OT: Home Generators

[Husky Dad]

Hi Everybody. Apologies in advance for an in season OT subject. Seeking advice on home generators. Was going to move a generac generator over to a home I bought last spring but its hell trying to organize independent contractors or I am going to over pay using a single outfit. At this point I am looking to buy a home generator for the other home and have it installed. Have had a generac and it works fine. Never purchased one it came with the house. We currently have propane which can also be used as natural gas but current street doesnt have natural gas. Not looking at gasoline generators. Want one with auto switch that turns on when we lose power. Town we moved to is famous for losing power. Would love to hear if any fellow boneyarders have gone thru this buying process and what they found out. Thanks.

 

[Minicoop69]

I am pretty sure Costco or sams club sells them. Not sure if they have contractors that would install them that they work with or not.

 

[dogpause]

You are referring to an Automatic Backup Generator; Generac and Kohler are the two major players. I was going to get one for my home, but the install to run an NG line, plus the electrical work just about doubled the cost, so I decided to stay with my trusty manual start gasoline powered $800 generator that gets started once a year and has been forced into service only once in the 6 years I've had it.

 

[sledog]

You're going to drive the gen with propane??? Will propane work with a ntl gas gen? Do you have enuff supply to last a serious power outage? Some recent hurricanes around here went over a week.

If you buy one, and have your own plumber / electrician install, you can probably save $3k - say $7 vs $10k bill. But it may be difficult to find someone to service it as service is part of the 'captive' contract. Then again, if you know how to change oil, ...

 

[husky210]

My suggestion if you aren't handy or have dealt with contractors before. Do some research on electrical contractors who have experience in generator installations. Select three to four of the reputable contractors as per your research and get quotes from all of them. It's not simply installing a generator. You need a concrete pad for the unit. Wiring, transfer switch, programming and etc.. I don't doubt your run of the mill electrician can do it, but sometimes you can benefit from a guy who specializes. Also, from a warranty standpoint a company like generac might require a "certified" installer.

 

[WallStreetHusky]

Hi Everybody. Apologies in advance for an in season OT subject. Seeking advice on home generators. Was going to move a generac generator over to a home I bought last spring but its hell trying to organize independent contractors or I am going to over pay using a single outfit. At this point I am looking to buy a home generator for the other home and have it installed. Have had a generac and it works fine. Never purchased one it came with the house. We currently have propane which can also be used as natural gas but current street doesnt have natural gas. Not looking at gasoline generators. Want one with auto switch that turns on when we lose power. Town we moved to is famous for losing power. Would love to hear if any fellow boneyarders have gone thru this buying process and what they found out. Thanks.

I have had a Generac 24kw home generator for over a decade. Auto transfer switch etc along with a buried 500 gallon propane tank. Generac has the best reviews and generally is the choice on commercial and residential installs. all though Kohler is good, they aren't a Generac. I can go roughly ten days on my propane supply and that's powering a big generator for a 4400 square foot house. I do try to keep the power draining appliances to a minimum during a long outage though. No laundry etc. knock wood the Generac has served me well. As Sandy showed, gas generators are only as good as the gas stations being open. I often tell people it's the single best upgrade I ever bought for my house. I went directly to Generac for a recommended area installer, they were happy to tell me who they thought was the best local installer, one who does a lot of work for them in the area with no complaints. Good luck.

 

[temery]

You're going to drive the gen with propane??? Will propane work with a ntl gas gen? Do you have enuff supply to last a serious power outage? Some recent hurricanes around here went over a week.

If you buy one, and have your own plumber / electrician install, you can probably save $3k - say $7 vs $10k bill. But it may be difficult to find someone to service it as service is part of the 'captive' contract. Then again, if you know how to change oil, ...

Propane is the way yo go if you don't have a natural gas line. I lose power a couple times a year, and have gotten tired of filling my generator with gasoline.

My next purchase will be a propane inverter generator.

 

[IMind]

I bought a house recently with a gas generator and all this talk makes me realize I probably should start it and see how it works BEFORE the power goes out.

My old house had no generator and we were 7-10 days without power for both Sandy and the October snow storm. Used kerosene heat and fireplaces for the first few days but I ended up in a hotel both times. I'm looking forward to just having to make runs for gas. I already have propane though so this is making me think about the future.

 

[Devland]

I bought a house recently with a gas generator and all this talk makes me realize I probably should start it and see how it works BEFORE the power goes out.

My old house had no generator and we were 7-10 days without power for both Sandy and the October snow storm. Used kerosene heat and fireplaces for the first few days but I ended up in a hotel both times. I'm looking forward to just having to make runs for gas. I already have propane though so this is making me think about the future.

We lost power for about a week both times. Actually it was a good experience with no TV or internet. We actually talked, did crosswords together and played board games. To the point to the night when the power came back on my said she missed the power being out. Then for some unknown reason I went out and dropped 4K on a natural gas generator.

 

[robert06907]

I used to work for an electrical contractor that was a generac dealer. They were good generators that could work on both natural gas and propane. We also installed a much larger kohler as well and I would suggest doing your research on both brands. Both are very reputable. A contractor that installed many more than us actually started to use Briggs and Stratton more than anything so I'd suggest also giving them a look.

In terms of buying the generator, I'd ask around to see what a dealer would sell it to you for and then check http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/ to see what they charge. They tend to have a price of maybe a few hundred dollars over what we would have paid as a dealer.

Also in terms of natural gas vs. propane.. They both work perfectly fine. Propane I believe used to give them a slightly higher rating for output, but both were comparable. A large enough propane tank will last you a long while as stated above. Just don't run large appliances all the time and you should be fine.

Good luck in your search.