Posted on 04/05/2010 7:40:19 AM PDT by DCBryan1
Huh?
I’m the one who said Kohler is the best. If I needed a generator for three months and knew that I wouldn’t be able to find another one if it broke down, I’d only buy a Kohler rig.
Look Buddy,
It was an upgrade over the 5 Kw Gas Generator, while using a manual transfer switch.
Yes the Kohler is better, but, was not within our price range.
I also have a service contract with the Guardian Service Installers, so that is taken care of. Also, like I mentioned the Guardian Generator will turn on every Sunday at a specified time for 15 minutes. If it does not, I can get it looked at. It basically tests itself every week, to make sure, it is in working order when the power goes down.
Have had the Guardian, 15 Kw for 5 years, with not one problem. It has worked well.
More important than even the type of Generator, is the “Automatic Transfer Switch”. This is from commentary of another page.
“Wanted to mention something about the new Guardian line. The 20K model now comes with a really slick transfer swtich/load panel. The call it PowerManager LTS transfer switch. The cool part is the transfer switch/load panel actually goes in between the service and the main load panel. The generator will power both the transfer switch panel and the main panel for the house till the load is too much for the generator to handle. It will then cut power to the main panel and only supply power to the transfer switch’s load center which is where you hookup all your critical loads. The important part is the LTS panel will run BOTH the transfer switch load center and the main until the frequency drops below a predetermined limit, when it will cut the main load center.”
That is the best part of my generator.
He said it first in post# 72.
For every person with your opinion of Kohler there is one for Onan, Generac, Honda, etc.
It is like telling someone to buy Crown Vic just because cops drive them. Irrelevant to the conversation at hand.
All your experiences with the 5.5 Kw Generator make sense. I had the same size Generator, but, my 3/4 H.P. Well Pump, that is over 250 feet deep, would have problems with that size generator, and nothing else on.
Everytime the 3/4 H.P. Pump started, I could hear the motor on the 5.5 Kw Generator, grind down, and almost shut down.
The starting torque for that Well Pump required a much larger Generator, that is why I went with a 15 Kw, and don’t even hear the motor load when running the Water Well Pump.
Dummie?
Name calling already?
A generator doesn’t pull anything, it supplies.
5.5 kW at 220 volts is 25 amps. The math is staight forward.
A small window unit is not even close to 5 tons of A/C.
You don’t size the continuous rating of generator for the inrush draw. The generator and the breaker allow for some start-up current. That is why National Electric Code, table 430.52 has the required fuse or breaker sizes as shown. Motor inrush is typically six times full load amps. But you don’t need a generator six times as big as your motor.
I ran for 5 days without power that way. We didn’t use the Main A/C, stove or oven. But we washed clothes and used other small appliances without overloading the 25 amp breakers on the generator.
Sounds to me like “wifey” would be complaining that her foot massager wasn’t working while the poor dude was fighting off the zombies with a pitchfork trying to keep them from coming in the front door!
“Wifey” needs a talkin to. Seriously!
I was on City Water. They have big gensets for the pumps and priority getting power restored after the hurricane.
For this house I would prefer 7.5 kW as an economical backup. That still wouldn’t provide whole house A/C at Houston. But getting gasoline after a hurricane is not easy and big generators are thirsty.
Is your 3/4 pump 120 Volt? A 220 Volt pump should have been okay on 5 kW Gen. Of course I don’t know what else you were running.
What we have is the 30kw Kohler whole house that handles the surges of HVAC and Appliances with ease.
I went with the LP fueled version as I can store that fuel forever and due my same considerations you have with storms we figured the LP stored on site was the best choice.
NG lines will be ripped up and shut down with ice storms and tornadic wind storms tearing down / uprooting trees. Fuels like diesel and mogas need treatment for longevity.
A farm tank or a few 100 pound RV tanks can be easily stored and plumbed to your whole house genset of choice.
A local electrician can wire this directly to a switch that connects to a 300 amp service.
Yes it is the caddy of systems and there ARE larger ones at the site I linked.
The poor boy version we have in reserve is a honda 7.5kw mogas rig I have had for a few decades that we plug directly back into the homes power supply through the 220 dryer outlet with a custom cord we made w/ 2 male plugs.
In this case it only handles minimum lighting and our freezers and fridges as it WILL NOT cover the surge of HVAC or small window unit Air Conditioners.
We use a small glass door wood stove for winter heating and open the windows and use a few box fans an open windows in the hot summers with that rig if the wood stove and oil lamps aren’t enough to get us through a power loss of commercial and our 30kw whole house genset for what ever reasons......and we have to use the small honda genset.
The Kohler whole house 30kw is installed on a pad in a enclosed courtyard and is pretty much maintenance free in the past few years and works well.
Cost for this Kohler 30kw flavor was 8.5k$ in 2008 and now seeing it go for 10 to 12k$ installed.
WARNING !
If you do install one ......let your utility company know as it is possible to feed power back up the line if switch is not proper etc ... don’t want to jump start a lineman per se. They will mark that line and power poles to indicate such a generator is on the line .......
Also I am building a battery backup system in the near future that will run a trace inverter for 72 hours and power the whole house. It stays charged day to day with AC trickle charger and will run everything including those appliances that surge if my plan is properly completed.
Last choice is just to teach yer lady about oil lamps, wood stoves, convection cooling, battery powered AM/FM or Sat-XM radio and books in case all the above goes south .....:o)
My 2 Cummins 4x4’s also have the 2.5 kw power inverters on em that lets me plug in an extension cord directly to the vehicles if needed.
Also have a dry ice making ability to top off chest type food freezers if needed to keep bulk product frozen till power is restored or food is consumed. One can augment the freezers long term freezer ability by freezing water bottles and keeping em in the freezer to keep foods frozen longer if ya leave doors closed during a power outage.
Just what we do........
I wish you well.......Stay safe !
back-up generator suggestion thread ping.
Dude, your gonna need a 50,000W Diesel Gen, this will make your wife happy.
Read this thread.
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