Whole house generator recommendations

[Bigchillin83]

a little advice, i never would have figured it, but the same fella who keeps the numbers lost his generator during the flood, he didnt get paid for it at all for 2 reasons, one it wasnt added to his policy as extra and he never had it bolted down, so the ins inspector wouldnt allow him to included it into claim cause it wasnt "attached to the house" and wasnt added to the policy, so i think they gave him $500 for it as misc which was his max for his policy which also took away from his expensive grill, chairs and bar he lost that was covered under miscellaneous also and only $500 in coverage ... i think me and that inspector would have had some words, but nevertheless its a true situation, so make sure its bolted to slab and add it to your home owners ins policy!!!!

 

[shrxfn]

yeah if it was flood those guys try and cheap you out and if you try and cover it under your regular policy they will say it was flood damaged so cover it under flood. I swear they want your money every month but don't want to pay out. My house should never flood I am like 6 feet above ground level as it is and with all 3 hurricanes that have hit direct water never got within 100ft of the house .

 

[Saintsfan6]

I have a generac (older gen) that was installed on my home when I purchased (live in north of Dallas). I never thought I would need it like I did in south LA. It got me through a pickle when the snow storm in February came through! We were out of power for nearly a week and I would have had to evacuate my family if not for it. We were the only people in my neighborhood who could stay due to power outage.

 

[noob]

just personaly not feasible to spend $9,000 plus on a generator installed for the average of only 24-36 hours with no elect per year in my area, some may loose power when the wind blows and that might change my thinking lol.. yea once every 5-6 years you get to use it 100-150 hours but even that to me isnt worth it for the convience of a "easy button auto standby" when just a little work by me and looking ahead and getting gas even just 12 hours before the storm and an average of $500-700 invested for everything for a protable and i can run my whole house as normal including 2 window units minus central ac and dryer... Now if i had a sponsor, heck yea id get one lol..

last time we lost power for as long as this was 16 years ago.. other than that its been 12-36 house for a small hurricane or bad storm

I agree, I can't justify the investment price, but I've been quoted 20-30k depending if I want aircooled or water cooled. I've lived in my house for ~9 years, it's gone out for 22 hours total prior to this storm in those 9 years.

 

[honestlou]

A few things to think about: I've been told by a few different people that as these get more and more popular, the gas service may not be able to provide enough volume in a neighborhood with a lot of units. I have no personal knowledge or experience with this, but it's worth thinking about, and seems to jive with some reports of inadequate gas flow.

Also, someone said they are using a unit in Kenner, and I'm a little surprised that gas was not interrupted. Maybe the gas company has it's own generators, maybe they don't need power to keep the gas flowing; I don't know, but in a widespread problem like New Orleans is currently facing, I wouldn't 100% count on natural gas.

You can get your own propane tank, above ground or buried, and then you are truly off the grid. My in-laws have a propane system and it has worked fine for years. I do hear that propane may not have the torque of natural gas, but I don't know. And I don't know any maintenance differences.

Lastly, consider your own diesel tank and generator if you have the space. I think with the right additives diesel stores well for damn near forever, and I think the diesel engines have the most torque.

I don't know enough to answer all of these questions, but I think they are worth thinking about before you make a purchase.

 

[Bigchillin83]

I agree, I can't justify the investment price, but I've been quoted 20-30k depending if I want aircooled or water cooled. I've lived in my house for ~9 years, it's gone out for 22 hours total prior to this storm in those 9 years.

right $9000 was the intro low budget without auto transfer switch and only 14kwatt standby ,btw is equal to only 45 amp service... not 200amp like your panel is


As an example, a 20 kW Generac home standby generator uses 204 cubic feet of natural gas per hour at 50% load, and 301 cubic feet at full load. With natural gas averaging about $11.00 nationally for 1,000 cubic feet, that puts fuel expenses at $2.50/hour at half-load, and $3.65/hour for a full load.

$60 for 24 hours at 1/2 load
$87.60 24 hours at full load
so say an average of $75 a day to run your whole house

$15,000 installed
$75 per 24 hours run time

for an average of high side of 36 hours a year...
at the utter worst 7 days of consecutive use once ever 16 years

if you got it like that, by all means i say go for it, thats the american dream, but i need a sponsor

vs

$700 6500watt gen and cord/plug
$5,000 charge to install window units
$300 for 2 window units
$200 gas to run 8-9 days
$4000 charge to pour your own gas
$100 service charge to get the gas anytime 24/7 up to 12 hours
before landfall
$5,000 charge to not be able to cool your whole house and run your dryer

and heres a free tip, no charge
plus in a shtf or if your house gets damaged, you can load that ol' protable generator and window units up in the truck and go anywhere in the 48 states with it... or once you get power back, send it down the street with your inlaws so they will go back to there own house

seems about like its a wash

 

[folivier]

My career was spent as a technician for a natural gas pipeline. And yes when a hurricane comes into the gulf the supply is cut off so the only gas available is what is in the pipeline. I've seen pipeline pressures drop from 900psi to less than 200psi. And this was years ago before the abundance of natural gas generators. Natural gas genny's are nice but how many people are shutting them down to check oil levels every couple days? I fear there will be quite a few gennys with problems because of this or overheating due to overloading.

 

[southerncanuck]

Been camped out at the in-laws for the last week. They've got a Cummins 25kw liquid cooled and it's been keeping the house lit up like the Griswolds at Christmas with 10 adults and a handful of kids in there. Just shy of $18k including installation.

As soon as I get the hell out of Orleans Parish into some part of town that's not going to sink, flood or get shot up every Tuesday, I'm going to look into getting one as well (maybe a cheaper option like Generac or B&S)... like any kind of insurance, it seems expensive until you actually need it.

 

[Neil09]

My career was spent as a technician for a natural gas pipeline. And yes when a hurricane comes into the gulf the supply is cut off so the only gas available is what is in the pipeline. I've seen pipeline pressures drop from 900psi to less than 200psi. And this was years ago before the abundance of natural gas generators. Natural gas genny's are nice but how many people are shutting them down to check oil levels every couple days? I fear there will be quite a few gennys with problems because of this or overheating due to overloading.

Would having a storage tank be out of the question, that you could fill with the gas line from utility company?

 

[john17427]

I’ve used portable generators my whole life, but there comes an age when it’s not so easy to handle them anymore. Plus, if your kids have flown the coop that only increases the burden. I see a whole home in my future. My dad had one in his last years and he did have NG pressure problems when it was first installed.

Here’s another thought. If you have lots of trees on your property and your battling a lot of downed ones and the damage, you need to plan and invest in things that can reduce the load on you, lol. Luckily I’m not having to shuffle between chain saw and generator.

 

[vr1967]

Probably not viable for a lot of folks, but those with tractors can look into pto generators. We are struggling for gas in SW MS at the moment, but I have yet to wait in line to fill my diesel truck up.

My son in law works for the local gas/propane company and they have been making a two hr rd trip to fill the trucks, as their large tank is out. Just saw a truck heading that way a few minutes ago, so maybe the parent company is finally realizing what is needed

 

[340six]

Would having a storage tank be out of the question, that you could fill with the gas line from utility company?

It would no fill correctly straight from a hose. Like powers your water heater, oven, dryer etc. The NG must be compressed.
Way back when shopping for new car and a truck we were in Dallas. Was thinking of a possible relocate there as well.
The Ford Truck and the Honda were both available in NG. The truck was alas available as Propane and Gas 3 options on fuel.
To fuel the car or truck they had to install a small pump that takes the NG at your home and compress it to fill the vehicle.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Probably not viable for a lot of folks, but those with tractors can look into pto generators. We are struggling for gas in SW MS at the moment, but I have yet to wait in line to fill my diesel truck up.

My son in law works for the local gas/propane company and they have been making a two hr rd trip to fill the trucks, as their large tank is out. Just saw a truck heading that way a few minutes ago, so maybe the parent company is finally realizing what is needed

Thought about that one to, but my 38hp John Deere burns about about 1gal per hour at pto speed… so wouldn’t be feasible for 24 hours runtime at 24 gallons of fuel lol… but you can deff load them up, that pto can spin a big generator

 

[Bayoubob]

Generac or Kohler. I have the Generac 22k air cooled propane with auto transfer. They all need servicing, that's the key to longevity. They need the oil checked daily when in constant use, a power outage. I have a maintenance contract where the Generac dealer comes once a year to go thru it, new oil and filter and spark plug. Last time he readjusted the valves, and every three yrs you get a new battery.
Now the other side of the story is they use gas/propane about 1.5 gal on half power, and that's about where you try to keep it running so as to save on fuel. Propane is bumping $3 per gallon. Hurricane Laura, when propane was $1.62 per gallon it cost me $80 a day to run it 24 hours. But well worth it it! The wife loves the security of not losing power and here comes all the kids and grands to soak up A/C. When installed, I asked the dealer how much does it cost to run one? He said, " if you have to ask that, you don't want one". It is so nice to just sit and wait 10 sec later and the power is back on. Yes I would do it again.

 

[Bigchillin83]

One more tip, just talked to my 2 neighbors that have standbys abs there’s keeps cutting off every hour or so because of 02 and co inside the house, guessing they should have a better exhaust system, they both out there on ladders trying to tape up there under ridge vents with tape… they doing the hole side of the house, don’t know why they don’t just plug up a shop fan on generator to blow exhaust away….
But they don’t wanna listen to the fella with a cheapo portable…. They been taping for an hour or so lol

 

[Cor-Vet]

We have a Generac 36kw water cooled whole house generator. It has exercised 12 minutes a week religiously since August of 2015. We had one 3 day per. outage about a year and a half ago and it ran fine. Also had a couple of short half hour to an hour outages that worked fine. Then IDA came along and at 3:30 am Monday morning, after running about 6 hours, it died. Had a broken fan belt, which turned out to be caused by a bad alternator pulley. The dealer had to overnight a new alternator and belt from Wisconsin and we didn't get the generator back until Thursday. It ran fine after that, and we had on and off again power until commercial power stabilized Monday. Have been told that a few other people had the same problem, broken belts. Big investment, and truly, I have a very good dealer, service wise. Since I still have a small gas powered generator from pre Generac days, I was able to save everything in the freezer and refrigerator. I recommend keeping a small generator on the side just in case, and start it periodically, to make sure it works. Size your generator to your needs and take into consideration how much propane it will burn per hr/day and how big a tank you will need. We went with propane because we're rural and there is no natural gas near me. Also, talk to your proposed dealers other customers, if you can.

 

[pullstart]

If you can afford it, a liquid cooled 1800 rpm generator is the best option. The liquid cooled models are serviceable and tend to have more after market parts to repair the engines. The air cooled 3600 rpm gensets satisfy a price point but are not the best option. Its a lot to ask an air cooled engine to run 7 days, 24 hours non stop. I have NG 1800 rpm ONAN, 20 kw and it does not disappoint. Just my opinion based on my experience. Just about everyone person I know with a Generac air cooled unit has had or is presently having issues.

 

[DBMJR1]

Right now I have two portable generators, and want to purchase a third.

At my father's (late) in Hammond , there is a whole house generac. It worked admirably for nine days. The company came out and serviced it after 200 hours.

At my MIL's in Algiers, same Generac unit failed to work. Low gas pressure. I ended up buying a small portable to keep her deep freeze going.


Meanwhile at my house. Two window units kept us chilling and watching our big screen on the portable generator. If that one goes out, I've got another.

I keep spare carburetors, oil, air filters, etc on hand Justin Case.



Yes, I had to make a run to Gulfport for fuel after Ida. It was a pleasant drive, and I got to visit the beach.



Eventually, when I get too old to do all of this, I'll get a whole house. It won't be NG powered. Diesel is the way to geaux. Stores forever.

 

[Specularius]

I had a Generac air cooled LP unit with a 10 circuit transfer switch installed when I built my house in 2004. It failed to produce electricity in 2018. The Rotor test showed open circuit and needed to be replaced. I ordered a new Cummins Onan 20KW Diesel a week before Laura hit. It took 26 weeks to come in. It is powered by a Kubota diesel engine that uses the same alternator, oil filter, air filter, and fan belts as my Kubota zero turn mower uses. It has a 50 gallon fuel tank and runs my entire house for 3 days on that 50 gallons. I can hook a portable generator to the old Generac transfer switch to run all the lights and Fridge and freezer as a backup if needed. I was told on the Cummins Onan to turn off the line power once every quarter to work the generator for 3 hours to keep it in top working order. I hope to not have any issues with the Cummins-Onan but feel prepared to cover most things if I do.

 

[Emperor]

No one has mentioned Kohler water cooled?!? They have a pretty diverse line.

But anyhoo; here is how it works in the generator world. 30KW at 60hz can power any house easily! A full blown stationary all home generator is not going to be cheap! You may require a contractor (to build your slab or containment house), a plumber (to run your gas line to the location), and an electrician (to install transfer switches, connections, etc).

If money is not an issue,

Caterpillar, Cummins

If money is kind of an issue,

Kohler, B&S, Generac

I will have you all know, that I personally know 3 people who have Generacs, and all three failed to start this past storm.

I understand those of you that say you cannot justify the cost versus the need. To each his/her own. I just don't want to put up with the BS involved with tending to portables when there is drinking, sleeping, and television watching to do! I have heard so many stories from friends and relatives of how terrible it was/is to be stuck without a/c, spoiling food, no electricity, and on and on, that I will NEVER not have one as long as I live here! I cannot empathize with them. I WAS them! Then I realized how foolish I was being.