Clark, is that you???
Posted on 11/14/2015 4:14:47 AM PST by Mean Daddy
Considering purchasing a 8-10,000 watt generator and looking for pros/cons of portable vs. installed. Example, with a portable, how would you connect a pump or a furnace to it? Thank you for your insight and feedback. Looking to leverage other people's experiences.
Had a portable set up at old house. You put in an outlet that feeds into your house electrical system, via a transfer switch. Have to be careful to isolate your house so you don’t feed power back into the grid.
Am going to put in an automated NG installed backup generator here next spring.
Has anyone run numbers on the cost of producing electricity with a home unit burning Natural Gas? I mean, with Natural Gas prices so cheap, there is bound to be a point where producing your own electricity is cheaper than buying from the local utility?
Noise. Reduce the noise. Built in systems are generally much, much quieter.
For the life of me, I don’t know why portable generators have the same mufflers as lawn mowers, or whey large mufflers are not an after market option.
I’ve thought about making an adapter for my portable, but I worry about messing up the back pressure.
I would say though that generators at home, even IF they were economical to run, couldn't hold up well to the load of running continually.
Most portable gens are the high RPM type so you have that noise to deal with also. A low rpm unit like an Onan that you find in motor homes make a lot less racket.
Do you have a home installed system?
Why not just add a larger muffler after the system?
If you’re on a natural gas line, that’s your fuel. Otherwise, a 500 gallon tank of propane (usually filled to 80 percent.)
The portable units are noisy...
Kozak is right. The generator (especially one of that size) powers your home circuit breaker panel, and thus all down stream loads. Basically, generator plugs or is wired into receptacle that then goes into a transfer switch which switches the power source for your panel from service power to generator power. The transfer switch is a MUST if your wiring into your panel to prevent back-feeding into the service lines and potentially killing a utility worker and is required by law in many communities.
Personally, I’d confirm the need for a genny of that size...that’s probably damn near big enough to run your whole house without a noticeable loss of anything....which is generally not what you really need in the event of a power loss...all you really need is HVAC and refrigeration (high starting/low running loads), and some lights (go to the new LED bulbs and their very low loads) and maybe a couple other spot uses of another load.
I have a 5500 watt portable generator. I then installed a “dryer” plug receptacle in the wall below the electrical box in the garage, and wired it to the dryer circuit breaker. Now when I lose commercial power, I turn off the feed from the power company and connect the generator to the circuit box. While I can’t run everything at once, I can selectively run essential services. I don’t run 220 volt appliances, but I could pick and choose if needed. PROBABLY NOT CODE, but it works for me.
I’ve done the connection several ways over the last 25 years or so. Do you want to be up to “code” or not? Running extension cords to appliances is a pain, but you can rewire furnace with a cord and outlet. Back feeding the panel thru a 220v outlet (electric dryer) works but can be dangerous if you mess up. Evenually I had the panel rewired by an electrician and a lockout switch installed. With a 5500 watt generator, I can run two furnaces, fridge, lights and microwave. (not range or AC) My next step will be to go to NG with an automatic switchover.
Just installed a 22kw generac that will run everything in the whole house. Expensive, but worth it to me.
Before you decide on a brand which for most would be a Generac, look at the warranty specifically for the clause that negates it.
Most do not understand the ratings which are not normally spelled out. The highest and most reliable are units rated for prime use. That means the unit can be run constantly 24/7 until an outage for maintenance is needed. For smaller units that would be an oil change. You cannot run a Generac like that without voiding the warranty.
You’ll pay a lot more for a prime unit compared to one rated for standby use only. Some prime units for consumer use can be run for almost three months before requiring maintenance. With an option that can be doubled.
Recognize a diesel whether fueled with oil or gas, either natural or propane, will last longer than a unit designed for gasoline. At least one vendor’s offering has been known to run 40,000 hours before needing to be rebuilt. I did not add too many zeros to that figure.
Prime units will always run at 1,800 rpm.
But I did stay at a Holiday in once.
But seriously, I'm a pipefitter. I've had to install generators in hospitals and technology based offices a time or 3 or 4 or...
I've also worked at coal, ng and nuke power plants. The scale and efficiency of the equipment at a commercial level brings the cost WAAAAAAYYYY down.
Most, if not all home generators use an internal combustion engine, similar to a lawn mower or even a car. They then basically add a generator (like a cars alternator) to it.
On the commercial end they use HUGE turbines, that once up and running are vastly more efficient.
The question is more along the lines of, what is the purpose of the generator? Temporary power or long-term whole house power? For a day or so, a portable one is more affordable. My neighbor has a Gentech whole-house unit, had to just have it completely redone, new tank installed. Has to run monthly just to keep functioning, very costly.
You install a transfer switch.
Clark, is that you???
For backup for data centers all the ones I've run across have been internal combustion. Everything from several large ones to one huge one.
If you can afford it get one installed that will run the whole house and kick on and off automatically. This is especially important in a climate where temps go below freezing. Frozen pipes can cause massive damage and power failures don’t always happen when you’re right there at home to deal with them.
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