Comparison Home Stand By Generators

[atgreene]

Thanks for the link...

Looks to be very efficient.

Sound or quiet of operation is a big factor in my next genset purchase... the small "Valley" where I would use it reverberates sound...

How is the noise level and have you done any mods?

Its loud, but for less than a quart per hour, I can live with it. We can hear it run, its beside the basement garage door, but it doesn't wake me up at night. I put a 50 gallon saddle tank off one of my old trucks in the basement and piped it out to it. I can go a week if the tank is full. I also put two group 31 batteries on it and a trickle charger so they stay up. It auto starts 3 times per week for 15 minutes as a test.

I had a 18 kW pto, but my wife couldn't hook it up and my tractors always were in a hayfield or had implements on them. Dropping an implement and hooking up to a gen in a thunderstorm or 18" wet heavy snow sucks.

I

 

[grsthegreat]

When the power is out for 3 days, like it was here last winter. Who cares how loud or how much fuel it costs.

 

[vanguard]

am thinking of a new panel with a subpanel running key circuits, like the center gaspack, skip the heatpump for the second floor, for sure skip the 4kw hot tub heater, and simply budget my usage to the limits of the 22kw unit. It seems to be the tried and true unit. Though I bet the Kohler is similar; then it gets down to the Ford/Chevy argument of whether you prefer a Kohler 999cc unit vs a Vanguard/Generac 999.

You do know that the generac 22kw units can use two 200amp transfer switch/panels right? I'm in the process of doing this now. I'm in a similar position except that I have 3x200amp service so unless I want to go to their 60kw unit I need to pick which panel I can live without.

 

[grsthegreat]

You do know that the generac 22kw units can use two 200amp transfer switch/panels right? I'm in the process of doing this now. I'm in a similar position except that I have 3x200amp service so unless I want to go to their 60kw unit I need to pick which panel I can live without.

the largest generator you can use 2 x 200 amp transfer switches is the 48KW unit. a 60 KW would require a single 400 amp switch....i install lots of multiple 200 amp switches on my units. comes in handy

 

[vanguard]

the largest generator you can use 2 x 200 amp transfer switches is the 48KW unit. a 60 KW would require a single 400 amp switch....i install lots of multiple 200 amp switches on my units. comes in handy

You sound like you have a lot of expertise. What's the cheapest way I can power 3x200amp panels with propane?

 

[grsthegreat]

You sound like you have a lot of expertise. What's the cheapest way I can power 3x200amp panels with propane?

there is no cheap way haha. i have a program from generac to calc generator loads. its part of my powerplay software. i use it when i size my jobs.

If theres elect heaters...theres always problems. When i get houses with electric backup heaters and or electric water boilers, i always need to shed those loads....unless i go big.

i reciently hooked up a 45KW unit on a house with electric heat, elect backup heat, elect water heaters and heat pumps. took some doing. It works great though. On this application, he had 2 x 200 amp panels so i installed 2 x 200 amp transfer switches and joined the feeds together in 16x16 J box with single 200 amp feed to generator.




care has to be taken to link both switches EXACTLY the same. i use color coded wires .... it gets confusing at times.

 

[MossRoad]

Clothes drying in a power outage.... I've heard this more than once in this thread. Geez, just hang them up on the shower rod in the bathroom. They'll be dry in the morning.

We've become a nation of convenience demanding weenies! Good grief. :laughing:

I understand people needing power for medical reasons. I understand people concerned about their families when they're away. And I understand that sometimes its just nice to not be without the conveniences we are accustomed to. And that's fine. But holy cow folks, my spouse can take care of herself and the kids just fine without me. If its hot, we open the windows. If its cold, we throw another log on the woodburner. If we're thirsty, we drink water. If we're hungry, we cook some food.

What would happen to your spouse and kids if you died or became incapacitated, or, god forbid, you were out of town... ooooooo, out of town. booga booga. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Home in Washington has a 400 amp service and the previous owner/builder put in one of those emergency generator 6 circuit panels to cover essentials with a cord to the back porch and used a Honda EM 5000...

It is far from automatic or seamless... it does cover all the essentials... not having propane, diesel or natural gas help me to decide to leave it as-is.

That'll get you by just fine. And money in your pocket, too.

 

[MossRoad]

Are any of you guys with the automatic whole house systems running into trouble with permits?

It can be real touchy here because the setback, noise limits, etc rule out the option for many in the city limits... plus the tax man comes out and my friend now has the privilege of paying another $300 a year in property tax.

No such restrictions on portable gensets with extension cords during an outage.

Never thought of that. Wonder if there's regs in HOA's, too?

 

[GManBart]

Clothes drying in a power outage.... I've heard this more than once in this thread. Geez, just hang them up on the shower rod in the bathroom. They'll be dry in the morning.

We've become a nation of convenience demanding weenies! Good grief. :laughing:

I understand people needing power for medical reasons. I understand people concerned about their families when they're away. And I understand that sometimes its just nice to not be without the conveniences we are accustomed to. And that's fine. But holy cow folks, my spouse can take care of herself and the kids just fine without me. If its hot, we open the windows. If its cold, we throw another log on the woodburner. If we're thirsty, we drink water. If we're hungry, we cook some food.

What would happen to your spouse and kids if you died or became incapacitated, or, god forbid, you were out of town... ooooooo, out of town. booga booga. :laughing:

Wow, we've gone from informative to downright silly. If you hang up clothes on the shower rod around here, they'll still be wet in the morning.

As I said earlier, not everyone's situation is the same, and what might be a convenience for you is a necessity for me....but the way you're posting, if you don't need it, nobody else does either.

We don't have a wood burner, or any other source of heat, so if the power goes out, the house is cold...and easily cold enough to burst pipes in bad weather. We also get 100*+F weather in the summer on a regular basis....yeah, you go ahead and open your windows when it's that hot out, and sweat your butt off all night long...that'll teach the rest of us.

Maybe your wife can manage lugging gas cans and generators if you're not there, but mine can't....she simply isn't strong enough (and has a bad shoulder). If I'm away, it's often a situation where I simply can't return, no matter what, and there isn't anybody around to help her. If I die, I doubt she'll stay here because it would be too much for her to manage at this point.

The good thing was, it didn't cost all that much money ($7500) to get a standby generator set up that she doesn't have to worry about any of that. It keeps us comfortable, ensures she can work from home no matter what, and takes care of things if we're out of town and the power goes out for any length of time....pretty easy decision, but I guess we're not cheap.

For some people, having the few bucks in their pocket is worth less than the security and convenience a good system provides.