Whole House Generator

Discussion in 'Energy & Fuel' started by Beth Gallagher, Mar 24, 2021.

  1. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    a whole new circuit box is put in and you select which circuits in your regular are to be supported by the generator.
     
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  2. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    OK, gotcha. Thanks, Al.
     
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  3. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Well, the guy came and took photos, measurements, and determined a load capacity for our electric usage. He's going to work up a bid and probably send a plumber out to figure the best route for pipe and connections. I see $$$$$$. :D
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Never run gas supply lines or electric supply lines up and through the attic. always go underground.

    I have seen Generacs used for hospitals, schools, commercial applications. This Old House has used them, in their project homes. I think Generac was the forerunner in this field. They were designed to supply limited backup power. They were noisy, running, unless shielded somehow.
     
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    Last edited: Mar 24, 2021
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  5. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    One of my neighbors is installing a natural gas generator. The only problem I see is sometimes natural gas may go off with electricity depending on your supplying company. The neighbor says it will cost $21,000 including the electrician fees and that is for 200 amp 220-volt service which is what most houses are set up for. It also includes all gas lines and total setup. Our police station uses them has a storage tank just in case the gas lines go bad. The tank fuels the generator and the gas line keeps it full. They run very quietly and I was impressed with them during our 5 days with no power. Any electronics on these modern setups are powered by batteries that are kept charged fully. Lots of money. I have a small gas one I use to power lights, chargers, adjustable bed, fans, freezers, and refrigerator. It works but is noisy. In the winter I would be in real trouble.
     
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  6. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Thanks, Joe. My husband immediately nixed the "through the attic" installation.
     
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  7. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Interesting; thanks, Faye. Our natural gas has never gone off here for any reason. It's the one constant that we can depend on, plus it's cheap. We have a small portable Honda generator that we bought for hurricanes, but it will only power the refrigerator, TV and a couple of lamps. :D I think our son borrowed it to use on construction sites; he's a general contractor.
     
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  8. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Beth Gallagher

    Please be aware that any natural gas or propane-fired device which waits to provide service requires an ignition source to light the gas. Often that is provided by the building electric service, such as an outlet, now DEAD due to power outage. The old way had a tiny gas pilot light burning all the time, like my mother's old kitchen stove, which lit up the burners. Pilots are OK, waste a bit of gas, but are susceptible to being blown out now and then by unintended drafts. Just my opinion, nothing is totally foolproof.

    Frank
     
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  9. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    Thanks, Frank. I don't believe there is any "pilot light" on a natural gas generator. It would be counter-productive for a generator that is to provide emergency electricity to depend on electricity to start. :D

    As detailed on Howstuffworks.com, inside of a natural gas generator, “an internal combustion engine injects a mixture of fuel and air into a combustion chamber, where a piston compresses the mix. A spark plug ignites the fuel, driving the piston down and turning a crankshaft. The crankshaft, in turn, spins the generator’s rotor in an electromagnetic field, generating an electric current that can charge batteries, power appliances or even run high-wattage tools, depending on the generator’s size.”
     
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  10. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    My brother has a Generac natural gas generator and it starts itself every week (I think) and charges the battery as well as runs a self-check. He gets a yellow light error code if something is wrong. I elected for a large portable generator since I may want to use it around the property without running extension cords for miles and getting all that voltage drop, etc. I have a switch that is used to manually switch to the generator power should it be needed. Supposedly, a simple interlock can be used which allows you to plug into the house system but only if it is disconnected form the grid. You have to disconnect before you can hook the generator up and then the circuits used are selected in your breaker box. We did not opt for a natural gas system as we have earthquakes, and when the shake gets bad enough, the gas automatically shuts off to avoid fires and explosions.
     
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  11. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    Because the electrical system here for many years we only got electricity 10 hours a day we installed a inverter and battery bank with back up generators. We now have electricity 24/7 but being in the countryside it does go out still.
    We did not disconnect the inverter but keep it just for emergencies we have a 6.5 kilo watt generator which will run the house and charge the batteries making us self sufficient. It is a god send when we have a big storm and the electricity is our for any length of time we usually have a ling up of people charging their cell phones.
     
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  12. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Don Alaska Yes, I am close enough to the ring of fire that all emergency services and most hospitals around here use the tank system. It is a measure for earthquakes as well as terror attacks. It is always full and fenced and highly secure.

    @Beth Gallagher Natural gas is the only way to go in your area. It isn't piped in for hundreds or thousands of miles. Natural gas or diesel generators do require electricity to start and run, but that comes from the battery and alternator. They are computerized these days to self-start for tests and in times of line failure. The entire island of St Thomas is run on a natural gas power plant and they ship in the tanked gas. What Frank was referring to was modern natural gas appliances, hot water heaters, etc., depend on electronics to ignite. This isn't a problem as long as electricity is going. If you have a gas furnace, then it needs a battery backup for ignition in times of power failure.

    The only thing that personally worries me about gas is its explosive power. I understand electricity and have no fear of it as many do. If I had the money, I would set up a solar-powered system and be off the grid for good. It takes more money than I have to set up such a system. The natural gas generator is the best way and most cost-effective.
     
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  13. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    #28
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  14. Boris Boddenov

    Boris Boddenov Very Well-Known Member
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    We bought a Kohler in 2005 (12Kilowatt). At that time, the dealer said that they were better than Generac. Price was $10,000 and that included, as best I recall, a 500 "gallon" propane tank buried in the ground. Or was the propane set-up, extra? Not sure.

    Still running well. I have a service contract which includes the generator and the panel inside the house.

    The only problem is the exercise function is extra touchy in its old age. It exercises automatically every seven days for 20 minutes, but if there is a power interruption, even for a half second, it will fail to exercise when it is next due. You have to reset the exercise function. No big deal normally, but one day the power co. was farting around and there were power interruptions for like every half hour. I kept resetting thinking that the most recent interruption would be the last.

    The first seven or so years, power interruptions didn't affect the exercise schedule. Unfortunately, getting a fix is not part of the service contract. It's extra like about $600. So I just reset when the interruptions occur.
     
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    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
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  15. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    My choice would be a Kohler 48KW because it is 200 amp and would run my furnace without any problem. All of our local emergency services use Kohler so getting service for them isn't a problem, but it is costly.
     
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