GENERATOR BUYING

[Gary Fowler]

I am looking to put in a whole house emergency generator. I considered the tractor driven ones but finally decided that an inplace full time with automatic transfer switch that runs on Propane would be better. Lots of issues discussed here with the pros and cons of tractor vs standalone.
My question is one of opinions on the Generac 20KV 5896 generator that Lowes sells. Has anyone had personal experience with Generac generators. There seems to be only about 3 choices on the market for residential generators and that is Generac, Briggs & Stratton and Kohler with the later 2 being about $500 or more higher than Generac for the same size. I would love to have the water cooler versions, but they are outside my price threshold so I am sticking with the air cooled versions and the largest of them is 20KW.
Any info on these before I put in my order for this Generac on reliability etc?
How about the Nexxus automatic load monitoring transfer switch?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Based on input from RV users I would spend the extra $500. It seems the electronics has been their weakness. Maybe they have turned that image around.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I have an 2001 generac 6500kw that has been fine, uses a little oil but no other issues.
Know nothing about the Nexxus though, I use a manual switch. I also bring it along for work when I have no power so it's been used a bit, just not at home much. We have a vent kid in the area so our power is back pretty fast.
But 20 kw!? What are you planning on running of it? Granted I have gas heat and water but both draw power and I've had no issues from lacking juice. A 10 should be plenty even with well etc. I'd think. 20 and you can power it all and do some welding on the side
Before you buy check out the unit Costco sells with the included the auto transfer switch, You might like it and save a few bucks. They are on-line and I think they have more of a presence on the east coast now. Good luck hunting!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Generac Generator Problems | eHow.com

Maybe the negatives is due to them being the number one maker of home generators.

20KV would be min I would want for a whole house system but we are all electric household. AC units can be demanding.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

Forgot about AC! We pretty much never need that here Only the heat and our raincoats for the most part. LOL

 

[Gary Fowler]

The 20Kw is minimum size that I can use to power the house. It is a total electric and the sizing charts list 26Kv as needed size for my particular case. With the load managing transfer switch, the 20 kv is supposed to handle up to 2 Central AC units running at once.
FYI to commenters: I am not talking about those little portable pull around units that are 6500-8500 watts or even 15Kw. I am talking the Guardian series whole house permanently placed type. The model I am looking at is a Generac # 5896

 

[Gary Fowler]

I wanted to add that one of the reasons for getting this size and type is that it is automatic and no switching, starting etc. I am out of country a lot and I know my wife would not be able to switch the supply over, hook up a portable generator and keep if filled with fuel by herself. I will put in a minimum of 200 gallon propane tank to fuel this generator since I dont have natural gas available. With the 20Kw size it will run the HVAC and hot water heater with no problem. Wife will be able to use her electric range by just turning off the HVAC without over loading. So with just some common sense power management she can continue to function normally. We just this week had a power line down and it took the electric company 18 hours to get it back on and it was just a tree on the line not far from my house. They didnt even come out till after 9am the following morning and it went out at 8pm the previous night. Not the best service. Luckily this time the weather was mild.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Gary that is the only class of system we should get for use when we are not around. The hack systems are not so cool as the years pass either.

 

[hr3]

The 20Kw is minimum size that I can use to power the house. It is a total electric and the sizing charts list 26Kv as needed size for my particular case. With the load managing transfer switch, the 20 kv is supposed to handle up to 2 Central AC units running at once.
FYI to commenters: I am not talking about those little portable pull around units that are 6500-8500 watts or even 15Kw. I am talking the Guardian series whole house permanently placed type. The model I am looking at is a Generac # 5896

The Nexxus is good but it doesn't really run 2 ac units at once.. As the unit sees the load build up it will drop one unit out then cycle the 2 units until the load from the rest of the house goes down enough to run both again,,

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is the way I understand it also. It manages the power for you so you dont overload the generator. I only have one unit, but could relate it to AC and electric range although at 83 amps would likely run both at the same time. I did consider at one time a deal I found on Craiglist for a 30Kv but at 7.9 GPH fuel consumption and 4.9 at 1/2 load, I thought that was a lot much to spend for very little more need. The 20Kw runs about 2.9 GPH so at $3.50 gal (estimated since I havent bought bulk yet) runs $150-250 per day for electrical service if the gen set runs all the time. I suppose partial run time would cut the cost down considerably.

 

[bradm64]

Gary,

I have a Generac Guardian 20KW unit. Unfortumately, it has only been installed a few months, so I really don't have any feedback on the reliability. I looked pretty hard at different makers, and went Generac due to price point. Seems like they have enough on the market to present adequate reliability. I read lots on the internet, and could not find adequate justification to spend the extra bucks.

The installer did have a bit of a problem with the controls system for the motor during initial set up - had a bad sensor, and had to change it out, but was not a really big deal.

I went fully automatic for same reason you are looking that way. I don't think my wife would move a portable to where needs to be hooked up, hook it up, start it, keep it fueled, etc.

 

[jenkinsph]

Gary,

If you are considering a 20kw genset then plan for a 500 gal tank, to get a better rate on the fuel you need to make 300 gallon minimum purchase in most areas. LP tanks are only filled to about 80-85% of their capacity so a 500 gallon tank will fill to 400+ gallons. I would check with your local lp supplier to see where the discounts occur in your locale, in my area a 500 gal tank rents for about $50/year. Better to let them own it imo.


FWIW, the largest consumption of electricity would be an all electric air handler with a large heat strip. I would check into changing out the electric heat for an lp high efficientcy (90+ efficient) furnace. This could reduce your standby generator size by 50% and could use the same lp tank setup.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My house is only about 6 months old so I would hate to have to start changing stuff out already. It has a very efficient heat pump system in it, (highest SEER rating made at the time) but I think those also have some heat strips for backup if the air temps get too low for the heat pump to extract the required BTU. Thanks for the info on the tanks. THe local LPG distributor is only about 2 miles from my house so maybe he will fill in lesser quantities. My brother in law is checking on that this week wrt tank sizes for filling, discount rates etc. Renting is likely the way we will go (we are both putting in gensets at the same time.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Other than having a tank in the yard this is route is appealing. Diesel is an option if one expects to use the system a lot.

The cost to operate one day being equal to the monthly bill retards my excitment for such a system however.

 

[mfreund]

We installed the Generac 20kw Guardian series last summer. I have had no problem with it once the installer figured out how to have 110v to the battery charger (the directions are very vague). It is really nice when the power goes off I lay in bed and listen for the generator to start and the go back to sleep w/o getting of of bed or going out in the weather. The power very rarely goes off on a sunny, warm day!!! I don't have enough hours to reliably give a report yet.

 

[grsthegreat]

I'm an electrical contractor, and Ive installed the generac systems many times. good strong units but you MUST keep up the service on them.

On my own system, i have an Onan 10KW on a 4500 SF house. I didn't need the 20KW size cause i switched my water heaters to gas, the cooktop is gas and the electric heat pump has gas backup for emergency use.

I am on a community well, so i didn't need to worry about well start up either. A deep well can be a real draw on a generator. For the deep wells used here in north Idaho, i generally recommend a 2000-4000 gallon reserve storage tank that has a smaller service pump to feed the house. Our wells are 700-900 feet deep here.

My genset is propane.....love the convenience of the 500 gal backup supply of fuel.

I also forgo the automatic transfer switch for most of my clients....no one wants to pay for fuel to operate it while no one is at home. I install manual start/stop switch in obvious location for homeowner to start generator and transfer the service with a flick of a switch. No one has ever complained.

Generac makes many of the automatic transfer switches for other companies. Also, all transfer switches arnt the same. some have extras like automatic exercise cycles, system monitoring lights and gages, transfer timers to limit false starts, etc.

 

[nike]

I have a 20kw Dewtz Diesel generator set. It was 30kw, 3 phase when I got it. I converted it to single phase. You lose 10 Kw, in the conversion.
It is not auto changeover, but I have used it a lot. Fuel consumtion is 1 gal an hour. I heat with propane so I do not need much electric for the furnace.
It runs a 2 2/3 ton air conditioning system with no problems. As well as the rest of the house, barn and tools.......
I would recommend going Diesel, Auto changeover is an easy add on.

 

[grsthegreat]

I have a 20kw Dewtz Diesel generator set. It was 30kw, 3 phase when I got it. I converted it to single phase. You lose 10 Kw, in the conversion.
It is not auto changeover, but I have used it a lot. Fuel consumtion is 1 gal an hour. I heat with propane so I do not need much electric for the furnace.
It runs a 2 2/3 ton air conditioning system with no problems. As well as the rest of the house, barn and tools.......
I would recommend going Diesel, Auto changeover is an easy add on.

I install alot of diesel generators, as most of the really large ones always run on diesel. But at my own place, i already had a propane tank, so it was easier than having to have diesel delivered to a large tank.

 

[nike]

I looked at the Generac, I really liked it and the propane usage is worst case full load, so you get better than spec.
But the Diesel generator was available and only needed to be pulled out of a trailer where it sat for 20 years. IT was seized. I un-seized it and rebuilt the upper end. (Air cooled real easy, just replace the 3 cylinders complete with pistons ect....)
Took a bit of time but I ended up with a good unit.:thumbsup:

 

[Toyboy]

We installed a 8kw propane Generac at out last home in the boonies and other than maxing out the starting battery (-25 needs all the amps you got) it worked flawlessly. We never knew we had a problem until it started up and realized it wasn't the exercise day. We wanted it to fire up when we were not there to protect the fridge/freezer and heat, thus the auto transfer switch. The gph on fuel is at full load and we never even came close to that. We never let the gph affect out thinking, freezing up the house or losing the fridge/freezer contents would have cost a lot more $$. Getting ready to install one here when the weather breaks but this time it'll be 17kw and running natural gas.