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Post by fishnfool on Aug 4, 2020 16:13:29 GMT -5
Does anyone have a stand-by propane or gas generator that powers their house or a lot of their house if power goes out?
How much do these things cost including install and are the generators they sell at HD any good?
We lost power today due to the storm and it got me to thinking...
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Post by finatic on Aug 4, 2020 16:37:08 GMT -5
I've had a gas-powered generator that I bought 22 years ago when my son was born it's working right now they run everything but the air conditioner. 6500 watts power surge but I believe it runs around 5,500 I would check Harbor Freight Tools they have a Predator generator with 7500 Watts . I believe it's electric start probably holds 6 or 7 gallons will run for 12 hours. If you go with propane you need you to have gas at your home already or propane tanks and it's quite expensive you could spend 8 to 10K for the setup. I'll get the gas cans get you out of the house for an hour or two
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Post by finatic on Aug 4, 2020 16:42:20 GMT -5
Very easy to use shut your main breaker down plug generator in and you're good to go you need to have an electrician wire that for you.
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Post by fishnfool on Aug 4, 2020 16:47:30 GMT -5
I have propane. I'm looking for a self contained stand-by that would be already connected up and will start automatically when power is lost. I dont want to have to mess with anything.
My neighbor has a unit and it cycles every Saturday morning for a few minutes. It's running right now.
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gilm
Seaman
Posts: 166
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Post by gilm on Aug 4, 2020 17:01:05 GMT -5
I have a 8K gas generator that cost about $2000 - I also had the house wired with a panel that I use to switch over to the generator. I just plug the generator into a single outlet on the outside of my house and flip the switches on the panel to generator and it powers about 80% of my house including heat, all light and appliances. The wiring and panel cost about $700.
So total cost about $2700.
The generator has a 10 gal tank so it hold a lot of gas. This seems to work real well when I need it. It takes less than 5 minutes to set it up when I need it.
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Post by finatic on Aug 4, 2020 17:58:33 GMT -5
I have propane. I'm looking for a self contained stand-by that would be already connected up and will start automatically when power is lost. I dont want to have to mess with anything. My neighbor has a unit and it cycles every Saturday morning for a few minutes. It's running right now. That's the way to do it. When my gas generator dies I'm doing the no mess with anything power source.
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Post by abouttime2fish on Aug 4, 2020 19:51:09 GMT -5
I just put in a 20kw on demand, natural gas generator. There was natural gas on the street, but it was put in after our house was built, so we had to run a line in. In order to get the line for free, we also changed over to a tankless gas water heater (it’s wicked awesome), and swapped out the stove/range to gas (wicked pissah says the wife). The whole project was about $15k. The generator portion was about half of that, but had we done it alone, the gas line costs $19/foot for installation.
But it rocks. I’m out of town and missed it, but asked wife this morning if power went out. She said it at least flickered because she was resetting clocks, but the wind was too loud to hear if generator came on, plus all the storm shutters were closed. Rumor I’ve heard is power was out for about an hour and she never even knew. I’ll be able to tell when I get home by checking hours meter.
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Post by fishnfool on Aug 4, 2020 20:02:12 GMT -5
What brand generator did you go with?
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Post by abouttime2fish on Aug 5, 2020 3:30:17 GMT -5
It’s a Koehler. I think it like a sea tow or tow boat discussion. Depends on your particular local franchise. We have two companies that do residential generator installs. On installs Generac, the other Koehler. I chose the company, went with brand they install. I am also under a maintenance contract. It’s about $300 per year. I don’t want to work on it, maintain it, or ever know the power went out!
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Post by hookedup on Aug 5, 2020 7:27:26 GMT -5
I agree with finatic on the portable generators being Predator. I have one and it does great in the little I've used it, and my son has two of them to run his house. I rarely lose power and then not for long as I'm on the same power grid as the local HD and Walmart and a large hospital is just down the road. When it goes out at my house, it becomes a priority for the power company so I'm never out long and all our wiring is underground.
My son's power was out all yesterday, but running on his two generators saved his food and let them have everything running but air conditioning. His generators don't provide 220.
I looked at whole house generators, but considering we've had only 1 day of outage in over 30 years here kept me from putting one in. Bought the small one to keep a couple of refrigerators running if it should ever be needed.
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Post by finatic on Aug 7, 2020 16:48:09 GMT -5
Living with no air conditioner down right sucks. Stupid me I forgot Petro the oil company I work for in the winter they also do generators I believe Generac so guess who I'll be calling tomorrow I'm done with this s***. I've got my wife breaking my balls telling me it's hot in the house,,, no sh!t honey.
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Post by hookedup on Aug 7, 2020 16:56:18 GMT -5
Living with no air conditioner down right sucks. Stupid me I forgot Petro the oil company I work for in the winter they also do generators I believe Generac so guess who I'll be calling tomorrow I'm done with this s***. I've got my wife breaking my balls telling me it's hot in the house,,, no sh!t honey. Don't blame you. So damn humid here it's almost like being in a hot shower just walking to the mailbox.
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Post by fishnfool on Aug 7, 2020 17:51:00 GMT -5
Living with no air conditioner down right sucks. Stupid me I forgot Petro the oil company I work for in the winter they also do generators I believe Generac so guess who I'll be calling tomorrow I'm done with this s***. I've got my wife breaking my balls telling me it's hot in the house,,, no sh!t honey. Still down? Any update on when they'll have you back on line? I bet you can get a good deal from that place you work for.
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Post by finatic on Aug 7, 2020 19:06:30 GMT -5
Maybe Monday the latest Tuesday by midnight, not very encouraging just got our landline back and internet.
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Post by chaseooo on Aug 24, 2020 21:20:52 GMT -5
I have an 18 KW whole house generator made by Generac. The house is 2800 sq feet with 4 ton AC and well pump. This unit runs everything in the house. The unit does cycle for 15 minutes every Sunday. When the power goes out there is a few second delay before the generator starts. This happens in case the power just flicks off and back on. When the power returns the generator will still run for about 15 -20 seconds to make sure the power styed on. The generator will run on propane or natural gas with a flip of a switch on the carb. Total cost for the unit and transfer switch was around 2400.00 - electrical 600.00 - permit 65.00. Great piece of mind especially when your not home keeps the alarm system, AC/heat and sump pump ready. If you can find one now you should jump on it. My brother is a dealer/installer for Generac and has sold 19 of his 20 units in the last few weeks. He has 15 on order a is told they wont ship till mid October and they are all sold. We are in Delaware and got hit bad on the last storm. My unit is 4 years old with no problems. Check to see if Generac is offering the seven year warranty for free.
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