Best news ever from Edison...
- Thread starter xthunderx
- Start date
I had the same notice a few months back and they never shut us off, I think because we had a new transformer installed a few years back, glad to hear you are up and running.
I have the Honda Generator and they are very nice to have when the power does go out. We had a Lightning strike the pole in my back yard a few years back and the wires melted off the pole and it only affected 6 houses down one side of the street, Honda powered the tank for 2 full days. Fast forward a few years to a 600 gallon system that I would never admit to what I have rapped up in it and I did go with a whole house generator. Generac 20kw will run the whole house including 2 Air conditioners. This was more for piece of mind when I am out of town as even a short power outage can be a problem when you have a ton of fish. My power has gone out 4 times this year and the generator automatically transfers over after just 15 seconds. It came on at 10pm and ran until 830 the next morning when I was at Macna and I told the kids to not answer the door if the police came because the one downfall is the model i got is kind of loud. Like a Lawnmower running all night, never herd from the neighbors, thought that was weird. Anyway I bought the generator on line, pulled the permit myself, and had a friend do the electrical work and it cost close to $8000 with everything including poured slab. It does allow me not to worry as much when I am out of town even though it was a big expense. I can say I had 2 quotes of over $15,000 to put in the same generator so DIY can save money.
I have the Honda Generator and they are very nice to have when the power does go out. We had a Lightning strike the pole in my back yard a few years back and the wires melted off the pole and it only affected 6 houses down one side of the street, Honda powered the tank for 2 full days. Fast forward a few years to a 600 gallon system that I would never admit to what I have rapped up in it and I did go with a whole house generator. Generac 20kw will run the whole house including 2 Air conditioners. This was more for piece of mind when I am out of town as even a short power outage can be a problem when you have a ton of fish. My power has gone out 4 times this year and the generator automatically transfers over after just 15 seconds. It came on at 10pm and ran until 830 the next morning when I was at Macna and I told the kids to not answer the door if the police came because the one downfall is the model i got is kind of loud. Like a Lawnmower running all night, never herd from the neighbors, thought that was weird. Anyway I bought the generator on line, pulled the permit myself, and had a friend do the electrical work and it cost close to $8000 with everything including poured slab. It does allow me not to worry as much when I am out of town even though it was a big expense. I can say I had 2 quotes of over $15,000 to put in the same generator so DIY can save money.
Alright guys so just a quick recap of today, power was on and off for a good chunk of the day. However, it stabilized much sooner than the outage time frame.
So electricity was spotty from 10:00am to 2:00pm after that I was golden. I kept all the extensions in place just in case, but no more loss of power after that.
I was able to run all my tanks 4 total with one generator pulling between 600 to 800 watts (including the fridge) never had to use the second generator for additional power. Only thing I didn't run was lights everything else was running as if on grid with generator power. Based on the readings I was getting from my Kilowatt, I could have powered on my lights.
Happy to answer any questions anyone may have.
So electricity was spotty from 10:00am to 2:00pm after that I was golden. I kept all the extensions in place just in case, but no more loss of power after that.
I was able to run all my tanks 4 total with one generator pulling between 600 to 800 watts (including the fridge) never had to use the second generator for additional power. Only thing I didn't run was lights everything else was running as if on grid with generator power. Based on the readings I was getting from my Kilowatt, I could have powered on my lights.
Happy to answer any questions anyone may have.
Around $1,500.00, check out the link below:
http://www.grainger.com/product/HONDA-Inverter-Generator-20KP49?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP
And thanks, I'm glad too!
How's the Rougue doing?
http://www.grainger.com/product/HONDA-Inverter-Generator-20KP49?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP
And thanks, I'm glad too!
How's the Rougue doing?
Around $1,500.00, check out the link below:
http://www.grainger.com/product/HONDA-Inverter-Generator-20KP49?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP
And thanks, I'm glad too! How's the Rougue doing?
http://www.grainger.com/product/HONDA-Inverter-Generator-20KP49?functionCode=P2IDP2PCP
And thanks, I'm glad too!
How's the Rougue doing?
Im glad it worked out for you. I have a pair of Honda eu2000i and they are the best for camping, etc. the biggest drawback their small fuel tanks and no easy way of knowing when near empty. You should get the external 6 gallon tank, or 2 of them- you dont want the inverter running out of gas while under a load. I got my 2000+ companion & cables a few years back for total of $1700 on ebay.
For $2k you can get a generac 8kw home standby generator from HD, get your contractor to buy it to get the discount. Then comes the installation. I think there are some electricians on here who can install it for less than $1k. It looks like you have plenty of concrete & space so it shouldnt be hard to install to code.
The home standby is peace of mind for a reefer because the tank crash that likely takes you out of the hobby will happen when you cannot manually switch. But it is loud & expensive. You can get multi fuel versions that default on natural gas, but you can plug in propane tanks. Real preppers get diesel for long term storage, but my friends have diesels and storing all that flammable fuel is a PITA.
The hondas are portable and have tons of other uses.
HTH
For $2k you can get a generac 8kw home standby generator from HD, get your contractor to buy it to get the discount. Then comes the installation. I think there are some electricians on here who can install it for less than $1k. It looks like you have plenty of concrete & space so it shouldnt be hard to install to code.
The home standby is peace of mind for a reefer because the tank crash that likely takes you out of the hobby will happen when you cannot manually switch. But it is loud & expensive. You can get multi fuel versions that default on natural gas, but you can plug in propane tanks. Real preppers get diesel for long term storage, but my friends have diesels and storing all that flammable fuel is a PITA.
The hondas are portable and have tons of other uses.
HTH
It's one of the reasons I went with the Honda's (portable) is that it can be used for so many applications. Last time I used it was at a job site for my dad and before that I used it when my parents power was off during a heat wave. That level of flexibility makes me feel better about dropping this kind of money on backup power.
Alright guys so now that the madness is over I want to recap a few things and break them down into categories.
Preparation
1. I prepared 5g and 3g Gasoline containers before the outage, several months before.
2. Gasoline does not keep well unless you add stabilizer, the gas I had stored had about 6 months of storage time. With additives gas can stay fresh much longer, for me a year is good rule of thumb. This is why I'm always surprised to see cars driving around in Zombie shows or movies, cars just wouldn't work because gasoline would go stale after a few months depending on conditions. Years into the apocalypse, no way cars are functional...never mind the logic that there are zombies running around. I digress.
3. Every 6 months or so I test my generators and let them run for about an hour, this ensures everything is in working order.
4. Every year or so I also "refresh" the gas containers. This entails filling my containers up with fresh gas and adding stabilizer once again.
5. I also have backup batteries (UPS) for each tank so that I can keep things running while I get the generator setup. Typically I have about an hour and a half of run time and only run critical systems on battery (vortech pumps). Once I have generator juice all systems are online. This UPS battery system also sends me email alerts every time the power is offline and when the power is restored. Software is called Powerchute and comes with APC UPS units.
6. My APEX and Networking Equipment is on a backup battery as well. I have a camera that is setup so that I can always keep an eye on things even when the power is completely off. This allows me to stay connected at all times, even without power.
7. I have a portable Air Conditioner that I can plug into a regular outlet, in a power outage I can't run my other AC units as they are wired into the house. Portable unit allows me cool the house with on a standard electrical plug.
8. A box full of all necessary surge protectors and extension cords is labelled and next to where I store the generators.
Preparation
1. I prepared 5g and 3g Gasoline containers before the outage, several months before.
2. Gasoline does not keep well unless you add stabilizer, the gas I had stored had about 6 months of storage time. With additives gas can stay fresh much longer, for me a year is good rule of thumb. This is why I'm always surprised to see cars driving around in Zombie shows or movies, cars just wouldn't work because gasoline would go stale after a few months depending on conditions. Years into the apocalypse, no way cars are functional...never mind the logic that there are zombies running around. I digress.
3. Every 6 months or so I test my generators and let them run for about an hour, this ensures everything is in working order.
4. Every year or so I also "refresh" the gas containers. This entails filling my containers up with fresh gas and adding stabilizer once again.
5. I also have backup batteries (UPS) for each tank so that I can keep things running while I get the generator setup. Typically I have about an hour and a half of run time and only run critical systems on battery (vortech pumps). Once I have generator juice all systems are online. This UPS battery system also sends me email alerts every time the power is offline and when the power is restored. Software is called Powerchute and comes with APC UPS units.
6. My APEX and Networking Equipment is on a backup battery as well. I have a camera that is setup so that I can always keep an eye on things even when the power is completely off. This allows me to stay connected at all times, even without power.
7. I have a portable Air Conditioner that I can plug into a regular outlet, in a power outage I can't run my other AC units as they are wired into the house. Portable unit allows me cool the house with on a standard electrical plug.
8. A box full of all necessary surge protectors and extension cords is labelled and next to where I store the generators.
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Lessons Learned
1. Don't trust Edison, basically if they say the outage is going to last a certain time, give yourself about an hour before and after the scheduled outage.
2. Have spare extensions cord, not just the ones you need. I gave my neighbor power for his fridge and was ready with an extra long 100 ft extension.
3. Buy a Carbon Monoxide alarm. Yes, spend the a few bucks and protect yourself and your family from CO poisoning. Generators spew out carbon monoxide you need to take that very seriously. You hear about people setting up a generator too close to an RV and never waking up again. I picked up a digital one from Home Depot for $25 bucks. Also, place the generator as far away from your door and windows as you can and keep neighbors in mind as well.
4. Don't overload your circuits. My main extension cord was very beefy and brought power from the back yard to the rest of the house. From there it was split to smaller extension cords via a beefy surge protector.
5. Don't overload your generator. I had a Kill-a-watt measures the wattage on the main extension cord, so I knew where I was at the whole time.
1. Don't trust Edison, basically if they say the outage is going to last a certain time, give yourself about an hour before and after the scheduled outage.
2. Have spare extensions cord, not just the ones you need. I gave my neighbor power for his fridge and was ready with an extra long 100 ft extension.
3. Buy a Carbon Monoxide alarm. Yes, spend the a few bucks and protect yourself and your family from CO poisoning. Generators spew out carbon monoxide you need to take that very seriously. You hear about people setting up a generator too close to an RV and never waking up again. I picked up a digital one from Home Depot for $25 bucks. Also, place the generator as far away from your door and windows as you can and keep neighbors in mind as well.
4. Don't overload your circuits. My main extension cord was very beefy and brought power from the back yard to the rest of the house. From there it was split to smaller extension cords via a beefy surge protector.
5. Don't overload your generator. I had a Kill-a-watt measures the wattage on the main extension cord, so I knew where I was at the whole time.
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