120volt outlet in bed

I have a Generac 2000, it's not too bad for the $ but the Honda is well worth the extra, I have a buddy who has a champion 5500, works like a charm, loud but that really shouldn't bother you inside a house.

 

Important...anyone who is using an external power source for an electric motor needs to understand this. Especially true on bigger motors (think well pumps, etc). The motor start up current requirement is typically 2.5 times its average running current (or watts). That means the genset needs to be appropriately sized. You just don't add up your 'running' loads. If you don't size accordingly, you will likely damage your start/run capacitors and/or motors.

 

after the storm get a decent well rated generator and a home transfer switch. gas cans with ethanol free gas, stabil etc. run yer generator once in a while to make sure it runs. small engine storage etc.

 

I bought a nice big Honeywell Generator about 10 years ago, was well worth the money and comes in handy during the outages.

 

CDC has good disaster prep info. Fill tubs, buckets etc with h20. You can store h20 for long term with their guidelines. Also some decent roof damage repairing with tarp and 2x2s ....
good luck

 

My friends is 15yrs old and starts with ease, it is all about taking care of them and it's not hard. He never leaves gas in his. I don't have a big one because I live in town and never lose power for very long.

 

My longest outage was 9 days, Generator says an oil change is required after 24 hours of use so I did plenty of oil changes during that outage.

 

which brand?

 

That seems too soon to be changing oil. I don't think my friend has changed the oil but once in 15yrs.

 

Mine generator is a Honeywell. I also bought a bunch of replacement parts at the time of purchase as I figured if anything decided to fail during an outage I could fix it without having to search for parts.

 

You are right, it is every 100 hours, or 6 months

 

look up reflash with elec drill for generators. good trick if its acting up

 

Yeah, you’re both right. Not sure what I was thinking.

 

I like how you guys are going back and forth about what kind of generator he should get...

On an island with a hurricane watch issued? I'd say he's probably not likely to find one.

 

Jam the interior of the refrigerator with cold pre-refrigerated food and water, and the ice box with ice. The less air in your refrigerator, the more mass it will have that will keep it cold longer. Next, IF THE POWER GOES OUT, put extra insulation on the exterior walls and top of the refrigerator by wrapping the exterior of the refrigerator with sleeping bags, blankets, cardboard, pillows, couch cussions, whatever you have, then with a plastic tarp and use cinch straps or rope to hold them on. Start wrapping from the front and go around so the middle of the blankets are towards the back and Keep the seams towards the door opening side for easier access. Adding lots of insulation keeps it colder for several extra days than without. If you have a remote indoor outdoor thermometer, put the sender for the oitdoor part in the refrigerator too, helps monitor food temp without opening door.

Caution- only wrap the back if the power is off - a running refrigerator needs air circulation in the back to work right!

-wrapping with more insulation also works great for ice chests when camping in hot locations, we use our sleeping bags to do it.

Hang tight, you guys will do fine as long as you stay away from low areas!

 

That only works on brushless generators. Most lower priced gens at Lowes and HD are brushed. If no output on brushed that won't work.

Keep a spare capacitor for your brushless around. Been there.

 

Sounds like the OP lucked out and found one in Post #16.

 

The best small generators to consider are both the Honda and Yamaha Inverter Generators. They are both small and lightweight (around 50 lbs.) and very quiet, but most importantly, because they are inverters, they provide very clean, non spikey power, perfectly suitable for running anything electronic that might be sensitive to power spikes. If you don't use it all the time, either make sure it's run dry or doubly make sure you put fuel stabilizer in the gas or you will gum up the carb. As a bonus, both the Hondas and Yamahas can be linked together with a special cable to effectively double their amperage capacity, and, with another special cable, have a 12 volt output as well. There's a reason I bought the Yamaha over the Honda, but now I can't remember what that was. It wasn't the color, although I do prefer Yamaha blue over Honda red. There's a thousand dollars I've never regretted spending.

 

One of those Honda inverter generators kept my family and I warm and our food cold for 8 days after Sandy on less than 10 gallons of gas. It's all about how you use it. In my case, I ran my pellet stove to heat the house. Only ran it long enough to warm the house up when it got chilly. Same with the refrigerator and chest freezer - ran the fridge until the compressor shut off, then unplugged it and did the same with the chest freezer. Repeated every 8 hours or so. In between I shut the generator off to save gas. Fortunately I had city water then.

Now I have a well and a cistern (backup because our well yields less than 50 gallons per day). The cistern holds about 1100 gallons of water, which I can get out using a bucket and a rope if I have to. That way I don't have to worry about powering either the well pump or the jet pump for the cistern. And I still have a pellet stove for heat.

 

Fill your tub with water for drinking. Do NOT take a bath in it