Comparison Home Stand By Generators

[atgreene]

I bought the Central Maine Diesel 10 HP Yanmar L100 6500 watt. Runs the entire house and garage (no welder or air compressor). I plumbed it into a fuel tank in the basement, during Irene it ran for 60 hours +- with a/c's running and normal house operations. Used .24 gallons per hour. Yanmar Powered 6,500 Watt Diesel Generator

I would love to upgrade to a larger one, and when I do it will be another diesel. Propane is hard to come by during extended ice storms.

 

[Garandman]

^^^This.

I have a 14KW propane fueled Kohler unit. I'm actually very pleased with how easy it is on fuel. I have a 120 gallon (250#) tank hooked to it and it has done weekly tests and three 4+ hour outages without dropping below 70% (80% is "full") in over a year.

Great to know: mine is getting the propane connected tomorrow! The dealer recommended twin 120 gallon tanks.

 

[ultrarunner]

I bought the Central Maine Diesel 10 HP Yanmar L100 6500 watt. Runs the entire house and garage (no welder or air compressor). I plumbed it into a fuel tank in the basement, during Irene it ran for 60 hours +- with a/c's running and normal house operations. Used .24 gallons per hour. Yanmar Powered 6,500 Watt Diesel Generator

I would love to upgrade to a larger one, and when I do it will be another diesel. Propane is hard to come by during extended ice storms.

Thanks for the link...

Looks to be very efficient.

Sound or quiet of operation is a big factor in my next genset purchase... the small "Valley" where I would use it reverberates sound...

How is the noise level and have you done any mods?

 

[MossRoad]

Notice that it says propane and natural gas generators are:
- More expensive to operate by as much as 3-times the fuel consumption compared to diesels
and
- Shorter life expectancy by a factor or 10 to 1 for air-cooled models and 3 to 1 for water-cooled models compared to diesel powered GenSets

 

[grsthegreat]

Thanks you so much grsthegreat for sharing the illustration. I saved for future use.

This next question is for when the generator is not running under load just on auto.

Now if I turn the switch to off form auto and leave it like that so the generator will not start right away when a black out occurs. Then I decide to start for an hour or so just to bring everything up.

1. I will turn off the 2 pole breaker on the side of the generator.
2. Start the generator, let warm up a few seconds
3. Turn on the 2 pole breaker and this should feed the house right.

Then just reverse what I did and let the generator cool, shut the generator off and then once the power is restored I just put it back on auto and turn the 2 pole breaker on again.
Thanks
Gilles

that sounds right. you dont have to leave it in auto. the battery will still charge even if in off.

 

[grsthegreat]

I view oil changes on all equipment as important, but see air-cooled being esp. critical due to the elevated oil temperature.

What do you use during standby to heat the oil, one of those silicone glue-on pan heaters ?

Sump pumps seem to be the critical requirement, driving the purchase of auto-start/xfer systems.

Rgds, D.

mine hase a glue on type, as the unit is older 16 YO generator. The newer generac offer a nifty little slip on oilfilter heater (240 volt) and battery warmer pad as an option. kind of spendy though, but very easy to use. self regulating also.

 

[K man]

When I purchased my Generator this Fall I was asking the salesman about how would it start in the Winter and he told me that Winter package where included heavy duty battery( 665cc) battery warmer, block heater and synthetic oil on all Generators that were installed in harsh cold winter areas. So it is nice to know that my generator will be ready to start during the winter. All I have to do is make sure the air intake are not blocked by snow and that I will be ok. I can sleep good at night knowing I don't have to worry about having to run out and boost or whatever to get my generator running.

 

[buickanddeere]

Notice that it says propane and natural gas generators are:
- More expensive to operate by as much as 3-times the fuel consumption compared to diesels
and
- Shorter life expectancy by a factor or 10 to 1 for air-cooled models and 3 to 1 for water-cooled models compared to diesel powered GenSets

Who runs a standby generator enough to make diesel pay in " fuel savings". As for being "reliable". Who is going to run the spark ignition engine enough hours to wear it out. In particular when operated with clean burning LP or NG. As for long life and reliability of diesel vs spark ignition. This is 2014 with tier IV emissions diesels . This isn't 1975 with gasssers having points ignition and burning leaded fuel competing against a diesel.

 

[hr3]

that sounds right. you dont have to leave it in auto. the battery will still charge even if in off.

Where is it getting the power for the charger ???

 

[MossRoad]

Who runs a standby generator enough to make diesel pay in " fuel savings". As for being "reliable". Who is going to run the spark ignition engine enough hours to wear it out. In particular when operated with clean burning LP or NG. As for long life and reliability of diesel vs spark ignition. This is 2014 with tier IV emissions diesels . This isn't 1975 with gasssers having points ignition and burning leaded fuel competing against a diesel.

I think you're getting all excited about the gas vs diesel pickup truck thread again.

 

[3930dave]

mine hase a glue on type, as the unit is older 16 YO generator. The newer generac offer a nifty little slip on oilfilter heater (240 volt) and battery warmer pad as an option. kind of spendy though, but very easy to use. self regulating also.

Nice setup.

Rgds, D.

 

[Toyboy]

OK, I'll jump in on this. A couple years ago I had an automatic 20kw Generac running NG installed. I could have gotten by with a 17kw but the cost difference was only a couple hundred for the bigger unit.

We live in a rural area but have the convenience of NG. Now the Generac carb has a lever that you can switch from propane or NG so no worry about getting the wrong fueled unit. The GenSet also comes with a built in trickle charger that keeps the battery fully charged when your on the grid.

We have a well, septic lift pump, 2 fridges and a freezer, electric washer & dryer, dishwasher, 2 microwaves, 1700 sq ft detached heated garage, 3 electric garage doors, AC, alarm system... and a bunch of other stuff that I could go on listing. Oh yeah, and a wife that's a cousin to "chicken little"!

Now I went for convenience , no hassle, start up - run - shutdown even if we're not home, vacations etc. Do I care about fuel consumption.... he!! no. I care more about our home and contents. We do not want to return from an extended vacation.. whatever, and find the power went out 2 days after we left and have a big mess to clean up in the summer OR winter.

Now if we were home body's and were available to run extension cords, haul gas, manually activate transfer switch, we may take a different view of things, but I doubt it. There's just something about running extension cords through a open window at -15 F that don't appeal to me.

Now those that live in warmer climates could very well do with less, but where we live, the north woods, I don't want to mess around.

Anyone living in cold climates should have the cold weather kit installed on the unit, factory or dealer. Also whatever brand you choose (your choice) make sure the dealer is full service. There are a lot more dealers out there that do the install but not the mechanical service. You want one that does both.

 

[bcjmmac]

+1
Couldn't agree more. Had a 20KW Briggs & Stratton, propane, installed when we had the house built. Don't leave it on auto because I don't want the noise if we lose power in the middle of the night. Bought it for peace of mind when I am away as work overseas so wife is alone & don't think she would handle a portable unit + when we travel it powers the appliances, sump pump, back up heat, etc.

 

[patrick_g]

I have a 17.5 KW Generac with critical circuits on the transfer switch/breaker panel. It is propane fired and is automatic. A friend looked it over and bought a 20KW propane Generac and just powers his whole house (using common sense and not running all the big loads simultaneously.)

Diesel is good for long term runs but short runs like the auto exercise every week for a few minutes is not the best application for a diesel. Low RPM diesel units are typically BIG and costly. High RPM are cheaper but have the short run syndrome. Some worst case analysis: You won't be home when the power goes out. Can your kid or wife remove the implement from the 3PH and install the PTO powered 3PH mounted genset and then run it correctly and hook up the output correctly. Or if no one is home for a few days you may lose the contents of your non-servel frige or freezer for lack of an automatic installation. Any genset is better than none but automatic to power the critical loads is a reasonable goal. Propane is clean burning and gives long service life. I have had my Generac for 10 years and it is super trouble free, easy to service, and has been 100% reliable. Propane is a good fuel choice for another reason... you don't have to go out in foul weather to pour gas and risk spilling/fire.

 

[Toyboy]

I had ours installed so it was not near the bedrooms. We can hear it but very softly.
Heck, that's the only way we know we're off the grid is when we hear it running other then the weekly exercise day.

That happened one time on a beautiful summer day and it took us awhile to to figure out it was not an exercise day. It was like "why is the GenSet running"?
Called the power company and were told they were having trouble with low voltage in our area... aka. brown out... the GenSet sensed that and took us off the grid until full power was returned.

You don't need storms or other weather/accident related occurrences to screw up a whole bunch of electronic stuff we all have in our homes today.

If you can, position it so the exhaust sound is directed into a open area, not towards something that will reflect the sound back at you. On propane installations you can pretty much move it around and away from the house. You just need heavier gauge wire to run to the house. NG installations are not that accommodating as you have to be somewhat close to the meter. Also in cold weather installations, try to locate it where it will get the winter sun to help warm it.

 

[K man]

After reading all these posts on automatic propane standby generators. I am happy to say that I made the right choice in installing one. Who cares about the cost just knowing your home is protected 24/7 when at home or not. I also agree with those who live in the North should have a Winter kit installed.

 

[MossRoad]

Who cares about the cost..... that about says it.

Again, has anyone run one of these large generators for a week 24/7 and how much did the fuel cost?

 

[kiotiken]

Who cares about the cost..... that about says it.

Again, has anyone run one of these large generators for a week 24/7 and how much did the fuel cost?

I guess that does say something, but I too am in that camp. How much does it cost... I wouldn't have a clue and I wouldn't loose much sleep over it if I did. I won't run mine continuous for a week, but I'll run it as long as I need to to make sure I don't flood and to keep the family happy and warm. After about 6 hours, the genset gets a break, but it has nothing to do with cost. It's only happened once or twice in the 10 years I've had mine that an outage lasts long enough for that to happen anyway. These things are there to get through a few hours, not a few weeks.

 

[MossRoad]

Its nice to know some folks don't have a budget. :laughing:

In all seriousness, I understand the need for sump pumps. And I enjoy convenience. I'd just like to know if anyone has figured out how much it would cost to run a large automatic generator 24/7 for a week, instead of everyone saying "who cares?", that's all.

 

[kiotiken]

Well, when mine was first installed, I looked at the consumption listed in the manual and figured the tank they installed would last 2.5 weeks at 100% load. The tank costs about $1000 to fill in the winter or about $750 in the summer.