need them than an old-style genset.

I wouldn't go for gas (LPG). They might be economical to run compared to petrol, slightly more expensive than diesel gennies; but they are very hard to get repaired/serviced because most engineers won't touch them unless they happen to be specialist gas engineers (I couldn't find anybody near me that would even look at mine until I removed the LPG conversion and didn't mention that I had ever had it there!). The way the conversions work usually means that even if the LPG doesn't work, you can normally still run petrol in them; assuming it's not a stand along LPG fuelled machine

If you are likely to be running it for many hours and frequently, then diesel gennies are great. They are bomb proof and easy to fix yourself (relatively), as well as cheap to run. Old lister generators are excellent standby power units and really cheap, but you need space to put one. If you have heating oil or a diesel vehicle, then fuel is not so bad and stores for a year or so without problem

Petrol gennies are cheap to buy and for occasional use probably the most sensible choice. I would suggest using an alkylate fuel (Aspen is what I use i all of my petrol engines including a couple of generators) as it stores for years in the bottle (I'm currently working through a bottle I bought about 6 years ago and it's fine) and doesn't mind sitting in the machine's fuel tank. I've started petrol engines after 3 years without draining or changing the fuel and had no issues.

 

[TeeDee]

Anyone have knowledge of building what I believe is a baffle box for a generator ? I assume its just a moderately ventilated box with enough air flow so it doesn't choke , enough clearance and something to soak up noise?

 

[Dave Budd]

I've not built one, but I did have a 'silent' generator for a while. It was silenced by being housed in a steel box lined with acoustic eggbox foam, with space for ventilation as you say. Also being on rubber matting helped