Generators

[jansman]

I have two gennies.One is a 1000w job, and the other is a mahooosive ex site Honda.I have kept the latter for powering the freezers if need be.This morning I was checking how much fuel was stored/ started it etc.I realised how damn noisy it is!

Anyway, I was sweeping the front and some travellers camped at the north end of the village came looking for scrap.Showed em the gennie and after much haggling I got £80 out of them! I paid a ton about 7 years ago for it!

So why get shot? Well, when I started prepping ,oooh, 15 odd years ago,I considered a generator to be essential. Now we have technology advances.

If the power is off for more than 24 hours then the freezers will be lost.It won't break us.A damned big stew will be made and shared with friendly neighbours.The fridge is included.Frankly,if the power is down longer then I want to be ' Grey Man',and not to be ' The bloke with the generator!'

Technology is such,that on a domestic level IMO, the generator is overkill. Why?

Well,we have LED emergency lighting to start.LED is THE biggest advance IMHO.It uses low amounts of battery power and gives good light.We also have dynamo LED lanterns too.We have solar/dynamo radio with USB chargers. Not that the phones or web will be operational in an extended power cut.

We have solid fuel stoves for heating ( one we can cook on and boil water) and a brick rocket stove outside.So now I am comfortable with no generator.

[Plymtom]

We don't have a generator either but never did, I used them at work, at the range we have one for lights we use once or twice a year, it's a pain in the ar$e as it just gets amplified by the noise cancelling ear defenders and the fumes stink.
In the middle of the city where we live as you so rightly said them with the gennie would be targets for sure in all but a short power cut, possibly closely followed by well lit houses ( "got any spare candles/batteries/torches mate" ) and then the ones which have nice cooking smells Grey man it is then, I'd say yeah cook the freezer contents for the first few days, then use it to store water if you're strapped for space.

[jansman]

I guess it is evolution. That is my personal situation.Of course there will be many for whom a generator is essential - after all it is why they were invented.

[Plymtom]

Oh indeed in the construction industry they are a godsend or you're back to brace and bits and rawlplug tools Fats food vans are made all the better having them too, oh for a house with old school designs like pantry's and larders eh?
So much that came before, I saw going "obsolete" from the 60's ( not that it wasn't happening before) onwards would have been so much more sensible to keep as back up, not that we should wish our washing machines, driers or fridges away, just that if only we had space I'd want to keep the old tech on hand, teach the kids how to use it... guess wisdon really does come with age there's nothing like being able to rock out on an acoustic guitar or piano either, in my youth I only had time for stuff with a plug in it ( strangely one goal was to have a synth which could accurately replicate the sound of a piano without the weight ) later in life the occasional party travelling lighter was much more fun when I overcame my acoustic hang ups

[jansman]

Funny that as you age,you want things to be more simple.My brother has drifted back to acoustic guitar too.I am downsizing everything,binning junk,reducing the garden,and making more time to fish!

[Plymtom]

Funny that as you age,you want things to be more simple.My brother has drifted back to acoustic guitar too.I am downsizing everything,binning junk,reducing the garden,and making more time to fish!

I'm not quite there yet prepping to a degree goes hand in hand with hoarding, I never have had a gennie, if I did I doubt Id be able to bring myself to part with it

Plus I must refer you to rule number one which applies to guitars, guns, sharp pointy things and a whole load of what others would call man toys.... You can never have too many, nor part with them!

[yorkshirewolf]

I've got a Honda Eu20i which was bought years ago when cash was more plentiful, used it for a lot of wild camping and travelling around Europe when out of the way and off-grid.

It's not something i see as an essential prep at all, more like a convenient luxury thats nice to have. with the current economic situation there's no way i'd be going out and spending a grand on one, but as it's something we already have, then it's a bonus.

I got it out recently for a run, fresh fuel, check oil and to test the new USB charging station i got, to make sure that in the event of a prolonged power-cut, most lights, torches and essentials could be easily charged.
Its not overly noisy, and i know it's possible to build soundproof genny boxes to quieten it down, but it could also be run in the back of a van to mask the noise if society was in that much of a mess, but then, if there was a WROL situation i'd be more preoccupied with security and protection than charging things.

Anyway, the USB charger was good, Ebay job which has 1amp and 2.4amp points so multiple uses and fast charges.

[diamond lil]

For us, I've always thought a generator is useless. I've concentrated more on going old-fashioned and simple, rather than high tech sophistication. Probly says a lot about me lol- old and simple But we can run without electric for as long as we have to, and still have a fire and a cooker and lights. Which is what matters.

[poppypiesdad]

Got my gennies and keeping them .Noise where we are isn't a problem . Keeping freezers going isn't really a long term thing because it will eventually be empty .But the ability to keep the boiler for heating and hot water going could be a lifesaver in the winter . The only thing that it will depend on is how long the lpg tank would last .
J

[jansman]

It's horses for courses. I still have the 1kw job, and that could charge batteries and such. However, I have a good solar set up for that, passive and quiet. As Yorkshire wolf said, it's a convenient luxury. For me now, fuel storage is concentrated on my chainsaws as they are instrumental in heating the house. A better use of expensive resources (for me).