Backup generators - I've played the game for decades. My take..

self | 06/04/2024 | self (vanity)

[38special]

I don’t need to power the whole house, just a few rooms.

[Carriage Hill]

BKMRK.

[ArtDodger]

8000watts not kw. In before the detail prigs.

[Jonny7797]

“hundreds of dollars on a generator”

Try thousands of dollars.

[Campion]

Briggs & Stratton is another name. Generac does not have a great reputation for reliability, IIRC.

[shanover]

My NG unit deployed to a post hurricane apocalypse. Unless the neighborhood is tight and prepared, it’s dystopian hell for people. The generator sounds stood out. These homes had signs that basically said don’t think about it. It was Mad Max level stuff. The looter scum were some people who were your neighbors before society turned upside-down.

[spankalib]

bkmk

[eastexsteve]

I get the reliability of diesel, but that 12KW system you pointed me to is twice the price of a 24KW NG/LP system

You get what you pay for. We had NG go out here in Texas when the outside temp hit 0. As far as the diesel unit I have, I like going 500 hours between service intervals instead of 50.

[Magnum44]

I had a bad experience with Briggs and Stratton with a power washer and their service/warranty department. I wont ever buy a BS product again.

Between Generac and Kohler, I am leaning to Kohler, but they both have similar reviews and features.

[redfreedom]

.

[Magnum44]

Thanks, I will have to look into the maintenance side of things. Here in Colorado, on average I suspect it gets colder than Texas, but I know you have had some cold storms in the news the last few years. Yet we have never had the NG shut off. Seems strange that would be a problem in Texas.

[Political Junkie Too]

In my neighborhood, every other house is armed, and several county sheriff deputies live here.

I had to run my generator for 12 hours last week after a severe thunderstorm.

-PJ

[GOPJ]

Democrats are pumping illegals into all red states... and criminals, gang members and terrorists from China and the Middle east.

I wonder what the size of kickbacks are to democrats the cartels are paying for ‘the right’ to sell citizenship to our country.

[dpetty121263]

DO NOT go with Propane, buy a Diesel Generator as in the event of a real disaster longer than a week will find you without Propane as those Propane Trucks may not be running for a long time but you can get Diesel most anywhere. Diesel Generators are much more expensive but worth it!

[abigkahuna]

for years I have run my home using a honda 2000 generator. We used it to run the fridge and the turtle tank, the TV and keep computers charged and wifi going. A tank ful of gas would run about nine hours.

This was running for several days as PG and E would like to turn off power during fire season so their wires don’t cause fires and burn down whole towns.

Water was well water—we had advance notice of power down so tubs and buckets would be filled for toilet, etc....

[GOPJ]

I advise buying far more generator than you think you need so it just idles along and doesn’t work too hard. When they strain is when they become inefficient.

Thanks - worth considering.

[Victor]

We have a larger home, 5,000 sq feet, very well insulated with all brick construction. 4 hvac units, plus refrigeration and freezers. Every light in the house is an LED.

Our genset is 180 amp (around 21 kwatts), runs on natural gas with auto transfer switches.

System runs perfectly; during power outages it's like nothing happened; we have heat/AC, full kitchen, even the pool machinery keeps on tickin'

[waterhill]

Have a neighbor who uses an old Lincoln diesel welder. He has a manual disconnect to keep it in the house only. Kinda loud though.

[dragnet2]

Being in Arizona I haven’t even started my generator and almost 5 years. Texas must have some hellish weather.

[MeanWestTexan]

Eh, propane doesn’t go bad. Diesel lasts about a year.

I just have a couple thousand gallon propane bullet tank.