Backyard Tech – Extreme Edition: Generators

Having a basement that’s prone to flooding, we were way overdue in adding a generator to our flood fighting arsenal. We’re fine as long as the sump pumps run, but if they stop working, disaster ensues. We finally bit the bullet after we remodeled Man Town this past year.

I knew nothing about generators when we started looking, but after a little research, and some professional electrical advice, we came up with a plan. Our main concern was the pumps, but we also wanted something that would help us out during those ugly winter Nor’easters that we’re prone to around here. There’s a great Wattage Estimation Guide on the Honda Power Equipment website that helped us out a lot.

We settled on the Honda EG5000. It’s big enough to hook up to your house via a transfer switch and run quite a few devices, and yet small enough to still be considered a portable. It’s from Honda’s Economy line, which means it has the power of the more expensive models, just fewer frills. No key start, no wheels, no fancy panels. It does, however, pump out 5000W (4500W rated) of power, both 120/240V, via a nice variety of outputs (two 20A 125V outlets, one 20A 125V locking plug, one 30A 125V locking plug and a 30A 125/250V locking plug).

It’s powered by Honda’s commercial grade 389cc engine, which is relatively quiet (73dB), and it has some great features that you won’t find on cheaper generators, like DAVR (digital automatic voltage regulation witch prevents power fluctuations) and Oil Alert (the unit shuts down the engine before you hit the add level). It also comes with a 3 year parts and labor warranty that’s valid for both commercial and residential use.

I bought mine from a Honda dealership (Parkway Cycle), rather than on line, because I wanted one that was assembled, bench tested, and ready to rock and roll. It has an important job to do, so I did it right, and you should too.

Keeping Your Lines Of Communication Open

With all the tropical storms and hurricanes that have been popping up the last couple of weeks, I thought it was a good time to share a little tip that might help you stay connected with the outside world the next time the power goes out.

You should always keep a corded phone on hand, as they get the juice they need to operate through line power. A standard corded phone set will work even during a power outage, while a cordless phone won’t, as it needs external power to operate.

Most of the corded phones on the market today are cheap plastic pieces of crap that you wouldn’t want to have in your house, but Crosley has some really cool ones. They’re reproductions of some of the most popular phones from the past, and they’re solid, well built and sound great.

We have a 1930’s era Kettle Classic desk phone in the kitchen and we love it. It looks great, works great, and everyone that comes in plays with it as soon as they spot it. Target has a few models in-store, if you want to check them out live and in technicolor, or you can order them directly from the Crosley Radio website.

One more thing; if you have FiOS, you should also check the fiber optic transceiver’s battery backup unit every so often. This is the device that converts the fiber optic connection to copper, and it needs power to work. The battery backup unit will keep your phone line up for about an hour in case of a power failure, and it has a nice set of led lights to indicate its status.