Community Chat

[fourpaws56]

a couple of months ago we were evacuated due to fire...no power for almost two weeks...came home to filth and rotten food,   no big deal, cleaned house and restocked the fridge.....and bought a generator:-)

[Plaid Pants2]

I live in an apartment, so I can't have a backup generator in case the power goes out.

Ivhave a question for those that do have a generator, what do they run on?

Gasoline? Diesel? 

How long does that fuel last?

What happens when the fuel runs outand the power is still off?

Sorry if my questions are stupid.

[fourpaws56]

mine runs on gas, five gallons last a few hours

[Venezia]

Our generator runs on regular gasoline.  It will run for at least six hours on a tank (less than 5 gallons).  We keep three 5-gallon tanks of gas on hand in the winter.  Usually, if the power is out for an extended period, like it was for 10 days, we can get to a gas station to refill them as necessary.

We run it for about that long each night, when our power is out.  It runs some of our lights, our water pump (we're rural; well water), our fridge and separate freezer.  We don't need any of the big appliances during a power outage.  It's just to keep the house and us from freezing!  It's been an absolute must-have godsend many times.

A freezer will keep food frozen for at least 48 hours, if you don't open the door, so we don't usually use the generator unless it looks like the power is going to be off for only a day.  But that depends on how cold it is outside!  House temperatures drop drastically pretty quickly in a NE winter.

[AngusandBuddhasMom]

Have during Sandy and even on clear sunny days my towns electric goes out. During Sandy it was for 3 weeks it was colder in my house then outside. Be glad you have not had to deal with this. 

[IlliniGirl88]

My husband lived in Charleston, SC when Hugo came through.  He didn't have power for six weeks!  We lost power for Floyd, but only three days.  Any amount of time is a major hassle though.

[Marp]

Following hurricane Wilma we were without power for three weeks and no telephone or cable for four weeks.

To add insult to injury the homes across the street from us had power for a week before we did.

Good neighbors are priceless.

[pitdakota]

The entire state of Ky was hit with an ice storm several years ago.  We were without power for some during the winter. 

We also lost power when hurricane Ike decided to act up so far inland and caused major power outages in my area.

I do really feel for the people in Fla though.  The power outages are so big that gas stations may have gas, but there is no electricity to pump the gas.  Stores and businesses are without power, along with residential areas.  Good to see though there are so many companies down there working hard to get them up and running. 

[Bri36]

I have a Generac generator.  It's hooked up to the gas line.  As soon as the electric goes out, it comes on automatically.

My neighbor has a generator that runs on gasoline.  I don't know how long it runs before he has to fill it again. 

[blackhole99]

I can only imagine what those poor people are going through, without what we Americans call the basic necessities for an extended period of time. Where we live if the power goes out we are the last area to be serviced. My house is primarily run by electricity so it's a pain to be without for 24 hours or more. We finally got a whole house generator so that solved that problem, but if there is a flood , well that's another story.