does anyone have a generator for theit home

[cuznjohn]

i ordered a portable generator for the house. i had done all the work down stairs for a whole house generator with a automatic transfer switch about a year and a half ago. but then i got hit with a cash flow problem. so after selling a few things, bike included, and getting myself straight, i figured i would continue to finish the generator project. well it turned out the way i wanted to do it i couldn't. due to codes and prices, it went way overboard. so incorporating the work i did already i figured i could use a large portable generator, and plug it in when i needed it and store it away when i don't need it.

well it showed up today. the thing is almost as big as my spyder was. it is a 17,500 kw genrac generator. 50 amp output. enough to run the whole house if needed. gen1.jpggen 2.jpg

[PMK]

i ordered a portable generator for the house. i had done all the work down stairs for a whole house generator with a automatic transfer switch about a year and a half ago. but then i got hit with a cash flow problem. so after selling a few things, bike included, and getting myself straight, i figured i would continue to finish the generator project. well it turned out the way i wanted to do it i couldn't. due to codes and prices, it went way overboard. so incorporating the work i did already i figured i could use a large portable generator, and plug it in when i needed it and store it away when i don't need it.

well it showed up today. the thing is almost as big as my spyder was. it is a 17,500 kw genrac generator. 50 amp output. enough to run the whole house if needed. gen1.jpggen 2.jpg

I opted for two small Hondas. One us 1000 watts the other 2000 Watts. Both are clean output and can run electronics without damage. So, typically, I run the entire house except appliances on the 1000. I use the 2000 for the refrigerator. For cooking we use the grill or camp stove. We go without AC as needed and just use fans. Our water is not that cold so no hot water just means get cleaned up quick.

[Brentc]

I'm fortunate that my brother and father are both electricians. So all i had to do was buy the whole house standby unit and call in a favor or two! It has been installed for about 5 years now, and this year it saw about 2 weeks worth of action. It was especially nice while I was in the hospital and my wife was home alone a few nights with power during the wind storm we had this year.
It was a large project but well worth it.

[Bob Denman]

John,
We keep looking at them.
We've got a 10 KW Gernerac picked-out. It would be enough to power the well pump, furnace, and ground floor stuff in the house, and then we could also tie-in the furnace for over here at the office.
Propane power, so we could use our 100 gallon tank!

We just have to pull the trigger on this!

[cuznjohn]

i had set it up so it would be so easy to do. but it turns out that the codes say the generator has to be 5 foot away from any window, then 18 inches away from a wall, so where i wanted it was no good. then the other place was the driveway. that would of blocked off the access to the back yard for anything large. so that was out. so the only other place was the back yard. and that would require a larger gas pipe run from the front of the house to the back of the house, plus a electrical line, so i said forget it. and for less then half that price, i went portable

[Gitoa]

Yep, they are big and you better run it regularly and keep the battery charged. Learned this lesson the hard way!! Remember to keep the tires inflated if they are pneumatic. Hopefully, you will never need it.

[Easy Rider]

Propane power, so we could use our 100 gallon tank!

.
The fuel source is an IMPORTANT consideration......unless you like screwing around with emptying and re-filling your tank about once a year during times of light use.

Both gasoline and diesel fuel will "go bad" after long storage periods.
Propane or natural gas is the ONLY way to go in my opinion.
Unless maybe you get a real small one that really is portable so you can burn off the gas in the tank during "exercise" runs.

[Pirate looks at --]

Wow the things we miss out on in California!

[Bob Denman]

.The fuel source is an IMPORTANT consideration......unless you like screwing around with emptying and re-filling your tank about once a year during times of light use.

Plus, if the power is out at my house: it's probably out all around me too!
Do you think that the filling stations are going to be open?

[cuznjohn]

some have generator back up bob. they do around here

[blacklightning]

I have a small 5400 that is portable. I always use stabilizer in the gas, and try to crank it 3-4 times a year (I learned the hard way). To date, I have never had to use it. When I did need it, the generator was at my house in Roxboro (which is way out in the country), and the power was out at the house in Cary. So, I had a generator and a wood heater at the house where it was not needed, and no generator or wood heat at the house that had no electricity.
Both my uncles and my brother have the generac whole house generators that run off propane. They have needed them about twice in the past 10 years.

[Saluda]

Have a 5000, since we got it the power has never really gone out. Run it a couple times a year and keep good stabilized gas on hand.
Smaller sub panel, only runs the important stuff (no well).

[WilderThomas]

i ordered a portable generator for the house. i had done all the work down stairs for a whole house generator with a automatic transfer switch about a year and a half ago. but then i got hit with a cash flow problem. so after selling a few things, bike included, and getting myself straight, i figured i would continue to finish the generator project. well it turned out the way i wanted to do it i couldn't. due to codes and prices, it went way overboard. so incorporating the work i did already i figured i could use a large portable generator, and plug it in when i needed it and store it away when i don't need it.

well it showed up today. the thing is almost as big as my spyder was. it is a 17,500 kw genrac generator. 50 amp output. enough to run the whole house if needed. gen1.jpggen 2.jpg

My wife and I moved from Vernonia, Oregon. I bought this, my first house, in October of 2004, and moved in the next month. The house had flowing creek in the back, held back by a retaining wall to prevent erosion. It had a wrap around deck, detached two car garage, and a hot tub. It wasn't until I went through my first winter there, that I became aware of an urgent need for a generator. First I bought a garage door opener with a battery back up, good for three days. How was I to know that my first power outage would last 7 days? The neighbors down the lane, seemed blase about the loss of power. A routine occurrence, I was told. Just live with it. But the water to the subdivision came from a water treatment building at the end of the lane, and when the power was out, the water was turned off. So no, showers, no using the toilet. I obtained a 7000 Kw Generac generator with an automatic transfer switch, and had the hot tub included in the grid. I'd lost a pump for the hot tub, because the water froze. Until I left in 2014, power outages occured at least twice a year, every year.

[Easy Rider]

I have a small 5400 that is portable. I always use stabilizer in the gas, and try to crank it 3-4 times a year (I learned the hard way).

.
Two notes about that:

There is a useful limit to the age of fuel even when the best stabilizers are used; often twice the life of un-stabilized fuel or about 2 years.

Each time you "crank it", it should run long enough to get up to normal operating temperature for 10 minutes or so.
If doing that 7 times over 24 months does not use up all the fuel, the old should be taken out and replaced.

[mowin]

I've got a 8k portable unit. I fill it with 92 octane ethenol free fuel. I run it 3-4 times a yr for 15-20 min. Each spring I drain the tank and refill. I use the old gas in one of my mowers.

As far as not being able to get gas if the power is out for a long time, usually a neighboring town has power to get gas. Not the best option but it's worked for me.

Client of mine has a propane generator, he ran out of propane on day 2. It was more of a PITA hooking up spare tanks every couple hrs while waiting for a delivery. These things use some serious propane depending on the load. I recommend what ever size tank you have now, double the size if you get a propane fueled unit.

[Bob Denman]

We'd go with a MUCH larger tank...

[safecracker]

I use a portable generator. Have to use it 4 to 5 times a year. It is 8550 kw for surge and 5550 kw normal. It will power my whole house. I just cannot use the dryer. I do.have a well. I have propane for cooking, hot water and fireplace. Works good. 5gals lasts about 8 hours. Bruce

[Chupaca]

4500 portable for the emergency items...but have worked on many full house units...

[ARCTIC]

We keep looking at the GENERAC whole house generators. I figured it'll take the 22KW one. If I'm spending the cash I don't want to even be able to tell the power went out. It would be plumbed into natural gas. They start automatically on a set schedule. We have had a portable generator for other stuff in the shop and never actually had to use it for the house. Our electricity is extremely reliable so that also makes it difficult to convince myself to pull the trigger on the big one.

[amusher]

My house is totally on solar. I have 2 - 6500w generators and switch them out and change oil in them monthly. I use one every night to top off my batteries and it can also be switched to directly run the house. Being on solar, you have to learn what you can run, when you can run it. I can't have my electric blanket on all night and the refrigerator is on a timer that goes off around 9p and on at 7a. I don't think you need a big generator (10kw up) to run things. If you bought a Predator generator from Harbor Frieght and bought the $50 warranty with it, if it quits for any reason, they will exchange it for a new one. Get the warranty on it and they will do the same..
Just my 2 cents..

[sandeejs]

I've thought about it, because my neighbors were without electricity for over a week this winter. We've have blackouts for more than a few days b4. A portable generator would run a heater and some lights. My furnace was out for a a week recently, my little bird had one heater and I used the other for the rest of the house. Luckily, neighbors and me are on a different grid, because theirs is out when mine is on and vice versa. Except for when the entire effing state is out. Michigan, or more specifically, South East Michigan is awful for power outages.

Feh.

~Sandee~

[Bensonoid]

Get a battery tender for that rig. The charger that came with my 10000 watt generac was junk.

[Fatcycledaddy]

I have an old flat head four water cooled Kohler Power Plant, as it was called back then. The generator acts as the starter on it, there is no oil filter, but it is a pressurized oil system. I have it mounted in the basement of my unattached garage and exhaust ran outside. When it runs in the winter time the heat from the cooling system heats the basment ot a nice working temp, not a bad side benefit. They used to use these to run dairy farms lighting and milk machines. It is only rated at 6500 watts but the generator head is about two feet in diameter and weighs a ton, there is also no surge rating on it.
I have ran off of it for 3 days straight and it will run the well and air conditioner at the same time, along with the entire house, it just wont start them both at the same time.
Got it for $400.00, best money I ever spent!

[AY4B]

I saw a really nice inverter at Costco Yesterday for 660. It looked bigger than the Yamaha I got last year.

[cuznjohn]

i have a really nice battery tender i bought for my bike, so i am going to put that on the unit. it has a 10 gal gas tank on it so i need to get some fuel stabilizer also