[PLUG-TALK] Emergency backup generator - suggestions?

[Eldo Varghese]

My recommendation:
a) what Ted said re: 5kw range not being able to handle your furnace / 
heater. The 5kw range is at best to keep your lights+fridge+internet up 
and running. Larger gensets will need regular maintenance+testing like 
Ted said
b) If the goal is to maintain whole home backup, I recommend solar+battery.
-Eldo

On 12/25/25 12:13, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
> I have a 5k gasoline genset I've also maintained a 50kw genset.  Both
> are/were Generac manufacture.  Couple things I've learned over the years
> about gensets:
> 
> 1) liquid fuel gensets are a PIA.  The gas ones the carbs need cleaning
> every spring the diesel ones grow crap in the fuel tank if the fuel is left
> sitting, both types you have to commit to running at least once a month.
> Natural Gas is what everyone uses if they have it available.
> 
> 2) Engines are engines, cooling system hoses corrode over the years and
> leak, basically all the usual crap that goes wrong with engines goes wrong
> with genset engines.  The generator part isn't what needs maintenance.  If
> you don't know how to fix small engines and bigger car engines (I do) you
> will be forking over money for maintenance of those engines.
> 
> 3) Small 5k engines don't have enough mass/intertia to maintain steady
> frequency when load is applied unless their output is fed through an
> inverter.
> 
> 4) You need to think about a transfer switch there are local laws that
> apply.  You can't just run a cable from a genset to the side of your master
> breaker box and have at it that's a code violation.  A 5k genset cannot
> power a whole house.  To do it right with a 5k you would replace the breaker
> panel with a new one and a sub panel that fed only 5k's worth of stuff -
> refrigerator/freezer, a few lights, etc. then the transfer switch goes
> between the main panel and the sub panel
> 
> 5) A 5k genset won't power your furnace/heater.  A power outage you might
> save your refrigerator's $2 bottle of milk with a 5kw genset but you and
> your wife will be freezing your butts off.  That's generally enough with
> most married men to end up pulling the plug on the genset toy/experiment.
> 
> 6) NW Natural requires anyone connecting a natural gas genset to have a
> minimum monthly buy on natural gas.  When I was managing a 50kw genset we
> calculated that out to be around 24 hours of power a month.
> 
> 7) Larger whole house gensets need to be exercised periodically so you know
> that they will actually work when needed.  But if you exercise them too
> frequently you wear out the transfer switch.  They also need at least a 24
> hour exercise period since quite often faults in cooling systems won't
> appear unless the genset has been hot for multiple hours.  The current place
> I work at has a genset - I told this exact thing to our facilities guy who
> is in charge of it - he ignored me - well 2 times now the genset failed 6
> hours into a power outage and shut itself down.  Each time it caused a lot
> of shouting in the C-Suite and I've repeatedly stated the need for an annual
> 24 hour test - but I'm just the IT guy who supposedly doesn't know anything
> about gensets.... <eyeroll>  I only have documented pictures of repairing
> the 50k genset transfer switch at my last employer - while the entire system
> was hot (that's 440v electrical power 3 phase applied) a repair I designed
> and completed myself...
> 
> What it boils down to is - 5k genset - you are just an amateur playing
> around - good luck - 50k whole house - that's better - but - you need to
> basically exercise it for a day 2 times a year - you will also end up every
> other month of the year paying for natural gas you don't use - unless you
> have other gas appliances - so you think you are so smart because you don't
> heat with natural gas anymore - that's gonna cost you...smart guy... LOL.
> 
> Ted
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PLUG-talk <plug-talk-bounces at lists.pdxlinux.org> On Behalf Of Keith
> Lofstrom
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2025 7:29 PM
> To: plug-talk at lists.pdxlinux.org
> Subject: [PLUG-TALK] Emergency backup generator - suggestions?
> 
> After configuring the Emporia Vue and learning what my branch and main
> electric power comsumption like, I plan to learn about, then purchase, an
> emergency generator.
> Wild guess, about 5KW, inverter, self-start.
> 
> Portland dodged a bullet on Wednesday ... the 50MPH windstorm we expected
> around noon shifted about 200 miles east (tormenting agro-Americans, not
> Portland yuppies).
> 
> BTW, 200 miles is a quarter inch on my 9 inch desk globe; not far at all.
> Weather operates at global scales incomprehensible to local minds.  Anyway
> ...
> 
> The last time we had a 50 MPH wind, lines went down and our PGE power was
> out for a week, restored with by a crew from PG&E that drove here from
> California.  My little 1KW Honda wasn't quite big enough to start my natural
> gas furnace motor AND the glow plug to ignite the gas.
> 
> I want enough local generation for that, plus refrigerators, some computers,
> and a future ground-well heat pump (which may use a LOT of current).
> 
> Even if I no longer heat with natural gas, I will keep paying the monthly
> for the Northwest Natural Gas hookup, so gas is available for a tri-fuel
> generator (gasoline, tank propane, natural gas).  Or fuel the mostly-unused
> gas furnace, if the heat pump fails.  Or the air conditioner in a heat wave.
> 
> 
> I may also provide survival electricity to improvident neighbors.  Much more
> to learn and think about.  I may need more than 5KW, the Vue will help me
> decide.
> 
> My goal is reliable, simple, maintainable, and efficient.
> 
> An INVERTER generator, so that the output power is 60Hz and 120V regardless
> of load, while the generator engine can run slower and use less fuel with
> lower loads.
> 
> That hypothetical efficient generator will cost more than a Harbor Freight
> one-speed cheapo.  I will pay more for quality and durability - it might
> save lives.
> 
> How durable?  I'm 72.  My MD wife has kept her father alive to 107 so far,
> and she has more ambitious plans for us, with world-class gerontologists on
> speed dial.
> A few decades from now, we hope to sell this house to young geniuses who
> will live longer than us.  Some of our European friends live in 200 year old
> houses.
> 
> -----
> 
> ANYWAY, many of you will have opinions about the above;
> start a separately titled thread to discuss them.
> I omitted a zillion of my own opinions.
> 
> For THIS thread, I hope to learn from plug-ers who HAVE EMERGENCY GENERATORS
> for their home or their workplace.
> Or plan to purchase one soon, and have researched options.
> 
> What's good?  What's bad?  What do you WISH you had bought?
> 
> What features and constraints should I add to my wish list?
> 
> Keith L.
>