welcome back youtubers preppers and
homesteaders
today we are going to be talking about
generators
and being what happened in texas a few
weeks ago with people freezing not being
able to
heat up their homes i felt that this
would be an appropriate video
to give you a guide of things to look
for when you're looking
for a generator be it needing
supplemental
power for your rv or to
power your home in a grid down situation
we are going to go through seven points
to look for
in a generator before we get started if
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viewers as possible
number one the options you have
available you have four options to start
with you have
gas diesel propane or solar all do the
same
thing however we are going to go through
each one to give you
the pros and cons of each fuel type so
that you can decide
what suits your needs generator size
what you need
to start off with is going to be how
much power
do you require to power your certain
devices and equipment in a time of need
and when is that power required all
devices use a certain amount of power
or watts to power them so you're going
to look at each device and
look at how much power each one requires
and this is measured in watts all
devices require a certain amount of
power to run them
so you should look at each device that
you are looking to run
in your rv or in a grin down situation
and look at how many watts each of those
devices use
for example a microwave uses about 1000
watts
to operate and a hair dryer uses about a
thousand watts as well
now would you rather warm up your food
or
dry your hair now that depends on who
i'm asking doesn't it
a refrigerator uses about 800 watts
when cooling the refrigerator
but zero watts when it's maintaining the
cooling
inside the refrigerator calculate
everything that you are going to require
in your situation and add them up and
that will be your total amount of
wattage that you require
and that'll be the minimum size of
generator that you'll be looking to
purchase when choosing a generator you
have two different wattages to choose
from
you have running watts and you have
surge watts
running watts will tell you how much the
generator will be able to produce
on a consistent basis or what is known
as running watts
and your surge watts will tell you how
much your generator can produce
when you're starting up a certain piece
of equipment or a device
number two noise depending on where you
live or when you will be using your
generator
noise may become a consideration on the
type of generator you will choose
do you live in the suburbs you may want
to consider a generator that emits less
noise than if you
live in a rural area where noise does
not matter
as much also if you are in a grid down
situation you may also
want to consider a quieter generator
because in desperate times
will cause for desperate measures and
you may not want to advertise
to everyone that you have a generator a
fossil fuel generator can produce
anywhere from 75 db
or decibels to 120 decibels
this could be reduced if you place a
generator inside
a shelter that you have built for it to
minimize the noise levels
solar power will produce very little
noise and will
be produced by your inverter that you
typically have
inside your house this option is best if
you are worried about noise
number three portability you will also
need to consider
how portable you want the generator do
you want one for camping that you can
just toss in the back of your pickup
truck or camper you might want a
generator that is your backup system for
your entire house
in this case you're going to need a
larger generator that is
in a fixed location obviously this is a
choice you
are going to need to make depending on
your needs
number four fuel storage most people
don't realize that fuel being a refined
product has a finite lifespan
in fact keep fuel too long and at some
point the fuel will degrade to the point
that
it is no longer able to produce
combustion needed to power cars
trucks or generators let's look at the
four different
fuel options we have available gasoline
gasoline is highly refined and highly
volatile and needs to be stored in
proper conditions and away from the
house in proper containers
for homesteaders and preppers gasoline
has a short shelf life
and not usually preferred however in
some circumstances
you may not have a choice when properly
stored gasoline can
last between three to six months
depending on the ethanol content
you can help gasoline last longer by
adding fuel stabilizers to it
before storing and could extend it up to
one year by using the proper stabilizers
diesel diesel is a fuel that undergoes a
relatively low level of refinement
it is not as volatile as gasoline and
without treatment diesel will last one
year
with no problems at all it's just an
inheritedly stable product when treated
with fuel stabilizers the life of
diesel fuel can be extended beyond five
years the main enemies of diesel fuel
storage
are algae and water both gasoline and
diesel need to be stored
in cool dark places and topped up
containers with little air space as
possible
to prevent water buildup propane propane
is one of the gases that results
after refining crude oil there are
propane tanks with varying capacities
most common propane tanks that most of
you would know
is a 20 pound or bbq tank this is the
most common tank
however you may also purchase small
camping tanks
as well as large tanks such as this 100
pound tank
that you can see right here propane does
not degrade
and because this gas knows no degration
it can last you for well over 10 years
just make sure
the vessel and gas is stored in a
properly cared for
solar with solar power you store the
energy in batteries
these batteries vary from lead acid to
lithium-ion batteries
depending on what your budget is the
amount of energy that these batteries
can
hold depends on a couple things number
one how many batteries do you have the
more batteries
you have the more you can store however
these batteries are not
cheap number two how much power you are
using and how fast the batteries
are depleted typically you want to use
most of your energy
from your batteries as they are getting
charged by the solar panels and reduce
your load overnight to sustain the
charge
batteries purchased from new can last
you 25 to 30 years
depending on the care of these batteries
number five
grid down situation or shtf
during a grid down or a major event
getting gas
diesel and propane due to high demand
and infrastructure delivery problems
there will be
line up for all these fuels and once
they are gone
you will be stuck with solar and battery
backup systems
storage of your energy will be infinite
as long as your
budget your usage accordingly compared
to your input
this means that you do not want to use
or do certain tasks
during cloudy days or at night when you
are not bringing in a charge
where the opposite is true when the sun
is shining
number six maintenance for most gas
generators it is important to start up
your generators once a month and let
them run
for a few minutes to ensure everything
running
and that the carb does not get plugged
up whereas diesel generators are
typically larger you may need to do more
maintenance such as oil changes
and such with solar generators they just
need a complete charge periodically to
ensure the batteries stay in optimal
conditions
usually this is done between 30 and 60
days
number seven safety gasoline diesel
and propane generators need to be at a
safe distance from your home or rv
to operate properly due to the missions
that they do create
it is very common to hear people dying
inside their homes or garage from
running generators or their cars
inside from incorrectly running the
equipment without ventilation
with proper generators you don't have
the problems you do
with the fossil fuels just make sure to
position your panels where
they can get as much sunlight as
possible and you can store your
batteries and charge controllers
inside or outside the house with very
little
to be worried about your decision on
what options you choose
to have will depend on all these factors
as well as where you
live for example if you live in an
apartment your options are very limited
as for costs this will also vary
depending on the needs and the type of
systems you decide to install
you can pick up a small gasoline
generator for as little as a couple
hundred dollars
or you can install a massive solar
system that will run
you to the thousands the choice is yours
but be sure to make a choice
while you still have a choice because
the last thing you want is not to have a
generator
when you need one if you have any
comments or questions feel free to leave
them in the comment section below
thanks for joining me today hopefully
you got some value out of this video
and i'll see you on the next one take
care and stay safe