We've just begun grading for our new home on our rural property. It will be a 2000 square foot ranch on a daylight basement. It will be propane fueled for heat, hot water, and stove, with 200 amp electrical service for everything else. My plan has always been to have a generator available for backup power. It's time to start making some decisions about how that generator will be sized and fueled.
At the low end of the pricing spectrum, I could simply get a Harbor Freight 7000/8750 watt gas fired generator, rig a 30 amp connection box with a breaker panel lockout setup. In my current home, I have a 4000/5400 watt Generac that I run inside a Rubbermaid shed, with 12v marine fans powered by the generator for exhaust and intake air. Actually works very well and the generator runs cool. It has a great muffling effect. Go more than 75 feet away, and you can't tell there is a generator running. I would probably use the same shed for the HF generator.
Next step up would be the same HF generator, with a propane conversion kit, plumbed to the house propane tank, or with it's own propane tank.
The above two setups are nice in terms of being able to lock up the generator in the garage and wheel it out during extended outages, although at 200+ pounds, it's a beast to move around, even on wheels. If my wife had to do move it, I'm not sure she could. It could live permanently in the Rubbermaid shed, and I could chain it down to concrete, to prevent theft. The limitation is the 30 amps. Would have to power only essential circuits
Stepping up from there would be a whole home/standby type setup, with power levels and transfer automation priced to suit. Pricing anywhere from $2500 to $5000 for what we would need, not including the propane tank and hookup costs.
And that bring me to propane tank issues:
My original thought was to buy an oversized propane tank for the house. A 250 gallon tank is normal for single family dwellings with the heating requirements in our part of the country (north Georgia). A 500 gallon tank would certainly be a big step up. But that's an expensive upgrade, with a much bigger hole to dig. Alternatively, I could buy a second, smaller tank, maybe a 200lb. tank, which I can probably find used and dig/bury/install myself, right near the generator installation. While that might limit the generator to a couple of days run time, it would also be a hedge against running through the whole 500 gallon tank in case of a leak or other problem.
Lots of choices, which is a good thing. Of course I want to economize, but at the same time, I hope to be in this house for at least 20 years, so it's a small dollar per year issue.
Comments appreciated.
At the low end of the pricing spectrum, I could simply get a Harbor Freight 7000/8750 watt gas fired generator, rig a 30 amp connection box with a breaker panel lockout setup. In my current home, I have a 4000/5400 watt Generac that I run inside a Rubbermaid shed, with 12v marine fans powered by the generator for exhaust and intake air. Actually works very well and the generator runs cool. It has a great muffling effect. Go more than 75 feet away, and you can't tell there is a generator running. I would probably use the same shed for the HF generator.
Next step up would be the same HF generator, with a propane conversion kit, plumbed to the house propane tank, or with it's own propane tank.
The above two setups are nice in terms of being able to lock up the generator in the garage and wheel it out during extended outages, although at 200+ pounds, it's a beast to move around, even on wheels. If my wife had to do move it, I'm not sure she could. It could live permanently in the Rubbermaid shed, and I could chain it down to concrete, to prevent theft. The limitation is the 30 amps. Would have to power only essential circuits
Stepping up from there would be a whole home/standby type setup, with power levels and transfer automation priced to suit. Pricing anywhere from $2500 to $5000 for what we would need, not including the propane tank and hookup costs.
And that bring me to propane tank issues:
My original thought was to buy an oversized propane tank for the house. A 250 gallon tank is normal for single family dwellings with the heating requirements in our part of the country (north Georgia). A 500 gallon tank would certainly be a big step up. But that's an expensive upgrade, with a much bigger hole to dig. Alternatively, I could buy a second, smaller tank, maybe a 200lb. tank, which I can probably find used and dig/bury/install myself, right near the generator installation. While that might limit the generator to a couple of days run time, it would also be a hedge against running through the whole 500 gallon tank in case of a leak or other problem.
Lots of choices, which is a good thing. Of course I want to economize, but at the same time, I hope to be in this house for at least 20 years, so it's a small dollar per year issue.
Comments appreciated.
