stevie_d_64 wrote:
2 fans, at night, to keep the air moving in our bedroom...
1 surge protector/power strip to keep our cell phones charged up (overnight)
And on that power strip, I would still like to be able to run the laptop on power and to keep the batteries on this thing peaked...
So.. first you'll need to find the wattage requirements of the fans. This is harder than it sounds. Consumer electronics are required to be rated to the MAX amount they will ever pull. Since these fans are AC motors, the rating on them will more then likely be their start-up surge rating, not their running rating. If you have a current clamp to measure how much its using while running, that's the best way, or even plugging it into one of those kill-a-watt things will work too.
My guess is that a standard box fan, on high, would pull maybe 100-150W, once its running. On start-up, however, it could easily hit a few hundred more watts.
Cell phone chargers etc are usually like <50W each.
A typical Laptop charger is ~100 watts.
Generators:
You could probably do fine with a small 750-1000W Generator.
As far as reliable generators, Personally, I've always seen good results with Honda ones.
No-name ones sometimes are name-brand motors, re-branded, but sometimes they are just that, no-name brands.
Briggs and Stratton, I would consider about mid-range for generator usage. I wouldn't consider one for any sort of long-term use though.
Also, Home generators require frequent maintenance. Most people completely skip this fact, and this is why they break down.
Generally, oil changes on generators are required a lot more often they you would think. Most of them recommend an oil change after the first few hours of operation (sometimes ~5-10) , then another one after another, smaller then usual number (~50-100) , and then finally you get to a repeating number, usually a few hundred hours. (~100-400) depending on generator
Another Option would be 100% Solar!:
Buy and store some large multi-hundred watt solar panels. Then, once the storm hits, and you're out of power, mount and use the solar panels to charge a few large 12VDC Deep Cycle Batteries during the day, and use them to run some 12VDC Fans at night.
Required matereals: I'd say 2 or 3 100 Watt Panels, A solar Controller, and some batteries. There are batteries specifically made for Solar Power usage, that are designed to be frequently charged and discharged.
Benefits: It's Completely Silent, requires no fuel, and very little maintenance :)
Ill see about getting some links to local Texas sources of solar solutions.
Personally, I am looking into getting a backup standby generator for my home, that runs on natural gas.
We were out of power for 3 weeks after the Hurricane. I eventually got a nice 3000W Generator, wired it into my electrical panel, and powered most of my house with it (just no AC) but the first 2 weeks definitely was not fun.
My bad 
