Anyone have a standby generator at the house?

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We have A 22KW Generac, whole house generator & a 500 gallon propane tank buried in the yard. It was expensive but will run for a couple of weeks without refilling the propane tank.
Al


That's an Awesome Set-up Al---Wish I had that !
I have to manually hit my transfer switch, start my Generator & plug it in. (6500 Watts)
Then select what all I want to power (everything but the range & Hot water Heater).

Bear
 
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That's an Awesome Set-up Al---Wish I had that !
I have to manually hit my transfer switch, start my Generator & plug it in. (6500 Watts)
Then select what all I want to power (everything but the range & Hot water Heater).

Bear

I had the same one in Ft.Lauderdale, and during Hurricane Andrew, it ran for 14 days & I was the only person on the street that had a generator. So you can imagine all the people coming over & sleeping on the floor & putting all their food in our fridge & freezer. But that one was hooked up to natural gas so I really didn’t have to worry about running out of fuel. If it get’s that bad here & I can’t get propane after 2 weeks & we still are out of power, I will have the biggest BBQ for my whole community & smoke or cook everything in the freezers!
Al
 
It was hard to get my gear. Took a 4 month wait. I imagine now it’s even longer.
 
In California their is a bill moving through Sacramento to ban home generators.
Just unplug it and call it a work generator, and don't run it at stupid hours, nobody will ever find out.
Make a soundproof box for it as well. Screw CA, I absolutely hate this state, and I'm born and raised here in Norcal.
 
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Just unplug it and call it a work generator, and don't run it at stupid hours, nobody will ever find out.
Make a soundproof box for it as well. Screw CA, I absolutely hate this state, and I'm born and raised here in Norcal.


If I didn't Love Pennsylvania, I would have left many years ago!!!

Bear
 
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We want a standby generator. Hard to find now, and the prices have gone up a bit. We're hoping next year they will be readily available. Buddy of mine is a HVAC guy so the install won't cost us much.
 
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For about 15 years I've had a 24KW Generac whole house generator running on natural gas at my primary residence in the Chicago area. For around 18 years I had the same unit running on propane with a 500 gallon underground tank at a second home in Sarasota, FL.

When I was preparing to make an offer on the house in Sarasota I learned that the unit had been, per HOA regulations, "illegally" installed by the prior owner. It wasn't discovered until a few weeks after he had it installed because of landscaping he had done to disguise it. When it was discovered, the HOA board issued a directive that it had to be removed, but the prior owner appealed it. As I was told by some long time owners there, some cash and favors flowed to the board members and an exemption was granted. I refused to close on the house until the board granted me the same exemption, and they ultimately did. I sold the house 3 years ago and bought a condo on Key Biscayne, FL, but before selling the house in Sarasota, I secured a declaration from the board that the exemption would carry forward to the buyer.
 
I also have power outages all the time, so I put myself a synchronous type generator. It gives a more stable output voltage and is better suited for connecting sensitive to its variations digital equipment and other complex devices.

They are better. But $$$. The do a better job with sensitive lights and such.
 
Timely posts. The wind was so strong last night, that it woke us up. We are used to the strong east winds out of the Columbia Gorge. Then, the power went out. Then, it came back on. Then, there was a VERY bright blue explosion. Then, the power went out again.

There were no fresh or frozen meats harmed in this adventure.
 
So since I don't know...what size generator would it take to keep a house running? Propane gas furnace, gas stove, fridge and freezers...I'm fine with a guesstimate. I know the cost of the switch and hookup fee. And brand choices, biggest one advertised around here is generac, not sure of their quality and pricing...as in overpriced like a pair of Nike shoes

Ryan
 
So since I don't know...what size generator would it take to keep a house running? Propane gas furnace, gas stove, fridge and freezers...I'm fine with a guesstimate. I know the cost of the switch and hookup fee. And brand choices, biggest one advertised around here is generac, not sure of their quality and pricing...as in overpriced like a pair of Nike shoes

Ryan


Ryan since you may know where there's a tractor and diesel fuel you might want to look at PTO Generators. Cheaper and little to no maintenance other than what you already do to the tractor.
 
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Ryan since you may know where there's a tractor and diesel fuel you might want to look at PTO Generators. Cheaper and little to no maintenance other than what you already do to the tractor.
That's really the way I'd like to go. Besides emergency backup power, I could probably find other uses for it around the farm.
 
I have a pto generator, believe it's a 25 kw, but have 2 places...thankfully they both use different electric companies even though only 1 1/2 miles away from each other. But the main concern I have is losing power for 2 weeks or so like South Dakota did a few years ago with that big ice storm. Hopefully it never happens here but keeping a tractor running 24 7 wouldn't be enjoyable. The $12,000 dollar price tag for having one at dad's and for my pigs has held me back though

Ryan
 
OK Guys!!!
I'm not much good at mechanical things, like some of you are.
However, I think I saw a mentioning on TV about one or more of these New Electric Vehicles being able to power a whole house. It might have been the F-150, but I'm not sure.
Any Comments??

Bear
 
We chose to go a different route with generators. I bought two portable Hondas that connect to each other. I made a custom-built shed with exhaust venting mods and cooling system. This helps to keep the neighborhood noise level down and lets me lock them up while running.

I found an outlet that lets me connect the generator to the outside of my house and passes through the wall to a set of 120v standard outlets. That means no cord through an open window or door. It’s a separate system So there’s no switcher. That means I have extension cords running all over the house. That sounds like a pain in the butt but here’s why we did it.

We live in the heart of California fire country. We‘ve had to evacuate the last 3 out of five years. We evacuate to my daughter’s home some distance away. She also had power cut off but did not have to evacuate. These two portable generators are our power supply at her home the next time we evacuate. I converted both generators to burn propane which is so much easier and cleaner than gasoline. There’s no noxious gas exhaust. I have large propane tanks that can keep these generators running for 3 days taking breaks to check the oil. I never have to prep them for a long sit and the carburetor does not gum up.

The need for portability had us go this route. The small Hondas are really quiet and super reliable. I can even pass a cord over the neighbor’s fence for a couple hours to give their fridge and freezer a boost.

That’s just another alternative to think about. We don’t need our whole house lit up or serviced. I saved a bundle of cash. And, I have easy portability as the generators are small. Just the necessities works fine for us.
 
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Propane conversion isn't necessarily a bad in terms of maintenance, and natural gas might be even better, in terms of not having to fill tanks, if your home has access to NG. The down side is that you will burn more propane or NG to generate the same amount of power as you would burning gasoline, or diesel.
 
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