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[netwerx-r-us]

Morning all , In light of the weather coming and a question I have had a while while considering my design  , what is the recommended method of redundancy to keep these running when the electricity goes out? it seems to me that this is the single point of failure , no electricity no heat ?? as I am doing this not only for my house heat but a greenhouse that has tropical plants and cage birds that cannot freeze. At a bare minimum I see the need to have the circuit for the OWB  for the pumps and the furnace fan  for heat to keep somehow running , how and what are some of you doing to  address this . I remember the ice storm of 93 in this area and we had no electricity for a week



thanks all in advance , awesome site and people

[Bull]

I have a generator that I fire up when the house power goes out. It is a 6000 W and runs everything fine.
 

[Roger2561]

Years ago when my dad was still alive, his health was failing so it was decided to install a whole house emergency generator using propane.  We have a 250 pound propane tank for cooking, drier, etc... that fuels it.  It will automatically come on 45 seconds after a power failure.  Believe me, it's a God send.  When you have an elderly parent living at home and you have to be at work all day, it's a peace of mind knowing that the house will be warm for him in the event of power failure.  It has never let me down.  Every year I perform maintenance on it to be sure it's operating properly.  My dad lost his battle with emphysema a bit over 6 and 1/2 years ago but the generator continues to do it's job by keeping the blowers, pumps, etc... operating in the OWB.  It was pricey but for me worth every penny.  Roger 

[boilerman]

I agree. A 6000 watt generator is a great piece of mind. It should be enough to keep all your heating componants working and then some. Should be able to get a good one for easily under $800. I have a switchbox wired into my main power box. Just throw the bypass lever on the box, plug in the generator, fire it up and life is good. Won't supply everything in the house, but I alternate flipping breakers on freezers, refridgerators, etc. With pumps going, OWF and exchanger on my water heater, I even have all the hot water we need.

[johnybcold]

Yup when I got my owf my wife said then ya gotta get a generator so I got a 7k

[MattyNH]

Basically you need a generator....You dont need a high watt generator to run a owb..Its only 110 amp.. Depending on what you wanna run (110 and 220 amp.), That will determine what size generator you need..Then theres a question get the loud box ones or spend the extra for the super quiet ones, where if u camp u can take it with you and have no complaints..

[muffin]

Basically you need a generator....You dont need a high watt generator to run a owb..Its only 110 amp.. Depending on what you wanna run (110 and 220 amp.), That will determine what size generator you need..Then theres a question get the loud box ones or spend the extra for the super quiet ones, where if u camp u can take it with you and have no complaints..

I think you mean 110V and 220V.  The furnace is likely 110V, but if you run a central unit for fans, they are going to be 220V.  A 220V unit would probably be easier to install as you can simply feed it right into your breaker panel and then run what ever you can support.

[AirForcePOL]

Basically you need a generator....You dont need a high watt generator to run a owb..Its only 110 amp.. Depending on what you wanna run (110 and 220 amp.), That will determine what size generator you need..Then theres a question get the loud box ones or spend the extra for the super quiet ones, where if u camp u can take it with you and have no complaints..

I think you mean 110V and 220V.  The furnace is likely 110V, but if you run a central unit for fans, they are going to be 220V.  A 220V unit would probably be easier to install as you can simply feed it right into your breaker panel and then run what ever you can support.

Agreed.  If you are going to get a generator I would recommend installing a transfer switch in you main electrical disconnect.  If you buy a generator with a 220V output you can just plug it right into your panel and run anything that is fed off of that, whether it be 110 or 220V.

It would be a lot easier than running a power cord to each individual item that needed to be ran.  I have been wanting a generator for a while but just can't afford it.

[netwerx-r-us]

good food for  thought , definitely need to look at investing in a generator just in case , thank all of your for your replies

anyone doing anything with batteries and pumps ?

[MrDan27611]

I just listened to Steven Harris' two podcasts on generators on the survival podcast. Having done pretty much everything he talks about, both the good and the bad, I thought it was a good overview. He also references another podcast he did on battery and inverter backups. I don't recall what number that one was but it's available on his site. You can access 1 of 2 of the generator podcast at:
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/harris-on-generators-part-1-of-2

And obviously 2 of 2 follows right behind.