[Mattman]

Hey there I was hoping to get some referrals on solid home generators.

The home is 2500 ft.² and only has one refrigerator and the stove is gas so no problem there with the stove.

Thanks in advance for any response.

[Chris65LeMans]

I got a Generac quote several months ago. Their “regional dealer” wanted something like $5,000 for the Generator and $13,000 to install. (They weren’t even gonna put it on a cement pad. That’s just $13,000 to run a wire to the other side of my house.). I was going to explore ways to buy the generator and just hire an electrician to do it - I’ll eventually get to it.

According to them, they are the only brand that can switch from propane to natural gas with the flip of a switch.

[Mr Anonymous]

After having my *fourth* power outage in 3 weeks, I'm now thinking about looking into more serious generator possibilities myself. I currently have an 8,000 watt electric start Chinesium unit that I use to run the basics, and I backfeed the place with what they call a suicide cord, plugged into my 220v air compressor outlet. And in my 5,000sq ft neighbor's case, he was quoted $20,000 for a whole house unit and installation.

When I consider the electrical permit for the sparky work, the construction permit for the pad, the transfer equipment, and so on, I resign myself back to the Asian Screamer And The Death Cord.

[Stuart]

First thing is to decide if you want a permanently installed unit with capacity to run the whole house, or a portable that will handle just essential circuits. Most brands have sizing information on their website, or you can contact a qualified vendor. Note there is more to it than simply adding up the size of all the electrical devices, in particular for things with motors and/or compressors (like a refrigerator, air conditioner, or furnace fan) - the generator needs enough capacity to handle the higher current draw at startup.

A permanently installed unit typically includes an automatic transfer switch, which will add cost to the installation. A portable unit uses a manual transfer switch or a panel interlock kit, along with an appropriate receptacle, plug and power cord.

Generac is a pretty common brand for home use, particularly for whole house units. Cummins/Onan and Kohler are a couple other popular ones. If you're thinking portable, Honda and Yamaha are reputable. There are any number of off-brand units out there that sell for less money, but it can often be a case of you get what you pay for.

edited to add: if you get one, please have it installed safely and properly to code with the proper interlock systems. Back feeding through a compressor or stove outlet with a suicide cord is dangerous, both to you and your family and also potentially to electric utility workers.

[jwcfbd]

I've got a Generac 14K and it works great when I need it. I originally got an estimate from Home Depot and that was well over 10000. I found a local installer and the price dropped to around 8000. The Home depot's installer wanted to put auto load shed breakers on all the heavy load items and a few other add ons where as my installer just upped the generator size to cover the house needs.

[Chief of the 60's]

I had heard from people with Generacs that had numerous problems with them and there is a main part on them that is very common to go and that particular part has a very minimal warranty. Look into Generac's problems before spending money. Onan seems to build a very nice but pricy generator. You'll find an Onan in many of your better RV's.

[Frank T]

Here is my set up… and how it came together
Bought an old farm house in the woods (2500sf). In the dead of winter the first year we had the place someone sawed a pole off down the road from me. 3 hours into no power the house was super cold and we had no water (woods = well pump). Ran to Tractor Supply and bought the only one they had…

https://www.briggsandstratton.com/na...bluetooth.html

(no bluetooth option on mine)
Got home and ran single extension cords to all the key areas (no suicide cord!) including the oil furnace and well pump. The next day the power was back on. We loose power 3-4 times a year and did the extension cord thing for a year or two, which was fine, until I found this…

http://www.reliancecontrols.com/Prod....aspx?31410CRK

This runs my oil burner, well pump, kitchen refrigerator, second floor air handler (220), second floor central air (220), and a few circuits we use often inside the house. Wired it myself, the instructions were great! The hardest part (not really that difficult) was figuring out all the startup and running voltages of what I needed to run and if the generator could handle it. If we lose power, I roll the generator to the back porch, fire it up and plug it into the outlet. Then go downstairs to the circuit box and turn on the switches one by one.

Things I Like:
The box isolates the circuits you are powering so the generator power is not fed back into the grid and hurt someone
The Control box is compact and fairly easy to install
The meters on the box show you how much power you are using
When the main power comes back on you know it because other lights come on in the house.
I can use the generator for other tasks
All in, I think I have less than$1800 in the set up including the generator, circuit box and wiring.

Things I don’t like:
The noise of the generator gets old if you need to run it more than 1 day.
I still have to run a few extension cords (TV/Internet box) because the box didn’t have enough circuits.
The generator isn’t really protected from the elements other than the roof on my porch

Good luck
Frank T

[Stuart]

It's old but it's still relevant - The March 1998 issue of Popular Mechanics had a good article on installing a portable generator, including a transfer switch and a sub panel for powering essential circuits. You can view it on Google Books, go to https://books.google.com/books?id=UG...page&q&f=false, then in the upper right click on the page box and select the article titled "Installing a Backup Generator" on page 79.

[tooski]

I have an 8000 watt dual fuel portable generator powering through this:

[grandam1979]

Tooski how does that not back feed the power lines? Self switching?

[necdb3]

I install a 50 amp power inlet box outside my house connected to a 50 amp breaker. If I loose power, I kill the main first, fire up my portable generator (5250W continuous) and plug it into the house, turn my 50 amp breaker on. It is nice that it keeps the frig cold but allows you to turn any lights, ceiling fans, heater, etc,
on you want. Not enough to run A/C but will get you thru an outage. When done, remove the generator turn 50 amp breaker off and turn the main back on.

It's a primitive system but works. You do have to make sure you follow all steps to not back feed the grid or take out your generator when power gets restored.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by grandam1979

Tooski how does that not back feed the power lines? Self switching?

Yes, the Generlink device is designed to automatically disconnect the electrical service when a generator is plugged in. http://www.generlink.com/generlink.html However, my understanding is not all jurisdictions allow their use, so check with your state or city before buying one. http://www.generlink.com/generlink.html

Whatever device is used, it must have an interlock so that generator power is isolated from utility power. Any other method (including two separate disconnects that aren't mechanically interlocked with each other) is not allowed.

---

I'm a professional electrical engineer with decades of experience in designing standby power systems. I can't reach out through the Internet to prevent people from using methods that aren't to code, but ethically I have to point out that doing so can be dangerous and illegal. Please be safe and do it right, or hire someone who can do it for you.

[mgarblik]

I have had a Generac 17KW, NG generator for 8 years now. Couldn't be happier with it. It has a total now of about 300 hours of generation time on it now. I bought it from the internet and used some local contractors and myself to install. Unit with 200 Amp transfer switch, cement pad, about 60 feet of gas pipe and gas and electrical permits in Ohio, around 6K 8 years ago. BTW, Briggs and Stratton filed for bankruptcy yesterday!! They own Generac as well as selling generators under their own name. May be something to consider when spending that kind of money. Will they be in business in 2 years? Customer support and parts?

[Stuart]

Briggs and Stratton did acquire Generac in 2001, but they sold them off to a capital equity firm in 2006. Their parent company is Generac Holdings, Inc.

[Dave Polichena]

Originally Posted by Mattman

Hey there I was hoping to get some referrals on solid home generators.

The home is 2500 ft.² and only has one refrigerator and the stove is gas so no problem there with the stove.

Thanks in advance for any response.

There are many out there to choose from, make calls, ask questions and pick one that you're comfortable with.
My home is about the same size, living in Florida. Been through enough hurricanes. I've had a "15" kw contractor style, wired properly like Stuart described, that ran everything except A/C, it drank a lot of fuel and is loud. Since we have no gas coming into our neighborhood. I just went with a diesel unit. I went that direction as diesel fuel will store better than gas. I went big enough that my life won't be interrupted, we have gone weeks without utility power and We want to stay cool.
Check out Powerhouse Diesel Generators online as an option to GAS/LP/NG

[Stuart]

As for noise, water cooled units will be quieter than air cooled so take that into consideration. There are different levels of sound attenuation available for their enclosures as well, but that may be limited in consumer level generators. Natural gas is typically a pretty reliable source of fuel even during power outages, but that can depend on your location - it may well be less reliable in hurricane country but I don't have experience in those places. Diesel can work well too, but of course you need to keep refilling the tank.

[Elarson]

I'm part way thru getting my house equipped with a 16 kw standby generator. Generator with whole-house transfer switch was under $5000. Local electrician quoted $2500 to install. Instead of that, I'm going to do the installation myself...then have my neighbor (a real electrician, retired) inspect my work and do the final utility connections. So I expect to finish under $6000.

Eric

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I have had a Generac 17KW, NG generator for 8 years now. Couldn't be happier with it. It has a total now of about 300 hours of generation time on it now. I bought it from the internet and used some local contractors and myself to install. Unit with 200 Amp transfer switch, cement pad, about 60 feet of gas pipe and gas and electrical permits in Ohio, around 6K 8 years ago. BTW, Briggs and Stratton filed for bankruptcy yesterday!! They own Generac as well as selling generators under their own name. May be something to consider when spending that kind of money. Will they be in business in 2 years? Customer support and parts?

Briggs has been in China for over 20 years now. Predator copying Honda has put a big dent in their market.

[ron cozzo]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Yes, the Generlink device is designed to automatically disconnect the electrical service when a generator is plugged in. http://www.generlink.com/generlink.html However, my understanding is not all jurisdictions allow their use, so check with your state or city before buying one. http://www.generlink.com/generlink.html

Whatever device is used, it must have an interlock so that generator power is isolated from utility power. Any other method (including two separate disconnects that aren't mechanically interlocked with each other) is not allowed.

---

I'm a professional electrical engineer with decades of experience in designing standby power systems. I can't reach out through the Internet to prevent people from using methods that aren't to code, but ethically I have to point out that doing so can be dangerous and illegal. Please be safe and do it right, or hire someone who can do it for you.

I have a Generlink also. Must be installed by the electrical service provider because they remove the meter. Works great, safe and legal here in Ohio. The nice thing about these is you don't need a transfer switch and you don't need to decide in advance which circuits you want to power. You use your existing breaker box to decide which circuits to power with the generator. If you don't want to bite the bullet and pay for a whole house permanent back up generator, this seems to be the next best thing.

[Mr Anonymous]

I talked to the midwest market Generlink salesman, turns out he only lives about 5 miles away! Not having to deal with the work to do a traditional transfer switch and accessories really seems like the right way to go. In my case, with our electrical provider (Dayton Power and Light), you buy the switch, they send it to DP&L, who dings you $100 to take off the meter, install the switch, and reinstall the meter.

Thanks for the tip, looks like I am spending more money.