55 gallons of 93 octane treated with StaBil stored in 22 two and a half gallon red plastic gas cans. Picked them up at wall-mart for about $5.50 a piece a few years ago before the latest more expensive new gas nozzle cans came out.
Two gen-sets:
1) For the summer: Coleman Powermate 5000/6250 with 10 HP Tecumseh HM -100 engine can run the whole house AC on hot summer days. Drinks about 5 gallons in 7 hours. I only store about 20 gallons in the summer, because if there is ever a major power problem in the summer, the roads would still be usable to drive somewhere for more gasoline.
2) For the winter: Generac IX 2000 inverter with a homemade set-up consisting of a gas cap from Lowes, with a hole drilled in middle with a step drill because step drills drill plastic cleanly, 1/4 ID gas line from Advance Auto because the OD fits the hole in the gas cap snug enough to not loose siphon (NAPA 1/4 ID gas hose is too skinny on the OD to get good seal on the hole in the gas cap, (home made gas cap washer made of rubber gasket material that can handle exposure to gasoline), low cost brass tank fittings from McMaster-Carr on a 5 gallon wall-mart red plastic gas can. This inverter gen-set gets about 4.5 hours per gallon. So with one gallon in the generators gas tank, and 5 gallons connected external, it should run about 27 hours before it requires gas.
With 55 gallons, the 2000 watt inverter should be good for about 247.5 hours or 10.3 days. That should be plenty enough time for the local road crews to get the roads cleared enough to be able to drive somewhere for gas if a major ice storm were to knock out power.
I use GC in both so the oil consumption should be low enough that they do not trip out on low oil during a couple of days of running, but I check oil level each gasoline fill.
I have a relay with DPDT 30 Amp contacts rigged with both NC contacts wired in parallel to act as one very reliable NC contact, and that is wired in series with the power wire to the fridge. The relays coil is wired to one pole of a small DPDT toggle switch and then to the furnace blower motor. So that when the toggle switch is thrown every time the furnace blower motor comes on, the relay energizes and the NC contacts of the relay open so as to open the power run to the fridge. The other side of the toggle switch is wired to red indicator light and that gets power from the fridge breaker. So that when the toggle switch is enabling this circuit the red light lights to remind you that it is enabled, and when the furnace blower motor runs the relay NC contacts open the power run to the fridge so the 2000 watt inverter generator never has to supply power to both the fridge and the furnace at the same time, but both still get power, with the furnace getting priority.
Two gen-sets:
1) For the summer: Coleman Powermate 5000/6250 with 10 HP Tecumseh HM -100 engine can run the whole house AC on hot summer days. Drinks about 5 gallons in 7 hours. I only store about 20 gallons in the summer, because if there is ever a major power problem in the summer, the roads would still be usable to drive somewhere for more gasoline.
2) For the winter: Generac IX 2000 inverter with a homemade set-up consisting of a gas cap from Lowes, with a hole drilled in middle with a step drill because step drills drill plastic cleanly, 1/4 ID gas line from Advance Auto because the OD fits the hole in the gas cap snug enough to not loose siphon (NAPA 1/4 ID gas hose is too skinny on the OD to get good seal on the hole in the gas cap, (home made gas cap washer made of rubber gasket material that can handle exposure to gasoline), low cost brass tank fittings from McMaster-Carr on a 5 gallon wall-mart red plastic gas can. This inverter gen-set gets about 4.5 hours per gallon. So with one gallon in the generators gas tank, and 5 gallons connected external, it should run about 27 hours before it requires gas.
With 55 gallons, the 2000 watt inverter should be good for about 247.5 hours or 10.3 days. That should be plenty enough time for the local road crews to get the roads cleared enough to be able to drive somewhere for gas if a major ice storm were to knock out power.
I use GC in both so the oil consumption should be low enough that they do not trip out on low oil during a couple of days of running, but I check oil level each gasoline fill.
I have a relay with DPDT 30 Amp contacts rigged with both NC contacts wired in parallel to act as one very reliable NC contact, and that is wired in series with the power wire to the fridge. The relays coil is wired to one pole of a small DPDT toggle switch and then to the furnace blower motor. So that when the toggle switch is thrown every time the furnace blower motor comes on, the relay energizes and the NC contacts of the relay open so as to open the power run to the fridge. The other side of the toggle switch is wired to red indicator light and that gets power from the fridge breaker. So that when the toggle switch is enabling this circuit the red light lights to remind you that it is enabled, and when the furnace blower motor runs the relay NC contacts open the power run to the fridge so the 2000 watt inverter generator never has to supply power to both the fridge and the furnace at the same time, but both still get power, with the furnace getting priority.
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