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Power Generators

This is a small part of a much larger post done for my blog on April 1, 2013.  It was titled, "Off The Grid Power: Could You Endure A Power Outage?"  You can click here to view the entire post.


Have you thought about what would happen if the power were to go down due to a natural disaster or other interruptions? Are you ready to live "Off The Grid" for any length of time?

We have recently been reminded of how power outages occur for extended periods of time in our nation due to sever winter storms such as super storm Sandy and even locally.
 
There are several options to replace our "normal” plug in the cord or flip on the switch sources of power. A few of the most popular are: 

• Fossil Fuel Generators
• Lead Acid Batteries and Solar
• Lithium Silent Batteries and Solar

Fossil Fuel Generators 

Fossil Fuel Generators are an inexpensive way to provide power.

The number one thing that sells out when people are desperate for power in an emergency is a gas generator.
 
Things to consider in regards to a fossil fuel generator:

• Gas is very volatile and difficult to store.  (Always store fuel away from your home in a shed or an out building.)
• Obtaining fuel may be a huge problem in an emergency situation.
• Portable generators are not designed to be used in the rain or snow.
• When operating a portable generator do not place in your garage or near your homes windows or doors to avoid poisonous fumes.
• Some generators may damage sensitive equipment in your home.  Be sure to check out the recommendations in the owner’s manual.
• In a disaster a maintenance contractor may not be available for repairs.  It will be up to you to do any repairs, maintenance, resetting of the engine or getting the engine started.
• Smaller generators may need to be serviced every 50 hours or every 2 days and 2 hours if used 24/7.
• You need to store lubricating oil and spare parts for your generator.
• Noisy.  Said to be one of the first things to be stolen in an emergency.
• When you buy a fossil fuel generator buy quality equipment.

Read your owner’s manual before you need to use your fossil fuel generator and know the basic operations.
 

Permanently Installed Home Stand By Generator
 
A Permanently installed home stand by generator is not a guarantee that you will have power. Most are powered by natural gas. You are using one utility to back up another utility.
 
Usually during an electrical power outage natural gas demand spikes.  Natural gas is moved by compressors through the pipeline using one of three methods:

Natural Gas Turbine
A small portion of natural gas from the pipeline is burned to power the turbine.

Electric Motor/Centrifugal Compressor
The centrifugal compressor is driven by a high voltage, electric motor. A highly reliable source of electric power must be available and near the station, for such units to be considered for an application.

Reciprocating Engine/Reciprocating Compressor
These large piston engines resemble automobile engines, only many times larger. These engines are fueled by natural gas from the pipeline.
Drops in pressure in the natural gas supply will cause an engine to stop running.

Permanent generators must be checked on a regular basis.  In an emergency it will be up to the owner to do this.



Tags: generators  power outage  power generators  emergency  emergency power  types of generator  fossil fuel generator  lead acid batteries  solar generators  lithium silent batteries  solar batteries 

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