Oct 26 2008
When the power fails..
Our house is rather old, ranging between 90 and 110 years old dependant on the source. The precise age is a matter of detail only, the important part is that the house does not really have anything approaching modern insulation and the house radiates heat during the winter.
This is a little more expensive for us, but not a deal breaker (as we reno we’ll properly insulate the walls). When you combine this with our Canadian winters and our neighborhood history of minor power interuptions, however, it is a definate cause for concern.
I explored a few options to keep the furnace running if the grid drops. My “hail mary” option was to run the car and my 300 Watt inverter to power the furnace only. This was as far from optimal as I could get (well, just slightly less far than the other alternative of “no heat”) and lacked any elegance at all.
Last winter I picked up a 1200 Watt generator for approx $140 (CDN) and packed it into the basement. It became the NEW “hail mary” option, with no wiring to support it I expected in an emergency I would have to run it in the driveway or backyard and connect it to the furnace by extension cord.
Better, but still far from perfect.
We’ve improved somewhat. The shed now has an industrial (12 guage) extension cord running from within to our main breaker panel inside the house. This means I can keep the generator inside the shed (without worrying about a neighbor walking away with it) and significantly reducing the start-up time in the event of power failure.
Next up is the installation of a manual transfer switch (our generator capacity is capable of running the furnace and some lights, or the fridge and some lights - but it’s hardly a “whole house” solution) and ventilation in the shed itself (along with pouring a concrete pad for the generator and devising a means of bolting it down).
This is where we are right now. Of course it’s not zombie suitable, as you have to go outside to start, refuel and maintain the generator but we can deal with that in the fullness of time.
THe VZ58 is pictured with the generator to demonstrate scale as the generator is much smaller than I would have expected.
(Happy Piet?)
Sheesh! Only you would use a weapon to provide scale in your photo
I’ll look forward to seeing the installation, once it’s done.
It beats what I have, which is nothing really. Living in an apartment limits such things. Although, I do have a fire place, so heat and cooking will still be possible.
Yeah…..
Holly cow that is small.
You said it weighed in under 40lbs, you could walk around with that.
But truly, if it works you’re ahead of the game.
So when are you pouring the slab?
Do you have the means to isolate your house generator from the power grid?
You really don’t want to try & power up the neighborhood, plus it could suck for a repairman who thought the power was off.
It is a required feature in most of the US, and a good idea too.
Merle
Great question Merle! I’m working on acquiring a manual transfer switch for the generator feed and a few household circuits, in the meantime I guess I can just isolate the appropriate household circuit using the breakers and the mains breaker and then plug the generator in. Far from optimal but better than freezing.
What’s the duty cycle on that generator, and how often will it need fuel?
Lots of little ones aren’t rated for 24/7 operation.
(Indeed, I just looked it up, and their 3kw is only rated for 10 hours a day run time - and I doubt their 1200 watt “camping generator” is rated any better, so if you run it at night to keep warm, it’s gonna get pretty cold during the day…
And you’ll need to get up after 5.5 hours to refill it, if running at half capacity.
For a minor power interruption of a few hours, no problem. If the power’s out for a few days, well… it’s not so pleasant.
Don’t forget to keep fresh gas and oil, ideally pre-mixed, around!)