Getting a whole house genny installed...

[Toyboy]

I had a 20kw Generac installed about 4 years ago now. Ours runs on NG so running out of fuel is not an issue. The statement of "when everything is up and running it sucks fuel" is just wrong. When it has been needed it's never taxed to max.
We have two fridges, a freezer, micro wave, AC, well pump and septic pump. There has never been a time when they all "gang up" on the gen-set and start at the same time.
Lights are a non issue today with the CFL's and LED's. Even with the incandescent lights, you turn them on and off as needed not turn them all on and leave them on...
When your out of power summer or winter, and no time line as to when it'll be restored, the sound of the unit humming away outside is very comforting to the wife. Cost is secondary to comfort then.
Happy wife = Happy life.

 

[smstonypoint]

I went with a similar size (21kW) diesel mainly so we could run our geothermal system in a pinch. .

How does the acquisition cost of a diesel-powered whole house unit compare to the cost of a propane unit of the same capacity?

Steve

 

[s219]

How does the acquisition cost of a diesel-powered whole house unit compare to the cost of a propane unit of the same capacity?

Steve

If both are liquid-cooled (the only way diesels come) then the cost is very similar. So if you look at one of the Generac liquid-cooled propane/NG units, it will be right in the ballpark of a diesel -- about $7500-8500 for a 21kW size unit.

It's only when you go to the air-cooled Generacs that the price drops quite a bit, down into the $3500-4500 range.

I believe the air-cooled Generacs have a much shorter service life, so you'd have to do the math on costs/lifetime/etc to figure out the best value.

 

[CCWKen]

Back before CPS did some distribution work and new power lines, we used to loose power every time it rained. If it started to sprinkle and it was dark outside, everyone scrambled for a flashlight knowing the power would be going out. If it was out for more than a half hour, we'd fire up the oil lamps and listen to a battery powered radio while sitting around and talking. Oh the good ole days.

I can't see shelling out nearly ten grand for short outages and I live in an all electric house with co-op water. Of course, we don't have to put up with snow or ice and it rarely freezes but the summers here extend well into the night. It's common to be 90+ with 80%+ humidity when the 10-O-Clock news comes on so A/C is more important. But I can remember only one occasion where the power was out for more than four hours. Some drunk killed himself up the road and took out a pole. If it does go out now, it just a flicker or it's back on in less than an hour. Investing $10k is just a missed opportunity for something more important. And I sure don't want payments. I can live without power for 3-5 hours a YEAR!

Perhaps that will change as I get older.

 

[nikdfish]

OK, now for some pics:
The first installers got here around 8A or so & started when the power co. came by & did the meter disconnect. One guy lined up things for attaching the switch box while the other started on the house main panel.

I had run extension cords earlier, and connected to the portable generator via a pass through at the sliding glass door in the kitchen (main concerns being refrigerators & freezer).

As the existing breaker box will effectively become a sub-panel, it had to be modified for a 4 wire feed (neutral & ground seperate) instead of the existing 3 wire feed. This meant that all existing neutral lines had to be moved to a new, isolated, bus bar.

With the old feeds cut off, a hole is cut in the house panel to bring in the new feed.

The switch box is mounted by the meter and a conduit connects the two.

The new feed originates at the switch, but comes in above the meter position.

At the generator pad location, a hole is cut into the crawl space just above the sill.

At the switch location, a hole is cut into the crawl space through the masonry foundation.

Wire is laid out then fed from generator pad to the switch through the crawl space & secured to floor joists.

The installation location opening is boxed.

continued on next post
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[nikdfish]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
continued:


Connections are made in the switch.

A cement pad was placed at the install location, then the generator.

The generator was secured to the pad

A load management module was fitted to the feed for the 5 ton heat pump.

Conduit was installed to fit between generator & pass through.

All done & waiting for the electrical inspector - propane will be the next phase.

 

[aircommuter]

I picked up this beauty for $8k with 800 hrs on it. It does everthing for me, shop and house, 2 transfer switches, one 3ph for the shop and another for the house. It is a 50 kw 12 lead reconnectable. So it only runs 1800 rpm, I also installed a remote panel in the basement so I can check on it without going to the shop. It was an easy install as I did it myself when I was building the house and shop.

 

[s219]

Great to see the install pics -- looks like very good work all the way around. It's amazing how much goes into it (for anyone contemplating generators when building a new house, some of the wiring/prepping can be done ahead of time to greatly simplify things later on).

Do you happen to know what size wire they used from the generator to the transfer switch? I assume the generator is basically providing 100A service?

 

[TripleR]

Back before CPS did some distribution work and new power lines, we used to loose power every time it rained. If it started to sprinkle and it was dark outside, everyone scrambled for a flashlight knowing the power would be going out. If it was out for more than a half hour, we'd fire up the oil lamps and listen to a battery powered radio while sitting around and talking. Oh the good ole days.

I can't see shelling out nearly ten grand for short outages and I live in an all electric house with co-op water. Of course, we don't have to put up with snow or ice and it rarely freezes but the summers here extend well into the night. It's common to be 90+ with 80%+ humidity when the 10-O-Clock news comes on so A/C is more important. But I can remember only one occasion where the power was out for more than four hours. Some drunk killed himself up the road and took out a pole. If it does go out now, it just a flicker or it's back on in less than an hour. Investing $10k is just a missed opportunity for something more important. And I sure don't want payments. I can live without power for 3-5 hours a YEAR!

Perhaps that will change as I get older.

Ah, I remember those days with fondness. The things I now have/do that I said I'd never need/do has gotten much shorter as I've aged.

 

[murphy1244]

Thanks for the pics. Your condenser for your heat pump could sure use a cleaning.