Whole House Generator

[whiskyb]

I bet they all seem loud to a neighbor who does not have one

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by whiskyb

I bet they all seem loud to a neighbor who does not have one

Probably even louder when said neighbor comes over to use your toilet, shower and refridgerator during an outage.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

My Generac is about 100 ft from my house and never bothers me or my wife. It's the sound of security so I can well handle it. When everyone else is sitting in darkness it very tolerable.

I agree with this concept...and if they can hear mine, they are on my property and the hail of 5.56 will start soon...which will drown out sound of the generator.

[widgeon13]

I really don't have any neighbors but the sound is minimal. It exercises once a week for 15 minutes and I never hear that unless I'm in the yard. If the neighbors in other areas don't have power and its night time they are most likely sitting on their hands and wishing they had spent the money as well. For us it is a safety issue, when the temps drop below zero and the lights go out I want some good options since where I live there is no telling how long the outage will last.

[chrismorse]

The alcohol will pull moisture out of the air and F**K up your generator carburetor.

A local chainsaw/lawnmower repair shop said that over 50% of their business was fixing the damage that alcohol caused in equipment.

50%

Typically, generators sit for 99+% of the time, giving alcohol plenty of chance to eat up stuff.

I can buy alcohol free gas at the local petroleum dealer for the princely sum of $6.00 per gallon, but it is worth it to not have to keep repairing my yard equipment or draining the tank after every usage. I keep 4 or 4 5 gallon cans in the shed, away from the house.

I have a 5K Generac and it has worked well during our outages. I usually end up running a power cord over to the neighbor's house to keep her frige, lights and cell phone charger working.

It is amazing how little power you need to run a few lights , a refrigerator, stereo/tv, if you have nat gas water heater, stove and furnace.

My nephew just shuts off the main panel feed, starts the little Honda generator and plugs in a double ended male cord to a circuit and bingo my sisters house is powered up.

Much better to get a transfer switch installed and run a propane or nat gas generator.

If you build a shed or dog house for the generator and install a larger (or additional) muffler, you need to run the exhaust outside the shed and be sure to secure the generator down, so it doesn't dance all around and snap off your fancy new QUIET muffler, or start something on fire.

Don't go so big on the generator that you cannot start it with a pull rope. Battery start systems, even with battery tenders, occasionally take a dump, then you are trying to cobble up some jumpers to a battery you have to rob from a car, just to get the generator going a few minutes before the power comes back on.

If your generator is a cheapie second hand unit, Starter fluid is your friend.

Again, DO NOT use alcoholcontaminated gas.

Good luck,
chris

Illegal as hell and potentially dangerous to the utility folks who are trying to repair the lines IF someone comes along and flips the main back on

[Crowbob]

I can't think of a more dangerous situation than that double-ended male power cord situation. Accident waiting to happen.

[fintstone]

Yes, that is why I don't want to do it myself...imagine the liability if you electrocute a guy working on the power line...not to mention the bad karma.

[chrismorse]

I didn't do that for myself or any client, but it got the job done. Don't do it if you have even the slightest doubt about what you are doing.

For sure the safe way to go is the competently installed transfer switch and generator.

One relatively low cost way to get you through an outage is to spark up a generator, owned or rented, and bring in temporary power to your refrigerator and lights. This will require a good extension cord, at least 12 gage, (grounded -three prong), a similar quality "splitter" and a few extension cords to get things lit up.

The basic rule of electrical usage is that you need big enough wire to handle the current, or you are going to melt the wire. it can carry only so much current before it starts to get hot, melt, start a fire.

Stepping back a bit, you might want to size the generator for the maximum probable intended usage.

To do this, you need to add up the big loads first, like electrical heating, air conditioning, electrical stove, and water pump. If you have any other big electrical loads, like an electrical two post hoist or kiln that you run a lot, you need to add all up the likely watts of usage and multiply that wattage by a usage factor, likely 50% or less, depending on your situation.

Add to that 500-100 watts for general lighting and toothbrush recharging and you are set.

The more you want to run at full capacity, the more it will cost. Most folk could save a lot by just sizing the generator for "just getting by".

Once you start to get more rural or wanting to keep your twin post hoist always operational, the generating cost goes up a bit.

Ch**st don't forget to add the laundry or dishwasher wattage, or you may end up sleeping out in the garage under the hoist

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by chrismorse

Stepping back a bit, you might want to size the generator for the maximum probable intended usage.

Another thing that should be reviewed is startup current vs. operating current. I chart all of the devices we plan to use, max current, operating current and expected minutes of use per hour. This way we can plan/design the system.

One thing, Generators generally do not have much for "surge". a 6KW unit can surge to 7.5KW for a few seconds. If you have an a 2 ton A/C (220V with LRA of 60 Amps), during startup you are drawing 13kW. You can reduce this with a start capacitor, by maybe 1/2.

The nice thing about using batteries and inverters, is that they generally can double the nameplate kW for about 2-3 seconds. If you have an 8kW inverter, it can supply 16 kW for a few seconds to help startup motors. It also allows us to operate with a smaller generator, run at full load (most efficient point) and let the batteries and inverter take the swing. If you buy an over sized generator for surge, you will be operating at a less efficient part load position.

Most of our designs use a 5kW generator (up to 2000 sq feet).

[Crowbob]

With careful load management people do get by with a 2Kw gen in emergencies for up to a day or 2.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

With careful load management people do get by with a 2Kw gen in emergencies for up to a day or 2.

It all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Down here, say after a hurricane, you will need to have Air Conditioning working. My point was to understand the different things to consider for a generator power system.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

I can't think of a more dangerous situation than that double-ended male power cord situation. Accident waiting to happen.

Then you don't have a very good imagination.

Plug the cord in THEN start the generator. Turn the generator off THEN unplug it.

It's 120 volts, not 600. The chances of getting hurt are about zero if you use your brain.

Originally Posted by fintstone

Yes, that is why I don't want to do it myself...imagine the liability if you electrocute a guy working on the power line...not to mention the bad karma.

Turn off the main.

[fintstone]

Actually, it is 240v (at least for my purposes/home), but even 120 will certainly kill a man.

[1990C4S]

It's still 120V to ground or neutral.

[Dueller]

Didn't read entire thread. I've had a Generac 20kw on natUral gas for 9 years. Besides oil changes a one battery this year has been trouble free and reliable. Runs my entire house no problem

[cabmandone]

My parents have a 20KW Generac. 2 years ago we had a really bad wind storm late in the summer that took out power for about 10 days. Their generator ran nonstop for the entire time. You couldn't tell the power was out except for the sound of the generator running. Theirs in on the opposite end of the home from the bedrooms so you couldn't tell it was running on that end of the house. A/C, lights, well pump, all appliances ran normally. They are contracted with a guy who services the unit once a year. If I was in the market for one, I'd buy a Generac based on that experience. They have had no problems with the unit since new. Ironically enough, it was new a few months before the power outage.

One note, you need to make sure your line from the tank to the house is big enough to run the generator and any other propane appliances. We installed a designated supply line from the tank to the generator and kept the house separate so there would be no supply interruption.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Yes, that is why I don't want to do it myself...imagine the liability if you electrocute a guy working on the power line...not to mention the bad karma.

IIRC, it's a DPDT switch that completely breaks power to the line side when the switch changes over. You'd really have to mess up to electrocute someone working on the line side.

[Jerome74911S]

Every now and then I give a passing thought to a generator - or more often, my wife mentions one - but I haven't gotten one.

We have a good wood stove, an endless source of firewood, water that comes out of the ground via our true artesian well, and some excellent antique kerosine lamps for warm, soft light. We're good.

To me we are all too reliant on our continuous feed of electric power, but a lucky rural resident like me has fewer worries. Our power has been off for up to a week at a time and it's not much of an issue.

[fintstone]

...IIRC, it's a DPDT switch that completely breaks power to the line side when the switch changes over. You'd really have to mess up to electrocute someone working on the line side.

All you need is some idiot to flip the switch back on...or forget to switch it off yourself in the excitement of a 2AM power outage.