In the market for a generator

[bjp_ne_elec]

I'm sitting in my cold house - no power since late Thursday night, and I need to earn some points big time. Back in 1998 we lost power for 2.5 days and she was after me to get a generator back then - but you couldn't find one unless you wanted to travel 500+ miles.

Well we're going on the third day, and I've been getting the "evil eye". If you guys were going to buy a generator for your own home, what would you buy. I'm thinking an 7.5 KW is fine and a 10 KW would not be overkill. I'm fine with the furnace, lights in the family room, receptacles in the family roon and the exhaust fan on the hot water tank (it's propane, so there's a blower fan that has to have power). No well pump to worry about.

Oh - and the most important - the coffee pot.

I may be taking a drive today. Thank goodness I have my Blackberry and an inverter in my car, or I wouldn't have my lap top up and running.

Thanks
Dave

 

[ultramegabob]

I keep saying that Im going to buy a generator some day, I would like to have a 7.5 kw, it seems like the 5500 watt generators are a just a tad small although you can make them work if you pay close attention to what you turn on.

 

[BryanMD]

"If Momma ain't happy... ain't nobody happy"

 

[nakulak]

get momma a room at ceasers for a couple days, take momma out to dinner. that should put a smile back on her face.

 

[bjp_ne_elec]

Momma'd be happy with a warm bed and a nice cup of hot coffee when she gets up. She does like to gamble - so Fox Woods or Mohegan Sun is about a two hour drive.

Maybe she'd win enough to buy or generator - or NOT

Still looking for recommendations based on experience. I was looking at the Guardian line from HD - but would like to hear feedback. The only issue is it's not portable - so I couldn't drag it around to jobs.

 

[ultramegabob]

I was picturing a portable generator when you were posting, I just installed a 17 kw guardian generator for a customer a few weeks ago, it was a very nice made unit.

 

[nakulak]

I was picturing a portable generator when you were posting, I just installed a 17 kw guardian generator for a customer a few weeks ago, it was a very nice made unit.

just for kicks, how much was the unit (if you don't mind)? (I'm also looking around, but not in a hurry to get one for my home. unfortunately the ones I'm installing at work are too big and $$$ for me)

 

[hillbilly1]

For the money, the Guardians are OK, They are a lot noisier than the Kohlers and Onan's, but then again about a grand or so cheaper, No more than they are used their fine for residential, would not want to back up a Data center or other critical load with a Generac though. A lot of engineers will not put them in the approved specs.

 

[bjp_ne_elec]

just for kicks, how much was the unit (if you don't mind)? (I'm also looking around, but not in a hurry to get one for my home. unfortunately the ones I'm installing at work are too big and $$$ for me)

$3,689 from Home Depot - but I'm curious what Ultramegabob paid.

 

[walkerj]

I have a 9K portable I paid a grand for during our last 'cane.
It will run anything in my house except the AC.

I like the Generacs. They are easy to service/install.
I have found they have good tech support also.
The new models have the voltage regulator and all the other bells and whistles built into the PCB.

 

[bjp_ne_elec]

For the money, the Guardians are OK, They are a lot noisier than the Kohlers and Onan's, but then again about a grand or so cheaper, No more than they are used their fine for residential, would not want to back up a Data center or other critical load with a Generac though. A lot of engineers will not put them in the approved specs.

The claim on the HD info, is that they're about 1/3 as noisy as a typical portable gas generator.

One thing I've been also finding is a tri-fuel version - they'll run on gas, LP or Natural Gas.

 

[ultramegabob]

the customer supplied the generator, I think they paid somwhere between 3500 and 4000 for it, the case was made of aluminum, and it came with a transfer panel. for a couple hundred dollars more you can upgrade to a 20 kw that has a nice whole house transfer switch with main breaker disconnect built in to it. As far as noise, I thought it ran fairly quiet.

 

[ultramegabob]

The claim on the HD info, is that they're about 1/3 as noisy as a typical portable gas generator.

One thing I've been also finding is a tri-fuel version - they'll run on gas, LP or Natural Gas.

the one I installed was LP or Natural gas for sure just by flipping a switch, Im not sure what you would have to do to make it run on gasoline. and like I said, I thought it was fairly quiet, I dont imagine neighbors will complain when it kicks on every saturday for 15 minutes at 2pm, it is alot quieter than my lawnmower.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I may be taking a drive today. Thank goodness I have my Blackberry and an inverter in my car, or I wouldn't have my lap top up and running.

honda.

about the quietest generator i've ever used is the honda EU3000iSA

it is seriously cool. works good when you need a work genset too....
computer grade power provided by inverter.

outside, idling, sitting on a lawn or something, it's difficult to hear it
running from 15' away. idling, it'll chug at about 300 rpm for 24 hours
on a filling. electric start, remote start, etc. small, compact.
two of them can be paired for 6 kw, and when the first one running
gets full, it'll start the other one in slave mode. self synchronizing.

when we went to buy one of these, the salesman started it up in the
store, and it sat there idling on a section of tin shelving, and you could
barely hear it run.

the other one is the honda EU6500iSA. same thing, bigger. haven't
used this one, but it's a bit noisier.

they aren't cheap, but they sure are good. little one is about 2k.
big one is about 3k

good luck finding one on that end of the country.

 

[ultramegabob]

I have use small portable hondas, and they are excellent!!! and very very quiet....

 

[SmithBuilt]

Still looking for recommendations based on experience. I was looking at the Guardian line from HD - but would like to hear feedback. The only issue is it's not portable - so I couldn't drag it around to jobs.

I have installed Guardian. It seems like a fine product for the money for residential.

It does not sound like you will even need 7500w for the loads you describe. But you did not state what your furnace runs on. Keep in mind you have to feed that thing when the power is out. Depending on the size it could cost quite a bit just for fuel.

A friend of mine bought a tractor driven generator, it did not take long for him to figure out it was not good for the tractor to be running at 2150 rpm constantly or his wallet.

 

[dereckbc]

Gaurdian is OK for very light use, but on the lower quality end. A step up is Kohler, then Onan. All depends on budget and the intended use.

 

[russ]

I just did an inspection on a 8 KW generac. The owner said he picked it up for about $1,800.00. It comes with a 35 amp breaker in it. It has all the wiring, transfer sw./ breaker panel and a No fuse disconnect with a flex whip on the unit. You could run off natural gas or propane. I think he said it came from Home Depot.

 

[electricalperson]

i installed a guardian prewired 10kw generator at my house last year. it comes with a transfer switch with breakers and you just put the circuits in that and hook the wires up outside to the prewired connectors. they go in a box and the feeder screws down and the controls plug together. i got the generator at cost so it was 2500 dollars. the NG pipe was 600

 

[480sparky]

Portable generators:
Advantage: You can take it elsewhere. If you need power on a site that does not have it, you can bring it with you.
Disadvantages: Rarely starts if sitting for long periods, gas gets bad, and storing gas may be a problem. No automatic transfer... when power goes out, you gotta put shoes on. Units large enough to power an entire house need two men and a horse to move.

Pad-mout generators:
Advantages: Usually can be installed with ATS. Typically monitors utility and starts/transfers/stops automatically. No fuel problems due to powered from existing LP or NatGas lines.
Disadvantages: Unless maintained regularly, may not start when needed. Being permanently mounted, it's only going to power what it's connected to and cannot be taken somewhere else if needed.