Whole house generator

[Ridgewalker]

I am moving to a rural location where I will be back to having powerpoles.
I am one of the last houses on a 1.5 mile road leading into our new place and
have been looking into whole house generators.

What are you guys using?

Has anybody used this one?

Briggs & Stratton 40305B Auto Standby Generator Air-Cooled 20KW

 

[kenmac]

Just my opinion but, I would buy a generator with a Liquid Cooled Engine for whole house Generator . Afew years ago I was a generack dealer. I wouldn't install an Air cooled engine on homes to power A/C ( This was per Generac) Other installers would install Air cooled engines for this. When people had problems with the engine or generator, the installer wouldn't come back & they would call me . As soon as I saw it was an air cooled generator. I walked away

 

[jmanatee2]

Just my opinion but, I would buy a generator with a Liquid Cooled Engine for whole house Generator . Afew years ago I was a generack dealer. I wouldn't install an Air cooled engine on homes to power A/C ( This was per Generac) Other installers would install Air cooled engines for this. When people had problems with the engine or generator, the installer wouldn't come back & they would call me . As soon as I saw it was an air cooled generator. I walked away

I totally disagree with these statements. I have had good luck with two generac home standby generators. Both air cooled

Most small (<20kw) lpg or gas home standby generators are air cooled.

 

[bcjmmac]

I have a Briggs & Stratton 20KW generator. Air cooled, propane. No issues - automatic start set for 2 minutes after power disconnected - came on about 6 times last winter (live in N.B., Canada - lots of snow).
Picked the B&S over Generac because there is a local dealer in case I need service beyond what I can do myself.

Cheers

 

[ultrarunner]

Might have been a perfect storm... homes that need central A/C tend to be in hot climates and the worst case would be power out during an extended heat wave when using A/C taxing the air cooled genset.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Thanks for the replies gents, keep 'em coming!

 

[Travelover]

I'm curious as to why you would want a 20KW generator. It seems like a huge investment for the number of hours that you would actually use it. And when you do use it, it sucks down a lot of expensive fuel.

Where I'm at, a 5000 watt generator is plenty to run essentials until the power is restored.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have 5000 also... one Honda and a Winco with auto transfer at another location.

 

[rekees4300]

I looked into whole house but just couldn't justify the cost vs. the potential length of an outage. Been in the boondocks for 11 years and longest outage has been 39 hours. My 5.5 KW portable and some extension cords were enough to keep the essential stuff like refrigerator, furnace, freezer, water pump going. Of course your situation may be different. If you haven't already done so, suggest you talk to the neighbors and find out the maximum outage they have experienced.

 

[tcartwri]

You should look into solar. The prices for good panels are almost half of what they were a few years ago. Add in an inverter charger and a small bank of batteries and you're good to go. It would certainly be cost effective compared to the size of generator you will be looking at. Your hydro bill will also be minimized when the batteries are topped up.