| It goes without saying that an Emergency Power | | | | That being said, we find that storing a thirty-two |
| Generator without fuel is like a light bulb without | | | | gallon supply of gas, in addition to the five gallons |
| electricity. If that light bulb has no electricity it | | | | already in your emergency power generator, is a |
| doesn't produce any light. If the generator doesn't | | | | great rule of thumb to follow. That provides you |
| have any fuel, it WILL NOT produce any | | | | with a total of roughly fifty-six hours of power. |
| electricity. I realize that's elementary. However, it | | | | Incidents such as the 2009 ice storm, Hurricane |
| becomes a serious issue when a person is facing | | | | Katrina, the blackouts in Florida and New York |
| an ice storm or a power outage and they are | | | | taught us an invaluable lesson: BE PREPARED! |
| just about out of gas. The situation becomes | | | | Assuming that you're conserving fuel by only |
| critical if there is no access to gas stations. Now | | | | running the absolutely necessary appliances and |
| what? This is exactly what people face in real | | | | devices, your fuel consumption may be a little |
| time. | | | | better. |
| During the ice storm that blanketed the eastern | | | | The next issue to address is the type of gasoline |
| part of the nation in 2009, numerous people with | | | | container to use. There are all types of gas cans |
| emergency power generators ran out of gasoline. | | | | on the market. Cheap ones. Medium range ones |
| The primary reason why? They didn't know the | | | | and expensive ones. They come in various types |
| rule for storing fuel. | | | | of materials such as metal, plastic and |
| To be clear, this is a general rule, guideline or rule | | | | polyethylene. The issue here is threefold: (1) The |
| of thumb that we use to cover most scenarios. | | | | size of the gas can and remember, we're talking |
| The standard emergency power generator has a | | | | about thirty two gallons. (2) It's ability to dispense |
| five-gallon capacity. Based on that figure let's do | | | | gasoline safely. You don't wont the type of gas |
| some math, which I hate incidentally. The average | | | | can that you have to wrestle with the spout or it |
| consumption rate for a generator hovers around | | | | has known splashing issues. (3) Can it safely store |
| 0.67 gallons per hour. That means that a five | | | | gasoline in any element; hot or cold weather? |
| gallon tank will provide you with roughly a little | | | | Taking those questions into consideration, there |
| over five hours of power. | | | | are a number of brands that can suit your needs. |
| The question is, "How many hours do you plan to | | | | Some examples are, Justrite, Flo N' Go DuraMax |
| operate your emergency power generator before | | | | and Eagle and there are a few others. These |
| needing to refuel?" To answer that question | | | | manufacturers put out reliable products that will |
| we've got to factor in variables such as inclement | | | | compliment your emergency power generator |
| weather, gas stations closed, gas stations out of | | | | very well. The smart thing about storing gasoline |
| fuel, roads closed, vehicle immobile due to | | | | for emergencies is this: keep recycling the gas if |
| weather, etc., etc. There's no way that we can | | | | you have no outages. That means, use the |
| say how long any of those variables will last or | | | | stored gasoline for other outdoor power |
| how long they will impact your community. What | | | | equipment and then replenish your storage |
| we can do is look at past history and come up | | | | container with fresh gas. |
| with a rule of thumb. | | | | |