# When was the last time you used your generator for a power outage?



## Predator (Sep 19, 2017)

When is the last time you used your generator for an actual power outage?

We haven't had one for years now.
Now that I have all the Inverter generators I could possibly need :tango_face_wink:


Last time here was 2005....Hurricane wilma


----------



## KRE (Nov 29, 2011)

Mine ran last Saturday afternoon for 1.25hrs from a Local P/O I came home an she was running about 20 minutes later she re'transferred, cooled down, then shut off. Went out an recorded the ending run time change, in the log. Around here it's normal for her to run 2-4 times a month for up to 3-4 hrs at a time do to weather or people who can not drive. It's a 25kw so it will pull the whole house an shop at once.


----------



## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Ran my Powermate *PM0126000 *generator 50+ hours post-Nor'Easter October 18-20. There were still oak trees down across one end of my street for 4 days after that.


----------



## bduff1234 (Nov 16, 2019)

I run my Duromax xp10000eh usually 4+ times per year. Usually a couple times in the summer with high winds knocking trees on the power lines. And a couple times each winter with some of the ice and snow storms we get here.

Last one was July or August for 2 days and a few hours.

Shortest outages usually last about 4 or so hours. Longer outages last about 3 days. But most end up in the middle around 24-36 hours.

We life in the country 30-35 minutes outside of a larger city so we tend to not be a high priority during an outage due to population density.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## exmar (Jun 29, 2015)

3-4 times a year, usually of about four hours due to "people not knowing how to drive." We're in the country at the end of a stub line with 56 customers, so in larger outages we're a very low priority.


----------



## noviwinger (Sep 30, 2019)

Considering I completed the setup and test 2 weeks ago, I haven't used for a power outage. I am ready for the next one, which should be coming up. I usually have 2-3 outages through the winter. most are brief, less than a half an hour, but I have had a couple in the last year over an day. The last one was 36 hours and I lost about $100 of food. The generator would have paid for itself then. I am ready!


----------



## jkingrph (Sep 18, 2017)

Last spring, weather was cool and got on line estimate via iPhone as to when power would be on. Hooked up the little Honda EU2000 and ran a flat cord under back door so we could have some lights for a few hours. Before that about 5 years during a hurricane, rare up here in E Texas, near Tyler. Knew it was going to hit us so I set the big EB11000 up ahead of time. Used it about 12-15 hours that time.


----------



## Davejb (Dec 7, 2018)

The first winter (2017-2018) in our new place we lost power for a couple days, over the next spring/summer I bought the genny, had an electrician run the supply wiring, then installed the transfer switch, haven't lost power since :tango_face_plain:


----------



## jkingrph (Sep 18, 2017)

Davejb said:


> The first winter (2017-2018) in our new place we lost power for a couple days, over the next spring/summer I bought the genny, had an electrician run the supply wiring, then installed the transfer switch, haven't lost power since :tango_face_plain:


Understand, but you have piece of mind, no!


----------



## Davejb (Dec 7, 2018)

jkingrph said:


> Understand, but you have piece of mind, no!


There is that :tango_face_grin:


----------



## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Of course, I have a permanent "power outage" at our cottage on Vinalhaven... The power line went down 40 years ago, and we have been running on a generator since the late 1980s. 4-6 hours per day when we're there, since the fridge and stove run on propane.


----------



## bduff1234 (Nov 16, 2019)

Davejb said:


> The first winter (2017-2018) in our new place we lost power for a couple days, over the next spring/summer I bought the genny, had an electrician run the supply wiring, then installed the transfer switch, haven't lost power since :tango_face_plain:




The power hasn’t gone out BECAUSE you got the generator! Haha that’s how it works right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## pepperpikker (Jun 4, 2016)

I have only used mine once for a power outage since I bought it 7 or 8 years ago. About 10 years ago, we had a bad storm and power was out for more than 24 hours and we had to trash a lot of food. I bought a small TT with no generator and then found a 3000W inverter generator for the camper and for outages. The summer before last, power went out and I came home to no power. It had been off for a couple hours so I fired it up and by the time I was plugging things into it, the power came back on. Aside from that, I run it for an hour or so twice a year to keep it loose. I have used it just a couple times for camping.

Just nice to know I have it when I do need it again....Maybe some more use with the camper as well but we always seem to find a camping spot with shore power.


----------



## Davejb (Dec 7, 2018)

bduff1234 said:


> The power hasn’t gone out BECAUSE you got the generator! Haha that’s how it works right?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


If I'd known that I would have bought a cheaper generator!


----------



## bduff1234 (Nov 16, 2019)

Well an update since my comment 1 day ago. 

Just had to run the generator for 4 hours today for the first fall/winter outage. 

One of the shortest outages I’ve had in quite some time!


----------



## speedy2019 (Jan 29, 2019)

Davejb said:


> If I'd known that I would have bought a cheaper generator!


 But then you get the itch to buy a better one. I bought mine for £250, think its a honda clone and I have yet to use it what I bought it for. I still wouldn't mind a better one though, as stupid as that might sound.


----------



## email4eric (Dec 23, 2018)

This last winter had two outages -- one of which was nearly a week long. I live at distal end of a long, heavily wooded road. Usually the last in the area to get power restored. We have a number of outages throughout the year usually related to winds but I don't put the generator into service until I think it's going to go long enough that food spoilage is threatened. So glad to have a Honda EU6500is converted for propane.


----------



## captaindomon (Aug 19, 2019)

Our power doesn’t go out very often, when it does my wife rolls her eyes because she knows I get all excited when the power goes out because I can run the generators lol.


----------



## HarryN (Jun 2, 2018)

It is a very valid point - how often do we use emergency back up power - and yet when it is needed, it is very valuable to us.

What we did is bought one of these 1x3 systems. Basically it runs the garage refrigerator full time off grid on solar, and has some additional power available for other stuff as needed. It can draw power from both 120 volt (grid or generator) but mostly uses solar.

The 1x1 would have worked as well, but I wanted the bigger battery pack.

https://wirlnet-inc.square.site/

Definitely more expensive than a honda, but it is always working so I was ok with it.


----------



## wml52 (Feb 21, 2014)

I ran my just last week when we had 22" of snow, lost power for about 9 hours.


----------



## speedy2019 (Jan 29, 2019)

I have just used my generator today properly during a powercut since buying it in February. The power was only out for a hour or 2, but I got to put a bit more of a load on the generator then I would during monthly runs. It performed flawlessly without anything blowing up or generator cutting out.


----------



## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

when I first moved in to this house
I was at 43 times in one year without power.
that is 1/2 an hour or more each time.
the longest was 2 weeks.
lol I am in town!!
so that prompted the system.
in 2019 I was only out 3 times. longest was 6 hours.

the utility co. did a good job redoing the city power.
darn squirrels playing in the sub station!!
and trees etc.
new routing, larger sub stations.
separation of the industrial power from residential..
yea they did it well!!
now all I have to contend with is ice and wind!
last ice event in dec 2019 was 6 hours out but i was on gen.


----------



## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

Had a power outage early December due to ice. Was out for 3 days. 

Ran my big champion 7000 running propane during the day then my eu2200 and eu1000 in parallel overnight. 

When I first started my big gen up I checked the tank level and quickly realized my propane company was late on their delivery and had to switch to gasoline on the champion until they came. I was at 10% when I noticed! 

I never even ran the champion on gasoline after I converted to propane 7 years ago. It was super apparent that it didn’t like running on gasoline, it had some surging and was clearly running way rich. When I installed the snorkel kit I did a final clean and drain and noticed the main jet was a .044. 

Since the snorkel tube stays in the throat of the carb, I’m assuming it impedes airflow enough to make the mixture too fat on gas. I have a .042 and .041 jet laying around that I need to try out. 

Just one more thing on my list of a million things to get to.


----------



## ToolLover (Jan 13, 2020)

Yesterday my Generac came on sometime after 10 am and ran until after 5 pm.
The wind brought down trees and they took the power lines down.


----------

