Portable generators

[Njkoren]

My town toms river got hit with a tornado earlier. Spent a couple hours helping my father cut up a few trees that fell on his house and car. 

I came home and set up my generator which is running a fridge and my upright freezer as well as a lamp. To conserve gas how long and often should i run it to be sure the food does not spoil. Unfortunately i only have one 5 gallon gas can. 

Any advice would be apreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Bucndoe]

Run it until you go to bed. It will be fine overnight without being opened. Turn it back on in the morning when you wake up and go get more gas. Also get yourself a second gas can for next time

Edited April 22, 2020 by Bucndoe

[Njkoren]

[Njkoren]

Playhouse we built last fall for my kids. I tried to upload more pics but it only posted the one. 

[Njkoren]

12 minutes ago, Bucndoe said:

Run it until you go to bed. It will be fine overnight without being opened. Turn it back on in the morning when you wake up and go get more gas. Also get yourself a second gas can for next time

Thank you

[Njkoren]

[username]

19 minutes ago, Njkoren said:

My town toms river got hit with a tornado earlier. Spent a couple hours helping my father cut up a few trees that fell on his house and car. 

Sorry to hear that, I hope all is well.

19 minutes ago, Njkoren said:

I came home and set up my generator which is running a fridge and my upright freezer as well as a lamp. To conserve gas how long and often should i run it to be sure the food does not spoil. Unfortunately i only have one 5 gallon gas can. 

How good is the seal on the freezer?  A good seal could keep food for days.  I bet running a generator every other day for a few hours would be sufficient.

Keep the freezer full too as opposed to half empty.

 

[LPJR]

58 minutes ago, username said:

Sorry to hear that, I hope all is well.

How good is the seal on the freezer?  A good seal could keep food for days.  I bet running a generator every other day for a few hours would be sufficient.

Keep the freezer full too as opposed to half empty.

 

 With what Pete said above. Best wishes for a quick recovery. Glad to hear all is well with you and your family. 

Property can always be replaced...

[Kype]

sorry to hear that. on the plus side you have a generator. learn from that storm, and now always have at least 15 gallons of gas ready for the next diaster. but dont forget to go to your hardware store and by some stabilizer. the gas you store will be good for a year. mark the date on your calander and put the gasoline your storing in rotation. 

also get a back up. nothing fancy, just a back up. ONE IS NONE, AND TWO IS ONE. 

[Jim_]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:21 PM, Kype said:

sorry to hear that. on the plus side you have a generator. learn from that storm, and now always have at least 15 gallons of gas ready for the next diaster. but dont forget to go to your hardware store and by some stabilizer. the gas you store will be good for a year. mark the date on your calander and put the gasoline your storing in rotation. 

also get a back up. nothing fancy, just a back up. ONE IS NONE, AND TWO IS ONE. 

Those are some wise words from Kype. The engine on my almost-new generator blew its rod bearing halfway into our 2-week Sandy outage. 

Another option for being prepared with a supply of fuel for the generator is installing a tri-fuel kit … allowing it to run on gasoline, propane, or nat gas. I keep a supply of filled BBQ propane tanks on hand … rotating through them as I grill all year.

Anyway, hope all is well, Njkoren.

[Haskell_Hunter]

Holy crap, glad no one got hurt.

When I had a portable generator I kept two 5-gallon gas cans filled in the shed at all times.  I went with the high octane gas on the recommendation of a small engine repair guy.  You can use that same gas for your yard tools and your lawn mower so there's always fresh gas in the can.  I could run my generator for about 12 hours on a can of gas.  So whenever I filled the engine, I filled the gas can knowing I had another full can waiting.

If you are going to be without power for a while, fill up some 1-gallon milk containers with water and put them in the freezer.  When the freezer is running the water will freeze.  Easiest way to keep things cool when the power goes out.

[hunterbob1]

3 minutes ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

 

If you are going to be without power for a while, fill up some 1-gallon milk containers with water and put them in the freezer.  When the freezer is running the water will freeze.  Easiest way to keep things cool when the power goes out.