Posted: 10/31/2009 4:23:22 PM EDT
| Anyone familar with these systems? Home depot has them on line. Looks like they come as a pretty complete package. |
|
Me
Generac Certified Tech up to Diesel powered units Get the long warranty Whole house does not mean your house The little 17KWs will not run a 2000 sf home with a big A/C and a powered gate But once its bought... they said it was a whole house unit????? Generac has about 80% of the home market Get one big enough to run everything you want and has the surge capacity to START STUFF 17KW get loaded down in a hurry Fridge about 1 KW running Freezer 1.5 A/C 1 KW PER HP Heat 1KW PER 100SF (hope you got a fireplace) Don't even think about running washer and dryer unless everything else is turned off (tired not sure what the load is for these) I need a list to just cut and past into these posts run and start KWs Oh and I work on a lot of Kohlers too check the back of the HD if you want to see one 
Oh and get it installed by a GOOD electrian Your buddy might not know how to hook up the ATS Make sure they have the correct training also I only do startups not installations But I have seen some ugly ones 320 Amp worth of breakers on a 160 amp max unit 
|
|
Quoted: Me Generac Certified Tech up to Diesel powered units Get the long warranty Whole house does not mean your house The little 17KWs will not run a 2000 sf home with a big A/C and a powered gate But once its bought... they said it was a whole house unit????? Generac has about 80% of the home market Get one big enough to run everything you want and has the surge capacity to START STUFF 17KW get loaded down in a hurry Fridge about 1 KW running Freezer 1.5 A/C 1 KW PER HP Heat 1KW PER 100SF (hope you got a fireplace) Don't even think about running washer and dryer unless everything else is turned off (tired not sure what the load is for these) I need a list to just cut and past into these posts run and start KWs Oh and I work on a lot of Kohlers too check the back of the HD if you want to see one Oh and get it installed by a GOOD electrian Your buddy might not know how to hook up the ATS Make sure they have the correct training also I only do startups not installations But I have seen some ugly ones 320 Amp worth of breakers on a 160 amp max unit 17kw just enough or not enough That may be true, but I`m gonna have to say that 75% or more people can get by with 9-12kw. |
|
At my FL house with my 6250 max powermate ( 5500 running) I had no problem running an AC , fridge/freezer , TV , dvd player. with multiple lights on in the house.
Id like to think my CT house is less reliant on electricity since I dont REALLY need AC even in the summer when there is an outage. BAD here in CT is like 9am in FL lol. I think for heat hes talking about electric hot air heat Or god forbid electric baseboard! 
..... I hope my oil fired base board hot water doesnt take 1KW per 100 sq ft lol Id need wtf 35 KW to heat a 5 bedroom house That would just be out of control stupid.
|
|
I have the Generac Power Systems unit from Home Depot, 16kw, 2800sq/ft 2 story house. I have it set up to run everything except the upstairs air. We have had it come on a couple times since 2005, and no issues noticed. I change the filters, oil, and plugs, yearly. It runs for 20 minutes weekly.
Now bear in mind...we do not turn everything in the house on when it's running, only what we need, when we need it. We have gas hot water, oven/range, and grille. For cooling upstairs, we have a portable A/C unit that I wheel into the Master Suite. We close the door, only cooling the master upstairs, running the exhaust out the window. The only other thing that is not hooked up is the dryer 220 circuit. For what it cost, I think it was a good investment. |
|
Quoted:
If you have the coin, go for a Kohler unit. The Generac unit's are ok, just make sure you get a long warranty. Yep. That's what I did... very happy with it. Stable, quality power (some of my neighbors have Generacs, and you can see a visible flickering in their house lights when running on backup power... not so with mine). 
|
|
Quoted:
17kw just enough or not enough That may be true, but I`m gonna have to say that 75% or more people can get by with 9-12kw. In my area 99% of the Houses are All Electric And its hard to tell people that you can not run your washer (and hot water heater) and dryer and cook with your A/C on While watching your soaps and surfing the net, with half the lights in your house on. Will a 17KW run a typical house if you watch what you use YES But beware that you could get bit after you take a shower and the A/C kicks in while your surfing ARFCOM (with a UPS on you computer) and doing popcorn in the Microwave while drink a Soda that you took out of the fridge that caused it to start With a few lights on and of course your Freezer decides to cycle too It adds up in a hurry Normally its the starting amps that will make it dim or even drop off line completely And like stated above in the winter Use a fireplace or you are HOSED if you have electric heat I have a heat pump so I have a little room Do you'll want me to break out the ol book and list the typical loads of household stuff both running and starting KW We use KW because thats how the Gens are rated |
|
My father said "fuck it" a few years back, and went out and bought a natural gas/propane fired Centurion genny. They have NG at the house, and he now has a 1000 GALLON propane tank in the back yard.
He ended up with a (I think) 27kW model. Youch. Way more then he needs, and a huge gas hog. The main problem here is hurricanes, and I'm fine with running my fridge, a window unit, some lights, and maybe charging my laptop/cell phone. Once I get the coin I'll be getting a Yamaha ~3000 watt unit. |
|
Hello,
Where I work we have 5 separate house for taking care of medically fragile children, 4 of the house have generac automatic standby systems we have an 8kw, (2) 10kw, and a 12kw at our main house we have a 50kw Cummins Diesel gen set. The four smaller houses are appox 2500sq ft, The main house with the Cummins is 11,000 sq ft. The main issues we have had with the Generac's is the starters, we have replaced 3 starters on 3 different units in the last 2 yrs, they are fairly easy to change just a little tight space wise... If going this route I would certainly order and have on hand a extra starter,each time we needed one it took atleast a week to find and take delivery of one. we've had no other problems with the generac's other than this, Ohh by the way 2 are NG and the other 2 are propane. The only problem we've had with the Cummins is a pin hole leak in the radiator...... good unit Son |
| Has anybody ever bought one from the govt liquidation site, there on there but are Old say 1980ish production date. What would most likely need to be fixed replaced on these, some have 2 or 3 hours others have 15000+. I know never buy a Brown one due to where its been but some "look " ok. Most or all i have seen listed so far have been to far to travel to to take a look at but if one pops up withen a couple of hours i would go take a look at it. What should you look for that could be checked one a visual inspection. I dought they will let you start it up, even if it has fluids. I have heard of grat and very disapointing things. Any thouhgts appreciated. |
|
Quoted:
IMO, "going large" on your generator is a sure-fire recipe for running out of fuel before you run out of SHTF... The above statement is dead-on! In an emergency (or SHTF) you want a fuel MISER. Period. Get a portable tri-fuel setup for the win. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/mr_joshua/EF2000_Generator_0021.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/mr_joshua/DSCN7333.jpg [/quote] Please post some more pics and details of your setup. Grove |
|
Quoted:
Has anybody ever bought one from the govt liquidation site, there on there but are Old say 1980ish production date. What would most likely need to be fixed replaced on these, some have 2 or 3 hours others have 15000+. I know never buy a Brown one due to where its been but some "look " ok. Most or all i have seen listed so far have been to far to travel to to take a look at but if one pops up withen a couple of hours i would go take a look at it. What should you look for that could be checked one a visual inspection. I dought they will let you start it up, even if it has fluids. I have heard of grat and very disapointing things. Any thouhgts appreciated. I bought a 5kw diesel unit and have had good luck with it. Grove |
|
From the installs we have done, I would say that the Kohlers are better. The Generacs are not bad, per se, but the Kohlers are dead nuts reliable. I don't think you will see many Generacs 20 years down the road without having major issues like you do with some of the Kohler units we have installed, and those suckers get run. There is a honey of a Kohler at a town well, with a Ford 460 converted to run on propane that still runs slicker than shit, and starts up easy even after 20 years.
What you need for a generator depends on what your appliances are powered from, how your hot water is made, and what your heat is powered by. If you have gas appliances and a gas or oil boiler with a hot water maker attached, you can get by with a small generator, like a 3500w, just to mainly run the small load on the boiler, and for your well (if you have one). If you have an electric stove, electric hot water heater, deep well, etc, then you are obviously going to need a much larger generator. |