Whole house generator

[JDUB]

Get an electrician to install a 220v 30 or 50A rv outlet around back. Put a switchgear in and run at least your lights, outlets and microwave with a harbor freight genny.

The whole house is nice. Nice and expensive.

 

[Treehawk]

Hey guys,
Lost power for about 18 hours due to this storm. Not a big deal for me but wife is on a CPAP with several other health issues. What recommendations do you guys have as far as whole house generators? Spoke to the Generac folks but geez did the guy I spoke to have an attitude. Like I was trying to sell him something. But if they are the best I'll try them again. What say you, brethren?

I am a cpap user too and was looking for a alternative power supply to use without having to get up at 2am drag the generator out and run cords I have been there and done that it's not fun. I am looking for a simlpe 12volt accessory any input would be welcomed. I don't want a whole house generator and I have a portable generator.

Thanks

 

[BHPSteel]

Get an electrician to install a 220v 30 or 50A rv outlet around back. Put a switchgear in and run at least your lights, outlets and microwave with a harbor freight genny.

The whole house is nice. Nice and expensive.

That's an excellent point.

Whole house isn't JUST expensive. Unless you can hook in and run it on your household natural gas, you have to figure that it might be difficult to get all the fuel you need to run it for a prolonged period. If you're without power for days, you have to figure out what your "lights on" schedule will be. There's nothing so annoying as being unable to get a propane delivery 8 days into a major outage because the truck can't get to you or supplies are limited because of demand elsewhere. The world's best and greatest generator is useless if you can't run it for lack of fuel.

So, step 1 is figuring out what you consider essential for your wellbeing during a protracted period without power.

Based on that, and your estimate of how long you want to be able to run before you run out of fuel, you can size and price your generator and fuel storage requirements, and figure out what you want to size the transfer switch at.

 

[rockyfatcat]

I had 2 separate GENERAC guys come out. The first failed to even give me a quote. The second time the guy was great. Whole house runs on propane. I had to upgrade the propane tank to 1,000 gallons. Which means 800 actual when full.

It would be ‘more better’ to run it on natural gas. Just because of the cost of the tank.

800 will run my whole house generator 24/7 for a week. I start looking at propane prices in August and will refill it before the end of September, for best prices.

The owner of one of the local propane distributors gave me his personal cell number to call when it’s time to refill. He gives me a discount for having such a large tank.

The Generac periodically starts itself and does a periodic self-test. The Generac system monitors the current coming into the house. When the voltage drops, it kicks on in a matter of seconds and stays on till the current stabilizes and then turns itself off. All without any care of concern by whoever is home.

 

[spencer60]

My sister's new place in SC has a natural gas Generac whole house genny. When Helene tore through there they shut off all the natural gas lines because the root balls from fallen trees ripped up the gas lines.

From what I understand turning off the natural gas lines is a common disaster response, just when you probably don't have power either.

If you are going to to a whole house generator it would make a lot more sense to use a propane tank. Propane isn't like gas... it doesn't go bad while stored.

And since it's only being used in good times to fire up the genny once in a while (once a week maybe) a large tank will last for a long time.

 

[Grub Master]

Treehawk
We just bought this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8MFI6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[rockyfatcat]

My sister's new place in SC has a natural gas Generac whole house genny. When Helene tore through there they shut off all the natural gas lines because the root balls from fallen trees ripped up the gas lines.

From what I understand turning off the natural gas lines is a common disaster response, just when you probably don't have power either.

If you are going to to a whole house generator it would make a lot more sense to use a propane tank. Propane isn't like gas... it doesn't go bad while stored.

And since it's only being used in good times to fire up the genny once in a while (once a week maybe) a large tank will last for a long time.

A 1,000 gallon tank holds 800. That’ll last one week running 24/7.

If you are going to have propane as a backup to natural gas. I believe it uses a different orafice for when you switch over. It might be doable. I would plumb everything to easily switch from one source to the other, and padlock the valves so some idiot couldn't switch things from one to the other. Placarding the lock with the need to change the orafice before switching would be a really good idea. So would mounting the orafice inside the generator housing with appropriate labeling.

 

[BHPSteel]

A 1,000 gallon tank holds 800. That’ll last one week running 24/7.

If you are going to have propane as a backup to natural gas. I believe it uses a different orafice for when you switch over. It might be doable. I would plumb everything to easily switch from one source to the other, and padlock the valves so some idiot couldn't switch things from one to the other. Placarding the lock with the need to change the orafice before switching would be a really good idea. So would mounting the orafice inside the generator housing with appropriate labeling.

Some models of generators make this very easy:

 

[kimberlover]

We lived for 15 years up in the mountains without one, worst outage we had was 11 hours. 5 years ago we got a Generac and have never looked back, best 10k I ever spent. Power outage now only last 11 seconds until the genny kicks in. Great having the piece of mind that it gives us.

 

[hamburglar3]

The previous owners installed a Koehler whole house on propane tanks. It seemed like it only kicked in during middle of night, waking me up. Why does it need to run while sleeping?! I turned it off automatic and start up when I need it (except when I leave town) If it is a short outage, I may not turn it on at all. Getting a good ups for light appliances/chargers will carry you for awhile.