Stand by generators

[nckennedy]

Hi Guys,
Just realized recently that we do not have a back generator in the event of storm or whatever that might take down power lines for a couple of days.
We have several freezers for our beef and broiler business, an electric fence and the usual household appliances, etc.
How big a unit would be practical for our situation? Not sure either of the style! PTO powered, separate diesel engine, or propane.
Any Ideas you would care to share would be much appreciated.
Craig

 

[ETpilot]

First thing you should probably do is do a load analysis. These would be the things you must run. Total the watts and this will better allow you to size the generator. I have a miller welder/generator 8000watts. I only run a refridgerator, some lights, tv and well water pump. In summer a window unit AC. This works for me. Not long ago I purchased a HF 8700 watt generator. It is largest they sell not sure if I posted correct wattage. I have used it once during a power failure this past summer. It was good to have that window AC.

 

[grsthegreat]

freezers and refrigerators dont take too much power in themselves. depends on the number of units. Ive had 3,000 sq. ft.
houses run all lights, a freezer and refer, gas fired furnace and gas fired water heaters run on 5,000 watt generators. Now if you need electric heaters, electric water heater and well pumps, the loads rise dramatically.

As stated earlier you need to do a load calc. There are sites online that take you step by step thru the process... or get ahold of an electrician.

 

[GManBart]

Diesel is great, but very $. PTO gives you a lot of bang for the buck, but can be cumbersome, and at a time when you might need the tracorto clear debris, etc.

I went with a stand-alone natural gas/propane Generac with automatic tansfer switch (20Kw) and it has been awesome. The longest it's run has been slightly over 24hrs, but that alone made it worthwhile. We frequently can't tell when it's running (not that loud, and you get sed to it quickly), and not having to decide what will, and won't, get power is a big plus. We had two electricians do a load analysis, that roughly matched what I came up with, and they both said we could get by with 17Kw. I thought it was silly not to spend another $400 for the biggest air-cooled unit. That size runs around $4400 or so, and figure maybe $2k to install it unless you have an unusual setup like we did (gas line, and breaker panel on opposite sides of the house, 75' away).

You may want to do a search, there are a few huge generator threads already.

 

[econometrics]

2x on the 20KW Generac standby with automatic transfer here.

I thought I would save the money and just use a portable 5000W generator and roll it up whenever the power went out. But we had the means to bite off the true standby, so we did.

Just had a 1000 gallon propane tank installed, so we will have standby power for a good long while if the power ever goes out for an extended period of time.

I had thought about doing the PTO power, but for my wife's sake, I just went with what will be lost comfortable for her. I didn't want to be out of town on biz, have the power go out and her have to go out, fire up the tractor, hook up the PTO genny, and then hook it to the house - all for what could only be 30 min of power loss.

 

[s219]

If you want the generator to last a long time, go with a water cooled unit (and then think about what fuel makes sense, whether diesel, or NG/propane). The air-cooled units cost about half as much, but have a much shorter lifespan.

 

[TerryR]

If you have propane available with a large tank, it can be a great solution. No need to worry about fuel spoiling or getting out during stormy weather for more. We have a 1000 gal tank because our propane supplier didn't want to have to deal with our driveway in bad weather, so have a great supply for the generator during the winter months when outages are most likely around here.

Terry

 

[David_Kb7uns]

20kw Generac with 200amp load shedding switch, at less then 80 hours a year average it will still take awhile to wear it out, change oil on schedule and adjust the valves, they just upgraded the warranty to 5 years so they must have good confidence in them.

When shopping I could buy 2 20kw air cooled for the price of a diesel by itself or the 22kw liquid cooled Generac with switch

David Kb7uns

 

[coobie]

Stand-alone 17kw Generac propane model here also.Been 4 years installed without any problems.Keep oil changed every 40-50 hours with 5W-30 full syn.oil adjusted valves.I paid $4,650 installed.Like others have stated get a load study done.

 

[Monster5601]

I went with a stand-alone natural gas/propane Generac with automatic tansfer switch (20Kw) and it has been awesome. The longest it's run has been slightly over 24hrs, but that alone made it worthwhile.

Here is another very satisfied Generac owner. I have the 14 kW whole home with automatic transfer switch running on natural gas. When we lose power it can sometimes last two weeks or a few days, the Generac just does its job.

I am more likely to gas starve the generator than to over-load it, even with an electric kitchen. We live rural with septic, well, gas heat and electric kitchen.