After observing national and world conditions everyday, I feel that waiting on this purchase any longer would be foolish. We have accumulated enough dry food and supplies to make it at least three to six months, but we would not have regular water without a generator to run the well pump. In a crisis we would use the generator to fill drums with about 200 gallons or water and then turn off the generator untill needed again.
I am planning to continue investigating a supplemental solar system. If solar could supplement a generator, gas supplies could last two or three times longer.
I am interested in any advice anyone has about the following:
1) I am considering a gas powered 6kw peak / 5 kw continues generator from Generator Joe. Here are the specs. It has a Honda GX 340 /1 motor which seems to get pretty good reviews.
What does anyone know about Generator Joe? What about this engine setup?
There are more heavy duty generators and certainly more powerful but this one has a few advantages.
a. The gallons / hour rating is .5 at 50%. For a unit this size that is not
too bad. I want to save gas.
b. The weight of the unit is 179 lbs. I'm not superman, but I think I
can move that. My plans are to stay put as long as possible in a crisis, but if
I have to bug out in order to stay with family in more favorable areas, it would
be good to take this thing with me.
c. This thing comes set up with a 20 Amp 250 V outlet. This will be
necessary for my well pump.
2) Can anyone give advice on storing gas. Right now I've got three steel 55 gal drums in my detached garage (they are not full yet). I am filling them at about 20 gallons per week and stabilizing them with Sta-bil. My plan is to rotate the gas into my cars every six months. What about venting the individual drums?
Thanks for reading. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Pat
1 comment:
i've heard positive things said about "generator joe" before. regarding homebuilt generators, the easiest one uses a heavy duty alternator and a lawnmower type engine to produce 12v. power. (lots of R.V. type appliances work on 12v) (and they are also useful for starting BOVs with dead batteries) it seems hard to go wrong with any honda product, and i'd like to have a honda gennerator myself. for your home, if you plan to stay in it, a diesel generator may be a better choice, and the fuel is easier to store long term. there are several articles about this in "backwoods home magazine" by jeff yago and others. you can read most of the magazine for free on-line.
you didn't say what type of energy you use to heat your home, but a diesel generator can be run on home heating oil or kerosene if necessary.
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