Correct, if they are wanting to set up a generator to run for several days unattended, they run the risk of running out of lubricating oil. Most generators are air cooled, not liquid cooled, and will burn through all their oil in under a week of constant use. just something to consider if you are going to be running one and not in attendance of it.
Any generator that uses oil is defective and needs repair. Do you run out of oil in your car?
Do you run out of oil in your gas powered lawn mower? Its air cooled.
Engine oil is not used up like fuel. It resides in the engine crankcase and lubricates the moving parts inside of the engine. Some stand by generators have a low oil sensor that can shut off the generator or send an alarm.
This is provided as a stand by generator may run with no one present. To protect the engine in case there is a low oil situation. No gas, propane, natural gas or diesel generators should ever run out of engine oil unless there is an engine problem.
And significant use of oil should never be considered normal no matter how long the engine has run.
With this model or any gasoline powered generator, I guess the problem I will have is that it will not automatically kick on if I am not home and the power goes out, correct?
I don't have any experience with generators but in my head I'm thinking of something that is probably plugged in and stays charged until power goes out and it can automatically kick on if power is lost...
You don't need a generator if all you want to protect is your tank. You listed how many watts? A stand by or portable generator needs to be started. Either by an automatic transfer switch or manually.
I personally would go with the manual option Honda small generator. But thats just me.
I am home most of the time and when I am away I return within a few hours.
If I'm on
vacation, well I'm on vacation.
Yeah, I fully get what you are thinking, I also don't know much about generators but only ones I know of that kick on automatically are standby generators and they sit outside your house like an AC unit and power your entire house during an outage. I am not sure if there is anything out there that could be set up to just automatically kick on and only run that specific equipment. Standby generators are going to cost upwards of 5k+ and will need to be hooked up to natural gas or a propane tank. All of these smaller generators are going to require you to set them up incase of the outage.
Anything can be set up to do anything if the person setting it up knows how.
But you are correct. Generally a stand by generator is connected to an automatic transfer switch that will start the generator when the power fails and will turn it off once the power is restored.
And yes again on the small unit recommended above. Someone must start it.
Gasoline is cheaper and is more work because gas goes stale and will need to be run out more . There is a company that lets you use your car as a generator car generator.com
It could run your heaters and pump. You may be able to use the lower wattage 1000 watts if start pumps first then heaters .
Also it is better to run a generator at 50 to 75 % than low load so take that into account if getting portable. Do not think an issue with car generator
Gasoline is an issue with an engine that sits around for possibly years before it is needed. And running this engine dry of gasoline is a very good idea. You do not need to run the complete tank dry thought. Turning the fuel valve to "off" and allowing the engine to stop, is all that is required for the engine. For units without a fuel shutoff valve, I highly recommend installing one. Its simple and cheap.
Fuel that remains in the tank needs/must be treated. There are several excellent products that will protect gasoline form going bad. Its a fuel additive. Boaters use these additives as they may only run their boat a few times each year.
Why would you want to run a generator at 50% -75% load? It will use less fuel this way, but will not have any effect on the engine.
I'm not on board with the car powered system as you must start the car and you must also run a cable from the car to the item you want to power.
The Honda generator will be a much better option as it uses less gasoline and can be positioned closer to the tank/house.
One thing that must be said here.
Never run any engine inside your home or garage. It must be placed at least 10' from the house with the exhaust aimed away from the house.
