[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Smaller generators usually run on petrol or kerosene, their life is quite short and the fuel cost very high, so in the end they are not worth the investment.

How short is short, there?

[ortho_surgeon]

Honda EU 30is key start costs ₹97 and the kick start costs ₹80.

The EU 65is costs ₹1.8.

AMF panel costs ₹30-35 for upto 10kv

[Thad E Ginathom]

Feeling my way in the dark here...

I need to be able to run a pump for draining the garden during storm-time power cuts. Currently we have only 0.5hp, but will probably upgrade to 1 or 2hp.

It would be nice to have something that, rather than stand idle for the rest of the year, could run an AC or two during the summer months.

I get, so far, that diesel would be better than kerosene or petrol. What should I be thinking next?

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Feeling my way in the dark here...

I need to be able to run a pump for draining the garden during storm-time power cuts. Currently we have only 0.5hp, but will probably upgrade to 1 or 2hp.
....

Where does the garden drain to? If it is a point lower than the garden it would be better to get drainage plumbing laid out. Maybe even including a means to siphon the water out without using any power at all except perhaps to start the siphon.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

How short is short, there?

Approximately 1/5 that of diesel, and rebuild rarely available. Diesel generators are generally built for sustained running and long life. With proper care and maintenance a diesel generator will run for at least 30 years or more.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks Aroy: that is really a substantial difference, and suggests that the lower prices are for a throw-away product.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Where does the garden drain to? If it is a point lower than the garden it would be better to get drainage plumbing laid out. Maybe even including a means to siphon the water out without using any power at all except perhaps to start the siphon.

There are a number of places in Chennai where, due to non-removal of existing surface, houses have found themselves below the road level. It happened to us in one go. By what mad reasoning the authorities decide to add a couple of feet to road levels I do not know, but they did. Initially, even our septic tank was filling from the outside drain until we had it's overflow raised and fitted with a valve. We also have to close the drain outlet when it rains, or else it becomes an inlet: better we have a garden full of rain rather than everybody else's drain water, which probably includes sewage.

In normal circumstances, our household water will drain to the outside, but when it rains heavily, the garden (protected from inflow from the road by a hump) just becomes a tank. So far, the house itself remains a few inches above serious threat, but I would be much more comfortable if I knew I could pump out the water almost as fast as it fills.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There are a number of places in Chennai where, due to non-removal of existing surface, houses have found themselves below the road level. It happened to us in one go.

In normal circumstances, our household water will drain to the outside, but when it rains heavily, the garden (protected from inflow from the road by a hump) just becomes a tank. ...but I would be much more comfortable if I knew I could pump out the water almost as fast as it fills.

Sometimes it might be easier to look for simple solutions.

I have the same problem. I suppose you are talking about an independent house. What I suggest is build a rain water harvesting thing which will take care of all the rain water issuing forth from your house. It is a one time cost.

As for the roads, the corporation is building such things in my area - every few hundred feet. As usual they have dug up pits for now. They will build the rain water harvesting contraption after a few weeks. So until that time, we have to become a monk - for not using bad languages in trying to avoid these pits.

[Thad E Ginathom]

We have a rainwater harvesting pit. We also have flooded plots (and a canal) nearby, and there is water just a couple of feet below ground level. Even without that situation, it would not be a solution to draining water quickly, eg emptying nearly 2000 sq ft * 3-6 inches within an hour or so.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

.... eg emptying nearly 2000 sq ft * 3-6 inches within an hour or so.

Ha ha, we're looking at about 30 tons of water to be drained in an hour!
Nothing short of an industrial centrifugal pump will achieve those numbers.

[Aroy]

Yes I have seen Aurobindo Marg in Delhi raise itself by nearly a meter in 40 years. Unless corporations go in for the new technology, where the road is cut to a predefined depth, material recycled and a new pavement laid at the same level, your only recourse is to reconstruct the house, this time at least 4 feet above the road level. Better still; as is now mandatory in Delhi; with the ground floor on stilts for parking.

This is invetiable, as the road will keep rising, water table along with it and soon your house will require expensive water proofing and "Flood Control" treatments every few years.

Best of luck.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks. We cannot possibly afford to rebuild our house, so we will need the luck, the pump ...and the generator.

Does anyone have any comments on the different brands of diesel gensets, the smaller ones, ie 5Kva or slightly more? Even better, does anyone know a good dealer in Chennai who can advise as well as sell?

(Ultimately, I am guessing that as we get older and poorer, and our area becomes more desirable, some sort of redevelopment deal might be appropriate to fund the rest of our lives, but we will sacrifice our 2,000sq ft of garden with tears.)

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks. We cannot possibly afford to rebuild our house, so we will need the luck, the pump ...and the generator.

Does anyone have any comments on the different brands of diesel gensets, the smaller ones, ie 5Kva or slightly more? Even better, does anyone know a good dealer in Chennai who can advise as well as sell?

(Ultimately, I am guessing that as we get older and poorer, and our area becomes more desirable, some sort of redevelopment deal might be appropriate to fund the rest of our lives, but we will sacrifice our 2,000sq ft of garden with tears.)

Why not just get a portable diesel pump set and be done with it? Like this, for example:

http://www.usha.com/agri-business

[Thad E Ginathom]

That's what we were thinking. The trouble with ideas is that they tend to grow, in size, scope and cost!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Ultimately, I am guessing that as we get older and poorer, and our area becomes more desirable, some sort of redevelopment deal might be appropriate to fund the rest of our lives, but we will sacrifice our 2,000sq ft of garden with tears.

I can feel the pain. I have about the same size 'garden' with a few fruit bearing trees. I have had no issues with dogs and cats as I own the premises. This kind of 'freedom' is unthinkable if I go for redevelopment.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Owning the place stops problems with dogs and cats? Not for us! We have the cats that move in, and the cats that want to, including one which, currently, attempts to eject the incumbent with extreme violence!

But we do not have any upstairs or downstairs neighbours with loud televisions etc. Nor does anybody else park in my car-parking space!

Of course, there are neighbours (actually, we are lucky: not too noisy) --- but it is always so much worse when they are only a wall or a ceiling away.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Why not just get a portable diesel pump set and be done with it? Like this, for example:

http://www.usha.com/agri-business

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That's what we were thinking. The trouble with ideas is that they tend to grow, in size, scope and cost!

But, in the end, we did go for a portable pump, spending only 14k on a petrol/kerosene pump. Maybe that is not the nest possible buy, but it may (hopefully!) only be used a few times a year.

It took us a while to get the thing set up for working. We had to replace the supplied foot valve and learn how to prime it properly before we got it gushing. It's only been used for test so far, because, although it was forcecasts of possible torrential rain that got us running to the shop, there has actually been almost no rain since the day we bought it.

So, Chennai will be cursing us for stopping the much-needed rainfall!