Genset load balancing spreadsheet

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That's great, and appears well thought out.
However; it seems to me that if you have to use your generator, it's an emergency/survival situation.

The TV and computer gets left off. The only things you should worry about are water, heat, refrigeration, and food prep. A/C is secondary, depending on post-event weather.

My generator is about the same electrical capacity as yours, and it's helped me through a four-day, late winter power outage, and a sister-in-law through a 4-day spring storm outage. (And I have two freezers and fridges.) I had to coach her on what not to run, as many modern electronics don't care for the "dirty" power put out by a generator, so they had to understand it was a survival mode situation. It also helped her through a tornado and flood, one month apart from each other, back in '08. (Yeah, I cut the security tag and yanked the meter out of the socket in full view of the linesmen, but it was the only way I could be sure that I wasn't back-feeding into the grid, and endangering them.)

The power tools, in my opinion, would need to remain idle, as well as the blender, toaster, coffeemaker, etc., etc.

I think I'd opt for a gas chainsaw, and use as few power tools as needed, just to cover up the holes in your house until grid power could be restored. (I know, that counters what I just said above.)

I unplugged one each fridge and freezer, and stayed out of them. I would alternate those every other day. The water was gravity feed from a municipal tower, so good there. Food prep, we relied heavily on the micro, but we also have a gas range and furnace. For those with an electric, those are a HUGE load on the gen. Sure, there was some extra work catching up on the laundry, but it sure does ease things up for the gen. Something else to consider is your fuel supply, and the ability to replenish as needed. If the power is down, the pumps won't work, and that's assuming you can travel the streets, so it pays to be as conservative as you can.

Hmmmm. I see you're in SE Florida. That changes things only slightly, as it might be awhile before the grid gets back up. Be sparing with your laundry use. You still need to worry about fuel supply, and it looks like there's another bad one on the way. That might just be the monkey wrench in the works that hurts everything you're trying to do.

Good luck, try to stay safe.

Just my 1/2-pence.....Roger....one opinionated son-of-a-gun
 
The bulk of the list of tools and appliances came from a genset maker, and is not likely ALL of what I'd likely use. However, after Wilma I was out of power nearly 2 months, AND used (not at the same time) my clothes washer / dryer, pool pump / filter, coffee and rice makers, dish washer, hair dryer, microwave, security systems, refrigerator and chest freezer and the AC units as well as lights, fans, TV's, game consoles for the neighborhood kids I never knew lived near me and satellite dish. That's why the HIGH Demand / High run categories are there, it shows what can be run simultaneously and not be living in the dark ages.

Believe me two months without power made this spreadsheet and using the genset a LOT easier than guessing and having only a refrigerator, lights and fans. NOTHING was forbidden to be plugged in and used, it just had to be balanced usage.

If you look at the yellow / green and the Red / orange fields you will see the bigger power users and what can be run without popping CB's on the genset.

The only issue I found with "dirty" power from my genset was weird acting remote controls, sometimes poor signals from my HDTV antennas (which I think EVERYONE with a genset should have), and my multi cell 12 volt gel cell float charger (200 AH total batteries to run 12 volt squirrel cage fans at night when the genset was off) would hiccup and go back to charge from float.

My PC, laptop, and A/C operated USB chargers for all my 18650's, AA's and 9v cells for flashlights etc. all worked fine.

The thing that's cool is you can run "what if" scenarios for power usage and never skip a beat.

PS. I had 30 gallons of fuel on hand before Wilma hit, enough for running 5-6 gallons a day (roughly 8-9) hours (Honda motor) depending on loads for ~5-6 days, and a boat in my back yard with a 125 gallon tank I use as a "cow" to milk the gas from. By the time my gas was running low, gas stations were up and running.

I also have an Eagle scout boy and I helped the Boy Scouts... I have a camp stove, BBQ, lanterns out the wazoo too. I don't know ANYONE here in So Flo as well prepared as I am :)
 

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