Generators

[dpg]

Speaking with someone and pricing a Generac within the next two weeks. Any opinions, good, bad, etc??

Thanks!

[MeredithMan]

We've had a Generac in Meredith since we bought the place in 2012. Has worked fine when it's had to. We have a Briggs & Stratton in Bedford...also has been very reliable. Have also heard great things about Kohler units. We use Powers out of Swanzey, (near Keene), for maintenance for both units.

You will get varying opinions on this, but my view is find someone who will be one-stop shopping for you. Can pull the necessary permits, line up the gas guy, electrician, etc. The other key item is finding someone who can properly size what unit you will need...they will come out to the house, ask you what your needs are, what you want covered when the generator kicks on, etc. From that data, they do a calculation that determines what KW size unit you need. Powers does this as part of their sales/install process. Other companies will do that as well, you just need to make sure it's part of the process.

Good luck and happy shopping!

[codeman671]

We have 2 x 20kw Kohlers at our home, with a 1000-gallon tank. My home is heated mainly with splits thus the capacity needed. We threw a rod through the block last year on one of them, but it was probably a fluke. Luckily it happened in the fall during a weekly exercise and not when we really needed them.

Overall, we are very happy with them. Yestramski out of Contoocock services them and supplied them, but my electrician ordered and installed them.

[Winilyme]

Originally Posted by codeman671

We have 2 x 20kw Kohlers at our home, with a 1000-gallon tank. My home is heated mainly with splits thus the capacity needed.

I think this is the problem I had when pricing out a whole house generator about 15 years ago. The price came in nearly double what I had budgeted...mainly due to (as was explained to me) our 5 ton geo heat pump. I didn't proceed as the cost-value didn't seem worth it.

Five years ago, we replaced that heat pump with a new one and I've been wondering if the newer tech lowers the start-up power requirement. Maybe the older one installed in 1995 didn't have a soft start-up feature and the newer one does? Haven't had time to look deeper and, besides, we've lost power for probably a total of 20 hours over the last 15 years (despite living in a rural area). So, even at a lower price point, I'm still not sure the cost-value would be there.

It sure would be nice to have the peace-of-mind however.

[TheTimeTraveler]

I've considered getting a back up generator however as time goes on I have had fewer and fewer issues of power loss (maybe the Cooperative is doing a better job in trimming trees so that downed branches have a lessor impact on the lines).

Have others seen their electric service to be better over the last 10 years or so?

[TomC]

Originally Posted by TheTimeTraveler

I've considered getting a back up generator however as time goes on I have had fewer and fewer issues of power loss (maybe the Cooperative is doing a better job in trimming trees so that downed branches have a lessor impact on the lines).

Have others seen their electric service to be better over the last 10 years or so?

Not me. my NHEC power comes in from over the Ossipees in Tuftonboro and goes out frequently. I have had the generator for less than 2 years and it has provided power for 86 hours of outages during that time...

[Descant]

Originally Posted by Winilyme

I think this is the problem I had when pricing out a whole house generator about 15 years ago. The price came in nearly double what I had budgeted...mainly due to (as was explained to me) our 5 ton geo heat pump. I didn't proceed as the cost-value didn't seem worth it.

Five years ago, we replaced that heat pump with a new one and I've been wondering if the newer tech lowers the start-up power requirement. Maybe the older one installed in 1995 didn't have a soft start-up feature and the newer one does? Haven't had time to look deeper and, besides, we've lost power for probably a total of 20 hours over the last 15 years (despite living in a rural area). So, even at a lower price point, I'm still not sure the cost-value would be there.

It sure would be nice to have the peace-of-mind however.

We've lost balance here. You pay more to install heat pumps to have low cost heat, but then lose heat becaue a big generator is too expensive? My sisiter in law built a super tight house with heat pumps and it is a greeat comfort. She was told she needed a huge generator because without grid power she was running electric heat, so she opted out. When we all lost power, her house remaoined comfortable for several days with no heat leakage, but she and her guests came to our house for showers and cooking amenities because she had no power and we had a 6.5KW generator in a larger house. Small generator because we don't have central a/c. I don't know anybody who has a standby generator who is unhappy with the purchase, regardless of losing more or fewer days of electricty from year to year.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Descant

We've lost balance here. You pay more to install heat pumps to have low cost heat, but then lose heat becaue a big generator is too expensive? My sisiter in law built a super tight house with heat pumps and it is a greeat comfort. She was told she needed a huge generator because without grid power she was running electric heat, so she opted out. When we all lost power, her house remaoined comfortable for several days with no heat leakage, but she and her guests came to our house for showers and cooking amenities because she had no power and we had a 6.5KW generator in a larger house. Small generator because we don't have central a/c. I don't know anybody who has a standby generator who is unhappy with the purchase, regardless of losing more or fewer days of electricty from year to year.

We used our window air-conditioners only one night this summer.

Do we have too many trees?



.





.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by ApS

We used our window air-conditioners only one night this summer.

Do we have too many trees?

I refer you to your post under "Lake Levels" where you complain about losing trees. Trees have a life expectancy whether in the woods or on the shore. When they drop seeds, the forest is sustainable. When you maintain a close in landscape, the seeds and saplings fail.
Perhaps planting some trees of different species would help?

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Descant

I refer you to your post under "Lake Levels" where you complain about losing trees. Trees have a life expectancy whether in the woods or on the shore. When they drop seeds, the forest is sustainable. When you maintain a close in landscape, the seeds and saplings fail.Perhaps planting some trees of different species would help?

Hemlock drop seeds from cones, but mature Hemlocks shade them out.

The trees I'm losing into the lake are over 100 years old--and they're not dying of old age! Where a Hemlock is getting into trouble, I'll plant a White Pine, for its shoreline-holding needle power. (The first to appear after woodlands wildfires, and before the first plow turned NH soil).



They're also the trees DES wouldn't allow let me to cut down (without paying a four-figure penalty).



Broadleaf trees are supposed to supplant every softwood. My guess is that broadleaf trees are harming the lake. (But benefit tiny benthic critters).

As for "decimated", the word doesn't mean "wiped-out", but "thinned"--at least for now...

[TomC]

I have a Generac whole house system and it works well. Be aware that there are many electricians who sell and install them, but are not authorized service providers. So if it breaks and you call a service center, you go to the bottom of the list as they prioritize customers who started at the beginning with them at the time of sale/installation (just like marinas do with boats)...

[Descant]

Our first standby generator was installed in 2004 by our electrician. I saved a bunch by digging the trenches for the power line and propane line myself as well as pouring the concrete pad myself. The Genset is about 50 feer from the house, so no fumes and little noise.

Some years ago the electrician retired and we started using Generator Pro for service. Very competent 24/7. As parts were unavailble for the old machine we moved to a Generac as Generator Pro was a dealer/installer.
Generac makes a big deal about a 7 year warranty worth $700 or 5/5, etc. We don't take anybody's warranty/sertvice program if it isn't free and we've saved a lot of $$ over the years.

If you don't already have propane, it's worth shopping around separately as some dealers supply a tank, others sell and some rent. If you have oil, the same outfit may be good for propane too. If the generator is your only propane appliance, check to see what the extra charge is for small fill ups.

This won't come up in the sales talk, but add an extra KW for your Christmas lights. And, will you ever buy a Tesla?

[dpg]

The person I'm tied in with and who will do it is a friend of a friend. I'll be treated "ok" on price I'm sure. The place already has propane and we've had a quick initial discussion about my wants. He's going to visit the home and check out need, layout, etc.
Don't live there now, down the road it's a possibility at least for awhile. I primarily care about obviously emergency use heat, fridge, hot water and of course a TV and light or two. Never be "working from home" so that doesn't play into it. No electric vehicles (good point) and none in the near future that I'm expecting. They'll handle all needs, electrician, etc. I know they mainly work with Generacs I plan on asking about and getting an opinion about Kohler.The location of it for noise is also a good thought I'll bring up. My real main concern as been that we're not always there in the winter and have never shutdown and winterized, that can become a real nail-biter.

[ishoot308]

dpg, make sure you have a good sized propane tank as standby generators use a ton of propane when running depending on size. A 20KW generator will use at least 3 gallons per hour when running at full load!!

Good luck!

Dan

[DickR]

The size of the tank may be determined by either how many days of potential outage you want to cover or the minimum size needed for the generator capacity. The generator, operating at maximum output, needs a certain propane flow rate at some minimum tank pressure to support that output. Liquid propane in the tank must vaporize at the corresponding rate, and the heat absorbed by this vaporization must come from ambient air. The design condition is at some appropriate low winter temperature (perhaps zero F). The rate of heat transfer is proportional to temperature difference between air and boiling propane temperatures and to tank surface area. The generator vendor or propane provider can look up the minimum tank size needed easily.

[SAB1]

Generator Connection did mine. All install and permitting as well. Mine is a Kohler. They did a great job and were reasonable with pricing. Agree with Dan they do chew thru propane but oh so nice when you do lose power!

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by SAB1

Generator Connection did mine. All install and permitting as well. Mine is a Kohler. They did a great job and were reasonable with pricing.

Same here! Had them install a 20K Koehler. Also very pleased with their annual servicing! They have been fantastic thus far!

Dan

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Descant

Our first standby generator was installed in 2004 by our electrician. I saved a bunch by digging the trenches for the power line and propane line myself as well as pouring the concrete pad myself. The Genset is about 50 feer from the house, so no fumes and little noise.

Some years ago the electrician retired and we started using Generator Pro for service. Very competent 24/7. As parts were unavailble for the old machine we moved to a Generac as Generator Pro was a dealer/installer.
Generac makes a big deal about a 7 year warranty worth $700 or 5/5, etc. We don't take anybody's warranty/sertvice program if it isn't free and we've saved a lot of $$ over the years.

If you don't already have propane, it's worth shopping around separately as some dealers supply a tank, others sell and some rent. If you have oil, the same outfit may be good for propane too. If the generator is your only propane appliance, check to see what the extra charge is for small fill ups.

This won't come up in the sales talk, but add an extra KW for your Christmas lights. And, will you ever buy a Tesla?

What happened to Ford's claim to power a house from a Ford Lightning pickup truck?

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by ApS

What happened to Ford's claim to power a house from a Ford Lightning pickup truck?

It can until the battery dies. My F150 Powerboost doubles as a 7200 watt generator. I did a 24 hour test running my camper last summer with the AC on. I burned 3.6 gallons of gas. It is a hybrid- the gas motor runs every 20-25 minutes for 5 minutes to keep the hybrid battery charged.

[dpg]

Hmmm ok so another good point about the propane, again guess I need to remember to ask. Got the typical tank you see outside of most houses, it's 500 gallons I think? Got a newer heat pump type furnace (electric) so that isn't drawing any propane. Guess I do not have a problem with calling in refills soon enough my issues like many people have been with Amerigas. I'd go online and request a refill in January, 3-4 weeks later I'm still waiting during peak heating season. I always put in an order mid to late fall before the real cold starts and that fill-up usually goes off without a hitch. Their our prefered provider in our association for price so I've been trying to stick with them.

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by VitaBene

It can until the battery dies. My F150 Powerboost doubles as a 7200 watt generator. I did a 24 hour test running my camper last summer with the AC on. I burned 3.6 gallons of gas. It is a hybrid- the gas motor runs every 20-25 minutes for 5 minutes to keep the hybrid battery charged.

GM claims their top EV truck will power a house for 2 weeks. I find that hard to believe.

[SAMIAM]

Originally Posted by Biggd

GM claims their top EV truck will power a house for 2 weeks. I find that hard to believe.

Wonder how it can be connected to the home

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Wonder how it can be connected to the home

It automatically reverses the current through the charging station.

[ITD]

I have a Generac installed 2 years ago. I do my own maintenance, pretty easy. I have 24 kw unit and a 500 gallon (400 gal) capacity. I figure I can go at least 3 to 4 weeks without running out of propane with the tank full at the start. My unit easily runs our 4 ton central AC. We commissioned it about 3 days before the Christmas outage 2 or 3 years ago. Kept the house cozy for over 3 days until power was restores. Has run many times since then. Last time was about a month ago, we were out, came back, went in the house and I kept hearing a low groan. So I checked out the generator, and sure enough it was on. Had been running a couple hours. I verified we had no power, called NHEC, sure enough, only our house was out. It might of run for days if I hadn't noticed.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by ITD

I have a Generac installed 2 years ago. I do my own maintenance, pretty easy. I have 24 kw unit and a 500 gallon (400 gal) capacity. I figure I can go at least 3 to 4 weeks without running out of propane with the tank full at the start. My unit easily runs our 4 ton central AC. We commissioned it about 3 days before the Christmas outage 2 or 3 years ago. Kept the house cozy for over 3 days until power was restores. Has run many times since then. Last time was about a month ago, we were out, came back, went in the house and I kept hearing a low groan. So I checked out the generator, and sure enough it was on. Had been running a couple hours. I verified we had no power, called NHEC, sure enough, only our house was out. It might of run for days if I hadn't noticed.

I would not count on 3-4 weeks out of 400 gallons. A 24kw Generac burns 2.5 gallons at 50% power and almost 4 gallons at 100%, which equates to 6-7 days of run time. My twin Kohler 20kw each run about the same consumption rate and tied to a 1000-gallon tank (800-850 actual) after a week I am scraping bottom.

[ITD]

Originally Posted by codeman671

I would not count on 3-4 weeks out of 400 gallons. A 24kw Generac burns 2.5 gallons at 50% power and almost 4 gallons at 100%, which equates to 6-7 days of run time. My twin Kohler 20kw each run about the same consumption rate and tied to a 1000-gallon tank (800-850 actual) after a week I am scraping bottom.

Longest run was about 3 days, 24 hours per day. I used less than 5% of the tank. So I'm comfortable with 3 to 4 weeks for my situation it most likely would last much longer in a similar situation. In this case, it was wintertime, cold, with heat (oil) running, 2 refrigerators, maybe half a dozen lights. If it were summer with AC running, it would not last so long. I'd keep a closer eye on it. I was surprised, in fact as I was monitoring I thought the gage on the tank was stuck. I had done the paper calculations also and expected it to use more. YMMV