Power outage

[bandmiller2]

My OWB is a water tube boiler and will overheat.I have a small holding relay hooked up to 110v if the power goes out it switches on an inverter to power a taco pump to keep some water moving.I use a trickle charger on a 12v battery to maintain it.When the power comes on it automatically switches back.For longer term outages I hook up a small gen. Frank C.

[countryboy1]

Why take a chance with the furnace?  If the power goes out and you have a standby there is no chance of $$$$ damage from no electric service.  The cost of freeze damage would be quickly paid for with standby service.  A small tractor with pto generator or a portable unit will do for a start.  I started with pto gen, then an old military 5000 watt that didn t know it was small.  I now have a 20kw diesel (bought used with 16 hrs).  I can run the house and shop and forget what the weather is doing and have heat and electric.  You coud also attach a small generator to a 15-20 hp lawn tractor.

[John Mc]

You coud also attach a small generator to a 15-20 hp lawn tractor.

Have you ever done that? The governor on lawn tractors will not hold RPMs under varying load, which can cause you some real problems with frequency and voltage variation. There is more to making that work than just figuring out the mechanical drive linkage to a generator head

[countryboy1]

Good Point.  But, have done that many times with large pto generators and larger farm tractors.  You still have to watch and take note if the power varies.  We run milking equipment and the home when power is out.  If its extended for days we shut it down at bedtime. 

[John Mc]

The governor on a farm tractor is a whole lot more suited to the task than a lawn tractor. Not to mention that the torque is quite a bit better on a "real" tractor as opposed to a lawn tractor.

I'm not saying it can't be done to use a lawn tractor to run a generator, but to do it right (for anything other than a relatively "steady-state" electrical load) will take more than just getting the engine to spin the generator head.

[wayno12]

I show about a 400 watt draw when my Taco 009 pump is running and the boiler is firing.