Vanity - Anyone have experience with whole-home generators?

03/10/2017 | self

[Cementjungle]

I'm in the process of getting quotes from local companies to install a whole-house standby generator. I'm in southern FL and last year's near-miss with a hurricane is prompting me to move on it now. I had planned to do this anyway since moving here, but all my other projects took first priority... this is my only remaining big project for this home.

Anyway... I know I need around 27Kw and, and Generac and Kohler both seem to have comparable products at comparable cost. Both are American made.

I had one installed several years back in WA (an 8Kw Briggs and Stratton), so I am familiar with the things involved (propane tanks, transfer switch, etc.)... but this one is bigger this time around... and a very big investment.

Since Freepers have vast experience with many things, I'm looking for any feedback on these brands and any other "gotchas" that would be helpful.

And remember.... "Make electricity great again!"

[faucetman]

My situation won’t help you, but maybe others just looking for temporary, partial power.

I have a Generac Guardian series 8KW back up generator that runs on propane. We can’t get natural gas. We already had a large propane tank.

We have a small ranch home. I decided to go with this generator for its fuel consumption. Being a single cylinder engine, it burns HALF the fuel of a twin cylinder. A MAJOR consideration for us.

We made some sacrifices to do this, but for relatively short periods of time, we lack for nothing.

Being a HVAC contractor, I was able to install it myself. In fact I was able to modify the panel cover to accept 2 more circuits since the 8 & 10 circuit units used the same exact panel box. I just had to buy 2 additional breakers.

I have two battery backup units, (APC), on computers/electronics so during the few seconds delay while switching power sources, my computers/electronics don’t turn off.

We do without: electric clothes dryer, automatic dishwasher, air conditioning, one non-essential bathroom circuit, many non-essential wall receptacles, non-essential basement/workshop circuits

We DO power our LP heat, water/well pump, LP water heater, LP stove/oven, refrigerator, freezer, kitchen receptacles, ALL TVs and electronics, all overhead lighting, outside lights.

Bear in mind that these items don’t all run at the same time. Upon initial startup the draw did almost stall the engine, but everything had been off for a long time, so many things did start up at the same time. It DID handle it though.

The generator cycles itself every Wednesday, so we feel comforted when we hear it, knowing it is standing by, ready to leap into action when needed.

It is fairly quiet. It sounds like a small lawnmower.

We bought it at Home Depot during their annual no interest promotion. We bought it on time and made payments, and never paid a Dime in interest.

It took me some time to install it, but I actually enjoyed doing it.

No more refueling the gasoline generator (while hot and running), running a myriad of extension cords and power strips, (which also have to be put away), and we had NO WATER as the water pump was 230 volts.

Now when the power goes out, we go hmmmm, the power is off, WHO CARES!

[Cementjungle]

Interesting. If I had the know-how like you I would have more options, but I spent my life doing programming and am not so great with tools or electrical work.

I always think about resale value of the house too, not that I plan to move anytime soon... but I have moved 6 times in the last 20 years, so it's always on my mind. I want anything that's done to be to code and legit so I don't have any issues if I sell the place down the road.

[Prov1322]

Thanks ALL! Repeating...FReepers are the best!

[Dustoff45]

In my exposure, natural gas is best if you’re on a line, diesel if you’re not.

I agree - could almost say Natural Gas - City/suburbs [when available], diesel - country/rural.

And then there are the server farms that work completely off of UPS systems. They test their systems monthly simulating a complete sudden power loss. Those huge Caterpillar generator systems kick in and no one inside even sees a flicker in the lights. Data Protection without end.

[stayathomemom]

I wouldn’t put a generator in the garage, to much fumes.

To clarify our situation: The generator is stored in the corner of the garage and we wheel it out, as far a we can, when we need to use it, leaving the garage door open. When I get that longer cord, it's going to be operating outside!

[oldasrocks]

I didn’t read all the answers above but WHY in the world would you need 27Kw???? We had a 15 Kw and traded for an 11Kw as I changed a few things to lower needs. Even runs the AC if needed and electric hot water. We cook with gas.

We have a Generic and love it. Worked fine for 11 days after an ice storm here knocked out everyones’ power.

Little gennys like a 5KW gas are not made to run for days. They are made to run a weekend or two at the lake or cabin.

[stayathomemom]

I didn’t read all the answers above but WHY in the world would you need 27Kw????

You are probably responding to the wrong person.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Have a 16KW Generac run on natural gas - works fine - tests itself every week - no problems with the two outages we’ve had in the year since we got it - only caveat is that the company that installed it (approved by Generac) is now trying to sell me a year to year maintenance contract at about $450 per year, claiming it should be serviced every six months - seems excessive both in cost and frequency, but I haven’t had the chance yet to dig into the warranty data to get a handle on it - unit came with a service manual of sorts including program info on the internal computer and specs on changing plugs, oil and the rest - guess I could always make it a DIY project - we’ll see......

[RFEngineer]

“The biggest issue is the A/C”

If you insist on using your whole house AC you will need a substantial generator.

Another option is to purchase a small window unit and just cool a single room in your house. A 6000 Btu unit can be run with a 5kw genset and power most typical lights and plugs in your house.

[Cementjungle]

We got some interesting quotes for sure... all are with a 500-gal underground propane tank, transfer switch, wiring/piping and so on:

1. a 27kw Generac (water cooled) - $26K
2. a 30kw Kohler - (water cooled) - $34K
3. a 24kw Kohler (water cooled) - $19K
4. a 20kw Kohler (air cooled) - $15k
5. a 16kw Generac (air cooled) - $13K

All the vendors seem to check out... have decent reviews and a solid history and have the licenses in-house for the mechanical, electrical, etc.

We narrowed it down to options 3 or 4, and decided on 3 because that unit is more fuel efficient than the other and should run much quieter (water cool vs. air cool).

With the 24kw we should be able to run at least one, if not two of the three A/C units, fridge, and handful of other things at once... keeping us fairly comfortable during a prolonged outage.

[freedumb2003]

Thanks for the info!

[Intolerant in NJ]

Re post#88 - with storm raging outside I had some time to check out maintenance info on our Generac - oil change and valve clearance check needed after first 24 hours of operation and then not again until 2 years or 200 hours of operation - other changes like spark plugs and air filter also not until 2/200 - our total run time for the first year of operation was just about ten hours - certainly doesn't seem to require checking every six months, especially not at a cost per contract of $450 per year - plus tax......

Long story short - no matter which generator you might end up with, beware of dealers trying to sell you probably unneeded service contracts at inflated prices.....