Surviving a Week Without Power: Ultimate Home Backup Solution!

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Twitter: @davepl1968 davepl1968

[franklincerpico]

Holy moly Dave, those Microsoft stocks paid off very nice indeed.

[AS-ozep]

Next time on Dave’s Garage, we install a small, modular nuclear reactor in case the gas ever goes out..

[steveschnetzler]

Reminds me, I don't need a generator, I just need a nice neighbor with one. Nice story, thanks.

[paulmorrow]

This reminds me of when the inspector came to look at my generator install. He asked “are you planning on running the neighborhood”. This is when I knew I sized it appropriately!

[Steve_Larson]

"You can watch your dog run away for 2 days" Oh my gosh I needed that I think I laughed for 10 minutes.

[brianmccullough]

I always weld in the shower while dinner is in the stove. It’s more efficient that way

[trith]

I had a 24kw NG Generac installed near the end of 2023 down here in Louisiana due to prolonged summer outages that are common with big gulf storms and hurricanes. It served me very well after Beryl and ran for three days with only minor stops to check the oil and let it cool down for a bit. I was able to run both zoned AC units and every appliance I had without issue for the entire 72 hours we were out. We were the only house that didn't have to abandon their home due to the extreme heat and go to a hotel or friends/family on our block thanks to the generator. Best investment I've made in a while. Side benefit is NG is super cheap in Louisiana thanks to Haynesville Shale deposit so my total NG cost for three days was about $45. Not bad at all.

[CedroCron]

Dave, I ended up as a paraplegic and also can't work any longer due to my neuropathic pain that came with my spinal cord injury. Through your channel I get to experience all the cool stuff I always wanted to do that you carry out and share on your channel and I wanted to just say thanks.

[billklement]

A friend of mine lived in a new neighborhood with really bad power. You entered it from the top of a hill and you could see the whole neighborhood blacked out all too often. My friend bought a military generator and hooked it up to the house. He'd get to the top of the hill and see his house as the only one fully lit up!
He and a bunch of his buddies used to go camping. You know... giant screen TV, satellite dish, full sized fridge, couches (because... football!) and the generator to power it all!
Glad you survived the storm!

[butter]

I installed a 24k Generac 18 months ago. At least 12 outages since then, some short some 8 hours. Best thing I have added to the homestead.

[joesmith]

lol..."I learned how to weld that day". I also enjoy forced welding classes on occasion.

[davidkahler]

Really important to keep those fountains running

[garthhowe]

At my rural house, I did the super simple way. I put the well pump, and my ONE oil furnace on regular plugs. I then installed house outlets for them to use, and beside them generator outlets. In an extended outage, especially in the winter, I would simply move the plugs to the generator outlets. If need be, I also ran an extension cord into the kitchen, and could power the fridge, and freezer. As for lights...well, living in a rural area, we had more than enough battery powered lanterns to keep us going.

[hieyeque]

Back in 2019 I installed a small subpanel with 10 circuits to cutover power to a Pulsar G12KBN. Everyone thought I was Noah, building an ark in the desert. Anyway, I bought a GasTapper, which siphon's fuel from my vehicles, as they both hold a lot of fuel and it's fresh. Then came 2021, we were on that generator for 4 days (about 20 hours / day) during the Texas Winter Storm of 2021. We had all the lights, TV's, Fiber Internet, and 3 space heaters. We even made pizza in a convection oven and hot soup and coffee in our Keurig. It was awesome, anyway, like you I wanted more. I swapped out my 200 amp panel with one that would accommodate a main breaker for am interlock kit and now I can run 240 loads. Before I was limited to 120v. Anyway, way to go, charging 3 ev's is pretty impressive. I only have 1, Tesla M3 2023 RWD

[ssmith]

This is truly a guided tour into Nerdvana. So awesome Dave!

[ParadoxicalThird]

Imagine how cool being a kid brought over to dave's house must be. My dad was a tech-head and I loved visits because he had a full fledged PC setup with a dot matrix printer as early as I can remember in like 1995, and that's like a drop in the ocean compared to Dave's house/setup which must seem like an actual castle to younger kids.

As a disabled guy who, bluntly, never got to amount to much of anything in life, I'm pretty in-awe of setups like this. If things had gone differently this is basically what I had dreamed I would have as an adult.

[Metanis]

Thanks for showing us the installation pictures! It's impressive for sure! And thanks for mentioning how dangerous this can be if not done properly!

[SamJam]

Complete enjoyment watching this. Thank you Dave.

[jamesweatherley]

When I was about 10 in the early 80s we moved up to rural Aberdeenshire, and the first winter was crazy. Even down low the snow was piled up, and sure enough power cuts followed for days. In those times the solution was candles and do what you can for food!

The local TV transmitter was on top of a hill to maximise its range, but that made it completely inaccessible given the quantities of snow. It still used valves, and of course one of them blew, and TV was out for weeks. Missing all the Xmas specials as a kid was harsh.

[theheathkitshop]

Interesting video, Dave. My home is 99% solar powered, yes, still on the grid, but we use the grid as a back up generator. Your comment about running this 65kW on propane cause me to chuckle a bit. Neighbor has a 25 kW propane back up, and last year a wind storm took out power for a week. He, too, lit up the house, ran the pool pumps and fired ceramics. In the end, he sucked up 500 gallons of propane in less than two days. He mentioned weeks later it was the most expensive power in the state. Talked to him this summer and he said he had essential load panel installed.