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Thread: Whole Home Generator

  1. #21
    Boolit Master Handloader109's Avatar
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    Would love one, Generac is the brand of quality at this time. Brother put one in about 10 yrs ago after Katrina. We were without power in central MS for over a week. Since then he's been out just occasionally, less than a day, usually 4-6 hours after a storm. Had issue just after install, but was repaired under warranty. No issues since. Propane, auto start. Oh, his comes on I think monthly for a couple of minutes to test.

  2. #22
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Propane or natural gas is the best way to go .
    Last hurricane that left power out for two weeks (Gustav) also left gasoline in very short supply and expensive . Long lines and fights at stations that had gasoline and rationing .
    Most filling stations didn't have emergency generators and couldn't pump any gas untill the power was restored.
    A friend had a freezer , refrigerator and a few lights connected to his gasoline powered generator .. The power was out for two weeks . He said I spent $500.00 on gasoline , got in two fist fights and almost got shot getting gasoline to keep the generator running..... and all this for $300.00 worth of food that was in my freezer and ref'g.....That wasn't too bright...I need a natural gas generator !
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  3. #23
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    My 22 kw Generec comes on every Wednesday at 2 pm for a 15 minute maintenance cycle. Propane stays good forever in human terms.

  4. #24
    Boolit Grand Master Char-Gar's Avatar
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    I live on the Texas Gulf Coast where it get bad storms and hurricans from time to time. Quite a few folks have Generac whole house propane systems and are pleased with them. The community of 2,000 where I live has three of them with propane tanks to run the street lights when the power goes down. When the power goes down here, it can be down for days on end, weeks in some places.
    Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

  5. #25
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    I own a 500 gallon tank and heat, cook and dry clothes with lp gas. Fillup in August was $1.60 with 20C off for Aug delivery. Paid $2.05 last February. I use around 600 gallons a year and they have a $60 charge for less than 200 gallon fill, same for an emergency fill. They are in my half of the county two days a month. 3 delivery outlets will sell to you here with your own tank but they all prefer their own rental tanks.
    We will install a wood stove for backup heat this fall. In general food will stay frozen in our area for 3-4 days if you don't open the freezer and fill open spaces with sleeping bags or blankets.
    My generator will run our pump and heater. In an extended power outage, running it 2-3 hours a day should get us by. Plan is to cycle it on for water and fill what we need then every 4-6 hours to keep house warm and food cold. At 0 F furnaces cycles about twice an hour.
    Last edited by MT Gianni; 09-22-2018 at 11:32 PM.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  6. #26
    Boolit Mold
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    I can't add much other than to say I plan to eventually upgrade my small Honda generator to a Generac whole house backup unit running off my natural gas. All of my appliances (including a pilot light gas water heater) and fireplace are natural gas and we have a well so I could run it too.

    I talked to the local power company and they said we should have natural gas pressure to our house indefinitely after a power outage.

    I don't know if that's true but it's a nice thought if so.

    Anyway, all my research shows Generac is the best buy going right now.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Down South View Post
    Since I'll be retiring in a week and a half. I decided to get a generator for the house since we live in a very rural farm community. I hope that I made a good decision. I bought a Generac 22 KW and installed a 500 gallon propane tank. The generator is hooked up to an automatic transfer switch so I don't have to worry about back feeding the power lines.
    The wife and I are getting older and I hate the thought of maybe having to stay at home for days to possibly more than a week without power.
    We tested the Generator yesterday and it will pull both upstairs and downstairs AC units without a problem. Although I doubt that I'd need the upstairs unit in a power outage. I just wanted to see if it would pull both of the units at the same time.

    Any of you guys have a home generator? Is the Generac a good one? I got a good deal on it on a tax free day at a large hardware store.

    Oh, on EDIT: we have two competing propane companies. Supposedly they are having a price war? I paid $1.75 per gallon for propane. I assume this was a good deal?
    I have the 10k going on 10 yrs however forget the AC , its better suited for essentials water/heat/and (TV) ha ! You cannot predict how long your out and my wife"s breathing depends on it and you don"t know how fast your tank will empty(FAST) and how unreliable your supplier is when there"s a thousand others running out at the same time . Trust me been there done that and it ain"t pretty/Ed

  8. #28
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    I was also thinking of a seperate switch for my portable generator in case power is out for more than a week to compliment the whole house one. My electrician said my 5000 was to small. If it was a 9000 or higher might make sense.

  9. #29
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    I would love to have the natural gas option but it is not available in my area.

  10. #30
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    16kw Generac NG with an auto transfer switch. Runs the whole house including AC.
    If I went any bigger I had to go to a 200amp service and that would have driven the price way up.

    Cost about $6700.00 installed. The best money I ever spent for peace of mind.
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  11. #31
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    i bought a 1963 onan jc electric plant from Craigslist 3 years ago. 4 cylinder liquid cooled overhead valve. Runs at 1800 rpm and much quieter than a screaming 3600 rpm unit. 12.5 kw/67.5 amps.
    Runs house, mini split ac, 220v water pump, 220 v hot water tank, washer dryer and also a detached garage. Tri fuel, runs on lpg, no or gasoline. Has over 9000 hours on it now. No smoke and does not use oil.
    Paid $300 for it and it came with new plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor button and air filter. Installed these parts and rebuilt the mechanical fuel pump and off she went.
    Life is so much better with dogs!

  12. #32
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    I'm in Houston, my generator is in central La. I see on my phone app that the generator came on twice today due to power outages. We have some storms going through right now and I figure that a storm knocked out power to the house a couple times today. Well, it has an hr run time on it now.
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  13. #33
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Wife's dad is a retired commercial/industrial electrician. He put a Generac whole house in and is very happy with it. It powers not only the house but also radiant heat floors. The propane..your as good with one company as another I think as long as you can get a rate lock and make sure they don't charge extra fee's like delivery or the dubious "haz-mat" fee. There is no such thing and I just switched companies because of it when they tried to feed me a line about a "federally mandated fee on all deliveries". Been hauling Haz Mat for over 25yrs and never heard of such a thing.
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  14. #34
    Boolit Buddy Sam Casey's Avatar
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    We have a large natural gas Generac. No propane worries, but still not a cheep date. Cost 8k. Annual service $150. Needs new battery every 3 years ... Another $150. Constant "offers" for extended warranty, another $8-900. That said, it has keep us out of a motel on 2 or 3 times since installed 3-4 years ago.

  15. #35
    Boolit Bub dbmjr1's Avatar
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    My father just installed a 17 KW Generac system. Natural gas. I was impressed with the installers and the generator itself. Generac offers a kit that includes oil and air filter. I made dad order one. The oil change interval on dad's is every 200 hours. That's eight days, more or less. If you don't have the ability to do maintenance when it needs to be done, you're likely to loose your generator.

    I know this for a fact. I have a Coleman 6750 portable gas generator that I use to back feed the house when needed. I used this generator for 28 days after Hurricane Katrina, Six days after another storm, and three days after yet another. At eighteen hours a day, that's over 650 hours. It still runs great. The secret is to change the oil every four days. Change the air filter every year, and only use good gasoline, (None of that corn syrup stuff).

    I know that Generac tells you they'll be out to change the oil when it's needed, but if you question them about after a disaster, they'll tell you there are no guarantees. Be sure to have the ability to do it yourself. It's easy. If you open your genset you'll see three orange items. One it the drain, one is the filter, the third is the fill. They give you a long flexible drain hose to make it even easier. I'm shocked they didn't put a funnel in the cabinet. They thought of everything else.
    "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
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  16. #36
    Boolit Master
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    I have a 12KW that I can run my whole house including air conditioning on. I checked my whole hose current draw back when I had mostly florescent lighting and it was 49 amps with every light turned on and the AC running, bet it is lower now with LEDs.
    Close friend has a 10KW and can do the same. We are both using Natural gas to run the genset and have mostly LED lights.
    Another friend up north has a 13KW propane and can do the same.
    These are all Generac units due mostly to availability.
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  17. #37
    Boolit Master



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    I have a portable Generac 16.5k. I have never put in a transfer switch. Guess I need to do that. Never had to run anything with it other than some large inflatable water slides and jump houses for kids. Guess I have been luck owning it. I have enough 5 gallon tanks to lay in about 100 gallons should it be needed
    At one with the gun.

  18. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beau Cassidy View Post
    I have a portable Generac 16.5k. I have never put in a transfer switch. Guess I need to do that. Never had to run anything with it other than some large inflatable water slides and jump houses for kids. Guess I have been luck owning it. I have enough 5 gallon tanks to lay in about 100 gallons should it be needed
    Beau,

    Having lived in hurricane zones most of my life if there is one thing I have learned it's that you can't buy gas after the event. If the power is out gas pumps don't work. Be prepared to fill the gas cans at the first hint of a bad weather forecast or get the generator set up to run on natural gas if you have it available. I know you're more likely to have ice storms but they make the same mess of power delivery as hurricanes. Maybe worse.

    Significant visitors during my life: Carla, Alicia, Ivan, Katrina, Rita, Ike and a while bunch of lesser storms. I was without electricity for 2 weeks each time with Alicia and Katrina.
    Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris

  19. #39
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I need to rethink my situation. Many years ago (even before Hugo) I purchased a 4000 W generator from Northern. I had drop cords made up to connect to panels and meters bases. I could power essentials for my parents, myself or Son and Daughter. It was mounted on a purpose-built trailer. During Hugo and several long-term ice storms, I kept everyone reasonably comfortable and fed. I'd move it from place to place for a few hr each. We all had alternative heat sources, but hot water and circulated heat were a plus to avoid frozen pipes.
    Now as happens, I'm no longer able to be the family energy safety provider and energy demands have increased to the point that my trailered generator is just a toy.
    It's time to install a Generac, donate the generator to a fire dept, and retire. The kids are welcome to share my home in an emergency.
    Last edited by mold maker; 09-27-2018 at 11:51 AM.
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  20. #40
    Boolit Buddy
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    I guess I'll stop complaining that my summer price for propane only dropped to $1.25 per gallon when I filled up my 1000 gal tank last month.
    "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery."
    - Thomas Jefferson

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check