I have been pushing my parents for years to get a backup generator (both before and after the great power outage of 2003). My grandmother moved in with us a few years ago and I have been afraid that she would die from the heat during a power outage that occurred in the summer. Yesterday, we had a power outage, it was extremely hot and my grandmother refused to leave the house to go somewhere that had air conditioning, so my parents are finally going to purchase a backup generator.
I have been looking online and most of the generators that I can find burn natural gas or gasoline. Natural gas is not available in our area and the local distributor of natural gas refuses to make it avaliable to us unless our entire street is willing to convert everything to natural gas, so that is not an option. Gasoline can only be stored for anywhere from a few months to two years, depending on the presence of preservatives, after which time it decomposes into a wax and prior to which time, it is a fire hazard, so it will more than likely raise our house insurance if we use a generator that burns it. I would like to be have backup power for a long period of time and we cannot get natural gas, so both types of backup generators are out of the question.
I know that large data centers have backup generators that run off diesel, and I know that diesel engines are reliable, extremely efficient, and burn fuel that will not ignite upon exposure to a spark, so I would like to get a backup generator that burns diesel, which in theory should not increase the cost of our house insurance because diesel is very difficult to ignite. I know that it is possible to burn home heating oil in diesel engines, so ideally, the backup generator should be able to burn home heating oil and could be connected to our home heating oil tank, so that if there is any major disruption to the power grid (hurricane, earthquake, etcetera), we will have backup power for months. I would also like it to be a quality generator, so it should be made by a well known company.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
I have been looking online and most of the generators that I can find burn natural gas or gasoline. Natural gas is not available in our area and the local distributor of natural gas refuses to make it avaliable to us unless our entire street is willing to convert everything to natural gas, so that is not an option. Gasoline can only be stored for anywhere from a few months to two years, depending on the presence of preservatives, after which time it decomposes into a wax and prior to which time, it is a fire hazard, so it will more than likely raise our house insurance if we use a generator that burns it. I would like to be have backup power for a long period of time and we cannot get natural gas, so both types of backup generators are out of the question.
I know that large data centers have backup generators that run off diesel, and I know that diesel engines are reliable, extremely efficient, and burn fuel that will not ignite upon exposure to a spark, so I would like to get a backup generator that burns diesel, which in theory should not increase the cost of our house insurance because diesel is very difficult to ignite. I know that it is possible to burn home heating oil in diesel engines, so ideally, the backup generator should be able to burn home heating oil and could be connected to our home heating oil tank, so that if there is any major disruption to the power grid (hurricane, earthquake, etcetera), we will have backup power for months. I would also like it to be a quality generator, so it should be made by a well known company.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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