Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I have a 5.5 kW gasoline generator. It’s an inexpensive Genterac model, but I’ve only needed it for an extended outage once in the last 7 years. I think I paid less than $500 for it. I have it set up to distribute power through the house wiring, but I did it on the cheap. It comes down to a question of how much money do you want tided up in a generator that you may only use a few days every 5 years.

My Genterac is hard to start in the cold, so I have to keep starting fluid on-hand. I also use synthetic oil in it so it’s easier to pull through in the cold. I keep 5 gallons of alcohol-free stabilized gas in it’s tank, but have the shutoff valve closed.

My generator burns 0.66 gallons per hour at half load (2,750 watts), which is nearly 16 gallons per day. I typically keep 35 gallons on hand, so I can run for about two days. If we get a big ice storm a person might have to drive a long ways to find a gas station that has both power and gas as many more people have generators than have 30 to 40 gallons on hand. Actually, it may be against code to keep that much gas in your garage depending on where you live. That’s why people spend the big bucks for NG or propane systems.

My generator is loud and the muffler gets hot enough to melt aluminum, so it’s no easy thing to find some means of extending the exhaust. You need something that can take the heat and is flexible enough to allow for the vibration. Flexible automotive exhaust hoses won’t take that much heat. I wouldn’t recommend running a generator in an attached garage as any leak in the exhaust could be dangerous. I made a 240v cable long enough so that I can set the generator on the driveway and run the cable under the closed garage door to a plug just inside the garage. I also run a steel cable to the generator and padlock it so it doesn’t just disappear.

One thing to remember is that if there’s an extended power outage anyone living nearby is either going to show up with an extension cord or might even think you should share your portable generator with them. You can make friends and you can make enemies during an extended power outage particularly in the winter.