Back Up Generator
 

Hey all....been thinking about getting a natural gas back up generator.

Anyone have any experience with them?

I am looking to get one that will run the house and not just a small portable. What sort of installed (total) costs are you finding?

Re: Back Up Generator
 

There's a few threads that touched on this. Mostly hurricane threads... Imagine that...

Check with your local power company. For us, Dominion Power and Virginia Natural Gas have some deals and they'll take care of everything.

If you're looking at a whole house unit, be prepared. A true whole house unit can power everything at startup. If all your AC's kick on, refer cycles on, washer and dryer start, all at the same time, do you have the power?

That's what ultimately kept us from getting a whole house generator. The KW's to pump 4 AC's, plus multiple refers and all that goes with that at start up was as stupid as the price.

There are ways around that, but we're going with something much smaller that will power just what we'll need including the entertainment wall, lights, fans, and main kitchen.

Re: Back Up Generator
 

I'll have to search those links. I was on the Kohler site and its saying based upon house size and amenities, that I'd need a 15KW unit.

My dad has a 30KW Kohler diesel unit, but it was crazy money, I am thinking like 15 grand, but they lose power constantly. His generator has 4 cyl john deere engine on it, damn things bigger than a prius!...lol

I'd like to have a whole house unit...gotta keep the a/c and hot tub running you know...lol. I'll have to call one of the dealers and see.

Which unit manufacturer were you looking at?

Seems like the Kohler has the faster transfer time of about 10 seconds.

Re: Back Up Generator
 

Kohler and Generac natural gas units.

The electrics in your house draw more when they're first turned on, so you have a huge draw when the generator kicks in and everything that was running turns on at the sametime. The Kw's get high very quickly. Some can be delayed, or switched manually, but I'm not an electrician. True "whole house" generators require mad Kw's. Not so true "whole house", not so many Kw's.

30Kw's come and go very quickly so decisions have to be made with regard to budget.

Re: Back Up Generator
 

Just get a 15kw Generac with the auto transfer switch. It allows you to put like 12 circuts into it. That would be plenty of power for your central A/C , furnace and some lighting circuts. I have installed quite a few of these and their a real nice unit.

Re: Back Up Generator
 

What kinda money does one run installed....rough guess for a 15KW.