Generator feed back

[Flatheadyoungin]

do most of you buy big and just run the whole house as normal (easy, quick, no interruption of life style, use a lot of fuel, expensive initial cost)?

or do most of you buy a medium sized genny (less fuel, less initial cost) and just switch what you are powering, manually? like, say, run the refer for a while, then switch to the freezer, then maybe the forced air furnace, then maybe the hot water heater......this is how i've done it....just as needed, don't let the genny run the whole time......get up in the morning and "charge" everything....

yeah, depending on your budget, life-style and maintaining your comfort level, 15 seems huge!

good thread

 

[ray66v]

do most of you buy big and just run the whole house as normal

It does not necessarily have to be real big, to run everything. A good 5500 watt unit, with a good surge capacity, will run a lot of stuff.

like I said, you would not believe me if I listed it all, I run the everything, except the central air. However; I do run a window a/c in my den.

 

[kenmac]

I no longer install generac generators. When I did & someone wanted the entire house to operate(A/C) included. I always installed a liquid cooled generator. At that time generac offered a 15 KW liquid cooled mod. I think they now, only offer the liquid cooled mod in 20 KW. I only installed the N.G./ LP type

 

[RonMar]

With some carefull planning, you can do quite a lot without much power. The real kicker is that some loads have a huge startup surge load, and you have to have enough generator capacity for that. My largest surge load is the small well pump. I have a generator with enough spinning mass to start it easilly though. The generator only puts out 3KW continous and is driven by a 6HP diesel engine. I power the following thru my main panel with that 3KW capacity:

Well pump
Reefer
Freezer
Pellet stove
All electric outlets and any/all lighting I may want. They are all CFL's or florescents so their combined electric load if they were all on at once is only a few hundred watts. At night, this load typically has a few lights on, the entertainment center and perhaps a computer. If the well pump isn't running, I typically have a 1500-2000W surplus.

At meal times, I shutoff the feed to the garage so wellpump and freezer will not apply load uncontrollably. This allows me to run up to 2 small stove top burners at once, and/or a small toaster oven or the microwave. I use a 240V-120V step down transformer to spread the microwave or toaster oven load across both 120V legs to keep the generator balanced. This same transformer can also be used to power the washing machine if I need laundry done.

You will note I didn't mention hot water. At 4500W for a single element, it is above my generator capacity. But I planned for this when I put together my system. The diesel engine is liquid cooled. Instead of a radiator to dissipate the heat, I have a flat plate heat exchanger with a 120F thermostat on the secondary outlet. The engine delivers between 1/4 and 3/4 gallons per minute of 120F water depending on engine load. This 120F water is backfed into the top of the hot water tank to maintain 1 tank full of hot water. The cooler water coming off the bottom of the tank passes thru a fan-coil unit and back to the heat exchanger. Once the tank is at full of 120F water and warmer water starts comming out the bottom port, the fan coil starts dissipating the excess heat, between 6000 and 18,000 BTU/HR either into my home or outside, as needed. It may take between 1 and 3 hours to heat the tank fully depending on generator load. But you can do a lot with a full 50 gallons of hot water. Since the heat in the cooling system is normally wasted outside, the hot water and the space heat if used, are basically free...

So with this setup, A 55 gallon drum of diesel will allow me to operate 12 hours a day for just about 20 days, and have basically all the normal comforts except the use of the electric dryer on any other setting but air dry.

Less is more(and easier to achieve) if you plan carefully...

 

[Doc_Bob]

The diesel engine is liquid cooled. Instead of a radiator to dissipate the heat, I have a flat plate heat exchanger with a 120F thermostat on the secondary outlet. The engine delivers between 1/4 and 3/4 gallons per minute of 120F water depending on engine load. This 120F water is backfed into the top of the hot water tank to maintain 1 tank full of hot water.

Okay, post some pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob

 

[LBrown59]

The engine delivers between 1/4 and 3/4 gallons per minute of 120F water depending on engine load. This 120F water is backfed into the top of the hot water tank to maintain 1 tank full of hot water. The cooler water coming off the bottom of the tank passes thru a fan-coil unit and back to the heat exchanger. Once the tank is at full of 120F water and warmer water starts comming out the bottom port, the fan coil starts dissipating the excess heat, between 6000 and 18,000 BTU/HR either into my home or outside, as needed. It may take between 1 and 3 hours to heat the tank fully depending on generator load. But you can do a lot with a full 50 gallons of hot water. Since the heat in the cooling system is normally wasted outside, the hot water and the space heat if used, are basically free...

So with this setup, A 55 gallon drum of diesel will allow me to operate 12 hours a day for just about 20 days, and have basically all the normal comforts except the use of the electric dryer on any other setting but air dry.

Less is more(and easier to achieve) if you plan carefully...

I would buy a diesel generator because I am set up with this and can store all the fuel I'd ever need to run a generator for a long long time in case of a power outage.
These 3 drums will hold 140 gallon of fuel.
I also have 2 extra 30 gallon drums and 1 extra 55 gallon drum for this set up.


L . B .

 

[RonMar]

Okay, post some pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob

I attached a pic back in this Generator HP discussion, post #34.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/113740-hp-needed-genny-4.html

This of course was a do-it-yourself generator based on a lister CS clone slow speed engine. built with off the shelf parts. It was a fun project, but is most definitely not a turn-key genset. It was about the most efficient way i could maintain my accustomed lifestyle when the comercial power goes away...

 

[atgreene]

If you're in a cold climate, 15 kw is not a big generator. Around here 2-3 days w/o power is common with an ice storm. To run a deep well pump, some lights, boiler, refridge/freezer, stove, washer and the regular day to day stuff the extra $1000-2000 to do it up right is well worth it. Make sure you figure it on worst case conditions, seen a lot of houses undersize and after 3 days taking a shower and washing clothes becomes a little more necessary, especially if the nearest laudromat with power is 20 miles away on ice covered roads. At 5 degrees f, nothing is overkill.

Just my 2 cents from my own experience.

 

[vic4news]

I just got my utility power back last night after 5 days. I have a 5000 watt generator (actually rated at 4600 watts) and run my well, oil fired water heater, oil fired furnace, 2 refrigerators and rear projection tv and stereo with no problem.

The generator usually is running about 1/2 load. After I start the generator, I do turn on the breakers one at a time so that everything doesn't try to start up at once. Also, if I use the electric griddle or microwave, I make sure that the oil burners and 1 fridge is off.

I ran the generator for about 50 hours this week and used about 25 gallons of gasoline.

Vic

 

[ray66v]

I just got my utility power back last night after 5 days. I have a 5000 watt generator (actually rated at 4600 watts) and run my well, oil fired water heater, oil fired furnace, 2 refrigerators and rear projection tv and stereo with no problem.

The generator usually is running about 1/2 load. After I start the generator, I do turn on the breakers one at a time so that everything doesn't try to start up at once. Also, if I use the electric griddle or microwave, I make sure that the oil burners and 1 fridge is off.

I ran the generator for about 50 hours this week and used about 25 gallons of gasoline.

Vic

Amen. Unless you have unusual circumstances, I can't figure out why you need 15kw, for temporary power?

Previously, I had an ALL ELECTRIC HOME. It had a demand power meter on it. Even in the winter when the electric heat was on, with little effort, I was able to keep the demand at about 7kw.

A 5500watt generator, with a good surge capacity, can easily keep most anyone comfortable in even an extended power outage.

I used to worry about over loading it, I now I just dump the whole load on it at once, and it has no trouble with it, and my stuff does not have any trouble with it either.

But Hey, If you can afford the 15kw unit, and want to buy it, go for it.