Whole House Generator

[steve911T]

Looking for feedback on a home generator. Sam's is selling a 15KW Generac with the switch for $3499 (propane and natural gas). I was ready to pull the trigger and buy it (in Delaware where there is no tax) but went on line to check reliability, etc. There were quite a few posts of rather pissed off customers based upon Generac's warranty/ product problems. Any other suggestions? Does Honda make a whole house generator? Thanks in advance. Steve

[LWJ]

Just an FYI that generators are zombie attractants. No opinion on generac.

[widgeon13]

I have a 15 Kw Generac and it works fine in the rather harsh Adirondack weather (winter) environment. Have had it about 10 years. Low maintenance and reliable. When I got mine I also looked at Onan but they did not make a 15 kw at that time and I wanted the extra output. Many folks have Generac up here and few complaints. Comes on 30 seconds after power goes off and transfers back to grid automatically when power back on.

Get a qualified installer and it should be fine.

[red-beard]

I think the main difference between the Guardian and the Centurion series is the Centurion is liquid cooled.

$3500 is a good deal.

[fintstone]

Widgeon
Does that unit run your entire house with no problem?

I have heard that some units are pretty noisy. What is your opinion of the Generac?

[dafischer]

We just got a 14 Kw Generac, which Is currently being installed. Our electrician is a Generac dealer, and did the full install. Passed electrical inspection, and the propane guys were here yesterday trenching the back yard and running the lines. We're just waiting for the plumbing inspection before final hookup and test.

With our luck, the power will probably go out in today's thunderstorms. I'm looking forward to thumbing my nose at an outage in the future. I'll let you know how it works.

[Dana Norris]

Get a qualified installer and it should be fine.
^This is most important^
Generac are good units when propane or natural gas powered, both burn real clean.
Less maint. and are quiet couple of my neighbors have them. I have a Honda gas generater
but will be going to a propane Generac.
Dana....

[fintstone]

We want to do propane (also want to add gas log to fire place at same time). We would like to but/bury the tank. How did you find an installer?

[matthew-s]

A hidden expense can be the gas service - if you need to up the pipe size from the street, that could be $$$.

A neighbor looked into it, and they were about to pull the trigger until the gas company sent them a quote for 2x the cost of the unit just to upgrade supply.

[Evans, Marv]

I installed my Generac 10Kw (12.5Kw Peak) gasoline generator as a back up. I used it simply because I have had it for years & thought I should use it for something. It's noisy as hell, but I built an outside, weatherproof cabinet with large vents for air circulation, sound insulation and plumbed in an exhaust with a motorcycle muffler. That cut down on the noise immensely. The transfer panel handles 7.2Kw, which powers the refrigerator, freezer, some lights, and a few other circuits. The circuits actually use much less (less than half max) than the rated power of the generator. I wasn't interested in the whole house, because we've only been without power for a few periods of a max of about 45 minutes. Since I had this generator, I figured it might come in handy if we were ever without power for longer than that. If I was going to go whole house, I'd definitely go for a larger, quieter one.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Widgeon
Does that unit run your entire house with no problem?

I have heard that some units are pretty noisy. What is your opinion of the Generac?

I just dug through the specs. The LARGER units are water cooled. 20kW and down are air-cooled. Guardian vs. Centurion: the 13-20kW units are virtually identical. I expect the Guardian series has an improved generator and can output a little bit more on LPG.

Sound level on both is around 66 dB at 23 feet. Regular speech at 3 feet is 60 and a vacuum cleaner is around 70 dB. This means the generator running at full load is more than twice as quiet as a vacuum at 23 feet. The Centurion 13kW unit is quietest at 63 dB.

All other specs are identical. I'd say go for it. Seems like a very good deal.

The "quiet source" are similar to the larger guardian units, except quieter.

[cairns]

We have a 20K Generac that easily runs the whole house (runs on natural gas) In fact it was on when I left for work this morning (we do live in Maryland after all).

I did a lot of research on all of them before deciding on the Generac. The only one that came close IMO was the Kohler as it had a greater oil capacity. But it's switching ability didn't come close to the Generac. Part of that decision also came down to the installer- most wanted you to buy from them with a markup. We bought from Northern Tools and found a local guy (Bestland Electric) to install who we trusted. They may even go to the Eastern Shore I don't know.

We've had it for three years without a problem; I change the oil and plugs twice a year, check the belts etc. At $3,500 for 15K you can't go wrong we paid just over $5k for only 5KW more. There were a lot of b*tches about all the generators when I researched- I think Generac has more only because they sell more.

Hope this helps.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by matthew-s

A hidden expense can be the gas service - if you need to up the pipe size from the street, that could be $$$.

A neighbor looked into it, and they were about to pull the trigger until the gas company sent them a quote for 2x the cost of the unit just to upgrade supply.

Maybe in an older place. When we put in the pool with pool heater, the gas company charged us for replacing the meter with a larger one. I think it was around $350.

[fintstone]

Any of you buy a large propane tank and install underground?

Is a plumber the one to install gas lines?

[red-beard]

Yes, plumbers install gas lines.

[fintstone]

Thanks...did it myself before...but will need to do this to code.

[sammyg2]

Hold on, let's not just gloss over this whole zombie thing.......

[fintstone]

I have accomplished zombie prep already.

[Zeke]

If you go over to the Garage Journal and get on their "electrical" forum, you can search and read all night about generators.

[red-beard]

A couple of things. The Sam's club unit only has a 3 year warranty and they do not say WHICH transfer switch is included. You also have to arrange delivery from the Sam's Club to your house.

This is cheaper AND has the full 5 year warranty

Generac Guardian 14kW Standby Generator Pre Packaged with 200 Amp Service Rated ATS 6241 - Norwall PowerSystems