Generators in Puerto Rico

[m32825]

Ran across this article today...

in-puerto-rico-generators-divide-those-with-and-those-without

 

[Chainbreaker]

Interesting read. Gives a good perspective on how dependent we are on an operating electric grid and the consequences of an extended outage.

We had a large area power outage last year due to a historic ice storm that left us without power for over a week. I chained down my generators for fear they might walk off in middle of night. Still I slept lightly with an ear for strange noises in middle of night.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I have received dozens of inquiries from folks stateside on the generators I have for sale, trying to buy to send down for family they have in Puerto Rico. I have a business associate on the island (a commissioned sales rep for our company), and he has no generator. From my last contact with him:

"We're ok under the circumstances. We still don't have power as of today. Communications are better so we are getting along by charging devices where we can and in the car. At least the gas crisis is normalized so we can move around. Ice is scarce and you have to hustle to get a bag or two at the time. As for food, we buy on a daily basis as we don't have fridge and we use the ice we get to at least have a cold drink [FONT=&quot]��[/FONT]. Other than that, we're happy to be alive and learned to appreciate what we have. [FONT=wf_segoe-ui_normal]
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[FONT=wf_segoe-ui_normal]As far as business goes, I'm in the process of getting status of each by driving and knocking doors due to communications difficulties. At least I get cel signal and data now (which took about 3 weeks after the hurricane). "
[/FONT]

 

[Suprman]

I have been selling them to customers in that whole region. There are forwarders in Miami. Drain the fuel, bolt to a pallet and plastic wrap.

 

[csheath]

I was wondering if this was driving the high auction prices.

 

[Triple Jim]

I have no doubt that higher demand tends to cause higher prices.

 

[rogpike]

It looked like Wednesday the prices have dropped significantly over the previous weeks.

 

[Light in the Dark]

The 4 skid mounted units I followed averaged out at $4775/ea... WAY higher than the normalized average price. And those figures are without GP premium, sales tax, or freight!

Edit: The 4 units referenced above were 10kw.

 

[AlexV]

The 4 skid mounted units I followed averaged out at $4775/ea... WAY higher than the normalized average price. And those figures are without GP premium, sales tax, or freight!

Edit: The 4 units referenced above were 10kw.

Agreed 100%. I put my max bid in and lost all three skid mounted 803a's. I felt the prices were too high for a generator sight unseen with tax, shipping, and fee's. It was a lot of fun to watch

 

[NATCAD]

I like this quote below.

about 1000 mep-831's would go along way. Diesel is 2.30 a gallon in PR. 350 gallons in a month to run a hair salon?? Thats 17.40 gallons per day if open 5 days per week.
Shiza. Line your customers up for Friday haircuts only! I wonder what kind of generators they are running down there that consume 17.40 gallons in a 8 hour hair-cut work day.

Really highlights the need for battery and solar to be part of an efficient off-grid set up.

ARNALDO CRUZ: A lot of these small businesses are opening with a generator, but they're losing money. If - I talked to a few of them, and they're like, listen, I used to pay, like, $200 for electricity. And now, I'm paying, like, $800 for diesels. They have diesel, but their operation is not profitable anymore. So what do they do?

 

[Light in the Dark]

Agreed 100%. I put my max bid in and lost all three skid mounted 803a's. I felt the prices were too high for a generator sight unseen with tax, shipping, and fee's. It was a lot of fun to watch

Are you sure you need 10kw+ sustained? 802s will give you 6250w @ 100% (and .6 gal/hr), but can peak up around 7.5kw. 802s are 'less desireable' to some, but perfect for many.

 

[AlexV]

Are you sure you need 10kw+ sustained? 802s will give you 6250w @ 100% (and .6 gal/hr), but can peak up around 7.5kw. 802s are 'less desireable' to some, but perfect for many.

I might be able to get by with an 802a. It should start one of the 3.5 ton central a/c's. Right now we're also building a home in Cape Coral Florida that's going to be 100% electric. I plan on moving there full time in a few years. An 803a will be a good fit for that house. I also saw the MEP 1040 on a post here. That looks like a great generator. I know it will be years before we start to see them.

 

[Guyfang]

In my experience, and I have had several "run ins" with the media, they tend to blow things tremendously out of proportion. The article was not well written. I don't think the "reporter" went much farther than the lobby of his hotel to write it. The "facts" just don't sound right.

And at the end of the day, if I lived on an island, that was in Hurricane Alley, I think I just might have bought me a gen set a long time ago. Had fuel storage set up, and done other things to make sure I had power, when I needed it. The same for the local government. Doesn't sound like they were thinking about further on down the line very much.

 

[firefox]

When I was a kid I lived in Puerto Rico. They had hyrricanes on a yearly bassis, but
aside from a few broken windows the hurricanes didn't really amount to much.
I think it is only lately that they are much more powerful but to be honest, I haven't
been keeping track. I left in 1959. I think the local government has been struggling
financially for some time now. So I'm not surprised that they have had their heads
in the sand.

 

[Light in the Dark]

I might be able to get by with an 802a. It should start one of the 3.5 ton central a/c's. Right now we're also building a home in Cape Coral Florida that's going to be 100% electric. I plan on moving there full time in a few years. An 803a will be a good fit for that house. I also saw the MEP 1040 on a post here. That looks like a great generator. I know it will be years before we start to see them.

Well the value sell I can give you is that these machines are investments... so even if you started out with a 5kw, you at least have your foot in the door with this kind of power and reliability. You can always resell it to move up to a bigger machine later down the line (and possibly for MORE than you bought it for, timing dependent).

 

[Suprman]

I have loaded the 802s to 6500w easily. If the gen hasn't been really loaded down in a while you have to step it a bit.

 

[AlexV]

Well the value sell I can give you is that these machines are investments... so even if you started out with a 5kw, you at least have your foot in the door with this kind of power and reliability. You can always resell it to move up to a bigger machine later down the line (and possibly for MORE than you bought it for, timing dependent).

Right now I have a Honda EU7000 that I use for Home backup. Its a very good generator but it can't start my central A/C. I know what you mean about Resale. I had a Honda EU6500 before that. It kept us going after super storm Sandy for 10 days. I sold it and got a very good price for it and moved up to fuel injection. When I moved to my home I found out about the power failures and I installed an Interlock on my panel with an inlet box on the side of the house. When Sandy came calling we were prepared. I just recently moved it up to #6 wire with a 50 amp inlet box. I was thinking about buying another EU7000 and running them in Parallel if I need A/C in the summer but Honda can't seem to build a parallel kit. We found out a few years ago my wife has Lupus. She doesn't do well in the heat. Good day's and not so good day's.

 

[rogpike]

Right now I have a Honda EU7000 that I use for Home backup. Its a very good generator but it can't start my central A/C. I know what you mean about Resale. I had a Honda EU6500 before that. It kept us going after super storm Sandy for 10 days. I sold it and got a very good price for it and moved up to fuel injection. When I moved to my home I found out about the power failures and I installed an Interlock on my panel with an inlet box on the side of the house. When Sandy came calling we were prepared. I just recently moved it up to #6 wire with a 50 amp inlet box. I was thinking about buying another EU7000 and running them in Parallel if I need A/C in the summer but Honda can't seem to build a parallel kit. We found out a few years ago my wife has Lupus. She doesn't do well in the heat. Good day's and not so good day's.

How many ton unit was your HVAC that the Honda EU7000 would not start? It seems our MEP gensets have a much higher surge capability than say a good quiet honda generator and the 5KW MEP generator will start a 3.5 ton HVAC. My 10KW MEP generator starts my 5 Ton HVAC easily.

 

[justacitizen]

my central air unit has a fan timer with a bunch of dip switches to control the fan delay, so i have mine set up so the condenser unit starts first for a few min before the rest of the unit kicks on. it helps the 002A start a bigger unit.

 

[AlexV]

We have two 3.5 ton A/C's I would really only need to start one.