All electric house and a generator

[Code54]

We are looking into getting a backup generator for our house because we have a bad habit of losing electric fairly often. I have looked at the Generac unit, Briggs and Stratton, Kohler, Cummins, Kubota, and a few others. I am a little concerned with the cheaper propane units because it appears they are to be run for a short duration (24hr) and allowed to recoup, where as the diesel units can pretty much run from oil change to oil change without a break. (we have lost power up to 10 days before and a few days straight occurs about every other year at least). Any thoughts from the experts?

The other concern is the amount of power we need. We are 100% electric due to the fact we can't get gas where we live. (If I get a non diesel generator I would have to use propane to power it and have tank.) We are about 2000 sq ft, heat pump, electric backup heat (want to say 15kw strips), two fridges, freezer, 50gal hot water tank, then the normal lights, tv, etc.... (ok better add wife hair dryer and curling iron......) I am wondering if I can get away with a 21kw unit. Seems a lot of the diesel generators I looked at are 21kw, not seeing a lot of 25kw types. Now normally the heat pump would be working and not the strips in the furnace so my need would be far less - is this a concern? (wet stacking) BUT if the power was out when it is good and cold the heat strips would kick in and we would have a lot of demand so thus the possible need for a bigger unit, or so I am thinking? Anyone know can I limit the furnace to only half the heat strips on generator power or something like that?

May also look at adding a outdoor furnace in the next few years but I know the electrical need is low for them and that would help with the generator demand but for now that is just too costly for me to consider at the same time as a generator.

Any ideas and thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[houstonscott]

Consider a solar system with battery backup. You will get a 30% tax break and the array will reduce your electric load everyday. If you electric company has net metering, you should look very hard at solar as backup power supply rather than all the drawbacks of a standby generator. HS

 

[newbury]

<snip>
The other concern is the amount of power we need. We are 100% electric due to the fact we can't get gas where we live. (If I get a non diesel generator I would have to use propane to power it and have tank.) We are about 2000 sq ft, heat pump, electric backup heat (want to say 15kw strips), two fridges, freezer, 50gal hot water tank, then the normal lights, tv, etc.... (ok better add wife hair dryer and curling iron......) I am wondering if I can get away with a 21kw unit. Seems a lot of the diesel generators I looked at are 21kw, not seeing a lot of 25kw types.<snip>

How handy are you? How important is $$$? How soon do you want to get it?

A quick check of govt auctions shows about 10 diesel generators up for auction NOW, several are 15KW and just closed for < $1K. See the PDF.

Based on past experience the 25KW will probably go for well < $5K.

Many of them are in darn good condition, I used to run them as part of the training courses I taught.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

If you are thinking of moving away from all-electric, consider a pellet stove. They put out a lot of heat, and can be installed with only a vent, not a flue. They require electricity, but only enough to run a fan and the hopper auger. I think you will find that your heat strips exceed the capacity of any reasonably sized generator. Mine are on twin 60 amp 240v. breakers, and when they are both on would really need my 200 amp main service. Fortunately we have wood heat, so when the electricity goes out we don't care. All electric is a sales pitch, not a reasonable rural infrastructure.

 

[techman]

I also have an all electric setup.. Same 2 fridges, one freezer, heat pumps (I have two geo units and one conventional air), water heater, etc. I get by comfortably with a 10KR Kubota powered generator. Diesel is the way to go. Fuel stores forever and much cheaper running costs compared to propane. My setup is a bit automated (for the wife) that on generator, the water heater is cut off. I have a bypass switch, and on a long outage I will shut off the heat pumps for a while while I recharge the water heater. Also running the 3 heat pumps is no problem. before the geo units I had 2 conventional air units, which also ran w/o problem.

As for your backup heat, it depends on the size and mfg. 10KW is usually the biggest single element, so a 15 would be two coils. It is easy to disable the coils with the low voltage circuit that controls them. You could add a switch to disable the coils when the generator is being used. Only on a super cold night might the coils be necessary. If they are off you might just not get quite as warm. If you have 2 coils, again a switch could be added to cut out one of them.

If you do things (like I do) to switch of the water heater, unless needed to recharge it, and watched the backup heat, 10 KW could be enough. 24 KW for sure will take care of you. BTW during a longer outage with my 10 KW set, I burn 0.3 gal/hr on average.

paul

 

[Garandman]

If you are thinking of moving away from all-electric, consider a pellet stove. They put out a lot of heat, and can be installed with only a vent, not a flue. They require electricity, but only enough to run a fan and the hopper auger. I think you will find that your heat strips exceed the capacity of any reasonably sized generator. //

This is about half the houses around here.

OP, If you don't want to buy your own milsurp genset, there are outfits that buy them at auction, refurbish them, and install them. Green Mountain Generator is one up our way. There are a lot of surplus gensets available right now so prices are very appealing if you want diesel. Lots of people up here who heat with fuel oil prefer them. We had Propane so went with Kohler.

 

[dickfoster]

How handy are you? How important is $$$? How soon do you want to get it?

A quick check of govt auctions shows about 10 diesel generators up for auction NOW, several are 15KW and just closed for < $1K. See the PDF.

Based on past experience the 25KW will probably go for well < $5K.

Many of them are in darn good condition, I used to run them as part of the training courses I taught.

That's a good idea. Now you have me looking and I already have a generator.

 

[Garandman]

Many of my "prepper" buddies have MILSURP gensets. Tons of YouTube videos about them: selecting, servicing, installing, you name it. Really a bargain if you need a long-time, diesel genset.

 

[houstonscott]

Right now my solar array is producing 4.4kwh, it's quite, no fuel, meter running backwards. HS

 

[dodge man]

Its just me, but I wouldn't want solar as backup. Its probably a great power source but if the power is off because of bad weather can you count on solar. I'd also look at a diesel, if you have a diesel tractor, you have a way to use up the fuel if it gets old. I'm guessing if you can switch stuff off and on you can get by with a smaller unit then you are thinking. I'd forget about the heat strips if I were you and just figure you can get by without them.