I was talking with someone today who had been shutting off his home generators at night, not quite trusting them when he slept. They both suffered ethanol water separation, and one froze and split the fuel filter, and the other froze water in the float bowl to where the float couldn’t fall to allow fuel in. Thankfully he had a third one that was stored inside so he could get the furnace running again, and thaw the one without the split fuel filter.
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I would throw out an alternative: buy an AC clamp (current) meter.
That’s what half of those power logging do-dads really are. If you wanna get fancy, get one with in rush capabilities to capture starting load.
Then multiply (amps x volts) to get (watts).
Maybe a plastic deckbox/bin cover?
I agree with that. I actually don’t have an amp-clamp sadly. It’s been on my list of need to purchase but haven’t had an excuse for a while.
One thing that you might miss is a lot of the meters do reactive loads (VA) in addition to simple resistive loads (Watts) so you can get a feeling of which ceiling you’ll hit first.
I’ve since received my generators and begun the process of breaking them in (note that opinions on this subject vary wildly with some suggesting another 50-100 hours at high load after the third run; I plan on the two unloaded runs then a low-load run).
Observations:
- WEN ain’t Honda
- My concerns about noise are real: operating at full throttle these would likely be mildly annoying to my immediate neighbors
- I will absolutely need an enclosure
- I’d like to quiet them down to below “eco” throttle at full load\
- Forced ventilation will be mandatory - internet says minimum 200 CFM; I’ll likely want more
- Glad I got two smaller generators instead of a single large one
- Just lugging these things around and doing basic operations I wish they were a tad lighter
- SOP for backup power ops and maintenance will likely be to pull them out of the enclosure for refueling / oil changes etc; if I had a larger unit that might be a tad bit impractical
- After the first hour the oil wasn’t dirty like a car would be after several thousand miles but it was cloudy.
Too flimsy, not enough time spent working outdoors in the summer cursing and over-engineering it. 
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Completed the break-in with little drama. Both will run a heatgun or hairdryer at maximum power without complaint.
I did determine that neither generator is happy to start a tiny crappy window unit that I’ve got - overloaded both on first try (curiously restarted on second try without complaint). Suspect that the two units running in parallel wouldn’t break a sweat starting the AC and that I could cheat by setting the AC to more or less never turn off then switching one off one generator - will leave me with very little operating margin, however.
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In a pinch you can spin the squirrel cage to get it going. That little kick may well give it enough of a rotating magnetic field to lower the inrush current. You’re basically acting like a human starter, just like you see on big motors.
I wouldn’t think the compressor should take too much to start since the pressures bleed off.
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Not-quite necro bump.
Finally got the whole shebang running and it was a banner success. Connected the parallel kit, started the generators, plugged the extension cable in, opened all the breakers, closed the interlock breaker, closed critical-load 120V breakers, I’ve got lights again. I was even able to start the office portable AC as the final load without issue.
The noise really wasn’t bad in the side yard with the gate closed. I imagine that a pretty minimal enclosure will cut the sound down to negligible levels.
The general Bill of Materials:
- WEN 56203i (2) inverter generator ($375/ea)
- WEN GNA36i 3600W parallel kit (~$50)
- Custom extension cord (~$100 / DIY)
- L5-30P plug
- 8/4 power cable (20’)
- L14-30R cord end
- L14-30P generator inlet / 60A 240V interlock breaker / mechanical interlock (~$500 turnkey)
I’m satisfied spending $1400 for a minimal backup power solution capable of running most of a workday. A few more dollars were required for startup consumables - oil, oil conditioner (optional but recommended by some sources), and of course fuel.
Extras:
- Magnetic dipstick ($10/ea)
- Jerry cans (2, $45/ea)
- Sta-Bil (don’t recall price)
All told I believe I’m under $1600 turnkey for a setup that can provide more than a week of WFH backup power.
I will invariably tweak this in the future. I need a fall project and that’s apt to be a doghouse for the generators that will have room for a larger 240V/120V unit should I choose. I’ll likely install a voltage/current monitor of some sort at the panel when I do this. I’d also like to modify a marine gas tank so I can run both generators from a larger common fuel tank so I could truly run them all day, all out.
While WEN isn’t the best brand by any means, the units have worked acceptably during my testing before today’s acceptance trials. The fuel cutoff feature is nice for my use case - turn the things almost off then wait a minute until the residual fuel depletes itself. I’ve kept my spreadsheet reasonably up to date on portable generators.
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I’m going to suggest that the likely next steps are a pair of suction feed gas caps and a pair of 3 or 5 gallon marine gas tanks to feed them.
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Many companies make a dual and some a triple fuel carb for generators (gas, natural gas, and propane). So my next upgrade to the gas generator (which ran my house through the FREEZE) will be a triple threat carb. The preferred power is NatGas, but if ERCOT cuts the supply then there is gasoline, and the last resort is propane for cooking. The real last resort is firewood in the rick, but that won’t cool the house when it is 103’F, and there is computing to be done.
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Well it was light out for 3 days over here and somehow nobody started running around murdering each other for batteries. In fact, people were helping each other get water, which took an entire week to come back online.
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When the Texas cities along I-35 decided to stage a run on fuel, I remember people pulling guns on each other for a tank of gas at the Racetrack in Dallas. After 3 days of Fed Govt shutdown, Walmarts allowed people to roll out with $1000s worth of goods when they couldn’t validate EBT charges, to prevent full scale rioting. In New Orleans, just 2 days after Katrina, it wasn’t the looting and break-ins that were disturbing; it was the snipers picking people off bridges that was inconceivable. What happened in Minneapolis, New York, and several other US cities last Summer was shocking and dangerous.
In Southern Louisiana today, the needs are tremendous. The power will be out in some areas for a long time. Having a generator and preps for 2 months can make all the difference in whether you can stay, or have to leave.
Ah yes the Hurricane Harvey gas scare - always wondered if that was an unexpectedly successful troll farm operation given how fast it spread in the absence of a real shortage.
There was a lot of bad reporting out of New Orleans early on during the Katrina aftermath that’s taken on a life of its own.
And also largely immaterial to the discussion about a backup generator.
The logistics of running a generator during a 2 month loss of services will prove incredibly daunting. In terms of logistics the natural gas supply is likely to be intermittent at best while gasoline and propane likely prove to be unobtanium. Short runs to keep the refrigerator cold and recharge phones might work, but you’re probably not going to be running lights, climate control, wired comms.
The attention that you’re likely to draw may prove highly undesirable. During normal times a small engine running or HVAC compressor firing up is part of the background. During the silence of a blackout such sounds draw considerable attention. In the short term with neighbors still around it’s not necessarily a bad thing - especially if you buy some goodwill by letting neighbors recharge phones and the like, but in a long-duration situation where most of your neighbors have left you probably don’t want to attract wandering randos.
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Erik,
Thank you for this information. My family and I were just talking about how we really needed to consider getting a power solution for the next winter storm which is likely to be this year if you believe the global warming predictions.
I’m going to use your bill of materials to start the process. Is there a 240v/120v unit you’re looking at currently?
Thanks again!
If you interest is 240/120 out of the gate, I would suggest a different inlet: L14-30 is limited to 30A input power while most 240/120 generators will happily produce closer to 50A starting and north of 30A running. The CS6365 and SS2-50 standards are both twist-lock 240/120-capable connectors that will handle 50A; alternatively a RV-style 14-50P inlet will accept push-on RV extension cords.
There are a number of brands out there that badge engineer variants of the Senci SC8000i that are of possible future interest for me:
- A-IPower SUA8000ISF (not easy to source any more, SUA8000IE seems to be the replacement)
- DuroMax XP9000IH
- Predator 9500
However, living on an ⅛ acre lot with adjacent structures typically just 10’ away from the property line I put significant priority on quiet operation, thus an enclosed inverter generator is a must for me, even if I intend to enclose it in a noise-insulating enclosure. If this is not a priority for you, there are plenty of far cheaper open-frame generators in the ~10kW range that will happily run the likes of a HVAC compressor (although a soft-start mod will got a long way towards making startup more reliable).
Personally not sure if I’ll end up with a 240/120 unit. The primary point of such a venture would be HVAC with a secondary benefit the ability to run all 120V circuits, but that’s a lot of added cost for a contingency I’m likely not to use often.
To be honest, I’m torn between looking at a solar/battery system and a natural gas/gas/propane generator setup. A lot is dependent upon cost, of course.
My wife was definitely not happy with the lack of power/heat/light etc during the FREEZE. I could probably get away with spending whatever it takes to avoid that again. She’s not going to object. Still, what are the probabilities a freeze like the one last February is going to happen again?
I appreciate very much your advice and information. It is very helpful.
Did you hire an electrician to install the additional lockout and breaker in your box?
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Yes! Keeping your own power station alive 24/7 would be nye to impossible, and very costly. Intermittent power is more realistic, and very welcomed.
Maintaining security is another big consideration, which brings us back to the 3 Day Rule. I’ve seen stories about Baghdad neighborhoods, where the neighbors posted guards and pooled together to get just 2-3 hours of power a day. There is also a story about thieves pushing a stolen running lawn mower up beside running portable generators, and making off with them in the night. In Louisiana, there are so many generators in the suburbs now, they post Public Service Announcements about how not to burn down your house during these power events. There is a lot to consider!
Yes I know, but last February was brutal for a lot of reasons. We burned the fireplace with natural gas during the outage and it never went out. I cooked on the outside propane grill during the outage and it was so cold it took a pot of tea a while to boil.
We dressed in as many layers as we could wear IN THE HOUSE and it was still brutally cold. That is plenty of motivation to find a solution at least for the limited time of no power. I honestly hope 24/7 of my aux power running is NOT reality any time soon.
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A solar + off-grid inverter + battery bank is an entirely different proposition for backup power than a generator.
Upsides
- Producing asset with positive ROI (albeit quite long)
- Largely passive operation
- Under nominal conditions capable of providing continuous power indefinitely in a blackout with judicious energy management
Downsides
- A good order of magnitude greater cost
- Non-trivial periodic maintenance expenses:
- Inverters are typically good for ~10 years
- Battery bank lifespan may be less than that of the panels - either in terms of cell cycle life or its own power electronics
Events similar to the 2021 February event have happened every few years. 2011 in particular was dangerously close to a collapse of the grid, but ended up being something that attracted little attention. 2013’s cobblestone ice may have also gotten close - the building I worked out of was on generator power for about 2 weeks during that time.
A similar concern is that the summer heat wave coinciding with enough generating units going offline will cause blackouts - I recall some warnings circa 2014 to that regard as some coal-fired stations were starting to wind down. And of course this summer’s warning from ERCOT.
EDIT: I can’t speak to your priorities nor budget for this sort of endeavor. The primary use case for my arrangement is Work From Home given that I don’t have an office to work from and commercial power failure is the most likely scenario to interrupt this. If the ~yearly outage longer than a sub-60s blink was any shorter I’d just invest in bigger UPSs and pay the semi-annual battery tax. While I did have the incredible fortune not to lose power in February I still conserved energy as much as possible - set the thermostat as low as it would go and minimized electricity use as much as possible more or less living within the envelope of my new setup. Thus, short of the electrical grid becoming markedly less reliable the analytical side of me has trouble imagining a need for anything more substantial - ala a 240V/120V generator or solar+offgid-capable inverter+battery bank. The economics of solar unfortunately are a tough nut to crack - every time I’ve run the numbers the ROI is some 20-plus years away for a grid-tie system; an offgrid-capable system with a battery bank may well be 30-40 years out. Food for thought when it comes to preparing for the possibility of a once-in-a-decade event.
I did. Prices quoted varied from almost $1000 to the just below $500 from the firm I went with. Running materials for DIY would have been about $200. But given the ultimate location of the inlet, extensive coring through the brick that was required, and liability of working with electricity I opted to hire the work out.
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Personally, if you have gas heat, then an NG generator makes the most sense to me.
- No stored flammable fuel
- No Fuel to go stale
- “Unlimited” fuel
- The “Con” is the assertion that NG lines will freeze somewhere and you won’t have any fuel - well if you have a NG furnace it isn’t going to work either so you’re screwed. Time to shut water off at street so if pipes burst you don’t flood) Last Feb my house never lost power and never loss NG - so it would have to be worse than last Feb. IMO
Trying to run an electric furnace on a generator when it is that crazy cold will take a LOT of power and fuel. But power to run the blower on a NG furnace isn’t that much.
I think the tri-fuel carb is probably a good investment.
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