Good deal on a dual fuel generator

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DuroMax-XP4850EH-Hybrid-Portable-Dual-Fuel-Propane-Gas-Camping-RV-Generator-/171503114601?rmvSB=true

Sandy seems like a distant memory, but it will happen again. I don't have this one (I have a gas only model) but it was a lifesaver - it was the difference between being able to live in the house and not).

The problem with Sandy and generators was trying to find gasoline to fuel the thing. By the second day of Sandy, everyone was out of fuel and there was no electricity in the gas station pumps to pump gas into the gas cans. This one needs propane which also requires tanks that have to be filled. So instead of running around with an empty gasoline can, we would be running around with an empty propane tank.

To me the most reasonable preparation would be a generator run on "natural" gas supplied by PSE & G.

Its an improvement - you can more easily store propane for longer periods of time and it was more readily available at places like home depot.

It's a definite improvement. You can certainly store gas (or propane) in advance of a storm. In a perfect world I'd have a full standby natural gas powered generator that kicked on the moment the power went out. But that costs way more than $300. For $300 and the cost of either some gas or propane, you can, in an emergency, keep the essential power on (the boiler, the lights, the fridge...the router).

Winco makes tri-fuel generators - natural gas, gasoline, propane. They're not cheap. I wanted to install a standby generator (natural gas) but was told by PSE&G that we don't have enough gas pressure. (There are several areas in SO that have this problem.It would cost $8000 to have a new line installed.) Then I looked at the Winco tri-fuel, and was going to hook it up using a quick connect natural gas line like I use for our grill. I called Winco and explained the situation, and they told me that their tri-fuel generator needs even more gas pressure than a standby.

For someone who wants a portable natural gas generator, which is expensive but costs less than a standby, the Winco is pretty neat.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/power/winco-tri-fuel-generators.html

I went through this during and after Sandy, and my solution is to keep a good amount of gas on-hand in the shed. Buy good plastic "jerry can" containers, use Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer and rotate every year... a little work, yes, but to me it's worth it. If you don't want to store fuel I get it - just buy the containers and be VERY attuned to weather forecasts so that you can fill in advance of the storm, that will almost certainly work as well.

I'm also lucky that I have a classic car with an easy-to-siphon 21 gallon gas tank

This is a good suggestion for us. We have a house upstate and get regular propane deliveries to run our kitchen range, as there is no natural gas service in the area. Our main heating system is a pellet-burning stove which requires around 100-200 watts, and this can produce 3,000 watts.

If you don't currently buy propane, you can get a small tank for a very small investment. I'm not sure what your local laws on storing it are, but they are probably easier to comply with than laws about gasoline. And since getting gasoline during a power outage is difficult, propane can be the best solution.