As title please chaps. We've had a power cut here today, nothing too dramatic, only about an hour but gets on my tits as I have a number of aquariums including a reef tank. Obviously power cuts don't do these things any good at all, much more than 12 hours and it creates serious bother.

Also I am mindful of the reports about expected power cuts this winter, and equally mindful that the media are a bunch of lying sensationalist morons 99.999% of the time. Not sure about the actual risk of it happening but if it does, especially repeatedly it would be a royal PITA for me.

So, I was considering a backup generator, something like an old farm standby unit with auto-start and auto-changeover in the event of a power cut.

My question then. Does anyone have any experience of these things? And indeed, wiring them up? How hard?

I have an outbuilding it can go in. All good there.

All advice appreciated. Ta. Dom.

An example of what I was thinking of is here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LISTER-GENERATOR...1e8279cdfb

Or..... Depending on the power needed to keep a tank running, what about a few of these? They come in all sizes.. It's just the theory I am meaning..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VIX3100-1000VA-6...3a84b3bdeb

We use them to keep our systems up and running in the event of a power outage.

 Previously..
Vogue SE TD6
Defender 90 2.4
Defender 110 TD5
Vogue 3.5 EFI

Yep, so I have a 3KVA one on my reef tank and this will keep it running for about an hour on the supplied batteries. It's more about keeping the reactors and flow pumps going so I don't have to reset it all if a fuse pops. I'm still at the mercy of the grid though if it's out for any length of time.

Plus, we live in a village and if power lines come down (as they did last winter) we can be without power for a wee while. They sort the towns first, we're always the poor relative.

I suppose UPS' are fine if there's enough capacity and for only protecting the critical stuff. A genny would give me whole house independence for days if necessary.

Cheers.

Ah.... I was thinking just pumps... I keep a 2kw generator in the garage to power essentials as we often have cuts in the winter at the most inappropriate times. By essentials I mean my telly, sky and the router! Previously..
Vogue SE TD6
Defender 90 2.4
Defender 110 TD5
Vogue 3.5 EFI

Have you considered using a vehicle as the power source for generating electricity?
I used my Discovery fitted with a 3kW inverter on a good few occasions during power cuts.
Switched the main consumer unit switch off and ran a 2.5mm2 cable from the inverter into the house and plugged it into a 13A socket. Start the vehicle engine and just let it idle away. 3kW can run a house surprisingly well. Not auto-start or auto-changeover but very useful non the less.
I've not needed to do it with the RR but see no reason not to.
I used to deal with large auto-start, auto changeover standby diesel generating plant, not particularly difficult to achieve, it really just depends on how much money you have/wish to spend.
First thing you really need to do is determine the KVA load you wish to cater for. Best way to do this is to buy/borrow or hire a single phase clamp instrument and put it over the incoming supply cable between the meter and the consumer unit and take it from there.

Mobile generators are only to be used with class 2 equipment (double insulated/no earth) you can modify a mobile generator to use class 1 equipment but it would require a earth spike. Running electrics in a house from a mobile generator/invertor is not very safe.
You can get a fixed generator with a auto start up/change over set up if the power fails in the house and get it hard wired in

Sister's father- in-law has one that will power the whole house. It's on an auto-start after (I think) 3 minutes without power. Interestingly, he had it tapped into the gas line to the house, so it could go indefinitely if needed.

A whole house hook-up is something for the professionals. We've had news reports of linesmen (literally) being shocked when repairing storm damage and finding downed lines that should be dead very much live due to improper generator hook-ups. While there are cowboy electricians around, I think the professional route is the way to go for liability reasons.

You could always ask the French and the Chinese to put a wee little nuclear reactor in your shed. You'd be toasty warm for the next 10000 years!

OK, so it seems there is a world of difference between a proper standby generator and an emergency generator. The bit about feeding back into the grid is a rather interesting point too; I am thinking about those houses with PV and the feed back into the grid capability. That must be a nuisance for linesmen unless the grid can control them remotely.

Anyway, going to call the experts today I think. Too complicated for me.

I've got a Clarke 720W Petrol generator. Won't power the whole house but it's enough to power the fridge and the freezer. Runs for about 3 hours on the tank size.
Brilliant value for less than £100.

We're oil fired and have wood burners so other than lighting that's enough for my needs. Regards
Mark

2009 D4; 1993 Classic 3.9 VSE

Quite an expensive undertaking to do this properly. You would need an AMF panel. (Automatic mains failure). This senses the lack of mains power and signals the generator to start then when it sees that the voltage and frequency has stabilised to preset tolerances closes a contactor and this switches power from the genset through to the load, at the same time another intrinsically linked contactor opens and prevents power from feeding back to the grid. When mains power is restored the panel senses this and reverses the process and then shuts the generator down to standby mode. Not something for DIY man. Agueroooooooooo. 93-20
I swear you will never see anything like this ever again....watch it..drink it in.

mzplcg wrote:

I am thinking about those houses with PV and the feed back into the grid capability. That must be a nuisance for linesmen unless the grid can control them remotely.

If you get that Lister unit (technically it looks like a listeroid) then they run on some of the worst fuels you can come across without complaint.

There are a few guys on veggie oil diesel forum who run CHP setups with these.

basically its hooked into their house electrics and water systems so when its running the power goes into the house and out to the grid when they aren't using all thats generated, and the heat is then put into the home circuit for hot water and heating.

These guys to be fair run it on waste oils, like from chippies and car workshops and the like(used engine oils and stuff). The ones that do best seem to have a good genset that pushes out the heat and electric during the day back into the grid and the heat to a large water tank in the house and thus they get a good rebate on the money from the FIT and don't even have to put up with the noise while at home. Not ideal for you but something to consider.
Older Gennys may look like but they are often stronger and more provenm parts are usually easier to get a hold of and repair is often DIY'able.

The biggest cost will be connecting it all in for you and setting up a decent sized fuel tank for it. I'd say something like 50litres should do you well  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Is THIS what you're looking for?
It does need to be professionally fitted and is a manual switch-over but will do the job with a portable genny.  

Budgie, that's fantastic... That's bookmarked and on my "to do" list..  Previously..
Vogue SE TD6
Defender 90 2.4
Defender 110 TD5
Vogue 3.5 EFI

That looks like the kiddie Sir. Ordered and professional sparkie booked to come and install it.