Depending on where you live there may be a real possibility that you will be without electrical power at some point this winter. Snow and ice that accumulate on power lines and high, gusty winds can bring down lines and interrupt power to individual homes or large neighborhoods.
In my Midwestern town, we plan on being without electricity 3-5 days each winter. We get our kerosene heater ready to warm our living space and a generator to keep the refrigerator and freezer going so we don’t lose our frozen foods and daily meals.
Generators have long been used by campers to create a more comfortable time while vacationing. They run air conditioning, cook-stove, microwaves lighting, TV and radio, all of the comforts of home, on a generator.
When bad weather hits, having a generator makes “roughing it” a bit easier.
What you’ll need is gasoline that has been stored in rated containers, oil and oil filters, heavy duty twelve-gauge extension cords.
The weather and the length of the outage is going to determine how much gas and oil is necessary. Be sure the gas is fresh and not from last year, you will need to be sure the gas is in approved, rated containers so there is no container deterioration and damage to the gas. Allowing the generator to run out of gas will damage the generator.
The generator requires an oil change after the first 25 hours and every 50 hours after that, so be sure to stock up on oil and filters so the generator can run for a few days at least.
Since running a generator is very loud and generates some gassy fumes, it is a good idea to place it away from the living area if possible. Having some heavy duty twelve-gauge extension cords is required. However, try to stay within 100 feet of the home.
Having a generator in order to be prepared for power shortages is a great idea, but if you don’t keep your battery charged throughout the year, when the generator isn’t be used, you will have dead battery issues. Run the generator for about 20 minutes every three months or so and you will be ready for any situation that arises.
For more information: Portable Generators – Bob Vila Radio – Bobs Blogs.
That looks like a nice generator model. I would love to own one of those because where I live, we go through the threat of hurricane season every year and when a category 2 or higher does touch down on land, there is the very likely possibility that the power will go down for at least a day – even though this hasn’t happened for over a decade.
In these days you never know when the economy is going to completely collapse and it is good to be prepared for up to 3 months with out food or water or power so having one of these would be a good idea if you could store the amount of gas you need to make it run for that long. Thank you for the idea though it is really good.
This is a great article. This seems like a really good model. I will have to look into it. Cant ever do enough research into new generators with the way they continue to improve.