Whole House Generator ?

[390pcode]

I went diesel... 12KW Multiquip.

We are in semi-rural Nevada, on propane.
I looked at whole house gensets, but was concerned with running out of propane.

I believe fuel consumption @ same load would be less for diesel vs propane.

So, with the impending Tier 4 EPA emissions restrictions at the time, you could get non compliant gensets cheap in nearby California, so that is what I did.

I run a 1.5hp well pump and the rest of the house on 12KW.

Yes, I have to go out and start it up, throw a couple of switches, but the genset is industrial grade and made for this.
I do have to excercise it, thus putting a load on it, but that is a small price to pay to keep things up.

Personal preference, I suppose.

 

[UncleDave]

Went with the 20 KW 3600 RPM unit on natural gas.
I dont put enough hours on to justify the water cooled lower RPM unit.

 

[PimTac]

@Gebo , Make sure and find out the propane usage rate before jumping into a deal. That could get expensive real quick.

My personal experience, years ago we bought a gas (propane) fireplace stove for the house. Looked like a wood stove and it kicked out the heat. We were switching away from wood at the time.

A full tank of propane (250 gallons) ran out in less than a month. That was a expensive experience and after that I had a pellet stove installed and we used the gas for backup.

 

[UncleDave]

I went diesel... 12KW Multiquip.

We are in semi-rural Nevada, on propane.
I looked at whole house gensets, but was concerned with running out of propane.

I believe fuel consumption @ same load would be less for diesel vs propane.

So, with the impending Tier 4 EPA emissions restrictions at the time, you could get non compliant gensets cheap in nearby California, so that is what I did.

I run a 1.5hp well pump and the rest of the house on 12KW.

Yes, I have to go out and start it up, throw a couple of switches, but the genset is industrial grade and made for this.
I do have to excercise it, thus putting a load on it, but that is a small price to pay to keep things up.

Personal preference, I suppose.

Diesel will consume approximately 40% less fuel per hour than propane.

 

[Rmay635703]

One of My cars can operate as a 3kw generator with about $150 of added parts in the trunk, some claim a weeks operation on a tankful.

Given recent events might be worth the upgrade so I’m not fighting to start the pair of portables in -25F weather to keep the heater fan operating.

My water heater is passive (thank god) have a passive fireplace and a passive pellet stove I can run off battery (but it isn’t as effective without the fan)

 

[JC1]

Regardless of cost of propane or other fuels, these generators are for emergency use only.
If you have a gas generator then how much gas are you going to have on hand? Then when you run out and 90 pct of the area is in in a blackout, how far do you have to drive to get fuel?

If you have a flood from burst pipes to the interior of your house and the insurance company gives you the run around, then it makes sense to have something to help in times likes these.

My in laws in PA wired up a generator to be run from their shed and put a transfer switch to power the basement and furnace. Prior to this year he's never had to use it. Peace of mind for the times you need it every 5-10 years...

 

[Strokenmerc]

If you have a gas generator then how much gas are you going to have on hand?

I guess being prepared means you need to have the amount of fuel you think you will need for the situation. One advantage to having a gas generator is every car, truck, and boat in the garage is basically reserve fuel storage. Matter of fact, I siphoned 25 gallons out of my boat this past weekend due to the ice storm in VA. I try to keep about 20 gallons of ethanol free on hand for OPE and the generator. My generator usually needs about 12-14 gallons per day depending on the load.

 

[JC1]

I guess being prepared means you need to have the amount of fuel you think you will need for the situation. One advantage to having a gas generator is every car, truck, and boat in the garage is basically reserve fuel storage. Matter of fact, I siphoned 25 gallons out of my boat this past weekend. I try to keep about 20 gallons of ethanol free on hand for OPE and the generator. My generator usually needs about 12-14 gallons per day depending on the load.

Siphoning is good if you know how to do it.

I heard about some people dying in Houston sitting In a running car in a closed garage. I bet some of those people had no wifi and or dead phones and didn't know any better and weren't able to look up stuff on YouTube. Sad story.

 

[JohnnyG]

600 gal. Interesting. That's a bunch of propane. So if I have 1/3 tank of propane..

I looked this up for my brother in law since he wants to do the same thing. We figured a full 550 gallon propane tank would last him about a week, if he used it for nothing else.
I want to do it also, but won't even consider propane. Natural gas is on my street, but they won't install service unless you heat water with it, and then it would cost about $2000.00 for the hookup.

 

[sloinker]

This will run your house. 12 wire 20kw diesel. Buy a 500 gallon tank and get some red.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/473910903603835/?ref=search&referral_code=undefined

 

[dadto2]

So they have an auto start generator and the lights are on photocells. Low temps, power outage, not home is exactly why you'd have a home generator. Should they disable it every time they leave? I'd try to be like them.... prepared.

Not so much. This is NY, our houses are very well insulated. It will take nearly 24 hours before we're shivering indoors. Those neighbors have an autostart generator, and would leave everything turned on all the time as they came and went.

 

[Driz]

Being judicious you can easily run shat you need from a 5000 genny. The trick is to limit what you leave on and how much power they draw. Be especially aware of STARTUP SURGE current draw. It’s often 3x the power draw listed in literature . I’m speaking of things like freezers, refrigerators, well pumps and oil burner motors. If you get two of these starting at the same time you can brown out or stall your genny which can fry them . Also be aware of how many watts some mundane items actually use as some are not so obvious. A coffee maker is a great example.
If you keep an eye on the stuff you really can run the whole house judiciously on only a 5000 watt genny. You just have to be careful. Also for the life of me I can’t figure out why the air conditioner is absolutely necessary. Somehow mankind lived without them for a very long time. You can however manage to keep one room reasonably cool using a small portable window or standing unit turned on and off occasionally . Things like this will get you by.

 

[4WD]

It’s going to be a tough market for these gens … and people are going to buy them on payments to go really big. I’m thinking what it’s going to be like with thousands more of these online … These bigger units consume lots of gas … the more “painless“ you set up … just know the pain goes somewhere …

 

[JHZR2]

It is difficult for me to comprehend why people insist on being able to run everything, as if nothing happened, in places where in reality, the extent of an outage is a few days or a week.

20 or 24kW?!? That’s insane. Everything can be run selectively when and as needed.

And if the reality is that there is real likelihood for long term outages (likes weeks to months), and you must maintain personal luxuries, I’d look at a diesel. In cases where infrastructure is gone, diesel will be easier to get, and save propane for other needs. BTDT.

 

[4WD]

Being judicious you can easily run shat you need from a 5000 genny. The trick is to limit what you leave on and how much power they draw. Be especially aware of STARTUP SURGE current draw. It’s often 3x the power draw listed in literature . I’m speaking of things like freezers, refrigerators, well pumps and oil burner motors. If you get two of these starting at the same time you can brown out or stall your genny which can fry them . Also be aware of how many watts some mundane items actually use as some are not so obvious. A coffee maker is a great example.
If you keep an eye on the stuff you really can run the whole house judiciously on only a 5000 watt genny. You just have to be careful. Also for the life of me I can’t figure out why the air conditioner is absolutely necessary. Somehow mankind lived without them for a very long time. You can however manage to keep one room reasonably cool using a small portable window or standing unit turned on and off occasionally . Things like this will get you by.

In August it’s pretty tough here with no AC and a handicapped daughter who can’t control her body temperature
I can afford a big Gen … but instead we got a portable AC and turn it on/off to keep one room at 78F and run a fan

 

[pcoxe]

I have a Generac Synergy 20 running on NG which lowers the rating to 18kw. Runs everything and sounds like its idling most of the time except when the heat pump kicks in and it revs up a bit. It has provided me with 24 hours of backup power over 3-1/2 years. Works out to $300/hr for backup power, but having power during those outages felt worth it at the time. Synergy units cost more, but they are more fuel efficient since they throttle back under light loads. I haven't noticed any significant increase in my utility bills since it was added.

 

[DwightFrye]

The builder who built my home in 2018 installed a 16kW Generac and it is hard wired into the main panel on the side of the house and fueled by my propane tank. My house is about 1400 sq. feet and being new, is well insulated and energy efficient. My dryer, stove and furnace run on propane, the water heater is electric.
I live in the mountains and a high fire danger region, so Southern California Edison frequently shuts off the electricity during high wind conditions. The Generac kicks right in automatically. The longest it has ever run was close to 24 hours. I tried to conserve on the propane consumption by turning the thermostat down to 60 degrees and bundling up, and not running the dryer or oven.

If I ever anticipated a prolonged outage like that again I think I would switch the generator to manual and only run it for a few hours when really needed to keep the refrigerator from getting too warm and the water heater from going cold. The propane suppliers jack up the rates in the winter and running the Generac for many many hours does consume quite a bit more than I would normally use.

Oh, and since this is BITOG, I recently did an oil change using Castrol 5W-30 Magnatech and a Generac filter. The air filter was good, didn't need replacing. These things do require some maintenance and it's a good idea to check the dipstick often

 

[vwmaniaman]

We have 2 homes and both have gas for cooking and heating water and heat. The heater doesn't run on my small 2KW generator with a suicide cord but all the other essentials do. We have a set of gas logs at one home that heat the whole house and at the other one we have a kerosene heater. All our kids with the total electric homes visit us when the power is out. Our little generator will run about 3 hour on a gallon of gas. We don't run it constantly since once the refrig and freezer shut off then I shut it down. For lights we either use the generator or a kerosene lamp. We had no power for 2 weeks in 2009 ice storm. We fed a lot of kids and made a lot of coffee during that outage. They loved our warm water shower too.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

So what? i dont see aproblem with that. They want to keep their house warm and lit from the generator, what does it matter?

I'll jump in here:
We all share resources - if someone is selfish and ignorant (two usually go together) you will get ..... a note in you mailbox.

I see too much bad behavior out there - time to do some discipline. Obviously someone didnt teach the child.

- Ken

 

[spasm3]

I'll jump in here:
We all share resources - if someone is selfish and ignorant (two usually go together) you will get ..... a note in you mailbox.

I see too much bad behavior out there - time to do some discipline. Obviously someone didnt teach the child.

- Ken

I'm not saying i would do that.

But still what does it matter, the generator is running producing power anyway. He will not be saving much propane or gasoline by not running lights.

Sounds more like, others did not prepare, so you should not look too comfortable either.

Too much worrying about what others have or do, instead of being prepared.