Whole house generator

[KitC]

After the bad ice storm we had 3 years ago, I installed two Generac 20kw generators..one for the house and one for my shop...both with full transfer switches. Put a 500 gallon propane tank in the ground and it services them plus the gas log fireplace.

They fire up every Thursday and 0900 hrs and run for 10 minutes...I'm really hoping that is the only time I hear them run..

 

[dstig1]

I still can't get over the 65,000kW... what is that 65 MW? Does that run, like, Connecticut or something? :laughing:

Interestingly I hadn't heard any issues with Generac but I hadn't researched it that deeply. They seem to be the big name in gensets but so is Fram in oil filters (and they have cut quality over the years a ton, best I can tell). Maybe being the big name isn't that great...

Cummins supplied Onan with engines for years, then they bought a stake in Onan, and eventually they bought the whole company, so it is a unit of Cummins now. Not that they only use Cummins engines...

 

[daBear]

Big gensets like the 65KW are not that uncommon at all in larger houses that want the entire house powered. I buddy of mine has a 100KW on his. You would be surprised at how large they actually need to be to run everything with a cushion. My air cooled 20KW Cummins Onan is fine for most of the house with load dropping capability. I have three air conditioners but only hook two to the genset. Both can be dropped one at a time if the unit senses too much demand. My house is only 3500 SF and if I wanted to power everything I would need at least a 40KW liquid cooled unit. Once you get past the 20KW I have you must go to liquid cooled and that doubles the price.

As far as Generac, my experience with them cost me several thousand dollars and I cannot give you a good recommendation on them. They sure pack a lot of features in and have low prices, but you are getting what you pay for.

 

[Dargo]

Big gensets like the 65KW are not that uncommon at all in larger houses that want the entire house powered. I buddy of mine has a 100KW on his. You would be surprised at how large they actually need to be to run everything with a cushion.

Exactly. Mine is nothing special. The good thing when you get in that size range is that I don't see any cheapo Chinese junk. Maybe there are some out there, but everything I saw was powered either by JD, Cummins, Detroit Diesel etc. I have had amazing performance from Yanmar diesels, so I grabbed one that is Yanmar powered. By no means do I have the biggest generator around. There are some really large homes in my area that have well over 100kW.

 

[ultrarunner]

Exactly. Mine is nothing special. The good thing when you get in that size range is that I don't see any cheapo Chinese junk. Maybe there are some out there, but everything I saw was powered either by JD, Cummins, Detroit Diesel etc. I have had amazing performance from Yanmar diesels, so I grabbed one that is Yanmar powered. By no means do I have the biggest generator around. There are some really large homes in my area that have well over 100kW.

Some of the small regional hospitals around here use the 150kw standby rated Onan Cummins units.

Should be able to pick up some bargains as California Air Management Districts are forcing early retirement on units 10 to 15 years old and some only have a couple of hundred hours with full service logs.

I've looked into fining used one of the small kubota powered multi-quip units the rental yards have trailer mounted...

 

[grsthegreat]

Some of the small regional hospitals around here use the 150kw standby rated Onan Cummins units.

Should be able to pick up some bargains as California Air Management Districts are forcing early retirement on units 10 to 15 years old and some only have a couple of hundred hours with full service logs.

I've looked into fining used one of the small kubota powered multi-quip units the rental yards have trailer mounted...

California truly SUCKS,,, hay 2100 posts

 

[ultrarunner]

California truly SUCKS,,, hay 2100 posts

It certainly adds to the cost of doing business...

On the plus side... some of the equipment manufacturers have embraced all the changes... it translates into more sales... up to a point.

Just renewed one of the licenses... need a license to operate a pad mount genset 50hp and above...

$177 yearly permit and 30 non-emergency operational hours per year.

Plus another $250 yearly permit for the 180 gallon double confinement belly tank.

 

[Toyboy]

I just ordered a 20kw NG Generac for our 4k sq ft. home. Should be installed within 2 weeks. I'm debating whether to have the cold weather kit installed also. I'll make that decision when I find out if it's factory installed or dealer. Price is no object for peace of mind when you have a chicken little type wife

 

[Dogballs]

What does the cold weather kit include? I don't know if I have it or not, but my Generac 7kw has started and run fine at 20 below and probably colder. I use synthetic oil and that definitely helps with starting.

 

[aczlan]

Genset is an 1800 RPM with a fully electronic regulated brushless alternator, rated at 11.5 KW.

Out of curiosity, how much do you have into it?

Thanks

Aaron Z

 

[grsthegreat]

the cold weather kit is nice. its an water/oil heater (depending on if it has radiator or not) and battery charger. Some brands include these on units sold to cold climates.

 

[BobRip]

Nah, only 65k. Hey, I gotta pay the bills somehow :laughing: Just kidding, obviously. Still, I had two months in a row this summer during our really, really hot spell when my utility bill was 4 digits. Just a big family and big house, guest house and barns. I gotta feeling if we have another ice storm where the power is out for weeks at a time I'll have a huge family for a while!

How much fuel does that use? I would think many gallons per hour.

 

[Dargo]

How much fuel does that use? I would think many gallons per hour.

Nope. It uses about the same as a completely maxed out 20k generator would. The trouble is that most people undersize by a large margin and end up running at or close to max rated power. Taking the last 2 years worth of kW/hr useage and averaging that out, odds are my generator would normally run at 25% to 30% capacity, with the ability to handle extremely large spikes and heavy loads such as if I'm using my Hypertherm 1250 keeping it supplied with 150 psi of clean dry air, and 3 or 4 A/C units kicked on. I've worked too long and too hard to rough it when I don't have to. I used to camp in a tent and catch my food and use military tablets to sanitize water I came upon. Now camping is in a 40' diesel pusher with all the amenities of home.

That's another area where high quality diesel engines shine over the cheap ChiCom knock-offs. The best estimates on refilling after extended test runs is that I use between 1.2 and 1.6 gallons per hour. Obviously I could use considerably less if I wanted to shut off most circuits or considerably more if it's over 100 degrees outside and I'm working out in my air conditioned barn. I'm very well pleased that I had 3 different electrical contractors who specialize in installing generators (not just an electrician who knows how to install one) size my generator for me. I'm told I'm far better off having a tad bit extra reserve power than chancing severe damage from low power that can happen if your unit is undersized and begins to fade after being under it's max load for a while.

It's all in what you want. Before I had an 8500kW Honda gas powered generator and a 6500kW Yamaha gas powered generator. Both are reasonably frugal on fuel useage, but combined they burn almost as much as the far larger generator I have now that I'd only have to worry about refilling about once every 5 days if on an extended outage. I have the fuel on hand and my wife actually is quite adept at operating my track loader, which means she can easily carry my 110 gallon portable transfer tank using pallet forks on the track loader and refill my larger generator.

I think more people should look online and at places like IronPlanet at larger sized units. I basically had 15k before and it was far, far too little for my needs. You just have to watch for ones that have been used for light towers (generally have tens of thousands of hours on them) and ones that are way too big; like a 250k V12 powered C16 Cat powered generator. Service could cost tens of thousands to get one running right, there generally is a reason they're selling that unit (worn out) and they indeed drink 10 gallons or more per hour just loping along. I think I mentioned before that mine only had 91 hours on it and it was from a municipality that had bankrupted itself and I bought it at auction before they really had a chance to use it much. Obviously, I'm happy with it and the size. I would only suggest others getting estimates from 3 electrical companies that specialize in generator installation to size their generator and explain the dangers of low voltage.

 

[aczlan]

Nope. It uses about the same as a completely maxed out 20k generator would. The trouble is that most people undersize by a large margin and end up running at or close to max rated power.

What about a 25-50kw unit to power a load of less than 7kw?
Something like: 25 kw 37 amp KATO Generator

Aaron Z

 

[Toyboy]

Dogballs, a cold weather kit for the Generac air cooled units consists of a heater for the oil and a heating pads that go around the battery. It's automatically turned on and off by the temp outside.

 

[EMB5530]

I dont know if this interests you but Its my two cents
A pipeline welder is a two edged sword use for power when you have an outage.
and if your gonna be livin in the back woods who dosen't need a mobile gen/welder

Pros get more uses out of it then just a generator for power outages
Cons Usually not fuel efficent at all!!
Although I know miller pipeline welders have conversions for propane and I am not sure how efficent they are on that type of fuel

my experience is a miller bobcat 250
The wife wasnt very excited when i purchased it but come a week long power outage OHHHH the PAYOFF

 

[Dogballs]

Thanks Toyboy. I don't have that on my Generac and I haven't had any problems with cold weather starting yet.

 

[kude]

I wonder if some of the stator problems are from placing an undrpowered generator under an overload?

 

[whiskywizard]

When I install genny, and we have that first power outage, I'm going to tell SWMBO that "I'm going out to get the genny ready", and then wait for a few hours.

Maybe let her go without heat and water and lights for a while, just long enough for the pain to really sink in. Then when I get it running, she'll really appreciate it.

 

[grsthegreat]

When I install genny, and we have that first power outage, I'm going to tell SWMBO that "I'm going out to get the genny ready", and then wait for a few hours.

Maybe let her go without heat and water and lights for a while, just long enough for the pain to really sink in. Then when I get it running, she'll really appreciate it.

No she wont...shell tell you it was her idea all along...and yell at you for not starting it sooner :laughing: