Generators, Transfer Switches

J

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I haven't had a generator for quite a while but need to get one again. Wife really wants a standby. I'm not against that, but our yard is a bit awkward for installing the unit and a large propane tank. We have no propane now and natural gas is not available. But I have calls out to see if natural gas may come our way and logistics of installing propane.

If we go standby, what are any of you installing or using now? The few I installed years back were Generac and Briggs.

If we go portable, same question. My last one was a Subaru, about a 4,000. I used it some at home and some out on jobs. It was good til it wasn't. Engine blew after only 2-3 years. Had a Briggs before that & got about 5 years out of it. Also seeing now that inverter type are supposed to be better for running TV's and computers? I've never totally understood the sine wave thing. What are any of you seeing about this? I'm seeing a few about 10,000 watt that are dual fuel, gasoline or propane. Might be good, could use grill tanks. But I'm not a mechanic & know nothing about the engines.

My main goal is refrigerator, freezer, water pump and septic pump. TV and internet would be good too.

Thanks for any feedback.
 
How often do you have outages? If not all that often, I would go portable if you will be there to connect and start it. If wife wants it seamless then it is much more expensive and complicated. Friend has a portable one that is dual gasoline or propane. He uses bbq tanks and usually needs it twice a year for a few days. His is 8kw and has similar needs but no well pump.

Advantage of inverter based is the engine can run at any speed and you get 60 Hz. This lets the generator slow down when lightly loaded so it lasts longer and is quieter. It should speed up as needed to make more power.
 
The peak current required to start the pumps is likely to be significantly higher than that drawn by the refrigerator, freezer, and electronics. And the well pump needs 240V. Would it be feasible to consider a larger conventional portable generator and a separate transfer switch for the pumps, and a smaller less costly inverter generator for the rest? You could leave the small inverter generator on overnight and it would likely be running slowly in "eco" mode, and it would be very quiet and consume less of the stored fuel.
 
Portable generator with a interlock device.
I have an 8 kw troybilt that runs on gasoline
Personally I don't want a duel fuel or tri fuel unit.
(I Don't trust them) but that's me.
I am thinking of going with 8750 watt Predator unit from Harbor Freight. It's an inverter and is supposed to be quieter. Cause if the outage is because of storms (rain) my sump pump is gonna be running and I can't turn the generator off or I'm gonna have a flooded basement.
 
I install quite a bit of generators, not like birken vogt, but I do at least 12/year, plus some portable MTS or interlock setups.

I install probably 80% generacs, and a few Kohler. I haven’t installed any Cummins, but I pulled a few out and replaced with Generac. From what I hear the smaller residential Cummins are not great.

I have a 26kW Generac at the ranch, and we lose power all the time, and water is private, so no power = no water.

I love the auto setup. I ran all the houses, shops, and even some higher amp appliances off multiple generators for years. Straw that broke the camels back was the time we lost power, we had a huge busy day at the ranch, I ended up fueling up, connecting, and starting 5 generators, power came back on 30 minutes later. After a couple hours I put everything away. 2 hours later power went out again. Everything came back out, and power stayed off all day and night.

If you can afford it, get a home standby and an ATS. Don’t go bigger than what you actually need though, as fuel consumption increases quite a bit the larger you go.

In my opinion, there is no difference in quality between Generac and Kohler. They both have their quirks, and they both have about the same reliability. Same install I would probably lean towards Generac.
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
I install quite a bit of generators, not like birken vogt, but I do at least 12/year, plus some portable MTS or interlock setups.

I install probably 80% generacs, and a few Kohler. I haven’t installed any Cummins, but I pulled a few out and replaced with Generac. From what I hear the smaller residential Cummins are not great.

I have a 26kW Generac at the ranch, and we lose power all the time, and water is private, so no power = no water.

I love the auto setup. I ran all the houses, shops, and even some higher amp appliances off multiple generators for years. Straw that broke the camels back was the time we lost power, we had a huge busy day at the ranch, I ended up fueling up, connecting, and starting 5 generators, power came back on 30 minutes later. After a couple hours I put everything away. 2 hours later power went out again. Everything came back out, and power stayed off all day and night.

If you can afford it, get a home standby and an ATS. Don’t go bigger than what you actually need though, as fuel consumption increases quite a bit the larger you go.

In my opinion, there is no difference in quality between Generac and Kohler. They both have their quirks, and they both have about the same reliability. Same install I would probably lean towards Generac.
Click to expand...
I’ve pulled Generac’s and replaced them with Kohlers, but the only Cummins I had any problems with was the 25 year old transferswitch failed.
 
Seven-Delta-FortyOne said:
I install quite a bit of generators, not like birken vogt, but I do at least 12/year, plus some portable MTS or interlock setups.

I install probably 80% generacs, and a few Kohler. I haven’t installed any Cummins, but I pulled a few out and replaced with Generac. From what I hear the smaller residential Cummins are not great.

I have a 26kW Generac at the ranch, and we lose power all the time, and water is private, so no power = no water.

I love the auto setup. I ran all the houses, shops, and even some higher amp appliances off multiple generators for years. Straw that broke the camels back was the time we lost power, we had a huge busy day at the ranch, I ended up fueling up, connecting, and starting 5 generators, power came back on 30 minutes later. After a couple hours I put everything away. 2 hours later power went out again. Everything came back out, and power stayed off all day and night.

If you can afford it, get a home standby and an ATS. Don’t go bigger than what you actually need though, as fuel consumption increases quite a bit the larger you go.

In my opinion, there is no difference in quality between Generac and Kohler. They both have their quirks, and they both have about the same reliability. Same install I would probably lean towards Generac.
Click to expand...
One of the few (if any) nice posts about Generacs.
We installed hundreds in our buildings so I know commercial sets are good.
Never really been around a residential unit.
 
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