@lmac36
Few years back when we were hit by hurricane Fiona our power was out for 2 weeks. I went and dug out our solar pathway lights and also the set of solar patio lights. These all worked fantastic inside our house. Charged them outside in the daytime and bright as could be inside at night. Thanks for all the tips on the generator! Reminded me ours needs an oil change! 👍
@bakinglady1009
Excellent video...straight to the point with a litt humor thrown in...thank you!
@kathymurphy4721
I have several solar lanterns I keep on the window sills at all times. We use a propane camp stove or butane burner for cooking. Make coffee in a percolator. Save your paper egg cartons, fill each cavity with lint, pour melted wax over the lint. Break into individual pieces and store in a Ziploc bag for fire starters. Get a solar generator and a couple solar panels and use it for electricity. Keep it charged at all times just in case.
@innerstream
Wow with everything you’ve been through how kind of you to share!
@TheScubaSmith
Walhalla, SC here. We made it through the storm without losing power, although the vast majority of people in our area were out. Then a drunk driver hit a power pole later that night and took our power out! Luckily, the day before the storm hit, I spent the day preparing. I serviced our generators, bought lots of propane and ethanol-free gasoline and enough full synthetic motor oil for daily oil changes. I modify my gasoline generators to run on marine fuel tanks and I use 12-gallon boat tanks, so that I can just unplug the fuel line from one tank and plug it on another tank without having to shut the genny down. We also have dual-fuel propane/gasoline inverter generators which I run exclusively on propane. A few years ago I installed an interlocked generator power inlet on our house, so all I had to do was fire up the genny, plug it in and engage the interlocked breaker. We were able to live almost like normal, aside from fueling the generators and changing oil. Refrigerators & freezers stayed cold, we had hot showers, all the lights and receptacles worked like normal and we had fans, TV and internet. We have a gas range, but did most of our cooking outside on a Coleman camp stove to avoid heating up the inside of the house. Thankfuly the weather was mild and we didn't have to run a/c! Even though we didn't lose power during the storm, once the drunk driver took the power out on our circuit, it was 9 DAYS before our power was restored! We were very popular with neighbors, friends and family who were able to come to our house to charge devices, shower, etc. Some even chipped in for the cost of fuel which was about $35/day. The day after the storm, I teamed up with one of my neighbors who does tree work and we used my tractor and his chainsaws to clear the roads and driveways in our immediate area. I also took generators to my elderly parents who live about 4 miles from me and my elderly Mother-in-Law who lives about an hour away in Iva, SC. Then I spent a most of the next week helping folks with their generators, wells, sump pumps, etc. Aside from generator stuff, we made sure everything cordless was fully charged, including the many DeWalt and Ryobi batteries we have. I use DeWalt power tools almost exclusively and have a few DeWalt lights and fans. But when it comes to things like lights, lanterns fans, phone chargers, radios, etc., Ryobi has the widest range of products. We have 2 lanterns for every room in the house, two fans for each bedroom and living room, multiple USB adapters, a coulple of Ryobi radios, a few flashlights and a couple of dozen 4ah and 6ah Ryobi 18v batteries...enough to run fans, lanterns and phones for at least two weeks, even if our generators fail. That stuff was expensive, but the run times are incredible and we don't have to scavenge for disposable Duracells at the local stores. People were fighting over gasoline and batteries at the only convenience stores that were open. Any gas station that was open very quickly ran our of fuel and batteries. My wife keeps our pantry well-stocked with non-perishables such as canned meats, soups and vegetables, but she went to the grocery store the day before the storm and stocked up on bread, milk, fresh meat, cereal, etc. We also have grandkids, two of whom are very young and stay with us most of the time, so she stocked us up on diapers & baby wipes and downloaded games onto their tablets to stave off boredom should we not have TV or internet access. She filled the bath tubs with water in case we lost water service, and I made sure we'd be able to boil water if we had to get it out of the creek. I keep plenty or diesel fuel on hand for the tractor, but I also topped off premix fuel for chainsaws and made sure I had plenty of two-stroke oil and bar & chain oil. If all else fails, I keep a good collection of old-school tech on-hand. I have a collection of oil lapms and lanterns. My favorite are the Aladdin mantle lamps. They are much, much brighter than hurricane lanterns, but produce a lot of heat. I also keep axes, handsaws, splitting mauls and every kind of hand tool there is. I was at Camden Military Academy in Camden, SC when Hurricane Hugo hit. They eye of the storm passed over my location as a Cat. 3 storm. It was the only time in my life when I was afraid the weather might kill me. We were without power, water, refrigeration, showers, etc. for about 3 weeks. Never again! Be prepared! You don't have to be a TEOTWAWKI prepper with a fallout shelter in the back yard, but have some things on hand. Even if it's just aa little at a time, stock up on some things. A 5-gallon gas can this week, a coffee percolator next week, a Coleman lantern , a camp stove. If you own a gun, have plenty of ammo for it. If you don't own a gun buy one. If you have a generator, service and exercise it. Store it without fuel in it and keep it clean and dry. If y0u don't own a generator, buy one. You don't have to have a fuel-thirsty, $10,000, 20kw monster that'll run your whole house. A 2500-3000 watt inverter will run your refrigerator, TV, WiFi router, a couple of lamps (with LED bulbs) and charge your cell phones all at the same time. Check out the WEN DF250i. I have two of them and love them. Whatever you do, don't buy junk. These preps are like a condom, or a gun: It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
@RogueOntheRoad
That first run test was when you are supposed to change the oil the first time. If you didn't the oil becomes gritty and causes self destruction instead of lubrication. My generator ran out of oil after a few hours running. My son had set it up without reading the manual. After the first change the generator doesn't lose oil.
@Scottishprepper73
Couldn't agree more, great video. I did a video a few weeks ago on this very thing, 24hrs with no power and what worked, what didn't and conclusion etc. Cheers Sp
@HewesNews
Excellent, thank you for sharing. The purpose of community is to learn from each other. I keep my gas under cover, with stabilizer. This gas gets rotated and used, for snowblower, mower, other gas powered lawn tools. I try to remember to run the generator 20 minutes each month, just to keep all the parts lubed and exercised. I am also investing in the "solar generator" large battery banks and solar panels, to supplement the gas generator. During Superstorm Sandy (coastal NJ, 2012)we were without power for seven days. I ran the gennie during the day and shut down at night to save gas. My 1kwh battery bank will run a full size fridge for 10-12 hours, helps fill in the gaps. It was also a challenge to get gas, so solar recharge would have come in handy.
@randyfleming3004
Thank you, great tips.. Going to stock up on oil and lanterns.. 👍👍
@kevinmello9149
Coffee in a disaster? Muy Importante!! A lot of folks in the comments had great ideas about using other sources of "power" when available. A grill or fire pit to cook on goes a long way to save gas. Another way I found to save is to combine a battery generator like an Ecoflow with the gas generator. I found I can run my gas generator for about an hour and a half to fully charge a 1300 mAh Ecoflow. That battery will run my fridge for 8 hours! Saves a LOT of gas. I have two batteries dedicated to our fridge, and plan to get a smaller one for our electronics. Everything else is either battery powered (fans, lights, radio), or propane (grill for cooking). LOTS of great suggestions all around, glad to see we are all thinking ahead. Oh, I tried solar after we lost power to Milton. I used a 220 watt panel to try to charge my Ecoflows. After 8 hours of brilliant sunlight, I could only get ONE up to 95%. So if you plan on going totally solar, you will need a few panels to get the job done.
@jopiaspieder1184
Good 👍 job admitting your mistakes but I suggest having a solar generator for back up in case the back up one goes down again
@kevinmoore8780
There's lots to comment about here but I'll just add a few. 1) Frequently check your generator as well as run it. Mice love getting in them and chewing on the wires. That happened to mine. Since I had it repaired, I store it in a huge plastic mattress bag. That won't stop mice but I can see if they have chewed their way in. But I also have 6 mice traps set all around it in the storage shed. It's been a year since I repaired mine and so far this system has worked. 2) Thank you for the comment about having extra oil for the generator - I wasn't doing that. 3) I don't store gasoline. When there is a potential weather warning, I go and fill up my containers. Once good weather comes back, I use up that gas and wait for the next warning. Also my generator is dual fuel and I do have a storage propane tank. BTW I had a squirrel chew a hole in the top of a full red plastic gas can. So now I check my empty plastic cans on a regular basis. 4) While my generator can power all the things you are trying to use, I basically don't use it for any of those. I get out my camping propane stove and use that for almost everything. Even coffee. Being propane and since my generator is also propane then the dual fuel option helps me here too. 5) Cooking on a camp stove or over a fire saves your generator for things that only it can power. In my case that includes the pump to my well. (I have have about 100 gallons stored in containers.) Also, I only power the fridge for the first short period of time. I eat as much as I can initially; freeze what I can (e.g. milk) and then when the volume in the fridge is manageable, I put it into a camping cooler with ice. This allows me to focus on powering a chest freezer. The latter can go 12-24 hours without electricity without defrosting. I always store 4 gallon plastic jugs of water in my freezer. I do this not for water but having the volume of your freezer as full as possible, saves energy. So in times of emergency, I can put one of those frozen jugs into the camp cooler and swap it out every 12 hours or so. Thanks again.
@arnoldreiter435
your generator misadventure is one i have seen several times with my buddies at hunting camps, the learning curve is steep when you are doing things for the first time and there is urgency like a cold camp or in your case a home without power. thankfully you were able to make adjustments and get going again. i suggest you look into a propane gen, easy storage of fuel. and a gen plug for your home connection no cords needed and actually cheaper than a basket full of good extension cords.
@romanpetty2390
I suggest the 4 dollar lanterns at harbor freight I keep a box with Several of them along with batteries, I tend to buy a couple every time they go on sale. When the power goes out we place them throughout the house.
@BR54966
Great POST I have 2 generators( 5500 watt) and 1 inverter THE BIGGEST TAKE AWAY WAS THE OIL REQUIRED 👍🇺🇸👍
@robertleewhitt6241
I live on the coast of North Carolina ( Hurricane season is always lurking ) I have five separate generators to run multiple water 1/2 horsepower pumps to keep water off my property . Once the storm is over, I’ll convert those generators over to running the house . ( refrigerator & window air conditioners ) < I have a propane gas grill for cooking >
@survivalfitadventures
This is good! Generators can be finicky. Glad you are squared away now! I build DIY Meal Packs for my family kits. This way the food is familiar and customizable for our family. We also use them on our adventures so they don’t just age out. We rotate them so they are always ready and fresh. Thanks for the information video!
@cherylcarlson3315
Live in Midwest, escaped hurricane zone. Shocked by all your appliances,did fine with propane camp stove. Induction cooktop is great, not sure draw numbers but more versatile than microwave
@Bob1934-l6d
Might want to consider a dual system. I use Jackery power packs that I charge up with Solar Panels. But you can charge them with your generator or when you have power. That way if you can extend the fuel supply. I have a dual fuel generator and my Jackerys and it does a good job.
@rogerbuesing9374