are home generators going to be unavoidable in the future?

[Texas Proud]

I suppose the solar cells are the generator part of these gadgets.

A few are advertised as solar generators, but most are just not....

I just looked at Amazon and they show up as power stations... so that is a true statement...

But looking at Solar Generators I got this.... which talked about the battery instead of the solar panels... in fact the ones I read about had 'solar panels optional'....

The best solar generators for 2024, tested and reviewed

Whether you're camping, living off-grid, or want backup power for your house, the best solar generators help you tap into sustainable energy.

www.popsci.com

 

[skyking1]

I'm putting a grid tied solar pV system on the new home with a small critical loads panel. I don't want a bunch of battery, just enough so the food does not spoil and the light switches work, things like that.

 

[street]

Sure, wish NW-Bound was still active on the site. He was very detailed when it came to this kind of topics.

 

[aja8888]

Sure, wish NW-Bound was still active on the site. He was very detailed when it came to this kind of topics.

Me too. He vanished in a flash. I wonder if he had a health issue pop up?

 

[street]

Me too. He vanished in a flash. I wonder if he had a health issue pop up?

I don't know but I miss his time here.

 

[Koolau]

Sure, wish NW-Bound was still active on the site. He was very detailed when it came to this kind of topics.

Yeah, NW-Bound was my go-to guy about PV and battery technology. I wish he would come back and contribute again.

 

[Texas Proud]

Soooo, lots of people without electricity in Houston... like 800,000...

Glad that my generator kicked in 5 or so secs after losing mine... been running for about 5 hours so far but the news says it can be a day or two before stuff is restored...

Some of the BIG metal poles have come down...

 

[1242Vintage]

Thank goodness for the stand by whole house generator. Have it hooked up to 500 gal propane tank and we are good to go for extended outages.

We lose power frequently due to winter storms, wildfires, or sadly an unfortunate vehicle collision that takes out a power pole. There are few utility customers on our piece of the power grid so restoration work to restore service by our utility is a low priority.

 

[momoney]

Thank goodness for the stand by whole house generator. Have it hooked up to 500 gal propane tank and we are good to go for extended outages.

We lose power frequently due to winter storms, wildfires, or sadly an unfortunate vehicle collision that takes out a power pole. There are few utility customers on our piece of the power grid so restoration work to restore service by our utility is a low priority.

How many days could that power your house before needing a refill?

 

[Texas Proud]

Well, they are saying that some areas will be out a week or more... this morning I went to our good neighbor and ran an extension cord from our garage to them so they can run the fridge and charge up their electronics...

 

[1242Vintage]

For the question …

“How many days could that power your house before needing a refill?”

———

My standby whole house generator consumes about 2 gal propane per hour to power the house. And furnace & water heater consume a little propane too.

If we get hit with massive heavy snow again (a.k.a. “Sierra Cement”) and the overhead electrical grid is literally laying on the ground from the weight of snow, can squeeze two weeks out of the 500 gal tank by heating with wood Instead of propane and powering down overnight.

For periodic short-term outages of a day or less I don’t even notice the impact on propane levels in the 500 gal tank.

 

[momoney]

For the question …

“How many days could that power your house before needing a refill?”

———

My standby whole house generator consumes about 2 gal propane per hour to power the house. And furnace & water heater consume a little propane too.

If we get hit with massive heavy snow again (a.k.a. “Sierra Cement”) and the overhead electrical grid is literally laying on the ground from the weight of snow, can squeeze two weeks out of the 500 gal tank by heating with wood Instead of propane and powering down overnight.

For periodic short-term outages of a day or less I don’t even notice the impact on propane levels in the 500 gal tank.

Curious because a few houses I've looked at have propane tanks. How does propane refill work in abnormal usage situations? Do you have to alert them if you have unusually high usage and need a refill sooner than normal?

 

[1242Vintage]

Curious because a few houses I've looked at have propane tanks. How does propane refill work in abnormal usage situations? Do you have to alert them if you have unusually high usage and need a refill sooner than normal?

Propane suppliers in our area have experience with severe winter weather events and pro-active power grid shutdown in the summer during hot high winds. If the power grid is down a couple days and a tanker truck can get to us … here he comes down the street. I don’t have to call.

The real issue is with many of us powering whole house or portable generators with propane, suppliers will limit how much propane you get to spread limited supplies as wide as possible.

 

[Koolau]

Propane suppliers in our area have experience with severe winter weather events and pro-active power grid shutdown in the summer during hot high winds. If the power grid is down a couple days and a tanker truck can get to us … here he comes down the street. I don’t have to call.

The real issue is with many of us powering whole house or portable generators with propane, suppliers will limit how much propane you get to spread limited supplies as wide as possible.

This was our experience as well. The propane company just "took care of" our propane tank back in the day. They knew the weather and our usual usage going back years. Never came close to running out (heh, heh, except running out of money to fill the tank!)

 

[street]

Yeah, NW-Bound was my go-to guy about PV and battery technology. I wish he would come back and contribute again.

Yep!!!

 

[dixonge]

For the question …

“How many days could that power your house before needing a refill?”

———

My standby whole house generator consumes about 2 gal propane per hour to power the house. And furnace & water heater consume a little propane too.

So, maybe 50 gal/day? That's 10 days on a full tank.

If we get hit with massive heavy snow again (a.k.a. “Sierra Cement”) and the overhead electrical grid is literally laying on the ground from the weight of snow, can squeeze two weeks out of the 500 gal tank by heating with wood Instead of propane and powering down overnight.

Solar could handle snow (if you clean or melt it off the panels) but I can imagine problems with storms (tree branches, other debris, hail, etc.) that might actually damage panels. Propane or natgas systems seem like they might be more resilient!

Just thinking about the big freeze in Texas a few years back. I think in that scenario propane might have outperformed natgas given the supply issues back then...