Diesel generators

pvr

pvr

Dutch
 Ruler of the South East UK
There are some planned outages of power in my area and I want to avoid down time. There seems to be such a massive array of power generator makes that I don't know which one is a reputable one and which one is not.

Any recommendations for brands? I assume 5Amp would be sufficient for what I want / need.
 
Take a look a camping and caravaning portable genarators. They go from around 1,5 KVA up.

A typical 3KW kettle on a 240v single phase ,domestic supply needs 0.74 KVA to operate, if my memory and mental arithmatic are correct. That's about the most power hungry thing in most homes.
 
This, but honda is normally quite expensive
Zed Five said:
Anything made by Honda is usually a safe bet?
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And this

buzyg said:
Take a look a camping and caravaning portable genarators. They go from around 1,5 KVA up.

A typical 3KW kettle on a 240v single phase ,domestic supply needs 0.74 KVA to operate, if my memory and mental arithmatic are correct. That's about the most power hungry thing in most homes.
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Depending on what you are running, im assuming tv, fridge/freezer, pc etc I would go for a 2kva or 2.5kva

Hoe are you intending to connect it? You gonna have a permanent connection to your consumer unit, or just back feed your sockets through a socket

Either way make sure you open the incoming mcb otherwise when your mains supply comes back on you will kill your genny

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Not looking to do it automatically as that requires a lot more wiring than I want to do. As an example, just had a notice that the power will be off for 12 hours next week during the week, and I can not work without internet / PCs and dread to think what the fridge / freezer will do.

So plan is to put outside in the brick cupboard where the LPG is, the generator and on the outside of the brick wall put some external power sockets. When I have the power cut(s), I can then use a distribution lead to connect the required power units to it, like the freezer, fridge etc as well as my computer equipment.


Thoughts on this ?
 
Don't think I can feed into the consumer unit though as I would blow the system when the power comes back on? Or is there an easy way to do this without having to involve an electrician (which would blow out any reasonable costs).
 
pvr said:
I could - but power cuts are not always scheduled :D
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Hi Paul,

This is my specialist subject!

You can if you so wish bak feed your home distribution board through a spare outgoing way! you can connect the generator supply to the outgoing way but keep the outgoing way OPEN.

The the power cut occurs, turn off the main incomer to the dist board (creating your own power cut and isolation) then load shed the items that you do not want to power and start the generator, allow it to stabilise and then close the outgoing way that you have already connected to.

when the power returns, because you have the main incomer open (this was opened by you on the onset of the power cut) you will be able to determine when the change back to normal services occurs.

shut down the sensitive stuff that is being run by the generator, open the generator incoming supply to the distribution board (the one you had connected to previously) and then when safe, close the original incomer. (back to normal).

Don't forget that the generator needs an independent earth.

dont forget to have sufficient fuel available (size of the fuel tank should be a consideration to prevent having to fill the tank whilst in service.

when sizing the size of the generator required, make sure that you compensate of any "on line" UPS systems that may be in use.

if you need more advise in the area, i'm happy to help


Dario
 
Dario - I will need to contact you on that one as the first bit means nothing to me :)

Forgot you were into that stuff in a former life.
 
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