Standby Generators - School Me

Prior to the massive infrastructure failure here in Texas, I have always toyed with the idea of getting a standby generator because I'm in an area that seems prone to outages. After this past week, getting one is at the top of the list now.

I've calculated that I need about 15kw to comfortably power my home using natural gas that I can tap in my neighborhood. Don't need the big 20kw generators that you see at lowes or home depot as I don't intend to power literally everything and my home is not massive either. With that said, can anyone provide info on what is generally considered some of the better standby generators? I see Briggs and Strattons, Kohler, Cummins, Champion, and of course Generac. Any others I should be looking at? And any other considerations I should keep in mind?

Couple things -

A 15 and 20K genset are about the same price, and the infrastructure cost is identical.

How many power outages have you had in the last 10-20 years? How long do they last?

Of these how often does nat gas really stop flowing? That hardly ever happens here in Cali even through fires and earthquakes.

I went with Kohler for a couple of reasons -

1. Local support is better.
2. Hydraulic lash adjusters - less maintenance.
3. I've had terrible experience with Generac prior.

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If you don’t have NG you can get a buried propane tank installed if you don’t want/can’t have the eyesore of a giant silver pill in your yard. My I n-laws have a multi hundred gallon tank buried in Florida. You’d never know it’s there and it currently only runs the grill. The propane guy checked it when they moved in and said there’s enough in there that the grandkids will still be using it 70 years from now. They don’t have a generator as they just leave if there’s a storm.
 
I recently had a Generac 22KW unit installed. It is enough to power everything in the event of a power failure. I had the local Generac representative come out and sized the unit. I’m happy with it. It’s kicked on once for a 5 hour period. That was from an eighteen wheeler taking out a power pole. It exercises itself regularly. I’m using propane. Propane has more BTUs than natural gas. I don’t know about your city codes or home owner association’s rules. Generac appears to use a rebranded Kohler engine. Biggs and Stratton makes the Cummins air cooled units. Personally, I wouldn’t rely on public utilities to deliver my fuel.

I have a 16KW Generac to run 3/4 of my home. I am on propane as well. I have three 100lb tanks. What size tanks and how many do you need for the 22KW?

I've been on the Generac for about 10 years. Never had an issue with it. I use an oversized filter and run M1 0-40 with an oil change every 2nd year with filter. We are up on a little northeast mountain and lose power, now and then. Longest run for the Generac was a little over 80 hours during a 30" snow over 2 days and ice storms induced long-term outage. It was a really big deal with 3 young kids. If the generator failed all we'd have is a fireplace for heat. Never faltered once. Ran like a champ. The only drawback I can think of is noise. It's loud. But so is a portable gas generator.
 
Double quotes. No idea how I did that.
Thanks for sharing. 200 gallons for 4.5 days is reasonable. I could probably make it last 9-12 days if I only ran it as needed.

This was another reason I bought a 1000 gallon propane tank. That, and well, it was all they had at the time. It sure is (or was) nice filling up at $.89 a gallon in the spring.
Don't I wish I could find find propane for .89 a gallon. 1000gals would last me a yr.
 
Then you have no electricity.
Have lost power many times … never lost NG

As a long term user of generators … something that’s handy when on backup power is to have a freezer or refrigerator with temp controls on the door. We have a freezer in the garage and if we have a hurricane related loss … I raise the temp when going on gens …
 
Have lost power many times … never lost NG

As a long term user of generators … something that’s handy when on backup power is to have a freezer or refrigerator with temp controls on the door. We have a freezer in the garage and if we have a hurricane related loss … I raise the temp when going on gens …
and if you can - shut off auto defrost. Those heat strips really draw power.

The concept of losing your fridge freezer during a blizzard is lost on me- just move the stuff outside into the garage or patio.
 
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and if you can - shut off auto defrost. Those heat strips really draw power.

The concept of losing your fridge freezer during a blizzard is lost on me- just move the stuff outside into the garage or patio.
Good point - Yeah … I went and got a cooler out of storage in case we needed to carry food outside but we only lost power for 2 hours when a power line snapped
 
Really don't care to have that on my property. If I had an acre or acres, sure, but I'm not on an acre.
My dad's place in Breckenridge is on propane. A few years ago they had the tank buried. That might be the way to go.
 
You can Google “propane tank enclosure” and get ideas to hide them … similar to what gets done around AC compressors … the standby Gen itself etc …
 
Bought a 6500w Predator. I bought the plug and converted the l6 20 to the new n 14 whatzis. I've yet to go the extra mile for a righteous transfer switch./interlock. Anyway, I mostly need power for a 1 hp well pump and a fridge, the rest is just incidental luxuries. Turns out the 6.5 KW is good for pretty near the whole house with the exception of the dryer and the oven. In fact, I probably could have gone as low as 4.5 KW. Sure, more is better, but more means more fuel too. Next is a means to use gas tanks in cars for additional capacity. Rigging a siphon shouldn't take more than the runtime a full 8 gallon tank gives me. All this is just in case. After a decade of ever increasing storm intensity, my local utility has re-vamped the grid and local arborists have gotten rich clearing fallen trees from nearly every storm. The power lines are fine in the weather, as long as a tree doesn't attack. And every storm affects the grid less and less, because the trees have been cut back so much. So I have yet to need the genny, In a month or so, I'll start cycling its Stabil'ed gas into the cars a gallon at a time.
 
I have a 16KW Generac to run 3/4 of my home. I am on propane as well. I have three 100lb tanks. What size tanks and how many do you need for the 22KW?

I've been on the Generac for about 10 years. Never had an issue with it. I use an oversized filter and run M1 0-40 with an oil change every 2nd year with filter. We are up on a little northeast mountain and lose power, now and then. Longest run for the Generac was a little over 80 hours during a 30" snow over 2 days and ice storms induced long-term outage. It was a really big deal with 3 young kids. If the generator failed all we'd have is a fireplace for heat. Never faltered once. Ran like a champ. The only drawback I can think of is noise. It's loud. But so is a portable gas generator.
250 gallon tank. Maximum fill limit is 200 gallons. The unit has load shedding ability. It will throttle back as the demand decreases. The representative said that I could run a week on 200 gallons. If not, call for a propane drop when it gets down to 30%. The first service is due at 25 hours. This is a mandatory service that is required by Generac. They change the oil, filter and adjust the valves. They will walk me through it. I’ve known the representative for a long time. We graduated high school together. I’m getting too old to run wires and haul gas. The automatic transfer switch makes for a smooth transition.
 
250 gallon tank. Maximum fill limit is 200 gallons. The unit has load shedding ability. It will throttle back as the demand decreases. The representative said that I could run a week on 200 gallons. If not, call for a propane drop when it gets down to 30%. The first service is due at 25 hours. This is a mandatory service that is required by Generac. They change the oil, filter and adjust the valves. They will walk me through it. I’ve known the representative for a long time. We graduated high school together. I’m getting too old to run wires and haul gas. The automatic transfer switch makes for a smooth transition.

What model # is that?

Ive seen some Generacs with valve lash interval inspections down to 50 hours.
 
Bought a 6500w Predator. I bought the plug and converted the l6 20 to the new n 14 whatzis. I've yet to go the extra mile for a righteous transfer switch./interlock. Anyway, I mostly need power for a 1 hp well pump and a fridge, the rest is just incidental luxuries. Turns out the 6.5 KW is good for pretty near the whole house with the exception of the dryer and the oven. In fact, I probably could have gone as low as 4.5 KW. Sure, more is better, but more means more fuel too. Next is a means to use gas tanks in cars for additional capacity. Rigging a siphon shouldn't take more than the runtime a full 8 gallon tank gives me. All this is just in case. After a decade of ever increasing storm intensity, my local utility has re-vamped the grid and local arborists have gotten rich clearing fallen trees from nearly every storm. The power lines are fine in the weather, as long as a tree doesn't attack. And every storm affects the grid less and less, because the trees have been cut back so much. So I have yet to need the genny, In a month or so, I'll start cycling its Stabil'ed gas into the cars a gallon at a time.

Now days motorized vehicles are all almost imposable to siphon gas from. Back around 1970 you could siphon gas from them. But there have been screens or baffles or something put into the fill neck or gas tank inlet area of vehicles for a long time now. Even my 1985 Olds 88 was all but imposable to get a hose down the fill neck to siphon gas. And more recent vehicles are even harder to siphon gas from.

About the only decent way to get gasoline from a modern vehicles tank is to have some kind of a tap after the fuel pump and use the vehicles fuel pump to pump the gas to the tap and a hose from the tap into your external tank. And anything you add has to be crash safe and able to pass inspection. Summit Racing use to sell a tap to check pump pressure. That may be usable and safe, but probably a little slow because it is probably a restriction due to its size.

If you do not believe me, go ahead and try to siphon gas from your vehicles. You will just be wasting money on what ever hose or siphon arrangement you buy, and wasting time trying to do it, because it ain't gonna happen with modern vehicles.
 
I’ve seen sporadic posts about A/C usage. Even if you have central air, why not buy an emergency 6k window unit, just in case.

It‘s likely NICE to have the whole house cool, if the generator can handle it, but is it necessary? In places like FL I bet a small A/C unit in one BR would likely knock the humidity down enough to make things safe if not comfortable.

In the summer we run a 10K in the large, open living room (which opens up to the dining room and kitchen) to keep temps in the 80s on very hot days, but humidity in the 30s. If it gets hotter we load up the second 10k or 6k unit.
 
Don't I wish I could find find propane for .89 a gallon. 1000gals would last me a yr.
I checked a few weeks ago before our cold spell and we only used 200 gallons. Our only gas appliance is the furnace though. I also burn wood, which I am sure helps keep consumption down.

When our stove takes a crap, the wife and I do want gas next time.
 
My mother's place has a Briggs and Stratton hooked up to what I think is a 500 or 1,000 gallon, massive propane tank. She can go for two weeks on a full tank running the heat pump, fans, fridge, water heater, and some lights. They use the propane as their fuel for the stove at normal times, and I think there might even be an automated meter on the propane tank that calls the propane guy over to fill it once it is down a certain percent. Not that a 500-1,000 gallon tank hardly even gets dented with just using it for cooking when there is electricity.

That probably costs a lot of money to install on an existing house, though. Back in the day, we used to get 2+ weeks of power outage every winter storm. We had a wood stove that heated part of the house we would section off, which had a very nice top that could handle any amount of cooking food. We would also have the bathtubs filled with water for flushing and 5 gallon drinking water jugs for food and drinking. That's really the most economical way to do it, IMO.
 
Now days motorized vehicles are all almost imposable to siphon gas from. Back around 1970 you could siphon gas from them. But there have been screens or baffles or something put into the fill neck or gas tank inlet area of vehicles for a long time now. Even my 1985 Olds 88 was all but imposable to get a hose down the fill neck to siphon gas. And more recent vehicles are even harder to siphon gas from.

About the only decent way to get gasoline from a modern vehicles tank is to have some kind of a tap after the fuel pump and use the vehicles fuel pump to pump the gas to the tap and a hose from the tap into your external tank. And anything you add has to be crash safe and able to pass inspection. Summit Racing use to sell a tap to check pump pressure. That may be usable and safe, but probably a little slow because it is probably a restriction due to its size.

If you do not believe me, go ahead and try to siphon gas from your vehicles. You will just be wasting money on what ever hose or siphon arrangement you buy, and wasting time trying to do it, because it ain't gonna happen with modern vehicles.

You beat me to it...

I was going to say he'd better try it first before depending on it.
 
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