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

Well the storm we had on the Saturday the 29th knocked out our power at 11:00 pm and we just got back on the grid about 3 hours ago. We got about 8" of heavy wet snow and several of the ornamental trees in my yard took a big hit (my wife was sick over that) and a big limb across the road took out a main power feed line. 1 or 2 days I can handle, but 5 days off the grid starts to get a bit old.

Monday morning I went out at 7:00 am to get coffee and bagels for the family (school was cancelled) and decided to go by the local Home Depot and see if by a stoke of luck they had any generators left. I decided to give this a shot after contacting National Grid that morning and was told to not expect any power until Thursday at 11:45 pm (seriously!).  I walked through the doors and saw quite a few snowblowers which I felt was a good sign as all the news reports leading up to the storm were stating that there was not a snowblower to be found due to the impending nor'easter. I headed to the hardware section in hopes of finding any generator I could find and at the first endcap was this little Ryobi i2000 power inverter generator. I looked at it a bit and said to myself, "self - you better put that in the carriage just in case there is nothing else". Sure enough, that was it! So $600.00 later I was filling it up with 10W30 oil, some fresh gas and getting some power to my home.

It's only 1600 continuous watts (2000 peak) but it was good enough to power the fans on my wood stove (plenty of heat for the whole house) and power up some small appliances and the TV. We did not have any cable or internet service but we could run DVD's and keep ourselves entertained and provide some relief from the toils of dealing with the little things in life we take for granted  I'm on a well pump and septic so having no electricity to power the water pump creates it's own set of obstacles to overcome. Flushing the toilets (a no flush unless needed rule took effect) can be become a challenge. I would skim the water off my pool cover with a small bucket and fill (2) 5 gallon buckets that I would use to fill the 3 toilet tanks. A "do number 2 in the first floor bathroom" rule was also mandated so I did not have to carry 5 gallon buckets upstairs to refill those toilet tanks more than once a day.

I learned my lesson after living here for the last 10 years or so to have an ample supply of emergency potable and non potable water on hand in case of a power failure. I always keep 50 gallons of drinking water stored in my cellar in used 2 liter Polar Springs Seltzer water bottles. I have a propane cook stove so I can heat water to do a "bums bath" (probably not a PC statement these days) and to cook with so it becomes fairly bearable once you get the hang of dealing without the flick of a switch or knob, etc... type of convenience. I have several types of battery operated lights that work quite well and are actually quite efficient at illuminating a room - you just have to bring the light along with you everywhere you go!

One of the biggest challenges was keeping morale high as this type of situation can become very old, very quickly. My kids (girl 14, boy 15) handled everything pretty well and adapted easily to their new set of circumstances. The wife on the other hand, began to grow tired of the conditions fairly quickly regardless of the fact that it was basically a "it is was it is" type of situation and it could be much worse. I think anyone that's been married for some time can attest to the usual demands of a husband/wife dynamic but throw this type of situation into the mix and WOW - it can really become interesting!

I think everyone should have to deal with this type of inconvenience occasionally so that they can appreciate what they have just a little bit more than they realize!

I used a ridgid portable generator for 10 consecutive days during hurricane Irene.It's rated at 6800 running watts and 8500 start up watts.It has a yamaha engine.I ran it 22hrs a day.I paid $900 .I have a 10 circuit manual transfer switch.It provided all the power I needed and had plenty in reserve.Honda,Yamaha,Winco and Gillette are great generators,but cant see why one would spend so much when my generator proved to be reliable at a much lower price.Also Honda's biggest gen is only 5500 running watts.I was quoted $30,000 for a 15,000W kohler standby generator.Thats the going rate up here in NY.It was going to be located about 100 ft from the house.So I figured a $900 portable was a better deal lol, since I will use it maybe once every couple of years.

mikiewest wrote:

Yeah. 30 large for 15kW is a bit steep. What does it run on? For that much it should run on water. Your $900 one is the winner there.

I don't mind spending a few $$$ to have power (especially water) during these frequent power outages but $ 30K is a lot of money. I've been doing some leg work on the generator, transfer switch and electrician to do the install and can probably get everything set up properly for about $ 4K. It would be nice to have one of those "3, 2, 1" and the power comes on automatically during an outage but can't justify the expense. I'll go out and fill four or five 5 gallon gas cans and store it in my shed just before a major storm just in case the whole grid goes down for an extended period of time and the gas stations can't pump any fuel. I can always put the fuel into my vehicles if it's not needed so it's not like I'll have to have it on hand for any length of time. One of my co-workers who lives in Connecticut is in that situation right now. He had to travel an hour to find a gas station that had electricity to power the pumps.

I was shocked at the price.But the price includes the 15k watt kohler stanby gen,auto transfer switch,plumber to hook it up to the natural gas,electrician ,putting it 150 ft from the house.Which adds to the price because they have to dig and refill.The concrete base to put the gen. on.In my town you have to file for a permit.Cant justify spending that much for something that happens so infrequently.So I'll stick with my portable for now.I keep the gen tank full(8 gallons) and I use marine stabil.Also I have a 4 five gallon containers full.After 12months I will put the gas in my car and refill them with fresh gas and use some for my snowblower.

FrankMA wrote:

Agreed!  We are becoming too isolated from the realities that Mother Nature can dish out. 

I really didn't appreciate having to milk 40 cows by hand  in a sub-zero blizzard back in the 70's before we got a PTO generator!

Now, I'm getting along just fine with my little 3.6kw propane generator.  Haven't needed it much here in the midwest, though.  It is enough to run the furnace fan, laptop, cable modem, TV, etc.