The generator I got was designed to provide a sufficiently clean output to allow the use of computers. Many are not designed to do this, particularly the cheaper Coleman gasoline types. Most of the newer natural gas backup generators are designed to filter out spikes and they are used by banks, hospitals etc. so they have to be quite clean. I don't know what they cost now, but my 8000 watt Generac was $3500 during the Y2K scare plus an additional $2000 for the transfer switch which must be installed by a licensed electrician. These prices included installation. I also had to run a natural gas line through my house since the power meter was on the opposite side of the house from the gas meter. The generator is rated for 100 hours of continuous service before you need to rest it for a few hours. Clear Skies Don -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+djcolton=piol.com@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 1:30 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] amateur astronomy, zen, & power outages Don, Gary, anyone with practical generator experience; is interference a problem these days, or are most modern generators in the 5kw-10kw class pretty clean? Any after-market RFI filtration needed? Don, sounds like you run your computer just fine on the generator? Thanks C. --- "Don J. Colton" <djcolton@piol.com> wrote:
I have a 8000 watt natural gas backup generator with a transfer switch so it comes on automatically 30 seconds after the power goes off. It is also relatively quiet, 70 decibels. It has come in handy many times but I only needed it for a few hours during the current power problems.
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