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cp2k
cp2k
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Whole House Backup Generators

This is kind of a spin off of a couple of existing threads dealing with the California power outages and other issues but I'm curious to know how many on the forums have a "whole house" backup generator? Do you like it? How "big" do you need to realistically go to power an entire house, and did you go with an automatic or manual transfer switch? Interested in hearing from others on this as it's something I have been thinking about doing for some time now. We live in the South but the power outages during ice storms and just randomly during the summer months seem to be getting more frequent. We have a great natural gas provider where we are, and that is actually our cheapest utility. A lot of my appliances already at least partially run on gas as well, so I'm hoping that would help reduce the "load" on the generator. We've got a tankless gas hot water, a gas dryer, and a hybrid stove. All of those primarily use gas, but do rely on some electrical power to operate. Unfortunately our heat & air is full electric, which I know would require a bigger generator.
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harshness
harshness
Whole house generators are often a matter of safety if you have medical equipment (CPAP, oxygen concentrator, etc) or other devices that can't reasonably survive an outage. If you have tropical fish or something similarly dependent on pumps, a generator of some sort is a must but most systems can be run off a small generator. It also comes down to how ambulatory the residents are and how long your power is typically out. If you can't survive without air conditioning and the power goes out when it is hottest, a whole-house system is a must.

My neighbor who is in his 80s recently had a system installed. He doesn't have access to natural gas so it runs on diesel. Maintenance is a major concern with a diesel unit. Remember that whole house units require a house call to service so if you have tough environmental conditions like salt air or high humidity, this may get costly. Bitter cold can also be a concern but I don't imagine that happens in "The South".

We annually have outages that last more than four hours and once every five years there's a 12+ hour event. Every 20 years we have a 25+ hour event. If your events last no longer than a couple hours, I don't really see a point and power banks (lithium batteries with inverters) may be a better solution to cover the critical stuff over short intervals.

My own concern is my well pump and the big freezer and refrigerator. I could replace the contents of the freezer for less than the cost of a modest portable generator. For my purposes, I have a Yamaha "2,000 watt" inverter. It won't run my well pump but it will keep everything else going with some running around. My gas cooktop is fully mechanical and I have a mechanical gas fire log in the fireplace.

Experienced local generator installers are perhaps best suited to take your local power and environmental conditions into account.
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primestar31
primestar31
I have a 6KW Gillette diesel generator, (not autostart though it is electric start) and it can pretty much power my house just fine. It's hooked into the panel with a transfer switch. I have hot water natural gas boiler for a furnace, natural gas hot water heater, and city water. So, there's not really any one thing that takes a HUGE amount of power to run.

It was a $4000 dollar generator 20 years ago, but I got it in an estate auction 19 years ago with 2 hours runtime on it, for $1000. It now has about 160~ hours runtime on it, so it'll finally be broken in, in about maybe another 5 years or so, lol.

P.s. At my previous house this same generator ran my 220 volt well pump, water softener, and forced air gas furnace, and every else just fine with no issues. Oh, though I never tried it with the Central air also running with the rest, as that would just be stupid when fans work for emergencies.
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Radioguy41
Radioguy41
I have a 5Kw electric (battery) start wired thru a manual 3-way (Line, Off, Gen) switch. Two circuits power the well, the other four power the furnace, fridge, and a couple of light circuits, all we need to get us thru.
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arlo
arlo
Gensets up here where I live on REC are common. It's quite easy to determine the gen you may need.
Take the nameplate current draw from everything you may need to power in an outage. Add it all up. Include light wattage. Minimal if you have LED's.
Add it all up. Give it a margin in the upper range. If budget is a concern you may think about things like higher current appliances.
Maybe you will need to run the washer, dryer, cook on the stove (a camp stove and good old fashioned percolator coffee), and other stuff.
With a smaller generator you might want to shut off everything else while you use them. An electric oven and electric clothes dryer may be out of the question.
As far as a well pump goes, submersible. 1 horsepower equals...errr...745 watts. A little over 800 for startup.
Some folks here swear on Honda generators. Whisper quiet, inverter based. And you can tandem them and use a bulk gas can to feed them. Great on gas.
Other's of course have the whole shebang Kohler natural gas generators. Auto start and transfer switch equipped. Power outages are a blink of the eye for them.
Me. A cable that reaches from the twist lock on a 5kw and plugs into a welder outlet in the garage. A flip of the main breaker, and do some math. Then wait for the yard light to come back on.
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harshness
harshness
Electric motors don't behave according to Ohm's Law on startup. The starting draw on my 1.5hp well pump is 2,800 watts. I could mostly cure the inrush by using a variable frequency drive (controlling the ramp-up and speed of the pump).

Of course most submersible well pumps are 220VAC and that requires a big-boy generator with a 220VAC outlet.

Sump pumps can also draw quite a bit of current and you absolutely want to cover them with any generator you might acquire.

Most of us don't need our home to be fully functional when off-grid but for those who do, there's some serious planning involved and long-term monitoring can provide valuable information about needs.
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This Week in Tech 1107

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHoCBzfrdmQ


Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1107
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This Week in Tech 1107

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYRNrj5MQzw


Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1107
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This Week in Tech 1107

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41qc5p2NdN4


Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1107
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Club TWiT: Unpacking 'You Can See Everything' - Deception, Empathy, and the Art of the Documentary

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPXZ_k6ld-g


Direct YouTube Link - Club TWiT: Unpacking 'You Can See Everything' - Deception, Empathy, and the Art of the Documentary
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

This Week in Tech 1107

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvJmUuXvDHI


Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1107
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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Ham Radio 2.0
· posted in Ham Radio 2.0

200,000 Subscriber Livestream - Let's Giveaway some RADIOS!

Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sqK9KJAt7E


Direct YouTube Link - 200,000 Subscriber Livestream - Let's Giveaway some RADIOS!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
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dishstaller
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows

Brutal review of Netflix's series Below

Don't know if any of you have watched this series yet, it would be interesting to see if you feel this review was accurate. It was very humorous to listen to however.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tsDO3y8I2c
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KAB
KAB
What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.
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Yespage
KAB said:
What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.
Click to expand...
If the review is like the article, oi! Eighteen paragraphs into the review and... all they've done is not really talk at all about the actual thing they are reviewing.

Halfway into the "written" review, I know more about how the writer "thinks" than I do about what they are writing about. I understand their politics, their self-overestimated understanding of film, their inability to be funny.

Takes about 22 paragraphs to get to one that starts "Anyway, the story kicks off...". Talk about Slop! 😂
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K
klang
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - Paramount+

Season 2 order already in hand:

'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' Renewed for Season 2, Tatiana Maslany to Guest Star in Season 1

I've not been optimistic about this show based on what I've read so far. Seems to be aimed at a younger audience. Interesting though that Tatiana Maslany will have some sort of role.
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K
klang
klang said:
I'm sure I will watch at least the first episode but I am not optimistic.
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Here i am over a year later and just finished season 1. Not great but not as bad as I was expecting. Did not care for the barefoot captain stuff but overall ok. Actually looking forward to see what they did for season 2.
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MikeD-C05
MikeD-C05
klang said:
Here i am over a year later and just finished season 1. Not great but not as bad as I was expecting. Did not care for the barefoot captain stuff but overall ok. Actually looking forward to see what they did for season 2.
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Yeah, the foot stuff was just nasty. I kept thinking of how dirty her feet would get traipsing around shoe-less. Funny, I love being shoe less at home and never wear shoes indoors in my home for long, but seeing her laying on all her furniture with her bare feet hanging out just kind of grossed me out.
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harshness
harshness
MikeD-C05 said:
I kept thinking of how dirty her feet would get traipsing around shoe-less.
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Where would this "dirt" come from? Dead skin and dandruff?
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MikeD-C05
MikeD-C05
harshness said:
Where would this "dirt" come from? Dead skin and dandruff?
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There would still be dirt ,dust in the future I am sure. So walking around the station like she did she would get stuff on her feet. I am sure the robot vacuum is still going to miss stuff, with all those different alien species running around there.
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harshness
harshness
MikeD-C05 said:
There would still be dirt ,dust in the future I am sure.
Click to expand...
Where is it going to come from -- specifically?

Why do you think cleaning technology won't improve in the next few hundred years? HEPA filtration was invented as part of the Manhattan Project.
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MikeD-C05
MikeD-C05
harshness said:
Where is it going to come from -- specifically?

Why do you think cleaning technology won't improve in the next few hundred years? HEPA filtration was invented as part of the Manhattan Project.
Click to expand...
I don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that. ;)
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osu1991
osu1991
MikeD-C05 said:
I don't know, but I still don't like her walking through the station or the academy with out her shoes. It looks unprofessional and very "hippy like" for someone of her status and I personally don't get off to feet, so there is that. ;)
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Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home though :clapping
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MikeD-C05
MikeD-C05
osu1991 said:
Stay out of my office. I rarely have shoes or socks on in the office. My office and business is at home though :clapping
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Say, I don't wear socks or shoes in my house either. But for a captain in Star Fleet it looks bad to be walking around the academy with no shoes. Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
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Jimbo
Jimbo
MikeD-C05 said:
Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
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You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ... :biggrin
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long_time_Dish
long_time_Dish
Well, look at the way she sat in the Captain's Chair. I didn't say the show should have been called "Captain Chair-Whore" for nothing...
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primestar31
primestar31
MikeD-C05 said:
Say, I don't wear socks or shoes in my house either. But for a captain in Star Fleet it looks bad to be walking around the academy with no shoes. Gives off 1960 Hippie vibes.
Click to expand...
star trek GIF by HULU


Just sayin...
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MikeD-C05
MikeD-C05
Jimbo said:
You say that like it's a Bad thing or something ... :biggrin
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For a whole generation of adults it was in the 1960s and 1970s.

All In The Family Nostalgia GIF by Sony Pictures Television
All In The Family Singing GIF by Sony Pictures Television
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harshness
harshness
Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.
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long_time_Dish
long_time_Dish
harshness said:
Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.
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Was never a huge of the Ferengi-centric episodes in Trek...
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Scott Greczkowski
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
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sdfntx
sdfntx
Gondoliers, Shakespeares, Overseers, Playboys and Bums - Norman Greenbaum
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Bobby
Bobby
I Wish I Was Eighteen Again - George Burns
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harshness
harshness
I Wish - Stevie Wonder
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EatMyVolts
EatMyVolts
Lonesome Road -- The Wonder Who?
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long_time_Dish
long_time_Dish
Lonesome Loser - Little River Band
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Meta Muse AI Privacy Flaw - What Your Shared Data Can Reveal #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!


View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7k8cgHXwIjQ


Direct YouTube Link - Meta Muse AI Privacy Flaw - What Your Shared Data Can Reveal #shorts
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