If you live rurally in NZ, unless you’ve been really lucky, you’ve probably experienced a few power outages.
New Zealand has earthquakes regularly and we don’t know when or where the next big one is going to hit; Power line companies do regular maintenance which results in planned outages which can last for many hours; Every year gales, cyclones and flooding take power offline for large numbers of customers; and even maintenance crews make mistakes and large pylons topple over;
Rural dwellings are particularly susceptible to power outages and we generally depend on electric power to run water pumps, and septic tanks – as well as all the normal stuff that people want to keep running, like fridges and freezers and lighting.
The impact of these situations can be minimised by having a back-up generator. It doesn’t have to be hugely expensive or have all the bell and whistles. The key thing is to have one that is sufficiently sized to cover your essential needs (how much power), and can be safely connected to the internal wiring of your property using a transfer switch.
| Critera | Reason |
|---|---|
| Movable / mobile | A generator that can be moved fairly easily, allows you to store it in your garage and push it outside for usage (for avoidance of noise and fumes when running). It also allows you to temporarily move it to another property if required. |
| Diesel fuel, not petrol | Petrol is highly flammable and potentially explosive – you should not store this in your house. Petrol also goes ‘off’ after about 9 months in storage and creates hard crusty deposits inside fuel lines, pumps and filters. In NZ you need a compliance certificate to store more than 50 litres. On the other hand, diesel oil is far safer to store and handle and takes much longer to degrade. |
| Slow-running | Reduced noise or annoyance compared to one running at constant 3000 rpm for 50Hz. Old school reliability from an engine operating in an unstressed manner. |
| Electric and manual starting options | Electric start is great for those of us who (for whatever reason) are not physically capable of pulling the recoil rope / handle to get these things started. But on the other hand if your battery is not sufficiently charged and there are no alternatives (jump start from the car), a manual start back-up capability is a must-have. |
The oil-burner / engineering types will probably have additional criteria such as …
| Criteria | Reason |
|---|---|
| Belt drive, rather than direct / shaft | Enables partial upgrades of individual components without worrying about complex matching of bellhousings or precision alignment issues. You could swap the engine or the alternator without necessarily changing the other. Enables customisation and tinkering. Modification of pulley sizes and operating RPM |