using generator to run modern gas heating equipment

digger_2

Last winter's epic ice storm in Indiana and Kentucky caused long and widespread power outages. I ran my heating system with a 2000W generator. It was a standard gas fired water heater and a thermostat with a pump. No problem. I warmed my sisters house with the same generator. She had an older gas furnace. I suggested to a coworker that we could heat his house up the same way. He declined saying he was told that using a generator could screw up the delicate circuitry on his new high efficiency gas furnace.

Is there something to this? I'll have a new mod con boiler installed in my home before the next "epic" storm. I'd hate to look back and tell myself "I was warned".

Timco

gen set

I disconnect the main and backfeed my panel through a 2-p 70A breaker. Works great and my Tekmar does not mind the power. However, my new Dell freaked out and had to be totally reset, so I put a battery ups system on it but not sure how to filter noise or surges to the house. I use a 8000 W B&S generator and it runs the entire house, dryer, TV, electric oven, and all. I think portable generators make 'dirty' power with lots of noise and power spikes on start-up. Ask the mfg what parameters it can take for under / over volt as well as noise.



Tim

Ex Maine Doug

Clean power

Most 2 pole units output a modified sine wave. These run at 3600 rpm to create 60Hz power. The more expensive 4 pole generators run at 1800 rpm and produce cleaner power, closer to a pure sine wave like the power Co juice. The little Honda et al units like the 2000i are more sine wave than modified sine wave. They use inverter technology and work at higher frequency to produce the 60 Hz.



Stick to the inverters or 1800 rpm units for the cleaner juice. Cost more And not all 4 pole genneys are created equal.

eluv8

Generator Power

I went to using pure sine-wave inverters on my job sites when I noticed my cordless batteries were not lasting as long as they used too and my generator left me with no power on a job site. Ever since I started charging and running tools off of a pure-sine wave I have had a lot less problems.



Price to set up however was much higher than buying a generator, however I dont have to worry about gas, oil, not starting in the middle of nowhere and no noise complaints in the morning or late nights either. Plus it uses up much less space.



Modified sine-wave is going to effect anything with a clock first of all(computers,digital clocks). Second it depends on the tolerance of the control how dirty the power can be before it either trips on a fault or dies all together. I have seen a couple of boiler manufactures trip on city power let alone a generator, and have always recommended a power conditioner(battery backup) for that purpose alone. After all we protect or computers and tv's but often forget about the electronics that keep us warm.



The higher the technology the higher the risk(more controls and more expensive to replace) in powering your equipment on a generator.

Tim Potter

Look to Marine side ?

We had a killer ice storm several years ago, took my generator over to my sister - in - law's house to run the furnace. no electronics though. Worked great, came over to check one morning, all her neighbors were camped out in living room - quite a sight.

You might want to look to the marine side of things for advise, they are experts on running things long term on battery's with inverters, and on generators & windmills.  West Marine  www.westmarine.com  is an excellent source of Info on power supplies.



www.cumminsonan.com  Talks about "utility grade power, less than 5% total harmonic distortion. computer and motor friendly power output"

Tim

SpeyFitter

Or a gas fireplace...

If you put a gas fireplace in your "pad" you don't have to worry about a generator for back up heat as it requires no power.

digger_2

I see that there is a lot to it.

Thanks for the input (on the output). Obviously there is a lot to it . My $250 2000W generator is probebly not up to the task. The technical jargon is just over my head but I get the gist of the great comments. I now know what not to do. That'll save some bucks.

Ex Maine Doug

Your $250 generator

is most likely one that runs at high speed (3600 rpm) and puts out a very noisy and distorted power.

The little Honda 2000i (and similar types) is called an inverter type because it uses a special inverter to create and control the 60 cycle AC.  This makes these types of generators particularly good for electronic equipment.  They cost more, around 900 dollars for the 2000i. And two of them can be cabled together to double the output.

For a non-generator approach one can use the car/pickup/suv as the source of 12 volts DC with an appropriately sized separate inverter to create the 120v AC to run a heating system in an emergency. This was the method I used while I lived in FL. I added a fast idle circuit to my F350 diesel truck to keep the alternator running fast enough to generate sufficient DC current to avoid running the twin batteries down.  You could run a small window AC plus TV etc up to about 80% of the continuous rated capacity of the inverter.

Pure sine wave separate inverters are more expensive than modified sine wave inverters just as clean power generators are more expensive than the big box specials. 



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