I watched MH's recent video about sizing generators. It was well worth hearing his perspective on the subject.
His perspective seems focused on the fact that in his area, and most of the southern states, the largest load is going to be the air conditioner and keeping the AC running during a power outage.
Where I'm at, a northern state, if the heat source is electric that is definitely the largest load. It's not uncommon to have a house that has a 15-20 kW electric furnace. Or if they have baseboard heat it could be the same or similar load.
I wish people would think ahead regarding whether they might want a generator when they're designing the home and have a hybrid setup so they could switch over to propane heat during a power outage. That would allow for a smaller generator required.
I had an emergency call out last night for a customer that lost power and they were having difficulty getting their portable generator hooked up to power the freezer, fridge, and lights. It turned out to be nothing serious and I got them up and running.
Then we had a conversation about "what if's" and wintertime power outages. I commented that they had electric heat and their portable generator wasn't going to help out in the winter with heating the house.
I told them I'd come back on another day, during normal working hours, and evaluate their needs. I have a feeling it might turn into a whole house standby generator.
They live 30 minutes drive out in the country on a cattle ranch. Their nearest neighbor is a good 7-8 miles away.
I'll probably look at the cost difference between sizing for electric heat and propane heat. Then they can talk to HVAC company about possibility and cost of changing to hybrid system.
His perspective seems focused on the fact that in his area, and most of the southern states, the largest load is going to be the air conditioner and keeping the AC running during a power outage.
Where I'm at, a northern state, if the heat source is electric that is definitely the largest load. It's not uncommon to have a house that has a 15-20 kW electric furnace. Or if they have baseboard heat it could be the same or similar load.
I wish people would think ahead regarding whether they might want a generator when they're designing the home and have a hybrid setup so they could switch over to propane heat during a power outage. That would allow for a smaller generator required.
I had an emergency call out last night for a customer that lost power and they were having difficulty getting their portable generator hooked up to power the freezer, fridge, and lights. It turned out to be nothing serious and I got them up and running.
Then we had a conversation about "what if's" and wintertime power outages. I commented that they had electric heat and their portable generator wasn't going to help out in the winter with heating the house.
I told them I'd come back on another day, during normal working hours, and evaluate their needs. I have a feeling it might turn into a whole house standby generator.
They live 30 minutes drive out in the country on a cattle ranch. Their nearest neighbor is a good 7-8 miles away.
I'll probably look at the cost difference between sizing for electric heat and propane heat. Then they can talk to HVAC company about possibility and cost of changing to hybrid system.
