Home generator recommendations?

[Kolyan2k]

Which one do you recommend? Gasoline, natural gas, propane? Make and model?

I was considered Generac 7.5kw natural gas for $2k, but not sure if its worth it paying extra over gasoline models

[cmyx6go]

My parents have a full house Generac natural gas. You don't even have to think about it. Why have to screw around fueling it up when you need it.

[vreihen16]

If you have natural gas available and are willing to accept that a major regional disaster like an earthquake could disrupt the gas flow and leave you in the dark, it is a great option.

Gasoline works for short outages, but a typical 6.5kw portable generator will suck down 10+ gallons/day...and you need a gas station that's open and has power to refill your cans. Plus, the ethanol used in most pump gas doesn't store well for more than a month or so, meaning that you'll find your stockpile of generator gas stale and gumming up the carburetor/tank when you try to fire up the generator in the dark.

I have no experience with propane burn rates, other than to say that you need to have a steady delivery of portable tanks or delivery trucks to refill a larger tank. At least the carburetor doesn't gum!

I have seen dual-fuel portable generators, that will run on a BBQ propane tank or gasoline. No idea how long they run on a BBQ tank, but probably less time than a tank of gasoline.

I'm surprised that you don't have diesel on your list. If I ever upgrade my portable gasoline generators (yes, more than one), I would go with a Cummins Onan stationary or RV diesel generator. Why? Because I have oil heat and a large tank of heating oil, and am pretty sure that I can plumb a diesel into the heating oil tank and run it for days between deliveries.

Whatever you do, make sure that it is wired per electrical code using a proper transfer switch, and run it outdoors to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.....

[2000cs]

Natural gas is cheaper than propane which is priced like gasoline. So on that alone I’d go natgas.

I’ve had natgas and propane at two different houses. There was no operational difference, no maintenance difference, etc. Still an oil change a year, new filter, etc. Like a lawnmower.

I would get natgas if the fuel is available at your house. If a disaster disrupts the natgas lines, you’ve got bigger problems than whether your generator will run. Second choice is propane if you have a large tank (ours was 400 gal I think) but it is easy enough to have old Hank Hill tell you how much propane you need on hand to run for whatever duration you’re worried about. Don’t expect propane deliveries in the week after a major storm - high demand and lots of down trees blocking roads mean a safer plan is to have the fuel on hand. If those options don’t work, then maybe gasoline. But again you need to have a supply on hand, probably several cans of reasonably fresh gas ready to go.

And these generators typically start and run for 15 minutes each week so you will have some fuel use to plan for even in good weather.

One other thought is that if you can swing it, just get a generator sized to serve the whole house. It is cheaper to select critical circuits (a TV for news, Modem/Router, a few lights and the fridge/cooking equipment) but a lot more convenient to have everything working. Easier to wire in, too.

[nyalpine90]

Im a plumbing designer, generac is one of the most common and reputable brand for emergency generator. Make sure you have proper clearance all around generator. I think its 10ft clearance all around.

[smyles]

Do you lose power often? For long? What do you want to power? Budget?

You can go from a ~$500 inverter gen. to a $10K+ whole house installation.

[RickFLM4]

As others have stated, if you have natural gas (or a large propane tank) readily available, a standby is the way to go. If you don’t, then you’ll probably want to go portable. We have plenty of outages due to storms and looked at burying a 1,000 gallon propane tank, getting a larger (20kw+) standby generator, and running propane to gas grill, a pool heater and water heaters and the price was prohibitive to me (around $20K more than 10 years ago) plus the operating cost of fuel was pretty high.

I settled on a 17.5kw portable Generac monster of a portable. It is set up so I can connect it to a panel and run a refrigerator, stove, one of our central ac units, one of our hot water heaters, most lights and most ceiling fans in the house (while chained and locked to a tree). Downside is it requires gasoline, but gas stations here are required by law to have generators of their own to pump gas when power is out. I have used it a grand total of once in 10+ years. So yes the gas is a downside and less convenient, but the cost was about 10-15% of digging up my yard for a tank and getting a standby, with minimal maintenance costs, so a happy medium.

I recommend figuring out what you really need it for before jumping in and then plan it accordingly. If you get a portable to do more than basics for a few hours, I also recommend getting it set up to plug into the panel rather than trying to run extension cords. Make sure you plan to maintain it and run it periodically no matter what you do (including keeping air in the tires for a portable). And find a safe place to run it away from doors and windows, and buy at least a couple of CO2 detectors. Don’t store gasoline for long if you can avoid it and throw some Stabil in if you plan to keep it for more than a few weeks.

[Kolyan2k]

Don't want to spend more then 2k. DIesel wasn't on my list because I couldn't even find any, wasn't sure that's an option. Ill check again

Just bought house, don't know if they loose power. Prev owner already has it wired up for portable so thats convenient. But i have natural gas too and can probably connect gas and electrical myself. Just need to reroute generator wire and get 10ft gas flex (took out gas dryer in basement and have hookup left)

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

Im a plumbing designer, generac is one of the most common and reputable brand for emergency generator. Make sure you have proper clearance all around generator. I think its 10ft clearance all around.

I think natural gas models can be installed next to house without 10ft clearance. I have space outside with perfect location, it has bricks already, its close to panel, and gas line is right inside the basement 10ft away.

[RickFLM4]

You may be able to find a small standby (maybe 10kw) for around $2K - just the generator, not including the slab you’ll need for it or install. Not sure. If you’re an electrician or electrical engineer, wiring yourself should be no problem. If you’re not, then this is one of those jobs where it’s probably worth hiring one.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

You may be able to find a small standby (maybe 10kw) for around $2K - just the generator, not including the slab you’ll need for it or install. Not sure. If you’re an electrician or electrical engineer, wiring yourself should be no problem. If you’re not, then this is one of those jobs where it’s probably worth hiring one.

Yeah I can wire myself. And I figure gas line is not a big deal either to run a flex to it. $2k natural gas is 7.5kw Generac

I was thinking maybe leaving gasoline portable hookups alone and running new line to panel directly. And operate generator and all circuits manually.

[Kolyan2k]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-...6998/306235149

I dont even need that transfer switch if it can run manually

[RickFLM4]

You have natural gas hot water heaters? If so, that’s a big energy user that won’t need electric.

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

You have natural gas hot water heaters? If so, that’s a big energy user that won’t need electric.

I have condensing gas boiler that heats hot water and house. 2 in 1

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Generac-...6998/306235149

I dont even need that transfer switch if it can run manually

That’s basically the newer version of what we had at our last house (Propane) which I sold a year ago. Was 15 or so years old and still ran like a champ.

7.5kW is enough to power some circuits but may not run heat pumps or air conditioners. You need to check inrush current on major motor/compressor appliances (fridge, freezer if separate, a/c, heat pump, washing machine, electric dryer). Sizing to start those can get you to 20kW real fast; leaving them off means less convenience/comfort. Heck a decent microwave sucks 1kW all by itself. We just had our fridge, a few lights and a couple of circuits (master bedroom) on ours. No water heaters and maybe the small geothermal heat pump (I don’t recall).

So if you expect to be home during likely outages, on the one hand you can handle fewer loads on a generator because you’re there to manage it. On the other hand, being there you’ll want everything working. If it is a second home or you travel a lot, you might want more capacity to keep heat in winter or cool/dehumidify in summer, but you won’t need all the circuits. Totally different use cases for the same house!

The transfer-trip switch that comes with it is important. Prevents backfeed which can kill a utility worker out to restore power. Also allows the unit to self start and test without having to sync with grid.

[smyles]

There's a big step up in req'd power (and $$) if you want to run A/C. Also, unless you're licensed, I wouldn't diy a gas line, for liability/insurance reasons.

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

I have condensing gas boiler that heats hot water and house. 2 in 1

That’s good. All you need is fans if you’re pushing air (low load) or if radiators, maybe a return pump? Pretty light load typically.

[zx10guy]

I have a 20kW Generac generator running on natural gas. The generator itself will run on both natural gas or propane. Just have to configure the generator. The literature is a bit misleading as it's actually 20kW when run on propane and 18kW when on natural gas.

If I recall correctly, it cost me about $16k to have it installed. A few hundred was due to all the natural gas appliances I have in my home. After running the calculations, the contractor determined I needed to have an upgraded gas meter installed to deal with the worst case flow scenario. I have 3 fireplaces, water heater, HVAC, and range running on natural gas. In addition to the new meter, I had to have a separate line pulled from the meter through my house to the generator on the other side of the house.

In my area, there isn't a 10 foot requirement for spacing. There is a requirement as to how far away the generator needed to be from a window. I'll take a pic of my generator set up when I get a chance. It's raining outside right now.

When the proposal was worked up, I was thinking about going with a 10kW generator and only powering half of the house to include the critical stuff such as power the refrigerator and the HVAC. But after sitting down trying to figure out what would be powered up, I decided to pay the extra few grand to just run the entire house. I seem to recall a 10kW system would have been around $11 to $12k. Cost wise other than the labor and generator was the transfer switch.

After everything was installed, the electrician did a load test where the A/C was turned on along with my dryer. The generator kept up and passed with flying colors. Because I wanted these two things to run during a power outage, two load centers needed to be installed.

I've had the system installed about a few years ago. So far no issues at all. I've done an oil change myself on it. It's supposed to have a valve check but I haven't gotten around to do it. I did get an error message which freaked me out. Turned out the 12V lead acid battery was shot. Replaced that and all is good. The generator is programmed to start up once a week for 15 minutes. I chose Wednesdays at noon. You can also add in a additional status module which sends information to a panel wirelessly inside your home and I think a system which connects via cellular to get status remotely.

What prompted me to get the generator installed was when Sandy blew by along with another weather disturbance which knocked out power for days that year. And wouldn't you know it, it's only fired up twice. One time for a few minutes to power up the house and the other was for 45 minutes. But I'm not sorry I have it now. Just lots of peace of mind. When a bad storm rolls through now, I just say bring it on.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Kolyan2k]

Yes, I know about the automatic switch. I can install it, just extra labor for me. There is one here already, I would need to take it out and rewire (it wouldn't work with Generac). With automatic switch you loose the convenience of powering circuits that you want. I can pretty much run the entire house on 7.5kw. All appliances are energy-efficient and everything is gas. Basically microwave is 1.7kw, dryer is 5kw, and probably another 5kw for AC, everything else is nothing

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Let me know if you have any questions.

Why does it need to run for 15min?

As far as gas line, i only have gas boiler and range. I removed gas dryer and wanna use that line (which is the same as range) to run outside to generator

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

Why does it need to run for 15min?

As far as gas line, i only have gas boiler and range. I removed gas dryer and wanna use that line (which is the same as range) to run outside to generator

Warm up the oil and run self diagnostics. Alarm if it fails to start (like a dead battery or worse). Could probably do it in 5 minutes in some climates; but that’s how they set them at the factory I think.

[Kolyan2k]

Ps. We have power issues usually in winter only. I've never had issues myself, its out for 2 hours max. But last storm left many without power for a week as I was told.
So in winter I only need to run boiler, no AC