Generators

So I know there are many other rural guys on here. I’m in SD and while not as hard hit as NE we are flooded with water, literally and figuratively. The past few years on a couple of occasions we have had to throw some food away because of power outages and we have been hot, and cold, albeit in the winter to keep the pipes from freezing I have indoor rated propane heaters I run and a fireplace in the living room we camp out in. I also have a bevy of nest CO2 and smoke detectors and for safety sake in the couple of times this has happened we sleep in shifts... just to be sure... but I have never had a CO2 alarm go off using Mr. Buddy indoor rated propane heaters all these years. Even when we bought our 30 foot travel trailer two years ago I never saw a need for a generator... we never camp where there isn’t power. Our local area of a few houses share one big well and that is powered by it’s own generac generator when the power fails, so we always have water.

This all changed Thursday night. We lost power for 8 hours... my sub pump battery back up failed (its only rated for four hours anyway). I spent 8 hours until 4 AM sitting on a stool with a big gulp cup and a five gallon bucket and every five minutes passing the five gallon bucket to one of my teenage sons.... Friday afternoon we got prom tuxes and this unit... I’m never doing that again and I’m kicking my own ass for not getting one sooner... in the case that we have an ice storm and a week long outage (happened the year before we moved here about 12 years ago) we can live in the camper for a week as normal... 6-8 hour outage I have a working fridge, sub pump, wifi, and TV and lights and the rest.... sometimes it takes 8 hours on a stool to kick your own ass....

I feel for you, but other than commiserating what is the post about? I'll try to guess. The options suck. I'm guessing that's right.

The 4500 number is probably the max output right before the genny poops itself but I can't read it. The lesser number is probably what it can do for a long time. When you figure it in amps I'm guessing it's not as much as you think it is and you might need to pick and choose what draws the amps. But I don't know the formulas any more.

If you have a basement It might be a bad idea to pump it out. Hydraulic pressure from the outside could cave it in and that would be much worse than allowing what is in the basement from being destroyed from the flood. The structure is worth more than the contents most times. Destroy both and you lose both. But allow the water in (that is, don't pump it out) and hydraulic pressure equalizes and you only lose the contents. I have also never been through what you're going through so bear that in mind.

I wish you the best.

ShadowsDad We didn’t have water in our basement because I sat by the hole and scooped it out as it came in the sub pump hole.. our subpump runs fine when it has power..... hence the generator purchase. I’m never sitting by that hole again and at least if we lose power when we are this saturated with water I can now watch march madness drink beer and check on the pump every half hour while the generator hums...