If you're interested in moving off the grid and have started researching solar panels, wood heat, and generators, you know there isn't much information out there on generators for beginners.
Especially for those of us who search for terms like "generators for dummies" and "generator basics."
So it's about time for a new article on generators for beginners.
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Update: 2024
Since this article was first published, we've changed our system several times. We now have a Tesla 2 Powerwall with solar panels. We're keeping this article up, though, because we get SO many questions about our various setups over the years!
Update: August 2021 - this past spring, we finally installed a new Kubota diesel generator and our new Tesla Powerwall.
Update: July 2020 - On December 24, 2019, our generator shed burned to the ground, leaving us without power. We now have a temporary gasoline generator to supplement our solar power until our new solar system and generator arrives. At the time of this update, it has been delayed indefinitely due to the pandemic travel restrictions and our territorial border closures.
When both of our generators (our main and our backup) stopped working one winter, I had a tough time finding any information about generators for beginners. And I couldn't even understand my neighbor's simple explanation of what might be wrong because I didn't know the names of the generator parts.
Generator Lessons Online
I decided to learn what I could online. And when I Googled "generators for living off the grid," the first entry after the ads was for an article on the Mother Earth News site -- from six years earlier!
Generators for Beginners: The Basics
If you're like me and don't even know where to begin when it comes to learning about generators, here are the basics of generators as they apply to living off the grid.
And please note this is an extremely basic overview of some of the things you (okay, me) might find useful to know about generators.
What is a Generator?
When your six-year-old asks, 'Mom, what's a generator?' - here is one very basic definition. That I wish I had known when she asked me.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a generator is "a machine by which mechanical energy is changed into electrical energy." Simple, right?
How Your Generator Powers Your Home
In a typical scenario, electricity gets generated at power plants and distributed to users on the electricity grid - a network of electrical substations, transformers, and power lines. Yet when you live "off the grid," your home isn't connected to that network.
Instead, your off grid electrical energy comes from an alternative energy source like wind, or in our case, solar panels, and a generator. Yet, in each of these cases, it's coming in a form called DC- direct current. And our household appliances use AC -alternating current.
That's why when you use a generator to power your home system you'll need an inverter.
An inverter is an electrical device that converts/inverts DC voltage to standard household AC voltage. This allows it to run common household appliances.
Generators for Beginners: Fun Facts
A generator works by moving electrical conductors through a magnetic field. If your generator doesn't have magnets, it won't produce electricity.
The magnetic field is created by converting some of the generator output voltage to DC and feeding it to a coil to make an electromagnet.
Generators need fuel to run, such as diesel, biodiesel, gasoline, or propane, as you need gasoline in your vehicle.
They can be small and portable, like the kind used by contractors. Or they can be large and fixed, like the diesel generators found in some remote northern communities. And like the two generators in our generator shed.
Generators for home use are usually either emergency/occasional use generators during power outages or generators to use as a regular backup for properties off the grid.
If you're researching generators for beginners, you'll likely find a few brand names popping up over and over. Here are several popular residential and off-grid generator brands, including:
Which Generator is Right For My Setup?
Before investing in one, read the online reviews, talk to others, and consider how it might fit in with your own alternative energy system.
Take special note of whether the manufacturer states they're for occasional, emergency use or for an off grid home.
This is important because occasional-use generators aren't built to withstand the heavier use of an off-the-grid system. And it could impact whether the manufacturer honors the warranty.
Why Do I Need a Generator to Live Off The Grid?
You don't. After all, the pioneers didn't have generators. And you may feel that you're perfectly fine with your solar panels or wind turbine.
Yet if you prefer a few modern comforts, a generator - even just a standby model, makes living off the grid a lot easier for these three reasons.
In all the information I found on generators for beginners, I had a tough time finding a simple explanation of why I needed one. But thinking about it and talking it over with Dan, here's what we came up with.
It Supplies Backup Power
If you're off the grid, you'll likely depend on an alternative energy source such as wind or solar power.
A generator supplements or replaces your solar or wind power when needed. Because sunny and windy days aren't guaranteed.
Solar Power and Generators
We use solar panels to charge the batteries that power our off the grid home. But when we don't get enough sunlight, we use our generator to charge our batteries.
Our home is at about 62 degrees North, approximately 300 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, so we only get about four hours of daylight in November through January.
So through the winter, on cloudy days, at night, or when we're doing a power-hungry project like pumping up water from the lake, we run the genny.
It Equalizes Our Batteries
Never heard of equalizing batteries? You need to know about this if you're considering living off the grid using batteries to run your home.
NOTE: This is just a really basic overview. For more information, read our post on Batteries for Living Off The Grid.
Your off grid home may have a battery bank of lead-acid batteries, as ours does. Your batteries store the energy from your solar panels (or generator).
And after some time, you'll find that they just don't hold their charge as well or as long as they used to.
So you have to equalize them by overcharging them, which takes a lot of power. Often it needs far more than our solar panels can provide. So we use our generator.
It Lets us Run Appliances and Tools That Would Otherwise Overload Our Batteries
Some of our favorite electric equipment and tools are just power hogs. Like our lake pump and our washing machine.
This permanently installed submersible electric pump sits 14 feet underwater in our bay. When it's time to refill our 1250-gallon water tank that's part of our off grid water system, we usually run a generator to do so.
We'll also run the generator when we're using multiple saws, drills, or anything else that will quickly drain our power.
Where Should You Keep a Generator for Off Grid Use?
Your generator should stay outside of your home. In a well-ventilated shed. Never use your generator indoors or in an enclosed area. Generators produce carbon monoxide, which can be fatal.
Our old generator shed was a standalone building about 50 feet from our house. It housed our two 10kw Lombardini diesel generators. The fuel gets piped into the shed from the diesel storage tank just outside the shed.
Update: March 2022
Last year, we built a new generator shed in the same location. Today, it houses our 11.5kW Kubota diesel generator.
Ventilation
When running one of the generators, we always prop the shed door open using state-of-the-art technology, such as a chunk of firewood and a big rock.
Keeping the shed warm enough to start the generator during the winter can be tricky, especially when it gets down to -40 degrees (or colder).
Each generator has a preheat function (glow plugs) which means we have to hold a button down for about 30 seconds before starting it.
Read More: Generator Won't Start? 8 Things to Try Before Calling a Pro
How Often Should You Run Your Generator?
There's no easy answer to this question, as it depends on a whole lot of things.
Your family size and how often you and your family use energy-hungry tools or appliances. How much wind or solar power do you get?
In our case, it really depends on the season and how many visitors we have. We're usually a family of four - two parents, and two kids still at home (five grown and flown).
However, that number can easily swell to eight or ten people in our household in the summer months.
Appliances...or Energy-Hogs?
Of all our off grid appliances, our heaviest energy-consuming appliance is our electric fridge, which we hope to replace soon with a propane model.
We also have an electric washing machine, which we use year-round, and a propane dryer, which we only use in the winter.
Our propane-fired boiler also uses a fair amount of energy -we can hear the inverter strain and buzz when it kicks on.
(Update: we got a new combi propane boiler/hot water heater in May 2019. We also replaced our 8 - 80-watt solar panels with 9 - 250-watt panels. So we'll update this article again in the spring with our new usage stats.)
We usually turn the boiler on in mid-October and run it through mid-April. Unfortunately, these months include the pretty dark months of November through January, when our solar panels pull in minimal sunlight.
So in the winter, we usually run the generator for two hours in the morning, and two at night. This charges the batteries enough to power our household -- unless we want to watch a movie!
Related: Our Off Grid Home Winter Routine
In the summer, when we get close to 24 hours of sunlight and don't run the boiler, we can go for as long as three days without the generator.
Generators Off The Grid
These are just a few points to consider when it comes to using a generator and living off the grid.
You might also want to know what to do when you're generator won't start. Something we've experienced a few times, usually when it's -30 degrees Celsius or colder out.
And remember, if you just can't wrap your brain around generator basics, do what I did.
Buy your kid an introductory circuit board kit and include it in your off grid homeschooling lessons.
Then help them work through 100 basic exercises. If you still don't grasp electrical basics after that, don't worry. Your kid will be way ahead of you.
Interested in learning more about generators for beginners, alternative energy (wind and solar), batteries, and off grid power systems? Bookmark this site and come back often!
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