This is an issue where systems engineering comes into play. I live in
the Santa Cruz mountains, where we lose power for a few hours or a few
days a few times a year. Causes include storms that drop limbs onto
power lines, disruptions because sections of the grid are shut down to
support fire fighting, or because line. So far, (8 years) we haven't
encountered an earthquake, but that will set up longer outages and other
issues.
We heat and cook with propane and have no Air Conditioning -- our
electrical loads are home appliances like refrigerators, lighting, home
entertainment, computers, and well motors. I've moved everything but the
well motors and big electrical loads (like a microwave) to one side of
120V, and can run it quite nicely from a Honda 2000i running in econo
mode. That drinks very little petrol, and we let it rest when we're
sleeping. Internet, local WiFi, and other crucial systems are backed up
with batteries that are float charged with wall warts and can run for
days. In my shack, everything but computers and power amps run on big
batteries that are charged by solar.
We have a much bigger 240V Honda that can handle the well motors and
drinks a lot more gas. 90% of our outages are handled by the 2000i, and
we fire up the big one only when we need more. The well has two pumps
-- one that pulls water up 100 ft to the tank, and another that
pressurizes the system. Our water tanks are a few tens of feet above the
house and hold a lot of water, so we can go for a while without running
the pressure motors and well pumps. Not a lot of pressure, but enough
until we need to take a shower. Laundry can almost always wait. We
haven't used A/C since we left Chicago in 2006.
I suggest that anyone contemplating a generator do this sort of system
engineering.
73, Jim K9YC
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