Skip to content

We Love Our 12KW Kohler Generator Tonight

We Love Our 12KW Kohler Generator Tonight

October 13, 2009 SVadmin Comments 3 comments

kohlerIt’s 9:41 PM, about 5 hours into the latest power outage, and we are sitting here in our fully lit house, working on our laptops, surfing the net, watching a little news on the telly. The 12 KW Kohler generator, tied directly into our buried 250 gal. propane tank, took over about 3 seconds into the outage, thanks to the transfer switch in our garage.

Of all the improvements we made when we moved here a couple of years ago, this is my favorite. It’s not that we need it that often. Mostly it’s the peace of mind. We’ll switch it off when we go to bed, and on again in the morning if necessary.

I feel almost guilty — but not quite — for being so unaffected by the widespread outage that hit my brother and his wife in Lake Wildwood, and most of this part of the county,  judging by our dark drive back from dinner at Cirino’s Main Street tonight.

The folks at Gray Electric did a terrific job sizing and installing this system. It’s never missed a beat.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Blog, Local

Post navigation

PREVIOUS
Garrison Keillor on the GOP Betting Against America
NEXT
Would LSSI Be Ineligible for Nevada County Libraries Contract?

Join Our Mailing List

3 thoughts on “We Love Our 12KW Kohler Generator Tonight”

  1. Douglas Keachie says:
    October 14, 2009 at 6:20 am

    My wife thought I was nuts to buy into a $1300 transfer switch system to tie into a generator when we first moved here 10 years ago. That was enough then to pay for it all, permits included. We now have a generator that is an attachment for the DR mower, which has an electric start, so it is no problem when crisis strikes. One big switch goes from PG&E to OFF and then to Generator. Tons of firewood completes the cozy picture, and a chimney that is checked once a year by a sweep, to keep the insurance covered. I’ve even thought of photographing the interior during mid season as a double check cheapo backup.

    BTW, wife now believes…especially after 4 days no power last winter. All it takes is one idiot hitting a power pole, or one tree across the lines, or one overheated aging transformer. Looks like fire worries are nearly over. I much prefer fire to earthquakes of my native Bay Area. At least you get some warning.

  2. Don Pelton says:
    October 14, 2009 at 7:32 am

    Interesting! Coming from the Bay Area too (Palo Alto) I agree about preferring fire risk over earthquake risk (the Big One is on its way). But I do have to admit, I spend way more time thinking about and preparing for fire than I ever did for earthquakes (a few jugs of water was about it).

    The generator also serves as a part of our fire protection system: we’ve installed shrub nozzles under our eaves about every six feet all the way around the house, and a couple of sprinklers opposite our deck, aimed at our deck. We added a second pressure tank, and a couple of 2600 gal water storage tanks tied together in a single 5200 gal/system. We have about 40 shrub nozzles drawing about 1/2 gal/min each, for an aggregate draw on the system of about 20+ gal/min, which — fortunately — is less than our pump rate of about 27 gal/min. So, with our generator tied into the 250 gal propane tank, we could keep our house under constant spray for as long as the propane lasts. The generator burns about 2 gal/HOUR, so we could theoretically keep the house under spray for days.

    I hope we never have to find out.

    This was all according to the specifications of a system called WEEDS (Wind-Enabled Ember Dousing System), designed by a guy down in Southern California. It saved his house from a wildfire a year or so after he installed it.

    See http://www.mbartek.com/

  3. depelton says:
    October 14, 2009 at 7:40 am

    Part of our fire planning also includes the option of running like hell to save our butts.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

DONATE TO THE FOOD BANK OF NEVADA COUNTY

(CLICK IMAGE)

DONATE TO NEVADA COUNTY RELIEF FUND (click image below)

Erika Lewis, Shaye Cohn, Craig Flory – Got A Mind To Ramble

Jack Kornfield: A Steady Heart in Time of Corona Virus (Part I)

Tara Brach: A Steady Heart in Time of Corona Virus (Part II)

Subscribe to Sierra Voices Journal

Recent Posts

  • Chaos agent: Right-wing blames US Capitol riot on notorious instigator banished by Black Lives Matter
  • How to stop an Insurrection Caucus: These reforms could reduce GOP extremism and save our democracy
  • The U.S. Capitol raid was a failed self-coup previously seen in dying regimes
  • Accountability for the Attempted Coup
  • Doug LaMalfa is Part of the So-Called “Sedition Caucus”

Recent Comments

  • (Posted by) Don Pelton on GOP Warns Dems About Court Packing (Cartoon)
  • Criminal Incompetence, Malignant Ignorance Will Lead to Hunger and Violence on A Nice Depression Now Benefits the GOP in 2022 and 2024
  • togel singapura hari ini on How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme — Again
  • Ao Corrente on How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme — Again
  • forex forum on How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme — Again

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009

Categories

  • Aging
  • Articles
  • Atlas Obscura
  • Authoritarianism
  • Black Lives
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Blog
  • Buddhism
  • Cartoon
  • Climate Change
  • Corona Virus
  • Corruption
  • Disenfranchisement
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Election Fraud
  • Environment
  • Farming
  • Fascism
  • Fire!
  • Food Insecurity
  • Foreign Policy
  • Forest Management
  • Gender
  • Health Care
  • History
  • Humor
  • Hunger
  • Ignorance
  • Labor
  • Local
  • Masks
  • Medical Care
  • Men
  • Middle Class
  • Mining
  • MMT
  • Modern Monetary Theory
  • Music
  • Native Americans
  • Pandemic
  • Parenting
  • Poetry
  • Police
  • Politics
  • Press
  • Race
  • Reviews
  • Revolution
  • Right-wing terrorism
  • Russiagate
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Trump Virus
  • Tyranny
  • Uncategorized
  • Voting
  • War
  • War on Government
  • Water
  • Watersheds
  • Wildfires

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
© 2021   All Rights Reserved.