Bought 2 Generators Today....

[sprink52]

I went to the only Home Depot in Palm Beach County this morning & bought two 5550 watt stand by generators and a room air conditioner. I have tried all summer to get a Genrac whole house propane stand by gen set but I guess that there is such a demand that they are backed up.

I came home and put the generators and A/C in the garage and the the wife and I made the rounds to Costco, Walmart and Publix. The Lake Park Home Depot got a shipment of Generators in this AM at about 3:00 & I was told that by 10:00 they had sold about 50!!

My wife was hospitalized in June for pulminary embolisms and can't be with out A/C and power for her night time O2 machine. She can't travel far because of her condition.

My plan is to isolate our master bedroom with one of the generators and window A/C for after the storm. I'll use the other Gen set to run lights & refrigerator in the rest of the house. This would be after the storm passes.

We have water now for about three weeks & I am making ice & bagging it.

I sorted out the storm panells two weeks ago in front of Charley...I'm in good shape with lights, batteries, radios, food, TP, etc. Will probably top off all the 3: vehicles w/ gasoline during the week and use one of their tanks as a storage resorvoir for the generators. I need to find a good manual transfer pump for the fuel. Any suggestions are welcomed. We had a mini meeting with several of our neighbors yesterday and we have a plan to get every body's windows covered. I think amongst all of our neighbors on this block we'll be ok. Now maybe this thing will go away ...but some how we feel like we're looking down both barrels of a shotgun!!!

[Bluefrog]

good for you ...... i hope others follow you in preparing. I bought the same generator 3 weeks ago. good luck

[decgirl66]

There is a post at the top of this forum about being prepared, lots of good suggestions. I will say a prayer for you and your wife, especially with the medical condition. Luckily my landlord bought a generator after Charley, so we are set in that instance if need be.

I am sure you already know....but you had mentioned the generator and ac for your room...please don't put the gen indoors! Too many deaths after Charley due to that!

Good luck


Valerie

[Aquawind]

good for you ...... i hope others follow you in preparing. I bought the same generator 3 weeks ago. good luck

Ditto That..I just hope to get mine back this week..

[drudd1]

Great to be prepared early! From my experience with Charley, plan on a burn rate of 1 gallon every two hours with eacg 5500. This would be under about an 80% load, and you may not load them that heavy, but it would be a safe margin. Also, if you don't have spare oil for the generators, pick some up now. Since they are new, you should really plan on taking each generator down after the first twelve hours of run time and change the oil. Also, if the generators are going to be run 24/7, make sure you check the oil peroidically, a leak that leads to engine failure could ruin your day.

You can usually find a drill driven pump at your local auto parts store. These make great pumps, but ensure you have enough fuel line hose to get to near the bottom of the tank you are going to pump from.

Another thing with the generators is to make sure the load is only applied to the gen after it is up and running. Also, remove the load prior to shut down. Also, just out of curiosity, what is the btu of your window unit, and is it 220 or 110 volt? Sorry, just the electrician coming out in me.

[wx247]

Good job on being prepared early. However, wit h that said, if you live even remotely close to the beach and if (or when) they place evacuation orders... please heed them.

[sprink52]

The A/C unit is a little 6000 BTU 110 Volt unit. It will get us cool enough at with a couple of fans. Great tip about the extra crank case oil..I'll pick some up. Also forgot to mention that I always keep a couple of 20 LB ABC extinguishers on hand!! Fire is always bad...especially in a Hurricane!!

[drudd1]

LOL, fire would be a bummer! No problem on the size of the window unit for sure.

[Ladybug]

good job on preparing early

my problem is being in an apartment on hillsboro canal.....flood zone, no shutters......we're packing up the cars and heading north on wednesday

[wolfray]

What did you have to pay for the gens?? 9 If you do not mine me asking)

[sprink52]

Genrac 5550 Wheel House $627.00 plus tax 5550 watt 8500watt start. Has 5 Gal removable tank and rear wheels are 14".