I’ve shut my generator down once during a power outage. It had been running for 4 days. Oil level was good, so I fired it back up again for another 3. It was winter and cooling was not an issue. Once the power came back on, I changed the oil $ filter. I keep several service kits on hand, extra oil filters and Mobil 1 5w30. I adjust the valves as needed and keep extra valve cover gaskets too.Air cooled units do not need commissioning, only liquid cooled industrial units. Homeowner can do his own valves. Owner can install, start and service their own air cooled units.
But if there done wrong and engine damage occurs, theres no warranty.
I have lots of customers that never shut their units down during long outages. Ive never had one fail on the units i work on due to this though.
sure can. a whole house switch has been around for many years. they also have versions that are approved for use in Canada. (CSA Approved). for whole house use, you generally need a service rated switch, and it gets installed between the meter and the house panel.
Standby Generator Transfer Switches | Generac
Generac transfer switches make it possible to switch between utility and generator power.www.generac.com
Generac or Koehler whole house generator?
ponytug
Super Member
How long have you had your MEP-803?
Yes, I agree, not for everyone.
All the best,
Peter
t1kilo
Bronze Member
About 3 or 4 years. It’s got right at 1000 hours on it. I have another one that I picked up about 2 years ago for a nephew that has less than 15 hours on it. I can go out and flip the switch on either one and they fire right up. Amazing pieces of equipment.
check
Elite Member
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- Sep 26, 2008
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- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota BX25
Our Kohler does the whole house. (The transfer switch feeds the entire panel.)
check
Elite Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2008
- Messages
- 4,012
- Tractor
- 2009 Kubota BX25
Really? Just look up “Kohler automatic transfer switch” and you will see what I have up in cottage country, in Ontario. Works great!
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Northern Tool Catalog arrived in the mail yesterday, and the first dozen pages in the catalog are generators. There is a section of Generac generators that seem to be a lot lower in cost then what Torvy said he was quoted for where I live in Tyler.
24kw with 200 amp transfer switch is on sale right now for $5,847.30
I have Natural Gas to my Mom's house, but I haven't ran it to my house yet. I'm adding on a 3 car garage and I want the meter set at the end of my garage. Hopefully I'll get that all done over the winter, but it's proven harder to get to then I thought possible with all my other "must do" projects.
The Natural Gas meter is for a 1 inch line. Does anybody know how big of a generator I can run off of a 1 inch Natural Gas line? Is that a lot of Natural Gas, or will I be limited in what size generator I can run? We will also have a Natural Gas range for cooking, but there isn't any plan to have Natural Gas for laundry or the water heater. The HVAC is currently electric for heat, and we never use it since we heat with wood and electric heat is stupid expensive. When we replace the HVAC system, it might become Natural Gas for heat, but I'm not sure on that.
24kw with 200 amp transfer switch is on sale right now for $5,847.30
I have Natural Gas to my Mom's house, but I haven't ran it to my house yet. I'm adding on a 3 car garage and I want the meter set at the end of my garage. Hopefully I'll get that all done over the winter, but it's proven harder to get to then I thought possible with all my other "must do" projects.
The Natural Gas meter is for a 1 inch line. Does anybody know how big of a generator I can run off of a 1 inch Natural Gas line? Is that a lot of Natural Gas, or will I be limited in what size generator I can run? We will also have a Natural Gas range for cooking, but there isn't any plan to have Natural Gas for laundry or the water heater. The HVAC is currently electric for heat, and we never use it since we heat with wood and electric heat is stupid expensive. When we replace the HVAC system, it might become Natural Gas for heat, but I'm not sure on that.
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grsthegreat
Super Star Member
Im not a gas guy, so cant help you there. You need to talk with the gas company or a heating contractor. Generators suck a-lot of gas. It depends on weather the regulator is before or after the run of pipe.
Here, the gas company can boost the pre-regulated pressures up to 2# to allow alot more gas to run in smaller pipes, than add a regulator at every necessary device.
Here, the gas company can boost the pre-regulated pressures up to 2# to allow alot more gas to run in smaller pipes, than add a regulator at every necessary device.
I happened to be working in Western Maine a few years back while they were in the middle of a weeks long power outage. The elderly widow next to where I was working had a whole house but had run out of propane and they wouldn't deliver because the power line was down across her driveway. It wasn't live yet I can understand their concerns.
I felt bad for her but there was nothing I could do.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Natural Gas seems like the best fuel because it shouldn't run out. I understand that something can happen to the pipeline, but there are more chances that you won't be able to get gas, diesel or propane then the Natural Gas Line not supplying it.
MY current generator is a 10,000 watt starting 8,000 watt running Champion generator that also used propane, but the rating decreases to 9,000 watt starting and 7,200 watt running rating. I have several propane bottle for it because it can be challenging getting gasoline here when we have a Hurricane/Tropical Storm, or even worse, an ice storm that closes the roads. When the power is out, most of the gas stations shut down because they do not have generators. The last outage, I had four 5 gallon gas cans filled up and I used 3 of them. A couple years ago, we lost power for a week because of an ice storm, and I used up all my gasoline and didn't have any propane, so I had to drive around to find an open gas station. I think I found gasoline somewhere around my 20th gas station.
For me, if I'm going to spend the money on a whole house system, I want it to run off of Natural Gas.
MY current generator is a 10,000 watt starting 8,000 watt running Champion generator that also used propane, but the rating decreases to 9,000 watt starting and 7,200 watt running rating. I have several propane bottle for it because it can be challenging getting gasoline here when we have a Hurricane/Tropical Storm, or even worse, an ice storm that closes the roads. When the power is out, most of the gas stations shut down because they do not have generators. The last outage, I had four 5 gallon gas cans filled up and I used 3 of them. A couple years ago, we lost power for a week because of an ice storm, and I used up all my gasoline and didn't have any propane, so I had to drive around to find an open gas station. I think I found gasoline somewhere around my 20th gas station.
For me, if I'm going to spend the money on a whole house system, I want it to run off of Natural Gas.
ning
Elite Member
Simplistically - you need to add up the gas usage from everything in the house that may be on at the same time downstream from where you're tapping in the generator, and see how much is left over for the generator at that spot. How much is available depends on gas type and the pipe size and length; the downstream BTUs can be added together to see how much they take. It's not a tough calculation but double-check online the procedure.
A couple years ago I installed a (propane) gas tankless water heater and had to do similar calculations to make sure the new 199k BTU unit replacing an 80k BTU tank unit was going to get enough gas.
A brief search indicates that 1" pipe of natural gas can provide roughly 275k BTU.. but again this depends a lot on pipe length.
