Comparison Home Stand By Generators

[300UGUY]

Read the reviews on Amazon. The smaller models (10-14 kW) have really crummy reviews... lots of anecdotes of generator rotor failures. I have found similar stories elsewhere, which changed my mind about putting in a Generac 14 kW. Conversely, once you get 17-20 kW models, people seem pretty happy with them. I guess that might be one reason to "oversize" your generator choice.

Standby generator is a necessity in my case, as I have a deep well, and need a decent amount of power to start the well pump. I have no problem dragging out my portable generator when I am home, but it would be a domestic-catastrophe if we lost power while I was traveling on business. I am almost done with a GenTran 10 circuit transfer panel for my portable generator, and will park it permanently in a shelter outdoors to make it more convenient for the wife to use when I am gone.

I started my search looking for a whole-house generator, but have decided that was a bad way to go. A huge generator (17-20 kW, ok huge for me) loafing along when my average load is about 3 kW (with spikes for well pump, hot water heater, dryer, stove) is a waste of fuel. I can manage what I need easily with a 6 kW generator. My B&S Vanguard 10 kW is overkill with the selective loads I am powering.

I think undersizing a generator is a bad idea. I had a Coleman 7.5 kw generator, and I could hear it lug down when my well pump kicked it. One day, it lugged down, threw a rod!! A hot water heater draws at least 4500 watts, and that is a pretty constant load. My well is about 200 ft deep, a 3/4 pump with a 30 amp breaker, so I would allow 3000 watts just for a well pump. You don't want to run a motor on low power, it will shorten the life of the motor.

 

[buickanddeere]

300UGUY You are correct. If there is one main and consistent cause of failure of any machine. It's the operator overloading the machine.

 

[jacspath]

Hey, I totally agree that under powering your system is just plain dumb. But over doing it is, while less dumb, still rediculous. What you need to do is what 300UGUY has done which is make a detailed and realiztic analysis of your situation [My well is 50 feet deep and I head hot water from the propane fired furnace so my elect needs are much less that his [or hers]. Don't waste money on more than you need, but spend it [if you can't do it yourself] on a detailed analysis of what you do need [plus a 10% 'reserve' extra].

 

[daugen]

I never worried when we went away if the gen was running too much. If something happened where the power was out for more than a day, I think I'd hear about it in the news or a neighbor with my cell number would call. He could always just push the rocker switch to off ,and then perhaps come back in six or eight hours and start it up again. If I was on a cruise ship, I sure wouldn't want my fridge and freezer to get spoiled.
the amount of propane I used in three years was less than a couple hundred bucks and that included one multi day outage, six or seven shorter outages a year, and no other use of the propane tank. Most of these engines need to be run more, not less.

I had a 100% electric house so I knew the heat pump would give it an adequate workout. And when I left on a trip I would always throw the breaker on the electric hot water heater and of course change the hvac setting to less comfortable/less operation. Have that 80 gallon water heater come on at the same time the fridge, freezer and 5 ton heat pump and it was all that 20kw Generac could handle. And not well, it would momentarily bog at times and the lights would flicker. Turning the hot water heater off helped, but not entirely.
If they all kick on/surge at once, it's quite a load and i bet the governor is going wide open trying to keep the rpm up.

Properly sized for my current home, so no flickering lights, (good way to wreck your pc if it isn't hooked into a UPS) I'd need at least a 36kw unit with one heat pump and two gaspack blowers. And everything else electric. But the price is just nutso higher than the 22kw unit. I decided to save the money and just shed load. Easy to do if one just keeps in mind what appliance draws what, as talked about here. An electric hot water heater, refrigerator and freezer can go a pretty long time and still stay within some safe or desired temp range. So then turn something else off, and turn all those high loads on for a while, and then turn them off again. Flipping breakers is not hard to do. Maybe put some color coding on the breakers based on a load shedding scheme previously thought out.

I may desire a 600 hp motor in my truck, for those times I might need it...
But I can meet all my needs with 300hp. At issue is how much time I'm running my truck actually floored
with 300hp. I grew up with a Blue Flame Six so 300hp seems pretty good to me btw.

 

[buickanddeere]

10% is a rather slim margin. On a consumer grade machine continuous operation above 75-80% is not advised.

 

[piercedtiger]

My water heater is 4500w as well, thus I throw the breaker for that whenever I'm on generator power. I knew that when getting my portable, and figured we didn't need hot water for showers immediately so that could wait for the return of grid power. We're on town water that I believe to be gravity fed due to the tank being on top of a hill above the town. That leaves me to run mostly LED lights, pellet stove, fridge, freezer, and other small electric items. Thus far my 5000w Champion has worked perfectly for our needs.

 

[GreenheadRecycle]

We used a interlock kit on our breaker box to transfer power from a gen-set. Simple to use/install. You get all the circuits on your breaker box to adjust power, not just a few. A lot cheaper option and no extension cords. Be sure to get the switch made for your exact breaker box.

Generator InterLock Kit | Safe Connection of Generators to Electrical Panels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7DkaorEQPQ

 

[Garandman]

I was told this area has a lot of power outages but wasn't sure what "a lot" meant. The unit was installed at the end of November and excluding self test has already run 14 hours!

 

[300UGUY]

We had 14 days without power in 2013. I had a new neighbor move in, he didn't believe he needed a generator. After a 30 hour blackout, he changed his mind....

 

[GManBart]

We had 14 days without power in 2013. I had a new neighbor move in, he didn't believe he needed a generator. After a 30 hour blackout, he changed his mind....

Yep...the guy who sits across from me lives in Howell as well, and I think I remember when that outage was.