Posted on 11/19/2022 1:40:05 PM PST by gop4lyf
I want to hire an electrician to set up my house so that I can just plug it in to my house when the power goes out. What additional things do I need to buy that the electrician will need?
Here is my generator - Westinghouse 12500 Watt Dual Fuel Home Backup Portable Generator, Remote Electric Start, Transfer Switch Ready, Gas and Propane Powered, CARB Compliant https://a.co/d/gSlgcUv
Also, what can I expect to be able to run on a generator of this size? I definitely want my refrigerator, and preferably my central heat and air conditioning (air conditioning will not likely ever be needed).
I looked up your generator, it’s open frame which means it’s gonna be LOUD.
I suggest you return it and get a closed frame inverter generator or a battery inverter setup to power your house at night.
In any case I suggest you watch Gavin’s Garage on YouTube he shows how to use generators to run your house.
You’re only off by an order of magnitude.
(That’s a factor of ten. Also known as 10^1)
We back feed as well, pluging the generator into the welder outlet in the garage. So instead the house powering the garage, its the other way around. And the gen is in the livestock trailer, which muffles it some, and is a dry place to refuel, etc.
I do the same thing except the generator (inverter type)
puts out 120. A 3 kw transformer bumps it to 240.
Runs everything except the water heater. A pot of water on the wood stove is good for sponge baths. I’ve been known to take a sailor shower after a while.
you bought it without first researching what appliances could run on it.
my Mig welder alone requires a minimum 8k watt generator. Said welder is only rated to 1/4” metal too. It’s a baby one.
12.5k isn’t a lot.
It’ll run the essentials and not much more though. Depending on the heater set up, it might not manage to run that.
better to run off of NG if you can ... no need to store propane or worry about freezing valves
propane setup should be extremely simple to convert to NG, usually just the twist of a screw
one big thing is making sure the battery used for auto-starting is tied into a mains-powered trickle charger
also, if you’re in an extremely cold climate, starting could be a problem unless the engine oil is heated
also, if you’re in a extreme winter environment, you’ll want to consider mounting the unit high enough off the ground that normally expected snow want suffocate the unit, which requires large amounts of air ... a nice shed top over the unit could solve that issue too, but those units throw off HUGE amounts of heat too, so you don’t want it totally enclosed ...
finally, keep in mind when locating the unit that those things are extremely noisy
My 13.5k genset was insufficient to run HVAC and all the rest. It depends on the size of the loads—the OP should hire an electrician.
First thing to do is build/buy a well ventilated generator shed away from the house to avoid CO poisoning. Not safe to run a generator outside in rain or snow, the very time you might need it.
Next, buy a bunch of gas cans as a 12.5k gen. will use a lot of fuel per hour as well as oil. Think about where you will safely store the 50+ gallons of gas you may need, away from the generator. Gas doesn’t age well so buy the gas just before it is needed.
Read the manual carefully, noting fuel/oil usage rates & oil change intervals.
It is actually 100 Amps @ 120 VAC. I think you dropped a zero somewhere. In reality, it is more likely 50 Amps @ 240 VAC.
We have a generator this size for our 4000 sq. ft. house in rural Oregon, and it is quite enough for us.
We have to recognize that the generator is to alleviate an emergency situation, not to make us independent from the power grid.
It is more than enough to run our refrigerator, freezer, lights, garage door openers, internet, TV, microwave, computers and all kinds of small appliances. What represents a large load and probably should be postponed until power is restored is the electric oven and the clothes drier. We have a heat pump and the generator is too small to run that, but we can easily make do with one or two space heaters and a propane fireplace. We have a gas cooktop so there is no danger of starvation, but you can probably run an electric cooktop if that is what you have. Try not to use all the burners at once.
As soon as the generator comes on, move at least one car out of the garage -- you do not want to be trapped if something goes wrong.
You should be able to pull the emergency release and open the garage door manually. The spring boost means it’s not that heavy.
Also, like you we use space heaters. The sealed “oil-filled radiator” type. I have like 7, but only 3 or 4 are in use at any given time. Only use for the furnace is a quick warmup in the morning, but we would forego that during a power outage. Also, the basement stays cooler and warmer than upstairs depending on the season.
That is the theory. Before you count on it see if your wife can do it at 2 AM with the temperature in the teens and you are having a medical emergency...
I have a “rated” 200 amps hooked to 14KVa transformer. The numbers don’t work.....
It’s easy, inexpensive, mostly DIY and does the job until the electricity comes back
What you're describing is not simply routing an electrical extension cord through the garage to run the refrigerator, a space heater and a lamp.
1. Contact a qualified and local contractor to give you a bid. Use this bid to assist in preparing a request for quotation that you can provide to several qualified contractors. If you have never done this before, pay an engineer some $$$ to prepare this document for you. If a person cheaps out on this upfront expenditure then it puts an owner at high risk of paying lots more for lots less.
2. Primary trades needed will be electrical and piping. Piping because you described fuel lines to a propane tank and natural gas system.
3. Building permits are likely required. Make sure this is addressed. Make the contractor responsible for the permits.
4. Be specific as to what you supply and what contractor supplies. I recommend that you supply nothing but the generator. It's not uncommon for a contractor to no-bid if they cannot supply certain components. Otherwise, when materials in the quantity needed and with the proper specifications are not immediately in their hand when needed, it increases contractor's costs.
5. I'll circle back to building permits. No qualified, reputable contractor will skip this - their professional licenses are on the line. If the residential insurance company finds out that that a non-permitted installation of this type was made, the homeowners insurance will probably be canceled. Warranties will likely be voided.
6. When the house is sold at some point, a building inspection would likely discover that it's a non-conforming installation. That would nix the sale unless the seller at his expense brings the installation into conformance. Personally as a buyer in that situation, I'd likely just use this situation to reclaim my earnest $$$ deposit and walk away. If I found out after purchase that a nonconforming installation was done, pretty good chance I'd do the lawsuit thing against the previous owner and the installer.
Summary….. I'm not trying to scare you off from a backup generator installation but to give you a sense of the issues to not accidentally get into by not doing it in a proper and formal way. Some bucks to a qualified engineer up front will pay dividends at the end by setting up a formal bid process and likely advising on which bid to choose.
You mentioned that your generator is a Westinghouse I think? Consider calling Westinghouse and ask for a list of contractors in your area that are company certified to install their products. This would give the highest comfort level in quality and assure warranty maintenance.
Right those Hawkpower ones are industrial generators. Maybe costing near $100K or more.
I have a 15KW dual fuel portable that I used for 9 days after Ian this fall. Here are a couple of things I have learned in the three years I have owned it and during the power outage.
1. AC + hot water heater + Dryer + fridge and freezer, popped the circuit breaker
2. AC + hot water heater + lights + fridge and freezer, no problem
3. Even with professional installation, the fridge ran 10 degrees warmer than normal with the generator
4. Propane is not as powerful as gasoline. It is cleaner and easier to store but more expensive and harder to find during an emergency. Buy some gas cans and a battery powered pump to make refills safer and easier. The major benefit of propane is it doesn’t go bad in storage.
5. Learn to change the oil on your generator. It requires frequent changes.
6. When the power comes back on, add a bit of injector cleaner (I use Seafoam) to the remaining gas and run the generator dry. It will leave the tank dry and leave whatever is in the float bowl stabilized. You could drain the float bowl. I haven’t and it has not been a problem yet.
7. Let the electrician bring the hardware for your hookup. He probably gets a better deal at the supply house. You may need a building permit to do the installation.
8. The cable to connect the generator is really heavy, expensive and inconvenient to store.
9. Put the battery on a tender when not in use.
Portable generators aren’t very handy, but they are way better than sitting in the dark.
Maybe you should have done your research before purchasing it...
The well pump is likely 240v, your RV generator may just be 120v.
You can create split phase 240v from single phase 120v by wiring a 1:1 isolation transformer in a proper configuration. Most small gensets don’t use a 4-wire plug (split phase) so it can be useful to have one of these
The air cooled Lister Petter engined ones suitable for residential use go for much less.
There’s a used 18KW out there for about $8,000.
In the past Generac never talked about their warranty. It was easily voided.
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