Thread: The World we live in

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I hear you Ryan. It’s something I’ve been giving some thought to for the last couple of years too. For me the biggest concern is the power grid. Ours is pretty reliable over all, but we do seem to lose power for a short time a couple times a year. That being said with the push for renewables and an inadequate power grid for an all-electric society that is being pushed for, it’s what the future holds that really concerns me.

When we put the new house in, we added the whole house backup generator primary in case the wife or I become housebound with mobility issues as we get older (something we saw with my mom). It does give us a little peace of mind should we lose power for any length of time, especially as far as any food in the refrigerators/freezer staying good.

The old house still has an older gasoline powered portable generator that can be put into service…….it needed some work when I got it but it was free and once it was sorted out it works well…..and free is always good.


The biggest problem with it is that it’s gasoline. I keep 20 gallons of gas on hand for it and figure I can probably pull about 75 more gallons out of vehicles if necessary. The crap gas we get around here has a shelf-life of about 6 months. So twice a year I rotate the gas in the cans out and burn it in the truck and refill the cans. It’s also a good time to run the generator under load for an hour or 2 to make sure there are no problems with it. It’s set up with a manual transfer switch and I can put it in service in about 10-15 minutes. When I’m through, I end up shutting it down by running the carb dry and drain the fuel tank. It’s a bit of a PIA but at least it always starts easily the next time.



We live in the high desert so other than power, water is probably going to be our biggest issue, especially with my daughters’ 2 horses. We’re on our own well and unfortunately, it’s too far away from either generator to be powered by them. Over the last couple of years I’ve slowly been working on a backup water system.

It’s pretty simple actually, a couple of 1000 gallon water storage tanks (that are automatically kept filled by the well) and a separate pressure tank and pump, which is wired into the wiring (and generator) on the old house. We use the water tanks to water the horses and outdoor watering so the water in them is kept fresh. In an emergency it can be connected to the water system of both houses by throwing a couple of valves.

I just broke down and bought a new generator to use as a dedicated back-up for the well. When the tanks get low the well can be run on the generator to refill the water tanks.

I was a bit surprised to find out that the recommended wattage for the well pump is a minimum of 7.5KW, it actually runs at a lower wattage but that’s the size required to start the pump.

The generator I chose is a dual fuel (gasoline or propane) unit. I think I’m going to like this one but I haven’t fired it up yet as I’m waiting on the high-altitude conversion parts for the fuel system (due in Sat). I like the idea of it being propane capable so I don’t have to worry about having extra gasoline on hand for it. We have a 350 gal Propane tank that’s dedicated to the generator on the new house and once I get the kit I’ll be able to refill the portable tanks for the generator from it, and I do have the option of using gasoline in it if that’s what I have.

The thought hit me a while back that what I’m doing is really a well-trod path. This is all stuff that was normal on a small farm in the generation I grew up in. If it gets real bad, I suppose I can always fire up the old hit and miss and still have a drill press, grinder and compressor on the line shaft….between that and grandpa’s old forge and anvil hell it could be a second career as the village smithy.



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