• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Backup Generators

DirtySteve said:
My neighbor has bought two. one finally died at some astronomical hours of usage.. We live off grid and he lives with two women who don't understand the concept of solar,,,The vacuum and wash clothes at NIGHT!!!!
Click to expand...
Lol thats funny about the neighbor-- Thanks
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Man, around here they are around $5000 and cheaper with military discount from lowes. Actually have a generac 20kw sitting in my garage for my dads house. Gonna install it as soon as i get some time off so thats as current of a price as you can get
Click to expand...
Time Off ?? You mean you cant do those barrels quick enough? o_O:eek: i guess its the season isnt it.
seriously thanks for the info
 
If you look at a kohler be sure to check with your installer if they will even put one in- you cant get a kohler installed here for nothin. Once you get it all hooked up they dispatch a technician for $750 to put a code in it so itll start. Turned a lot of folks off of them. Your local electrician can install your generac in less than a day if its his first time.
 
Dusty Stevens said:
I have a 1.5mw 3 phase taylor sitting at my office right now that we use for substation outages to run the controls. Its been a good one but its a little bigger than we need at home- it has a huge 12cyl caterpillar and an 800gal diesel tank!
Click to expand...
i thought you retired from that work? Yep that one is a little bigger than i need. mabie could run my little town with it:D
 
Clous said:
I installed a 80KW propane 400 amp ford V10 at a house that will drink a 1,000 gallon propane tank inside 48 hours. That’s to much.
Click to expand...
thats sounding like these farmers grain dryers around here. If its at a house what the heck are they doing there
 
I work in a service department that repairs (among other things) generators. The units sold at big box stores work fine...until they don’t. The mass market generators aren’t built to be repaired. When they break down, you’ll end up tossing it and have to buy another one.
 
hoz53 said:
thats sounding like these farmers grain dryers around here. If its at a house what the heck are they doing there
Click to expand...

It’s a house and barn. Nothing special just obnoxious. Twin 200 amp transfer switches with load shedding. Never understood it.
 
velocette said:
Things to consider:
Natural gas / city gas is wonderful if you have it. BUT consider what happens when a large storm comes through.
Trees are knocked down, when the trees go down, they rupture water lines, gas lines, electric power lines etc.
I've seen this here in Ft. Lauderdale. Propane is wonderful if you have a BIG propane tank on your property, not so much if you will feed the genny with individual cylinders. Like where will you get the cylinders refilled when power is out everywhere. You gonna have a dozen propane cylinders for a weeks supply?
Gasoline is difficult too. Storing gasoline demands additives to keep it from going stale, usually good for 6 months to maybe a year. But it is easier to get gasoline in difficult times than propane. The good part of gasoline is that it can be used in the lawn mower or the cars when its time has come, or you gotta boogie on out of there.
No matter what you buy, make certain that you install a load bank to transfer power from utility to genny. DO NOT think you can get away without it.
You will need enough power to run water pumps, refrigerators, water heaters, interior lights, radio, TV, computers, small appliances etc.
Perhaps not all at the same time. 8 ~ 10,000 watts will generally do that. With a good genny, running 12 hours a day, intermittently, 6 gallons / day will suffice for fuel.
Another thing to consider, The damn things are noisy! NOISY I SAY! Beware of that in what you buy. The quieter the better.
With portables, a negative factor is that they are portable. You MUST have means to secure your genny, and I mean SECURE YOUR GENNY. If not someone else will be enjoying the benefit of your genny. Understand when the power is out, everyone wants to either take your genny or to enjoy the benefit of your genny.
I speak these truths as a long time south Florida resident with a good Yamaha genny. Been here, seen the whole enchilada and learned a bit.
Click to expand...
Alot of good points. I was thinking about security to. ill make sure i address that. noise was another one-- those honda portables are nice for that reason. Ive got an old dayton portable that you cant hear someone if they yell when its running. havent heard a whole house but ill go listen to one. i dont tolerate noise to well. by load bank you mean transfer switch? deciding on capacity is something im working in right now. if i go portable ill go gas but may have to build a storage area away from house. whole house id prob go nat gas. there can be interuptions i know but the only part of the gasline exposed is at the meter, inless the house blows away and then it dont matter. they keep those pumping stations pumping all the time- ive been in one. of coarse the metering areas ars exposed many times. around here though nat gas outages are very rare compared to electric. thanks for the info
 
Portable gas generators lose their value instantly. Buy a welder, Miller Bobcat, Lincoln Ranger, or similar. The resale is much better. All gas powered motors need to be run occasionally or they won't run when you need it. Diesel is more up front, but doesn't need any where near as much attention.
 
hoz53 said:
Storm here the other day and my power at house has been off 2 days. Happens often enough Im thinking of getting a backup generator. Im wondering if anyone here has experience with them and mabie some advice wat to get. Im thinking of the ones that are basically permanent and run off nat gas. May endup going with a portable though. Thanks
Click to expand...

Don't know it it's been mentioned yet BUT. Very important. If you are going to run your house on a generator. PLEASE, use an isolation switch. If you connect to your house power wiring and it is still connected to the incoming line you can KILL a lineman who thinks the line is dead. Power companies require a bona fide transfer switch..

The power from your generator can backfeed the power companies off line system.. I have seen it happen. Don't be that guy
 
Dusty Stevens said:
If you look at a kohler be sure to check with your installer if they will even put one in- you cant get a kohler installed here for nothin. Once you get it all hooked up they dispatch a technician for $750 to put a code in it so itll start. Turned a lot of folks off of them. Your local electrician can install your generac in less than a day if its his first time.
Click to expand...
Thanks thats great to know. Im an electrican so Ill install my own and if a company wont sell me one, inless they install i guess i wont be buying that make.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,853
Messages
2,204,648
Members
79,160
Latest member
Zardek

Share This Page

Back
Top