Pros and cons of whole house gennie from Costco

[sw_ross]

I have a customer that is interested in having a whole house generator installed.

Since I'm not associated with a distributor my first thought was that I've seen them for sale at Costco.
I went on their website and there are some listed.

If you read the reviews it looks like most of the HO's that purchased one had a local electrician do the install.
It seems the reviews that are lower (1-2 stars) were mainly customers that had an issue with the generator and the electrician wasn't able to resolve the issue and when the HO and electrician tried to communicate with the manufacturer's customer service department they were treated poorly since the generator wasn't installed by a qualified "service tech" from that company.

Potentially encountering a scenario like this scares me! But this situation could happen to me regardless of where the generator was purchased since I'm not a company trained "service tech".

I know that most often when you read reviews online, for any product, you are likely to encounter the lower reviews from customers that weren't satisfied with the product since they're the one's that are frustrated and more likely to vent about their frustration online.

I'm looking for feedback about the pros and cons of possibly going this route to do a generator install, or maybe I just tell the customer to seek out a generator install company that is authorized since they'll get better customer service? I'm assuming that second option would be significantly more expensive...

 

[Greg1707]

Here are my thoughts about the generator business. Suppose I paid a contractor $15K to install a new heating and AC system in my house. Suppose that several months later I had a problem and called the contractor and was told "we do not service the equipment, we only install it." I would be very upset.

This seems to be generally the case with the generator installation business. In my area every EC is happy to install the equipment but have no idea how to service it. Such a business model is certain to create unhappy customer downstream.

 

[sw_ross]

Here are my thoughts about the generator business. Suppose I paid a contractor $15K to install a new heating and AC system in my house. Suppose that several months later I had a problem and called the contractor and was told "we do not service the equipment, we only install it." I would be very upset.

This seems to be generally the case with the generator installation business. In my area every EC is happy to install the equipment but have no idea how to service it. Such a business model is certain to create unhappy customer downstream.

That concept definitely makes total sense! That's what scares me about doing an install without being an authorized tech.

i had a situation once a few years ago with a customer that asked about a generator install. When I got to the home to look at the situation I found that they already had a Generac gennie sitting onsite that they had purchased on their own, they just needed someone to "hook it up".

I ended up not doing the job for other reasons, but I've often thought about that situation and whether the HO would be responsible for issues to the generator since they were the ones that bought the generator and I would've just wired it up...

 

[junkhound]

Over 95% of small genset problems I've encountered over the years were with the engine. 90%of problems with large (100s of kW and megawatt) gensets was the control system or regulator, the most common problem vibration related but OP obviously is not talking about a big CAT diesel powered unit.

Only small genset problem ever encountered that was the electric generator itself was with a cheap Northern Tool generator with a bad excitation capacitor.

So, unless you are a small engine repair and maintenance expert, don't give any guarantees about the engine not starting. Most HOs never exercise the units, and the engines can sit for months or years without running.
Most big box or Costco engines WILL have a valve stick or carb junk up if left sitting for a year or more unless they are higher priced fuel injected types with automotive type valves and oil feed.

 

[junkhound]

PS: here is an extreme example from a many decades old Coast Guard study. Have not been involved for 20 years so do not know present practice, may have changed.

Remote light bouys, continuous diesel powered. Originally they had oil pressure sensors, over temp sensors, etc. and if any radioed in an indicated failure imminent a cutter would be dispatched for repair. Costly.

So, only sensor changed to if the; light was on or not, let engine run till it fails if a coolant problem or oil problem or whatever. New engine cheaper than the 'service call'.

 

[Barbqranch]

Most HOs never exercise the units, and the engines can sit for months or years without running.
Most big box or Costco engines WILL have a valve stick or carb junk up if left sitting for a year or more unless they are higher priced fuel injected types with automotive type valves and oil feed.

I just got done installing a Kohler whole house generator for myself, and it automatically runs for 20 minutes every week to keep things moving and lubricated. Propane powered. I wouldn't want a liquid fueled unit, the fuel will go stale eventually.

 

[sw_ross]

I just got done installing a Kohler whole house generator for myself, and it automatically runs for 20 minutes every week to keep things moving and lubricated. Propane powered. I wouldn't want a liquid fueled unit, the fuel will go stale eventually.

Yeah, I'm mostly referring to residential applications, and primarily LP fuel (rural settings with no access to NG).

the ones I was reading about are programmed to exercise weekly.
They even have wifi connectivity (if that excites you!) so that you can receive notifications that power is out and the generator started up (if you're not at home).

 

[Jon456]

Remote light bouys, continuous diesel powered. Originally they had oil pressure sensors, over temp sensors, etc. and if any radioed in an indicated failure imminent a cutter would be dispatched for repair. Costly.

So, only sensor changed to if the; light was on or not, let engine run till it fails if a coolant problem or oil problem or whatever. New engine cheaper than the 'service call'.

This only makes sense if it was found that the sensors had a high failure rate and were causing false alerts for service. Because if there really was an oil or coolant problem, they'd still have to dispatch the cutter to replace the engine when it soon fails. So how would that save them money?

Then again, the government never really cares about saving taxpayer dollars.