Power Outages Are Getting More Expensive

[glcaines]

We lost power again due to thunderstorms last night at around 8:30 PM. The power came back on around 7:00 AM this morning. The tank on my MEP003A was filled to the top when I started it. I refilled it this morning with 10 gallons of diesel at $5.36 a gallon which came to $53.60 for one 10-1/2 hour outage. I knew it would be an expensive option to run the generator, but it was very hot and humid and the wife was complaining and we had a lot of food in the freezer. At least the genset performed flawlessly as always. In the past the MEP003A has run 24/7 for over a week due to one severe outage. An outage like that would be extremely expensive today with current diesel prices. I normally use offroad diesel in the genset, but my source of offroad diesel fuel was closed this morning.

 

[NEIOWA]

If you leave your freezer shut, 12hr without power isn't even relevant. Certainly, 1hr of run time in a 12hr period is more than enough. If you're really over cautious store some jugs of water (frozen) in your freezer to act as a heat sink. This isn't new stuff.

Basically $50 to not hear wife complaining. Get some good earmuffs or tell her it's the new weight loose program.

 

[ToddJK]

Our generator will only power the necessities. A/C is out of the question. Last year I only ran it for a few hours here and there during a couple short term power outages. Luckily, we haven't had any bad storms as of yet in the local area.

 

[papabear]

I bit the bullet and had a 22KW "whole house" GENERAC system installed a couple of years ago and initially thought I wanted to power it with diesel. After talking to the installer about powering it (I don't have much room for a tank where we wanted the generator), we agreed natural gas was a better choice so we had a larger type gas meter installed and spliced into our system. It works great and we haven't had more than a few seconds without power since.

We live in an older part of town and the power used to fail for several hours a few times a year, and once or twice it failed for over 24 hours. Of course we had battery powered flashlights and even a couple white gas lanterns but nothing else. The GENERAC fixed all that.

It's pretty funny, I get an email every month from the generator saying "Hey, I cranked up and exercised myself and we are good to go when you need me"!!

Now.....as far as cost to run it

 

[INFChief]

We live in rural NYS. Our electric infrastructure is woefully outdated and is dire in need of immediate repairs. Luckily, my house rarely loses power. Still, a partial systems generator or a whole house generator would be a wise investment. No natural gas so it’s either gas, diesel, or propane. Propane tanks are above ground and unsightly. The fuel companies here try to force you to fill your propane tanks regularly or they threaten to remove them.

I built my stepdaughter a 14’ X 14’ cabin with a vaulted 17’ ceiling that has electric heat & propane heat. My fuel company insists on filling that tank when it’s 95% full - then they bitch that is doesn’t get used.

On a side note that cabin (aka the “Super bunkhouse”) also has CATV, running water and a 1/2 bath! When she was younger she would pack that cabin full of her friends for sleepovers.

 

[Scoobyshep]

I had one recently too, Annoying thing it was caused by a tree limb, That I called in to duke as a hazard, That they looked at and said it wasnt.. But yes they are getting too expensive to run, So far I only used what I had on hand, dreading having to refill my cans.

 

[Chainbreaker]

Same boat here... our Local Rural Utility service had some kind of equipment failure affecting a couple hundred customers this last Tuesday of which we were one.

So, my wife a Nurse, gets up at 5:30 am to get ready to go to work. Of course, I was still soundly asleep since I had stayed up late the night before only to be awoken to "Wake up the power is out!" I stumbled out of bed, more like I was sleep walking, and got the house generator up & running in short order... though I confess I had to use my check list being my memory was still groggy at 5-dark thirty.

Later that morning with power still out, I had to go down to shop/barn & startup 2nd generator, on a different AC service entrance line, to take care of horses. Both gensets ran like a champ for ~3-1/2 hrs. Once power was restored my PowerBack alarm started screaming that irritating pitched sound indicating power was back on. Yay, glad it was a short-lived outage!

In essence, it was a good drill! Though with summer fire season coming up our utility company may issue some "preemptive shutdowns" due to fire safety practices if winds kick up potentially bringing down power lines starting fires.

The nice thing about the timing of this latest outage was that I was going to run my 90-day genset load test on both generators, but I can now that one off my To-Do list.

Now...to top up the 2 genset's fuel tanks with currently $6.50/gal diesel! Though it shouldn't be too bad as my -002a's pretty much sip fuel with light loads that time of day burning probably around 1/4 gallon/hr.

 

[marchplumber]

I bit the bullet and had a 22KW "whole house" GENERAC system installed a couple of years ago and initially thought I wanted to power it with diesel. After talking to the installer about powering it (I don't have much room for a tank where we wanted the generator), we agreed natural gas was a better choice so we had a larger type gas meter installed and spliced into our system. It works great and we haven't had more than a few seconds without power since.

We live in an older part of town and the power used to fail for several hours a few times a year, and once or twice it failed for over 24 hours. Of course we had battery powered flashlights and even a couple white gas lanterns but nothing else. The GENERAC fixed all that.

It's pretty funny, I get an email every month from the generator saying "Hey, I cranked up and exercised myself and we are good to go when you need me"!!

Now.....as far as cost to run it

Like PB, I too have gone "GENERAC". I also have a 22kw system. It is tied directly into the system via an automatic transfer switch. Ten seconds after supplied power fails, genny starts and takes over. Power comes on, genny disconnects, cool down run and shuts down. No need for me to do "anything". It powers entire house. I live in the country, fairly remote so it is powered by propane. My entire house is electric...........................so winter here in central Illinois could be a problem for a plumbing system rather quickly. Probably one of the better improvements I've made to the place, including my "building/shop"...................I have it professionally serviced and receive excellent care from supplier. We also receive priority service during an outage. Almost a no brainer. It's done excellent. I do have a military gen set I can fire up if required,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,boy scout motto......................."Be prepared"

Remember Fellas,


"Happy wife? Happy Life!"

 

[Scoobyshep]

Same boat here... our Local Rural Utility service had some kind of equipment failure affecting a couple hundred customers this last Tuesday of which we were one.

So, my wife a Nurse, gets up at 5:30 am to get ready to go to work. Of course, I was still soundly asleep since I had stayed up late the night before only to be awoken to "Wake up the power is out!" I stumbled out of bed, more like I was sleep walking, and got the house generator up & running in short order... though I confess I had to use my check list being my memory was still groggy at 5-dark thirty.

Later that morning with power still out, I had to go down to shop/barn & startup 2nd generator, on a different AC service entrance line, to take care of horses. Both gensets ran like a champ for ~3-1/2 hrs. Once power was restored my PowerBack alarm started screaming that irritating pitched sound indicating power was back on. Yay, glad it was a short-lived outage!

In essence, it was a good drill! Though with summer fire season coming up our utility company may issue some "preemptive shutdowns" due to fire safety practices if winds kick up potentially bringing down power lines starting fires.

The nice thing about the timing of this latest outage was that I was going to run my 90-day genset load test on both generators, but I can now that one off my To-Do list.

Now...to top up the 2 genset's fuel tanks with currently $6.50/gal diesel! Though it shouldn't be too bad as my -002a's pretty much sip fuel with light loads that time of day burning probably around 1/4 gallon/hr.

I avoid the 0dark30 wakeup call, I used my powers as an electrician and automated the whole thing.

 

[nextalcupfan]

I avoid the 0dark30 wakeup call, I used my powers as an electrician and automated the whole thing.

Same here.

 

[glcaines]

I seem to experience 0 dark 30 outages all too often. It seems our power almost always chooses to go out after dark. I have to go outside and plug in the cable to the genset, throw the manual transfer switch and start the generator. It only takes about 5 minutes but it is a hassle. We have a cabin next to the house that is not covered by the genset, so I turn on the porch light so I can tell when the EMC power is restored. My MEP003A is big enough to provide power to the whole house, including the HVAC, so once the generator is running it is business as usual, except for the cost. Often, I don't even bother with the generator if I think the outage will be short in duration.

 

[msgjd]

we have run our mep003's on WVO whenever they are gonna run for over a half-hour , done that over 10 years very successfully.. We only use the diesel in the main tank for startup-warmup, cool down-shut down, and short-period runs .. Installed 3-way tank selector valves from 5-tons on them, input side of the primary electric fuel pump .. The WVO can be fed from 55gal drums or jerrycans .. Using the primary pump keeps the WVO from entering the diesel main tank. This keeps the fuels from cross-contamination for the most part, since everytime the 3-way is switched from WVO to diesel to flush the system for shutdown, the small amount of WVO remaining in the return line between the Injection Pump and the 3-way valve gets pumped into the diesel main tank.. Over time this can build up in the main tank and cause hard starts in cold weather, but the point is keep that in mind and keep the diesel in the main tank as pure as possible in cold weather. BTW, the smell of these running on WVO is wonderful ! Yes we do the same with most of the trucks and construction equip as well .. Lucky for us the only cost we have in the obtaining WVO is our time dealing with it

 

[Chainbreaker]

I avoid the 0dark30 wakeup call, I used my powers as an electrician and automated the whole thing.

Yeah, A few years back I thought about purchasing an AutoStart kit offered at the time & a transfer panel to automate the process but figured why spoil the fun! I'm a bit of a hands-on electro/mechanical guy as well as having "proper pre-flights" hammered in by my former flight instructor. Thus, I'm a "bit anal" to visually/physically insure my gensets are good-to go before start.

Off the top of my head "my initial power outage genset activation checklist":

Breaker Panel Interlock set Genset Breaker Power position & all house breakers off for later sequencing, Trailer side curtains rolled up
Genset: ck oil level No visible fuel/oil leaks , fuel tank vents open & fuel levels good in day tank & aux tank , drain off fuel in filters...no water? , pull foam exhaust plug (critter blocks that blow out if I forget) , verify air intake summer or winter season , GND connection secure & Neutral GND bond Switch set to House vs SDS Batteries crossover disconnect "ON", Noco Battery maintainer off , Fire extinguisher pulled off genset(s) & placed ~20'ft away then...Turn the start switch Glow Plugs, Prime, Start & listen to the beast come roaring to life. Oil pressure good? AC/Hertz good? Go inside garage & activate breaker(s) sequentially and activate PowerBack Alarm

I made a more in-depth verified complete step-by-step hard copy list placed at Breaker Panel & on Genset for wife & my occasional 0-dark thirty reference double ck.

By now the above is a bit of a ritual that normally gives me pleasure when all systems are "GO for Activation"! Also, since I have 2 Utility Transformer Service Entrances (requiring 2 gensets) at opposite ends of our property (House & Shop + Barn) my cost to automate would be 2X. or 1X for just house but then I would still have to fire up the Shop/Barn Genset manually. So, I chose to go the 2X the manual activation fun factor.

 

[Weldman]

I love living off grid, maybe you should look at a battery backup system if you are having that many blackouts. Charge batteries at the non peak hours and burn a little off on peak hours to keep them healthy and in check with inverter/charger. When the power goes off with auto transfer switch you barely notice a blip.

 

[Scoobyshep]

we have run our mep003's on WVO whenever they are gonna run for over a half-hour , done that over 10 years very successfully.. We only use the diesel in the main tank for startup-warmup, cool down-shut down, and short-period runs .. Installed 3-way tank selector valves from 5-tons on them, input side of the primary electric fuel pump .. The WVO can be fed from 55gal drums or jerrycans .. Using the primary pump keeps the WVO from entering the diesel main tank. This keeps the fuels from cross-contamination for the most part, since everytime the 3-way is switched from WVO to diesel to flush the system for shutdown, the small amount of WVO remaining in the return line between the Injection Pump and the 3-way valve gets pumped into the diesel main tank.. Over time this can build up in the main tank and cause hard starts in cold weather, but the point is keep that in mind and keep the diesel in the main tank diesel as pure as possible in cold weather. BTW, the smell of these running on WVO is wonderful ! Yes we do the same with most of the trucks and construction equip as well .. Lucky for us the only cost we have in the obtaining WVO is our time dealing with it

Ive been toying with WMO for fuel. Might have to pick your brain a bit

 

[nextalcupfan]

Ive been toying with WMO for fuel. Might have to pick your brain a bit

Same here, I never thought of a 3 way valve.
We also have some pretty cold winters so without heating WMO would be useless.

 

[Scoobyshep]

Same here, I never thought of a 3 way valve.
We also have some pretty cold winters so without heating WMO would be useless.

What i have read calls to blend it with diesel some people do full wmo with some gasoline to thin and get it closer to the flammability of diesel

 

[Chainbreaker]

There is a lot of good info in this Alternative Fuels SS forum if you search it out or cruise the threads a bit.

It's not what I would call a super active forum... however there are some nuggets of info buried within it as I recall from reading through it a few years ago.

 

[msgjd]

Ive been toying with WMO for fuel. Might have to pick your brain a bit

we have never run WMO in anything , only WVO .. totally different animal .. in some trucks we blend a percentage of diesel and gas with the WVO depending on outdoor temp, using a hydrometer to get the specific gravity fairly close to diesel .. Straight WVO heated to 180-190 degrees is just a little heavier than old-time fuel oil but not by much .. I would think your WMO would also be temperature-dependent and viscosity would come into play, but I have no idea what the numbers would be .. Long ago a trucking outfit near here that was loaded with 673-engined Mack B-models, and later their R-models, would filter and pour a certain percentage of their WMO into their big underground fuel storage tanks when getting filled .. We all know the vintage Mack diesels smoked a lot, well you can imagine the amount of smoke when burning that mix ! It was an impressive sight .. Early morning warmup in the yard was hazier than a railroad roundhouse in steam days .. It was a lucky day if a kid got to watch those B-models and R's pull out of there and try to get up to speed on the state road, all the while blowing out long tails of blue-black deliciousness... The company always bragged about how long those engines would go between rebuildings and how much fuel costs they saved.. I have to now wonder if they had to replace IP's and injectors more often .. . Not as much of a smoke show but still impressive to a pre-teen was watching army (NG) armor convoys picking up speed out of the principal intersection in town in the mid-late 1960's .. Most of the big trucks coming through were M211's, M35's, M52's, and M54's, but in the bunch there would be the occasional multifuel M35A1 with a little stack or a downpipe blowing black smoke, and those big M54A1's and M52A1's blowing their trails of black smoke and sounding very much like the B-model and R-model Macks over on the other side of town !