Hard wired/installed non portable generator

Greg Hazlett

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Looking into getting one, I have an appointment with Generac On Fri/Mon, any other recommendations?
 

EBABlacknChrome

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Generac is a great brand but if it needs parts or computer software update it can only come from a Generac dealer. We have one and its great, I have one set one at all of our second homeowners properties. They do Stand behind there warranty. The Kohler ones are good units as well.
 

retfr8flyr

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+1 on the Generac, I have had a full hose Generac for 16 years now and I really can't imagine a better system. I replaced the first Generac because I wanted a larger unit and the new one was installed about 7 years ago. The new one has much better systems checks and controls than the old one but neither one of them have given me any problems. I actually got the new one from Home Depot.
 

Greg Hazlett

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Thanks Earl, I remember us talking about it but could not remember if Generac was the one you had.
 

retfr8flyr

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Greg, there are several options available for home systems now that were not there when I first got my Generac. I looked at them when I got the new one but, too me, none of them offered an improvement over Generac and I knew the good luck I had with the first system, so I went with Generac again.
 

Gabe

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I have a Generac 11kw unit, it's been great. It does it's weekly 10-minute run every week and if power goes out the thing starts up within about 20 seconds every time, the house is back under full power.
The auto switch set-up can have it cut out certain circuits in case they might overload it. I think mine has the washer/drier cutting out when on generator power.
But other than that, it's like nothing's gone wrong. We watch TV, take showers, run the dishwasher, make coffee, etc
 

nawagner

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Are you looking at natural gas units? If not I would recommend it.
 

flipper

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Generac has improved their product the last 5 years, solid option. Kohler is a step up, but residential use, I’d go Generac. Make sure your natural gas service has the capacity to handle the increased load. I had to upgrade my meter and incoming line to accommodate the new generator. I am in the electrical business so I have a lot of experience with them. Get an authorized contractor to do your installation - to keep you warranty intact. Also do an annual PM on the unit. Generac offers a kit to uplink the operation thru the cell network via an app, nice feature. Go with the whole house auto transfer switch and you’ll be rocking.
 

Greg Hazlett

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Generac has improved their product the last 5 years, solid option. Kohler is a step up, but residential use, I’d go Generac. Make sure your natural gas service has the capacity to handle the increased load. I had to upgrade my meter and incoming line to accommodate the new generator. I am in the electrical business so I have a lot of experience with them. Get an authorized contractor to do your installation - to keep you warranty intact. Also do an annual PM on the unit. Generac offers a kit to uplink the operation thru the cell network via an app, nice feature. Go with the whole house auto transfer switch and you’ll be rocking.
Do you recommend the whole house or pick and choose what you want power to?
 

JimC

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We had a Kohler whole house unit on the house I sold a couple of years ago. It was a great thing to have - power went out and we had lights and everything up and running within seconds. I came home one day and asked my wife "when did the power go out" because I could see the subdivision was dark except for the 3 of us with whole house generators. She didn't even realize that the power had gone out since she was on her computer and the battery back up for that didn't even cause a blink in the 10 seconds it took to start up the generator.

Yearly maintenance and check of the battery is all we did to it.
 

Greg Hazlett

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A local electrical company carries both kohler and gernac, contacted them for an estimate.
 

AndrewNagle

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A local electrical company carries both kohler and gernac, contacted them for an estimate.
Do it once and go whole house Price of generators has dropped in the last 15 years. Labor will be the same. Our house is set up for about 1/2 our needs (all important things) but looking to get a new one and complete the entire house and move our 10k to our garage apartment.
 

EBABlacknChrome

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As flipper noted, gas line size and meter size has to be figured for. A propane unit will not require any major pipe or meter change outs. Positive to propane is they burn hotter then natural and make more power. Most houses with a 200 amp panel will need a 16kw-22kw to give you full power. That will be based on how much electrical draw you have water heater, furnace, cook tops, microwave, refrigerators, freezers, lights and so on. For example our 5 ton geo thermal needs a minimum 10kw just for start up and thats only my heat. It also has a heat strip in it which if called for after start up kicks in, would need all of it. This is where the load shed devices come in handy as they start to shut stuff off. We set this up based on importance of needs. The transfers switch is a must, Load shed is based on need, disconnect and meter rework is based on how far your panel is from the unit. It has to be set on a concrete pad or equivalent which they will probably sell you a hard plastic foam core base. A 22kw is as big as you can get air cooled and after that is liquid cooled. Thats double the price for not that much more power unless your in need of a 30kw.

Pricing as follows:
Genarac 22kw propane with 200 amp transfer switch 4300 - 4800 depend where you get it. Some online sales will ship for free.

Topical install will run you 1800-3000 again variables as to it's location, propane and your meter. Example my meter/panel is on rd side of the house, Genarac and propane supply is on the other. Twice the wire as normal.

Gas/propane: that vary's, simple will be 2-3 hundred or 1k worse case.

Misc repairs from install, access, pad placement, permits 1500- 3000.

All in all normal in my area to retro in a whole house generator is about 10- 15k for a 16kw-22kw Genarac

Hope this helps more then my first post. Was a little tired from plowing early that morning then working on top of it. My brain was half functioning at that time. Everyone has given solid advise IMO.

Beau

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
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Greg Hazlett

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Great info, thanks; our stove, hot water and heat under 32 degrees is propane so there should not be any load there; we are on well and septic so having the water pump working is a must.
 

flipper

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I built a 4x6 treated wood frame, secured it at ground level...filled it with pea gravel, trimmed it with paver blocks and that’s where the generator sits on the fiberglass pad that comes with the unit. Didn’t want a concrete pad for the area it is located. I have my ac wired out so it will never kick on when the generator is running - there is a set of dry contacts in the ATS to accomplish this. I have a 2400sf ranch, conventional gas forced heat and I’m running a 11kw and it’s perfect size. No real big electrical loads. Don’t undersize yourself!
 

retfr8flyr

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One thing about whole house that is great is running the A/C. My first system, I didn't really think about loosing power in the summer time, I was more concerned abut winter and I didn't put in a large enough unit to run the A/C. In my area I loose power as much in the summer as in the winter. This is the reason I upgraded to a larger unit, so that I could run my A/C in the summer outages. It's worth the extra money to get a unit that will run all your essential electrical system needs. I currently have an 17KW unit on my house and it's not a complete full house backup but I consider it as such because it will run everything I need to live comfortably, hot or cold, during a power outage.
 

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