I am going to comment on the article “Generator Bids For Village Hall, DPW” by Rich Forestano in this March 11-17 edition of the Mineola American. The subject of standby (emergency) generators came up a while back and the prices quoted were way out of line with the facts. What is being quoted in this article is even farther from the facts.
Before I get started, I want to qualify what I have to say. Besides having an interest in electricity and electronics, things we use every day; in our home, in our car and everywhere we go, they are around us, I began educating myself in the mentioned subjects more than 30 years ago.
I have designed and constructed useful items for my own use and have gone as far as having coded web pages: all for the cost of a few books. I can tell you how an analog TV works but for it to be understood I would have to say how an analog video camera works.
At least I partly understand the world I live in. In this mentioned article, Mineola village officials announced last week that an emergency generator at Village Hall and community center is estimated to cost $500,000 and for short, using federal money. It claims that Village Hall would need a 200 kilowatt natural gas generator if power were to go out for an extended time period.
I understand from this that Village Hall is connected to natural gas which is good but do the Mineola officials understand how much 200 kilowatts is? Also, it has nothing to do with how long it is used.
The best way to determine the electrical need would be is in the Summertime when the air conditioner is on, read the utility meter at 9 a.m. and again at 5 p.m.. This would be the peak yearly usage. See how many KWH (kilowatt hours) were used from 9 to 5 then divide that by eight. This would determine the size generator needed.
A 10 kilowatt generator could produce 10 kilowatts each and every hour day and night. Or, 240 kilowatts in 24 hours; close to 1/4 of a megawatt.
It goes on to say that the two main garages and DPW administration office would need 60 and 35 kilowatt generators, respectively.
I consider that 10 kilowatt generators would be sufficient. On the Internet, the big names that always come up are Generac, Kohler, Briggs & Stratton and others. These are top of the line.
The 10 KWH generators have a price between $5,000 and $10,000 each. There is no engineering involved, so why are the Dvirka & Bartolucci buddies being involved? Professional installers do that work.
If the Village of Mineola money is used, every resident of Mineola can say that is my money. If it is FEMA, every citizen of the USA can say that is my money. Don’t abuse it. Ten kilowatts ever hour is a lot of electricity.
