Our power went out due to wind damage from hurricane Ike, in Pennsylvania. We have not had power for 4 days now, but luckily I was able to get a generator and have saved our fridge and freezer. My question is what can I power with this generator. It is a 5000 watt generator, and I was told that this should be able to power the whole house. Only thing is, I have a lot to run in my house. We have well water, heat with an electric heat pump, which has electric back up heat, and also an electric hot water heater. The well pump has a double pole 20 amp breaker, hot water double pole 30 amp breaker, heat pump double pole 25 amp, and furnace double pole 60 amp and double pole 30 amp. Will the 5000 watt generator be able to power any one of these at a given time? I know I am SOL for using them all at once, but switching between them would not be a big deal to me. Also, I know that I should not back feed into my house, and plan on getting a manual transfer switch to do the job. I just need to know if I need to get a bigger generator before I start looking at transfer switches. Thanks for the help.

I'd consider the generator to power all but the furnace, although not all at once. If you hope to include the furnace you're looking at upwards of a 20kW generator.
During outages I power twelve circuits in my house with a 5500 watt generator. Oil fired furnace, fridge, freezer, well pump, and several other circuits connect to the transfer panel. There isn't any power to spare, but I can't justify the expense of upgrading for the few outages that happen.
I may have other items of assistance on my web page listed below.

I would like to try a browns gas generator on a 3 cylinder Diesel engine to compare efficiency and save money and not add a turbo to the unit. I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience in this. I am also considering a natural gas flow to the intake.

Had the previous responder actually read from his Wikipedia reference he would have proven himself incorrect...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyhydrogen

Automotive
Oxyhydrogen is often mentioned in conjunction with devices that claim to operate a car using water as a fuel. Because the energy required to split water exceeds the energy recouped by burning it, these devices reduce, rather than improve fuel efficiency.

I've read many other reputable research items refuting the benefits of Brown's Gas in this application. I've personally tested a few and determined to my own satisfaction that any apparent gain in automotive fuel economy is due to driving style, not hydrogen energy.

...to power my travel trailer?

this is a list of the appliances I will use, and aproximately for how long each day:

4 cu ft mini fridge nonstop
1000 watt microwave 15 mins
20 inch tv/satellite equip 5hours
laptop 5 hours
2 "standard" square fans nonstop
3 15 watt lights 8 hrs
stereo equipment 8 hrs
300 watts for whatever 2 hrs

considering that the place will be used year round, I personally figure that I should get two generators in case of a break down in one.

also, for the generator sixe that you recommend, any idea how much gas this will use in a day?

thanks a lot!
I was a bit worried about using ac because of the amount of power it would consume. In the area, the temp gets no hotter than 90 on the hottest day of the year, yet can get to -20 in the winter....guess i forgot to add that in...oops. I would stick with a model that would both heat and cool, that could easily do so in a 6 by 10 by 4.5 foot space

thanks for all of the responses!
also, I would have loved to use solar power, however thats too expensive at the present, although I am aware that i am just screwing myself by using a generator. my budget is no more than $1,000 inital cost for the generator itself...and I would hope that it wouldnt be more than $150 a week to gas up.
and at max load, everything may be running for 3 hrs a day however, either the tv or laptop would be off

General rule of thumb is buy a generator with twice the needed power.

Your math works out to a minimum 3000 watt generator. If you can afford it, I recommend a 5000 watt gen set. The reasoning is for future use besides the camper. Power tools require usually (depending on the tool) use approx 1500 watts, with a peak of 2500 when initially turned on.

I recently purchased a 7000 watt generator so that I can use 230 volt equipment, and it works great.

I know this sounds odd but my question is this. I am having to move into a house where the electricity is not working currently. We want be getting it fixed for another month. The whole house needs to be rewired. We have a generator but it is very loud and sucks up a lot of gas. I have tons of candles and I will be buying other types of lighting but I was wonder what is the best thing to get. Hoping that maybe there is something out there that I don't know about... you never know. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
To the person speaking about it being unsanitary. Like I stated before... we have a generator.. So we will be able to run it so that we can take showers and run the toilet... We just can leave it on 24/7

Check out the campng gear section fo the store . . there are battery operated lanterns that last a long time and have a lot of light..

To be safe call your local building and zoning department to see if there is a code on this.

Also call your local gas or LP company and ask them for a recommendation.

If you are stubborn and still don't want to make the call, the minimum that I have ever heard of as a regulation for a buried line was telephone at 24 inches.

The real question you have to ask yourself is; how deep do you need to be for safety? 20 years from now when the location of the line has been forgotten and someone is driving a stake for a volleyball net in the yard or a laundry pole or -- you get the picture.

I don't see why I couldn't use my car's engine as a power generator. I would only need maybe 1000 watts.

The car is a 1990 Ford F350 diesel.

You'd be wasting too much fuel, though it "is" possible.

1) replace the existing alternator with some super-heavy-duty ones, ones that go in minibuses and such. As you aren't going to power any AC or such, you can probably power two of them together or with a Y formation.

2) Disconnect the trans and anything else not needed (AC, etc.) This is to make sure th engine run at max efficiency, minimal drag.

3) Get a high-cap inverter, to convert the 12V DC back into 120V AC. This will need to have some serious cooling for itself.

Depending on your setup, you should be able to generate 500-1000 watts depending on the capacity of your alternators and capacity of your batteries. I'd recommend you replace the batteries w/ some industrial-sized ones like 8D (about 120 LB each) and feed your power inverter from the battery. Don't forget a good UPS / surge protector "just in case".

we are on day 8 of no power due to Ike. We bought a 7200/8400 watt generator and it is running the whole house, even my dryer (if I turn off everything else)... So, it's getting HOT here and we thought we might try to run the 'fan' setting on our A/C unit (NO compressor!) at night when the air is cool. But the blower won't come on. Is it the generator, or is something else the problem?

I have the system set to 'off' and the fan set to 'on'..it is a programmable thermostat if that makes a difference.

the generator should be able to handle the a/c fan however the a/c fan is probably two twenty power and you are probably only supplying one ten to the house. (dryer motor and timer is one ten) look at your supply and connections. tmnm

Where can i get information on installation and system design of a small to medium natural gas powered electric generator?

I would like information like gas consumption, power output, efficiency, mantainence, costs the whole nine yards

I would suggest you contact a manufacturer such as the one shown below.

http://www.yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/ef2600c_specifications.htm

Many of the gasoline models can be provided as natural gas or propane capable.

I have frequent power cuts . my primary use is my computer.
I want to know the advantages and disadvantages of a generator
and inverter. my requirements are 1000 watts.

It depends on how long your power cuts happen and for the time length they happen for. If the are short, like 1 or 2 hours once a day or a couple days. if so us you look at getting an UPS(Uninterruptible power supply). If your power is drop for a more then 4 hours a time then you look at the Generator.

But for most people will just need an UPS. An Ups will give u more then the time u need to save any info you need. Generators willl cost a lot more and not as good for just a computer as an UPS will be.

No matter what u use. you need to make sure your router/modem for your intenet is also on the UPS. If it isnt' then when your power drops then so will your net.

There are a lot of different UPS out there for 250watts to 5000watts make sure u get one for the time lenght and watts needed.