There’s an ongoing debate among preppers with regards to the generator. Some believe it’s essential in the event that society breaks down and the power grid fails. Others think it brings more bad than good. If you’re new to prepping, you’d probably be at a loss when it comes to investing in a generator. To help you decide for yourself, below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of a generator.
Advantages of Buying A Generator
Great for Blackouts
If you experience regular blackouts in your area, chances are you’re not the only one thinking of getting a generator or has bought one already. It’s great to have one during emergency situations, especially if you have work to finish at home or your children have homework to do and the lights suddenly go out. A generator will especially be important if someone in your home requires an electrical equipment for a medical condition.
Power Anytime, Anywhere
Not all generators are clunky and weigh a ton. There are portable versions, which you can bring to camp or to some place where there’s no electricity like a secluded beach. A portable generator, which sells for $500 to $1,500, is also cheaper compared to a standby generator, which costs at least $5,000.
No Need for Fuel
To be clear standby and portable generators need fuel. Solar generators, however, need only the sun. You can use electrical devices as long as the sun doesn’t shy away.
Disadvantages of A Generator
Operations Security
One important rule of prepping is to keep things classified. OPSEC means the actions you take to protect information about you and your stuff. You don’t go about announcing to everyone that you have boxes of MREs at home. That will make your home a prime target when SHTF.
The most obvious disadvantage of having a generator is that it gives you away. When society breaks down, the last thing you want to do is attract possible looters. The noise the generator produces is a dead giveaway that you have something they would want. If looters hear the sound of a generator, they’d automatically think you have food and other resources. If they see that lights are on in your home, they would think that the people inside are having a better time than they are.
Prepping would be all for naught if the stockpile of food, water and other supplies you’ve kept secret all these years will be taken from you by looters who were attracted by your generator.
Fuel Sources
A typical generator will not work without fuel, whether it’s gasoline, diesel, natural gas, or propane. If you’re planning on utilizing one when society breaks down, you also have to take fuel availability into consideration. After a disaster strikes, it’s quite common to see for cars and people lined up to buy some fuel. That’s because of fuel shortage. When every gasoline station dries up, you’re unlike to find fuel easily. This makes it necessary to stock up on fuel.
Purchasing and Storing Fuel
One huge issue with having a generator is that it requires too much fuel to run each day. Even a portable generator needs 8 to 22 gallons or 30 to 83 liters a day. At $3.30 per gallon, you’re looking at around $100 a month if you only use 8 gallons each day.
If you have the budget to store half a year’s worth of fuel, where would you put it? You’ll be consuming 1,440 gallons for six months provided you use your portable generator every day at the minimum. It will take 288 5-gallon containers to store them. If you’re able to purchase that much containers, again, where would you keep them?
If you take things down a notch, a month’s worth of gasoline at a usage of 8 gallons a day is worth $792 and needs to be stored in 48 5-gallon fuel containers. That’s still a lot of jerry cans. As for standby generators, you need to stock up on natural gas or propane tanks, which are pricey and take up a lot of space.
Dependence on Power Grid
In an EOTW scenario, the power grid will likely go down, which doesn’t bode well for generator owners. Ironically, generators still need the electrical grid. Fuel and propane tanks will no longer be available simply because retailers and fuel stations need electricity. Pumping stations, for example, need electricity to control the pressure in their system. In other words, gas pumping stations can’t pump gas with the power grid down.
Not A Long-Term Solution
Generators will not solve a prolonged power outage. As mentioned, fuel won’t be available for long once the power grid goes down. Whatever fuel you can amass before SHTF, will be gone in a matter of time. Even if you store enough fuel to last you a lifetime, the fuel itself won’t last. Gasoline supposedly has a shelf life of only three months. Diesel lasts from three to six months.
Solar generators now seem a more viable option but it’s also limited. This type of portable generator will only work when the sun is up. What happens then if the sun doesn’t shine for days, weeks, or even months?
You can invest in a solar generator so you can still power some of your devices or appliances every now and then. You still must find ways to do tasks without depending on electricity from your generator so every time it’s discharged and you can’t recharge it immediately, you can still function.
Just a disclaimer – We have partnered with these companies because we use their products and/or proudly trust and endorse them – so we do receive a commission if you make a purchase or sign up for services. Often, we are able to negotiate special discounts and/or bonuses, which we will pass on to you via our links. We often get short notice on sale items available for 24-48 hours as we will pass these savings onto you.
