There is always so much to so this time of year, and one of the things on the list is checking the prepping gear. As usual, I try to get as much done at one time as I can.
Today I brought out my generator for its check and run. Like the average Ann and Andy, we couldn’t afford some massive house running generator system. Even the moderate sized ones on trailers were a bit too steep for our budget.
So I decided to go with the option of a small, economical, portable generator for under $200. The idea is that the generator can run an estimated 4 hours on ½ gallon of the standard oil/gas mix 1:40 ratio. That gives me 10 “runs” on a five gallon can of gasoline.
No, it won’t run a houseful of electronics, lights and a massive freezer, or even a refrigerator. What it will do is recharge the three old car batteries I have which one in turn will run through an inverter to power one lamp for a week (6 hours per night for 7 nights) and one will power a 12v cooler for a few hours, long enough to cool down the ice packs inside which will maintain the coolness for a few hours longer, especially if the 12v cooler is inside the refrigerator (more insulation/less cooling loss). The third will be in reserve to be used with an inverter to run my coffee maker for example. This means I’d run my generator perhaps two times a week. In theory that means I could run the generator for 5 weeks on a five gallon can of gasoline.
So today I am running the generator until (continue reading)