Whole house generator pricing

[rfuerst911sc]

My wife and I have decided to install a whole house generator so that is not up for debate . I have three quotes from local generator companies . The prices range from 10.5 k to 12.5k with two being Kohler and one being Generac . Two quoted 20kw while one quoted 14kw with load sharing .

I found online a company called generatormart located in Colorado . They currently have either a Cummins or Kohler 20kw with 200 Amp transfer switch for $4,000 and free delivery . The quote from my propane company is 400.00 to 500.00 to trench a larger diameter gas line and all the fixins . So that gets me to 4500.00 but still leaves electric hookup .

If electric hookup is 1k to 1.5k ( guessing ) my total install is 5500.00 to 6000.00 ( ballpark ) . Is there any reason to NOT save roughly 5k and do the install piece meal vs one company ? That amount of savings would pay for a lot of propane .

Any thoughts on Cummins vs Kohler ? It looks like all the specs for a 20kw generator are very similar and warrantees are the same .

[Baz]

Some info here, fwiw:

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1117255-whole-house-generators.html

[Googam]

Most recent Consumer Report tests whole house generators. #1 rated Champion Power, includes a transfer switch.https://www.acmetools.com/champion-power-equipment-125kw-home-standby-generator-with-ats100-outdoor-rated-automatic-transfer-switch-100179/896682000298.html?irclickid=w1qVuS2ldxyPUmn1yAVdyy L2UkFzeL0VzTIM3I0&irgwc=1&utm_campaign=Consumer%20Reports%2C%20Inc.&utm_channel=Affiliates&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=affiliate

[flatbutt]

|I think that's a great price rfuer. I paid 4K for my honda portable.

[Deschodt]

Those are great prices.. Because location and city ordnances, I was quoted closer to 30K ! Because of where the thing cannot be, away from my windows, from the neighbor's, the extra trenching for the wiring, blah blah.. Ended up with solar instead..

Personally if I was to do it all over again knowing what I know now (and assuming no ukraine scarcity and inflated prices) - I would forego the generator and the solar altogether and simply get a powerwall battery or 2. Charge at night when electricity is borderline free.. Have it to use during the day or as a backup like the generator. Less space, noise and hassle. But the home gen is a good idea if it's that cheap ! Hard to beat.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Personally if I was to do it all over again knowing what I know now (and assuming no ukraine scarcity and inflated prices) - I would forego the generator and the solar altogether and simply get a powerwall battery or 2. Charge at night when electricity is borderline free.. Have it to use during the day or as a backup like the generator. Less space, noise and hassle.

Our 19kw Generac cost about $10k all in. If I had it to do over again - knowing what I know now and with the options available now - I would have gone with batteries.

[Norm K]

I went with a 13K watt dual-fuel portable that will power pretty much all the necessities to keep us in lights, internet, cooking, water (we're on a well) television, etc. I decided on a manual transfer switch which, although admittedly less convenient than an automatic one, allows me to select which breakers are powered at any given time, versus the auto versions that require circuits to be pre-selected*.

My all-in cost (self installed/wired) for the generator, cable, exterior 220V outlet, no. 6 gauge wire from the outlet (I guess it's acutallin in inlet in this case) to the panel, 50 amp breaker, generator breaker lockout mechanism (disallows having the generator and utility feeding the panel at the same time, as well as preventing feed back to the utility so the utility workers can work safely), usage meters/monitors and an alarm that alerts me when power has been restored so I can shut everything down was less than two grand.

Of course we've needed it only once since I installed it about seven months ago, but man oh man, was it ever nice to have.

* Not an issue if you spring for one with enough capacity to handle every possible need your home might throw at it.


_

[The Synergizer]

I love the sound of a dead quiet neighborhood when the power goes out. Unless you have a medical condition you should embrace it.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by The Synergizer

I love the sound of a dead quiet neighborhood when the power goes out. Unless you have a medical condition you should embrace it.

You might feel differently if it was 125 degree heat index, or zero degree ice storm.

I hate these threads. Every one of them seems to send me on a hunt for a generator. It grows from a small Honda, to a whole house unit.

My back yard fence neighbor paid 12 grand for a natural gas powered unit. After 10 years it had actually been needed for 12 minutes total, so the math was easy, a grand per minute, kinda pricey.

In the 25 years we have lived here, we have never been without power for long enough to be a real issue. We did have to eat ice cream for breakfast one spring, about 20 years ago when the power was out overnight, and the freezer was starting to defrost. Just after we ate the ice cream, the power came back on.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

You might feel differently if it was 125 degree heat index, or zero degree ice storm.

I hate these threads. Every one of them seems to send me on a hunt for a generator. It grows from a small Honda, to a whole house unit.

My back yard fence neighbor paid 12 grand for a natural gas powered unit. After 10 years it had actually been needed for 12 minutes total, so the math was easy, a grand per minute, kinda pricey.

In the 25 years we have lived here, we have never been without power for long enough to be a real issue. We did have to eat ice cream for breakfast one spring, about 20 years ago when the power was out overnight, and the freezer was starting to defrost. Just after we ate the ice cream, the power came back on.

That’s the position that I’m in. When I first moved in, we had a very reliable grid and it started going downhill, but even if I lost everything in my fridge, I was out maybe $30 depending on my last shopping trip.

I do have a sump pump that will overflow in less than an hour during wet seasons if the pump fails. I upgraded it to a battery backup model and bought a $500 generator that will run my fridge, sump and a few small items too.

They recently trimmed a bunch of trees and maybe replaced some wires, so we should have less outages again.

What sucks is that it appears that whatever supplies my internet uses the same section of grid, so even if I power my router, I still have no internet.

Having a whole house generator would be sweet, but just isn’t as big of a problem versus the cost.

[rfuerst911sc]

A few weeks ago we lost power for 21 hours . Anyone living in the south knows how fun that 21 hours were ! There is something to be said about comfort . My wife and I are 65 and at a point in our lives where comfort is something we enjoy .

Me dragging out the Honda 3000 generator and running extension cords up the stairs from the basement has lost its joy . I am now just trying to get the most bang for our buck . Power outages are not going to magically disappear and we are not going to get younger .

[john70t]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

If electric hookup is 1k to 1.5k ( guessing ) my total install is 5500.00 to 6000.00 ( ballpark ) . Is there any reason to NOT save roughly 5k and do the install piece meal vs one company ? That amount of savings would pay for a lot of propane .

By piece meal I assume some kind of external full house outlet to run any kind of generator..
-Propane. Set in a weatherproof housing with plumbing which won't leak over time.
-Gasoline. Flip switch. Buy a HF cheapo and a 5gal can or three set on ascending stumps (j/k) to continuously refill the bottom one.
-Plug in to the wall outlet.
-Extend a line to a neighbor or three to keep their fridge and a light running. Only use beefy sub <10g extension cords rated to carry juice at distance.

A gererator must have an automatic switch or two to shut off ALL municipal lines to and from your house. To become completely off-grid.
And that means both ways!
It could become highly illegal and dangerous to linesmen making repairs.

[rfuerst911sc]

^^^ No by piece meal I mean me being the job coordinator . So I call/schedule and pay my propane provider to install the proper size lines and regulators .

Then I purchase the generator of my choice . Then finally find/hire an electrician to wire it all up . With the proper ATS switch .

By doing it this way it looks like I can save about 5k . That is vs just hiring one company to do everything . By hiring one company turn key if anything goes wrong they are responsible .

By doing it piecemeal if anything goes wrong there could be a finger pointing exercise for blame . That's where I am at , making that decision .

[Alan A]

The record here was 17 days. Yes you read that right. We lose power at least once a year, often more.

I have a 7500W generator. It does all the heat or the bigger A/C of the two.
I fill it every 8 hours when it’s running, but for under $1000 it does the job.

[Evans, Marv]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Personally if I was to do it all over again knowing what I know now (and assuming no ukraine scarcity and inflated prices) - I would forego the generator and the solar altogether and simply get a powerwall battery or 2. Charge at night when electricity is borderline free.. Have it to use during the day or as a backup like the generator. Less space, noise and hassle. But the home gen is a good idea if it's that cheap ! Hard to beat.

FYI for those in CA, the state has a program that will pay for two powerwall batteries if you have a CPAP or other electrical, medical device requiring electrical power. A friend of mine got a set installed through a solar company. It was no cost to him but the normal cost was around $26K.
I was thinking of looking into a larger generator, but recently the power company installed large, steel power poles. We mostly got power shut offs during high fire and wind episodes. We'll see if the new, fire & wind resistant poles reduce the incidence of outages.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by john70t

A gererator must have an automatic switch or two to shut off ALL municipal lines to and from your house..

Does not need to be automatic. The manual breaker lock-out I used is just that ... manual and a breaker lock-out: the breaker from the generator that feeds the panel cannot be in the on position at the same time as the main panel breaker. When the main breaker is on, the breaker fed by the generator must be off, and vice-versa.

_

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Norm K

the breaker from the generator that feeds the panel cannot be in the on position at the same time as the main panel breaker.

My pay grade ends about there.

Some sort of back-feed device must be required for all home generators as code.YMM locally.
Manual/automatic.
Whatever shuts off any back-feed into county lines. and visa-versa.
Some sort of hard switch.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by john70t

Whatever shuts off any back-feed into county lines. and visa-versa.
Some sort of hard switch.

Simple but effective.

[bugstrider]

We considered a whole house generator due to our regular third world rolling blackouts here in Placerville, thanks to Pacific Gas & Extortion’s program. (Can’t wait to see what happens when the idiot working at the capitol forces everything electric)…..

Anyway, what we were concerned about the big whole house units, is just how thirsty they are running on propane. Not to much of an issue during regular weather, but a major problem in the dead of winter when there is 20” of snow and the city hadn’t plowed the road so a propane truck can make a drop. We tend to be out of power for days when that happens. Then we would really be screwed by being out of power and…propane. So our solution was to rig two Honda 2000i generators daisy-chained for a totals of 4K watts to run essentials. Plugs directly into our panel and yes, we have a interlock system like shown directly above to prevent back feeding into the grid. Mrs. Bugs can handle/move the small Hondas easily too.

It’s what works for us.


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[gacook]

The more I read of problems other people have, the more I appreciate my town. I've lived here off/on for about 26 years now and have never--not once--experienced a power outage that lasted longer than an hour. I could probably count the power outage of ANY length on one hand.

I do have solar but no battery backup and no generator; it's simply not something I feel I need.

So...yeah, I guess that's one more thing to like about our little city.