Zombie Box plus generator

[Averageman]

[GH41]

Not very impressive at all for the price IMO!

[26 Inf]

That doesn't seem to be much sound reduction.

I have kind of the same talking points as GH41, except in Kansas our biggest threat is ice storms, followed by tornadoes. I don't have any intent of running the A/C with a portable generator (if we do have a power outage in the summer), I do run the furnace, fridge, freezer, microwave and lights.

When winter comes I go to the Cenex and get 20 gallons of ethanol-free gasoline. When it's time to fill the truck I top off using that gas and go replace what I used - that way it stays fresh. During the year I start all my gas powered stuff on a regular basis - this includes the snowblower I bought to replace a worn out one, which has never been used in three years.

Before I wired in a quick connect box to my panel, ran the generator pigtail through my mail slot and ran extension cords to the furnace, fridge, freezer, and TV room lights. That was the system we used during our longest outage which was about a day and a half. I also ran an extension cord to my neighbor and ran his furnace fridge and a light.

The generator was chained to our front porch during this time and we couldn't hear it inside the house.

Since I wired the house for the generator it has been used for only short duration outages, if the power is off for an hour, I'll go hook it up, and do my Tim Taylor/Red Green imitation. The generator is chained to a deck piling, which is attached to a concrete pillar. It is right by a basement window and can barely be heard inside the basement.

I don't know what I'd do if I was facing the prospect of days or weeks, which I freely admit is not likely in my environment. I'd probably get an NG powered Generac 22KW. Be out less than a decent portable and a Zombie box.

[AndyLate]

Thanks for posting. I've been looking for something like this for some property my wife is converting into a wedding venue. The cost of bringing electricity to it would be in the six figures. This would solve our issues for many years.

It may be cheaper/easier to build a shed.

generator-shed.jpg

[WillBrink]

"The Generac has a big tank and can also run on natural gas. Between the tank and some cans of gas, 2-3 days is realistic, but longer if we don't run AC which is the big power sucker. If the natural gas option happens, more like a week. It's unlikely we'd go more than a few days without power, but possible of course"

According to Generac it'l run 10 hours at 50% load on 16 gallons. That is 115 gallons to run it 24/7 for 3 days. I know you are new to Fla but I'll tell you what we do in coastal SC with a lot less generator. You can do without the water heaters and stove/ovens and other high watt usage appliances. You can cook easily on the grill for a couple of weeks with 2-3 propane bottles. Freezers don't need to run 24-7 either. You can pull them down by running the genset for an hour a couple of times a day. The big one is sleeping without AC. We have double hung windows and can temporarily install a window unit in a bedroom that will run on a smaller genset. Before Mathew 2 years ago I went to Lowes and bought a window unit. Never opened the box. When storm season is over this year I will sell it on CL. Next time a storm threatens I'll get a fresh one. If you haven't already done it.. Have an electrician or AC contractor look at the load your AC requires to start. If it won't start at 50% of what you have the fuel consumption will climb. Only use marine gas that doesn't have alcohol in it. Last.. Don't wait until you need it to see what it will do.

I'm awares of the above, thanx. This was not my project, but the GFs. Me, I smaller generator that would run a window AC, some lights, and the fridge for a lot less $ would have been my choice. Grills, etc are all covered. She mostly wan

That doesn't seem to be much sound reduction.

I have kind of the same talking points as GH41, except in Kansas our biggest threat is ice storms, followed by tornadoes. I don't have any intent of running the A/C with a portable generator (if we do have a power outage in the summer), I do run the furnace, fridge, freezer, microwave and lights.

When winter comes I go to the Cenex and get 20 gallons of ethanol-free gasoline. When it's time to fill the truck I top off using that gas and go replace what I used - that way it stays fresh. During the year I start all my gas powered stuff on a regular basis - this includes the snowblower I bought to replace a worn out one, which has never been used in three years.

Before I wired in a quick connect box to my panel, ran the generator pigtail through my mail slot and ran extension cords to the furnace, fridge, freezer, and TV room lights. That was the system we used during our longest outage which was about a day and a half. I also ran an extension cord to my neighbor and ran his furnace fridge and a light.

The generator was chained to our front porch during this time and we couldn't hear it inside the house.

Since I wired the house for the generator it has been used for only short duration outages, if the power is off for an hour, I'll go hook it up, and do my Tim Taylor/Red Green imitation. The generator is chained to a deck piling, which is attached to a concrete pillar. It is right by a basement window and can barely be heard inside the basement.

I don't know what I'd do if I was facing the prospect of days or weeks, which I freely admit is not likely in my environment. I'd probably get an NG powered Generac 22KW. Be out less than a decent portable and a Zombie box.

Calculations made, and due to a number of factors, going with a 22KW considerably more $. In terms of full house coverage, in a secure box that can run in terrible weather, with sound reduction, that was best choice. If there was gas coming to the house, that would have been obvious choice. No gas, 500g tank has to be buried by code, extra 1k for auto switch over at main panel, requires inspections, etc. The 22Kw ends up being the least expensive part of that project, at least in this part of FL.

It may be cheaper/easier to build a shed.

generator-shed.jpg

Easier, not at all, less $, possible sure. There's a number of do it your self designs out there for same purpose.

[Moose-Knuckle]

When the power is out, all systems stop running, and vehicle traffic is usually way down. This means it's dead quiet and the sound of a generator carries FAR - maybe half a mile in some locations. If you're the only one with a generator running, you will have tons of people aware of this. Some may want to steal, some may beg for help either important (breathing machine for old people) or petty (want to watch favorite TV show), some may start friendly and switch to stealing or threatening. Being quiet and stealthy is a great idea.

Bingo!


ETA:

The last ice storm we had was the first year we were in our first house. I had several shovels but none with a flat wide cutting edge to break the ice free of our sidewalks and driveway so off to the local farm / ranch store for a transfer shovel as all the big box warehouse home improvement stores and Aces' were sold out. While there some poor guy from a rural community that had a power outage outside of our town was desperately looking for a genny as those were all sold out too due to the ice storm.

[AndyLate]

It's surprising to me that they want you to bury your fuel tank. There's a lot of places in the US where you have a hell of a time selling an old service station that had buried fuel tanks because they're a nightmare to clean up.

[Circle_10]

When the power is out, all systems stop running, and vehicle traffic is usually way down. This means it's dead quiet and the sound of a generator carries FAR - maybe half a mile in some locations. If you're the only one with a generator running, you will have tons of people aware of this. Some may want to steal, some may beg for help either important (breathing machine for old people) or petty (want to watch favorite TV show), some may start friendly and switch to stealing or threatening. Being quiet and stealthy is a great idea.
.

Last year we got hit with a massive windstorm that knocked power out all over Maine. My nieghborhood was one of many that had no power for over five days.
My next door nieghbors have an automatic standby generator that ran the whole time but I thought it was interesting that at no point did i see so much as single light on in that house the entire week. My guess is this was to avoid attracting any more attention than they had to. I mean the sound of the generator is a dead giveaway but the sight of lights would really provoke the envy of the nieghbors.

When I first closed on my house I looked into having a standby generator put in but it just wasn't in my budget so, with the lessons of the five-day power outage still fresh in my mind I finally ended up getting a gas-powered 7500w portable back in January. The zombie box idea is pretty cool though because right now my plan if I have to power the house with the genny is to run it in my (detached) garage with the bay door and walk-in door open to allow for airflow through the building. I'm not so concerned about noise reduction as I am protecting the generator from the elements and theft.

[26 Inf]

If there was gas coming to the house, that would have been obvious choice. No gas, 500g tank has to be buried by code, extra 1k for auto switch over at main panel, requires inspections, etc. The 22Kw ends up being the least expensive part of that project, at least in this part of FL.

Wow! That bites. Plus the bugs and weeds never die during winter and you get hurricanes. Tell us again why you live there?

[WillBrink]

Wow! That bites. Plus the bugs and weeds never die during winter and you get hurricanes. Tell us again why you live there?

No winter, no state income taxes, low cost of living (compared to where I was), gun laws, close proximity to places I like to travel, and my condo in Panama, and no f-ing winter. Not sure I'll stay forever but I need to be close to the ocean to be happy.