Whole house generator

[grsthegreat]

the cold weather kit is nice. its an water/oil heater (depending on if it has radiator or not) and battery charger. Some brands include these on units sold to cold climates.

 

[BobRip]

Nah, only 65k. Hey, I gotta pay the bills somehow :laughing: Just kidding, obviously. Still, I had two months in a row this summer during our really, really hot spell when my utility bill was 4 digits. Just a big family and big house, guest house and barns. I gotta feeling if we have another ice storm where the power is out for weeks at a time I'll have a huge family for a while!

How much fuel does that use? I would think many gallons per hour.

 

[Dargo]

How much fuel does that use? I would think many gallons per hour.

Nope. It uses about the same as a completely maxed out 20k generator would. The trouble is that most people undersize by a large margin and end up running at or close to max rated power. Taking the last 2 years worth of kW/hr useage and averaging that out, odds are my generator would normally run at 25% to 30% capacity, with the ability to handle extremely large spikes and heavy loads such as if I'm using my Hypertherm 1250 keeping it supplied with 150 psi of clean dry air, and 3 or 4 A/C units kicked on. I've worked too long and too hard to rough it when I don't have to. I used to camp in a tent and catch my food and use military tablets to sanitize water I came upon. Now camping is in a 40' diesel pusher with all the amenities of home.

That's another area where high quality diesel engines shine over the cheap ChiCom knock-offs. The best estimates on refilling after extended test runs is that I use between 1.2 and 1.6 gallons per hour. Obviously I could use considerably less if I wanted to shut off most circuits or considerably more if it's over 100 degrees outside and I'm working out in my air conditioned barn. I'm very well pleased that I had 3 different electrical contractors who specialize in installing generators (not just an electrician who knows how to install one) size my generator for me. I'm told I'm far better off having a tad bit extra reserve power than chancing severe damage from low power that can happen if your unit is undersized and begins to fade after being under it's max load for a while.

It's all in what you want. Before I had an 8500kW Honda gas powered generator and a 6500kW Yamaha gas powered generator. Both are reasonably frugal on fuel useage, but combined they burn almost as much as the far larger generator I have now that I'd only have to worry about refilling about once every 5 days if on an extended outage. I have the fuel on hand and my wife actually is quite adept at operating my track loader, which means she can easily carry my 110 gallon portable transfer tank using pallet forks on the track loader and refill my larger generator.

I think more people should look online and at places like IronPlanet at larger sized units. I basically had 15k before and it was far, far too little for my needs. You just have to watch for ones that have been used for light towers (generally have tens of thousands of hours on them) and ones that are way too big; like a 250k V12 powered C16 Cat powered generator. Service could cost tens of thousands to get one running right, there generally is a reason they're selling that unit (worn out) and they indeed drink 10 gallons or more per hour just loping along. I think I mentioned before that mine only had 91 hours on it and it was from a municipality that had bankrupted itself and I bought it at auction before they really had a chance to use it much. Obviously, I'm happy with it and the size. I would only suggest others getting estimates from 3 electrical companies that specialize in generator installation to size their generator and explain the dangers of low voltage.

 

[aczlan]

Nope. It uses about the same as a completely maxed out 20k generator would. The trouble is that most people undersize by a large margin and end up running at or close to max rated power.

What about a 25-50kw unit to power a load of less than 7kw?
Something like: 25 kw 37 amp KATO Generator

Aaron Z

 

[Toyboy]

Dogballs, a cold weather kit for the Generac air cooled units consists of a heater for the oil and a heating pads that go around the battery. It's automatically turned on and off by the temp outside.

 

[EMB5530]

I dont know if this interests you but Its my two cents
A pipeline welder is a two edged sword use for power when you have an outage.
and if your gonna be livin in the back woods who dosen't need a mobile gen/welder

Pros get more uses out of it then just a generator for power outages
Cons Usually not fuel efficent at all!!
Although I know miller pipeline welders have conversions for propane and I am not sure how efficent they are on that type of fuel

my experience is a miller bobcat 250
The wife wasnt very excited when i purchased it but come a week long power outage OHHHH the PAYOFF

 

[Dogballs]

Thanks Toyboy. I don't have that on my Generac and I haven't had any problems with cold weather starting yet.

 

[kude]

I wonder if some of the stator problems are from placing an undrpowered generator under an overload?

 

[whiskywizard]

When I install genny, and we have that first power outage, I'm going to tell SWMBO that "I'm going out to get the genny ready", and then wait for a few hours.

Maybe let her go without heat and water and lights for a while, just long enough for the pain to really sink in. Then when I get it running, she'll really appreciate it.

 

[grsthegreat]

When I install genny, and we have that first power outage, I'm going to tell SWMBO that "I'm going out to get the genny ready", and then wait for a few hours.

Maybe let her go without heat and water and lights for a while, just long enough for the pain to really sink in. Then when I get it running, she'll really appreciate it.

No she wont...shell tell you it was her idea all along...and yell at you for not starting it sooner :laughing: