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Originally Posted by PSM
I live in a densely populated area and this is a big concern of mine. Our freezer is stocked, at any given time, with 20 pounds of beef, 5 to 8 pounds of pork, 6 to 8 chickens, 2 turkeys, 2 to 3 packages of corned beef (thanks to St. Paddy's day sales  ), a duck or two, several game hens, etc. We don't need electricity except for the freezer and perhaps battery chargers.
We have a natural gas quick-connect for the grill. I looked into doing a "3 fuel" conversion for a gasoline generator but that would let my neighbors and would-be looters know that I have electricity and something I want to keep cold. Refrigerated items are less important unless they are medications.
I'm leaning steeply towards an inverter and deep cycle marine batteries and a small, quiet, generator to keep them charged.
Pat |
While the thread is quiet, I thought I’d follow up on this post.
While the use of marine deep-cycle batteries and inverters was feasible, it dawned on me that it would not be practical in a bug-out scenario.
I discovered that RVers have found that Honda genets cloned by the Chinese (Chondas) are inexpensive, reliable and reasonably quiet (68 dB at 7 meters according to the manual).
I bought a Champion 4450k/3500k unit at a local auto parts store for $300. Last week, while our floors were being refinished, my wife, son, large dog, and I moved into a couple of rooms off the deck and practiced power-out living. Camp stove for cooking, and generator for electricity (except for the hot tub
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The genset has 240/120 VAC and 12 VDC. The flooring guys had a 220 sander that used the generator’s power for the first 30 minutes. I repositioned the generator to the side of the house and connected the refrigerator/freezer, stand-alone freezer, SAT receiver and TV, two 75w lights, laptop, 2 box fans, and 2 cell phone chargers.
During the 11 hours we used it, it seemed rather louder that I had hoped given the tightly packed neighborhood we live in. I experimented with several soundproofing methods. Using open foam cotton-covered deck pads, the sound level became acceptable, at least to us (with the windows closed we could not hear it). I had no way to measure the actual levels, but I was able to compare it to normal local noise levels.
The un-shrouded generator was much quieter than a UPS truck, banner-tow aircraft and a Stearman flying between 1500’ and 2000’, and a leaf-blower. Standing next to a box fan on high I could not hear the generator 20’ away. The sound level was comparable to a small GA aircraft flying over at the above altitudes (although I could still hear the generator because of it’s lower pitch). All helicopters, except the Coast Guard’s HH-65A, were louder. My next-door neighbor was not home so I’m not sure if it would have bothered her. My neighbor across the street works at home and did not hear it. The generator’s exhaust was uncovered, but was deflected, and pointed right at his home-office.
I can’t speak to reliability yet, since it’s only has about 20 hours on it.
Any soundproofing tips will be appreciated.
Pat