clixpix Loc: Surprise, Arizona

I am researching the feasibility of getting a standby electric generator for the house, perhaps a Generac. I would appreciate any information, pro or con about the unit, have you used it for emergencies, about how much did it cost to install, what size was it, etc. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any information you all may be able to provide.

Regards-----Joe

charles tabb Loc: Richmond VA.

I have a Generac for a number of years now and would never do without one again.
The upkeep may be a little but is well worth it.

Amator21 Loc: California

I have had Generac Emergency generators at my house in Placerville, California. My generator was a 8Kw model and I had it installed when I had the house built. It was reliable for about 20 years. I replaced it for some reason about that time, I think it became un-reliable. The replacement was also a Generac about the same size and it too worked well. Ads for Generac claims to be the most widespread emergency generator. The first one took about 40 seconds to come on after a power failure. I didn't have the second long enough to get data as I sold the house. But it worked fine1

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

We had a Generac that never failed to come on when needed. Be sure any purchase price includes what you need for connection to the house.

clixpix Loc: Surprise, Arizona

Thanks UTMike and the other respondents. You all have given me information toadd to my deliberations.

Regards---Joe

CWW Loc: North Jersey

If funds allow, purchase the communications device. It will exercise the unit weekly and give you a report. Maintenance package with comm device runs around $600 per year in N J. Hopefully less expensive in AZ. My unit is a 20K, works reliably no matter what the weather conditions.

clixpix Loc: Surprise, Arizona

Thanks CWW. Another suggestion to add to my list.

Regards---Joe

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

I don't know the regulations in the US of course, but here in NZ a genny has to be certified 'safe' if one is wiring it into the house, rather than just say a plug in for a freezer.
We had a 8KW one when we lived rural. Here in NZ cost about $4000 (about 10 years ago). But then getting an electrician to feed it into the house wiring cost about another $3000.
It was installed so that there was no feedback from the grid when connected.
A 'box' inside the house with a key had to be turned off before starting the genny, then the key had to be taken out to the shed to another 'box' that one turned on.
Unless the genny was isolated first it wouldn't electric start until you had done the key business.

Very safe but a bit of a pain getting it all going if it was a stormy night and dinner was half cooked with my wife hurrying me to do the business in the dark.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

The folks I know here in Louisiana who own them say the expense far outweighs the convenience unless a hurricane comes through; in this case, the home might be gone and the generator thus rendered useless. I am sure there are many here I don't know who love them.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Now they use automatic whole house transfer switches which are often included in the purchase and installation. The size you choose is typically driven by the size of your A/C system and the size/type of your heating system. They come on very quickly and automatically during a power failure and start for a short period once a week to keep the starting battery charged. The installation should include a pad for the generator, the electrical wiring and gas hookup (you can run then on natural gas or Propane). A good sized 16-20 KW unit with a 200 amp auto transfer switch runs about 5K$ + installation.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

We got a house with a generator. About 3 months after we moved in we got a snowstorm that killed the power to 90% of the town including us. We turned on the generator and it powered the important things in the house: refrigerator, freezer, water pump (well), furnace, and hot water, as well as most of the lights.

10 minutes later it died.

Of course there were no generators within 100 miles for sale by then.

Went out and bought a 12 volt battery. I had an inverter from my truck. It was enough to run the refrigerator for about 4 hours, along with recharging our phones. Then recharge the battery from the car. No heat. No water. We had a swimming pool so we could flush toilets. Got the power back after 3 long days. The freezer was out on the porch and it was winter so we just left it as is. No problem. 4 hours was enough to keep the refrigerator cold for a day if we didn't open the door frequently. The house got down to about 48, not too bad. We did have a fireplace. I suspect a wood stove would have been better.

The company who installed the generator came out to service it after a couple weeks. Couldn't get it going. So we gave it up and went out and got a generator at Harbor Freight after about 6 months when generators came back in stock.

Our generator connection to the house was manual. You have to go to the breaker panel and turn off the main switch and turn on the generator. There's an interlock so they can't both be on at the same time. Then you have to turn off some of the appliances that take too much power like the oven and the cooktop and dryer. The generator is good for 6KW continuous which will run the important things. Cost about $600 (this was several years ago). The wiring was already in place. I wanted a dual fuel generator but Harbor Freight didn't have any so we run on gasoline. Two 5-gallon cans will hold us for a couple days (we turn it off at night -- It's noisy). Spring and fall I empty the fuel into the car and get a fresh load (when they cut out the ethanol and before it gets added back in for the winter -- I can tell from the gas mileage in the car when the ethanol isn't there).

We're on a cul-de-sac and widely spaced houses so we're pretty low priority for power crews to restore things. We probably used the generator for short (1 day) outages on an average of 1.5 times a year and we had two more 3-day outages that it came in handy for.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If you have access to natural gas, conversion kits from US Carburetion cost $200-250, are easy to install, and allow operation from gasoline, natural gas or propane. I converted my 6KW to NG using their kit and really like not only having an endless supply of fuel in an extended emergency, but not having to store gasoline.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

We didn't have NG but we could have installed a propane tank. Just never got a round tuit.
Storing gasoline wasn't a problem. Plenty of room in the garage and my wife was always running low on gas so her car got frequent fills from the gas cans, which helped keep them fresh.

Walkabout08

I was exploring a full house generator a few years back but ended up installing solar with a backup battery pack. Pleased I did, no more electric bills and full backup power for 12-18 hours in the event of a power outage.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Generac is okay The answer to the rest of the question Would best be answered By the supplier!!!