[PLUG] Line conditioners

[John Jason Jordan]

On Sun, 16 Nov 2014 09:29:11 -0800
Denis Heidtmann <denis.heidtmann at gmail.com> dijo:

>How  much power do you need for all the electronics you want to run
>during a power outage?  I suspect this is  much lower than the 7KW
>produced by the GX 390.  Does or will DMC convert a much smaller
>inverter generator to gas?  Have you looked into conversion kits? (I
>too would be interested in a natural gas fueled generator.)

CMD will convert a lot of generators to natural gas for you. You send
them just the carburetor and they return it as a tri-fuel carburetor.
This voids the warranty (except for Yamaha engines), but if you already
have an older generator that is out of warranty anyway, then it might
make sense. CMD is not the only one out there that will provide this
service, plus you can buy kits online and just do the conversion
yourself. 

As for the amount of power you need, bear in mind that electric motors
(think refrigerator and freezer) take two or three times as much power
when starting up. Consider also that, with the exception of inverter
type generators, the Hz is controlled by the engine speed, so if the
engine lugs down because the generator is near the top of its rated
capacity your power will not be as clean. And there is also the matter
of convenience. A 2,000 watt generator is enough to run a refrigerator
or freezer, but not a lot of other things that you want to keep running
at the same time. I don't want to have shut down all my computers and
peripherals in order to run the refrigerator a couple times a day.

[Pro natural gas rant]
As for natural gas, it's the only fuel option that makes sense if you
have natural gas in your house. Schlepping around gallons of gasoline
and/or storing it is a PITA and dangerous as well. If someone from the
fire department sees that you have 20+ gallons of gas stored in your
garage you're probably going to get a reaction. And even if you are
willing to put up with storage issues, bear in mind that you have to
recycle it continually through your car lest it turn into explosive
sludge. And it will gum up your carburetor unless you run the engine
dry after using it. 

In 1998 I took out a building permit to demolish the garage that was
falling down and build a new one adjacent to the house. At that time I
also took out an electrical permit to add a new service entrance and to 
rewire the house, and a mechanical permit to move the gas meter and
switch the water heater and range to gas, and to add an outdoor gas
connection to the patio behind the house. While chatting with the
inspector about the gas connections he mentioned that I would not have
needed a permit if no more than ten feet of new gas line had been
added. I don't know if that is still true, but I must say that working
with natural gas lines is very easy. The only thing you need is a
pressure tester, which are inexpensive and available at the box stores. 
[End rant]