Been on generator for a day !!

[RSKY]

We worried and worried about spending the money for a whole house generator last year. And went ahead and had it installed. My thinking was that my wife could not handle the portable ones we have depended on since 2009. ANOTHER storm line came thru yesterday and there are trees down everywhere in the Jackson Purchase area of Kentucky. Our 22-kw generator started around 11AM yesterday and is still chugging away at 7:30AM as I type.

It is nice, very nice.

RSKY

 

[DIYOrangeDave]

We worried and worried about spending the money for a whole house generator last year. And went ahead and had it installed. My thinking was that my wife could not handle the portable ones we have depended on since 2009. ANOTHER storm line came thru yesterday and there are trees down everywhere in the Jackson Purchase area of Kentucky. Our 22-kw generator started around 11AM yesterday and is still chugging away at 7:30AM as I type.

It is nice, very nice.

RSKY

We too, went the 22kw route. No regrets! We just had the 1 year service with 80 hours of runtime. Bring it on!

 

[5030]

Hard to beat. We went 6 straight days on our diesel powered Generac, They are a good investment. 22KW isn't nearly enough for our needs.

 

[Straightgrain3016]

There are so many things to think & share about running generators; we have a newer 13K with electric start.

Water-well, freezers, fridge, lights, hot water, charging ham radio batts....oh, so nice.

When ours is running; my recurring thought is: just how easy, quiet, efficient, and economical commercial power is....

 

[tacticalturnip]

You can't beat a good generator; for something you don't use 90% of the time, when needed, they're an absolute blessing.

As I sit here typing our lights have been flickering; no wind, just heavy snow on the wires and trees.

 

[Joel/ak]

We don't generally lose power. If we do I think the longest it was out was for around 8 hours.

We got a 12k gasser that I plug into the house for whole house power.

Last year it wasn't used for an actual outage. I've ran the house just to run the generator though

 

[5030]

There are so many things to think & share about running generators; we have a newer 13K with electric start.

Water-well, freezers, fridge, lights, hot water, charging ham radio batts....oh, so nice.

When ours is running; my recurring thought is: just how easy, quiet, efficient, and economical commercial power is....

Certainly is. I went through well over 100 gallons of diesel in 6 days @around $3.35 a gallon. Utility power is much cheaper.

 

[ericm979]

We just got power after being out for a week. The roads were blocked for much of that and no propane trucks could get in though there were ways to get in and out with smaller vehicles. Some of my neighbors with whole house generators ran out of propane and left to stay in town.

Some other neighbors with fancy solar and battery systems also ran out of power and their batteries shut down. Not much solar gets generated when the panels are covered by snow or it's overcast. The experienced mountain people who put in those systems make them so the batteries can be charged by a generator. That's actually ideal as they only need a few hours of generator a day to recharge the batteries. The generator's running at its most efficient full output rather than loafing most of the time.

My old tech gas generator did ok but I had to find a way into town every few days for more gas.

Earlier this year we were out for 12 days.

 

[tacticalturnip]

We just got power after being out for a week. The roads were blocked for much of that and no propane trucks could get in though there were ways to get in and out with smaller vehicles. Some of my neighbors with whole house generators ran out of propane and left to stay in town.

Some other neighbors with fancy solar and battery systems also ran out of power and their batteries shut down. Not much solar gets generated when the panels are covered by snow or it's overcast. The experienced mountain people who put in those systems make them so the batteries can be charged by a generator. That's actually ideal as they only need a few hours of generator a day to recharge the batteries. The generator's running at its most efficient full output rather than loafing most of the time.

My old tech gas generator did ok but I had to find a way into town every few days for more gas.

Earlier this year we were out for 12 days.

Now that's smart.

 

[RSKY]

Power came on at 3:45PM. So it ran from 11:15AM Friday until 3:45PM Saturday. That is 28-1/2 hours if I am correct. No inconvenience to us at all. Well except for buying the thing and paying for the natural gas. Gonna be interesting to see how much more our bill will be this month. Also with the 22kw we ran the stove and clothes dryer at the same time.

RSKY

 

[Tinhack]

I dodge a bullet with that storm here in South Texas. Had super high winds, hail and debris everywhere but electric stayed on. Just north of me folks weren't so lucky. Winds were clocked at 80+. All the windows in the house were rattling. I thought for sure I was in the middle of a tornado. Whew, close call.

 

[Thomas]

Money well spent also gives easy feeling when needed.

 

[grsthegreat]

They dont need to run standby generators 24/7 during extended outages. I run mine a few fours to keep refer and freezer going, off most of daylight hours except to do lunch, then off until dark. Then it runs until i shut it off for bedtime. I have 1000 gal propane tank….i could go a long time between fillings.

 

[bindian]

Yep, one thing I made sure of was enough propane for a weeks running time when I had mine installed. That equals to a 1000 gallon tank. It has powered the house 3 times since installation. It is really a good feeling until you think about refilling 1000 gallons of propane with winter rates.

hugs, Brandi

 

[RSKY]

We are on a natural gas line so don't have to worry about refueling a tank. A local outfit does the installation and maintenance on the units they sell. They have a reputation of standing behind their products and not charging an arm and a leg for work.

RSKY

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I am in the process of installing a 24k Generac to power my home and shop. We just ran 850' of 1" poly pipe for the natural gas. We should have the meter installed next week and will be able to to run the generator and test everything.

I debated between going natural gas and butane. At first the gas company wanted $12,000 to run the 850' from their line to my shop. I own a trencher so I bought 1000' of pipe and installed it myself.

The gas company only charged me $750 to install the meter up near their existing line.

Butane would have cost me about $2500 for a 500 gal tank, not including the butane to fill it.

I really wanted the natural gas so that I don't have to worry about keeping the tank filled.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was working in an area where the power had been out for over a week. An elderly widow who lived next door had a whole house generator but had been out of propane for several days. There was a power line down across her driveway and although it wasn't live, the propane company wouldn't deliver to her. I felt bad but I was just there for the day and there was nothing I could do for her.

 

[arto98607]

Little over 20 years ago I bought 8 kW 1800 rpm Diesel generator, installed transfer switch etc. to power few critical circuits in case of longer power outage.
(I keep enough off road Diesel fuel in safe storage for our other equipment to run this generator for few weeks if ever needed)

Soon after that our local utility company got their act together and we have not had power outages longer than 2 - 3 hours ever since!

Oh well, at least I am prepared if that changes for worse....

PS. No nat. gas distribution piping in the area.

 

[LouNY]

Little over 20 years ago I bought 8 kW 1800 rpm Diesel generator, installed transfer switch etc. to power few critical circuits in case of longer power outage.
(I keep enough off road Diesel fuel in safe storage for our other equipment to run this generator for few weeks if ever needed)

Soon after that our local utility company got their act together and we have not had power outages longer than 2 - 3 hours ever since!

Oh well, at least I am prepared if that changes for worse....

PS. No nat. gas distribution piping in the area.

Lucky you, I don't have an hour meter on my pto generator but she has had at least a 1000 hours on here in the 25+ years I've had it.
3 long multi day outages and numerous ones during the year till the last 2 years. Thinking back for the last two years it's gotten less then 40 hours on it.

 

[grsthegreat]

I am in the process of installing a 24k Generac to power my home and shop. We just ran 850' of 1" poly pipe for the natural gas. We should have the meter installed next week and will be able to to run the generator and test everything.

I debated between going natural gas and butane. At first the gas company wanted $12,000 to run the 850' from their line to my shop. I own a trencher so I bought 1000' of pipe and installed it myself.

The gas company only charged me $750 to install the meter up near their existing line.

Butane would have cost me about $2500 for a 500 gal tank, not including the butane to fill it.

I really wanted the natural gas so that I don't have to worry about keeping the tank filled.

I hope that 850’ is for their high pressure end. Your not going to have much useable gas if its after the meter…..unless you go 2# meter.