Have generators in stock in Raleigh

Kohler 20kw whole house with 200 amp automatic transfer switch, energy management, whole house surge protection with delivery, install and startup just under $12,000. Power goes out and gen is up and running with power back on in 15 seconds or less. Decided going this way after storms in 2011 and no power for a couple days.

Final decision was based on ... if wife could handle a portable gen ( getting it out, hooking it up, starting it and keeping it running ) if i was not around. Answer was No ... didn't not think she could .... and would not want her to have to in that event.

So we went with the whole house setup and never looked back .... now one of the best investments that we have made. Power goes out and we can run everything in the house (including electric heat or a/c) garage and all the outside lights. When the lights go out in a neighborhood ... then you realize just how dark it can be...inside & out. With outside lights from the gen on it gives a good part of the neighbors some outside light as well.... mainly lights everything around our house .... so snoopers are seen.

Knowing now how well it works + convenient .... would do it all over again without any hesitation
 
I personally don't understand why any new house isn't constructed with a whole house generator in mind. The generator doesn't need to be installed at the time of construction. Just having the wiring and fuel option (if natural gas) in place is all that is necessary.

While we were building our house in 2004 - 05, our electrical contractor asked me what I wanted the generator to run if the power went out. I told him "Everything". Even though he knew the generator could run the entire house including the HVAC, for some strange reason, he couldn't grasp the idea that I wanted the entire house to be powered by the generator.

He kept trying to talk me into just having the refrigerator, oven, and HVAC connected and nothing else.

I told him that I didn't spend the money I spent for this nice generator just to have it run the fridge, oven, and heating and air.
 
Totally agree .... whole house generator would have to be part of any deal in building or buying another house for us now if we were to move. Especially since we have gotten use to having generator start, power everything and then shut down when power came back on without us doing anything.
The most important thing for me was making it easy, convenient and safe for my wife. Now it has become a peace of mind for me ....knowing it is there.

I think the most it has run at any one time was about 8.5hrs. We have never had to run everything in the house at one time, but then we really don't when we are on normal power. Just good to know it's there and we could if we needed to.

Wife has a niece that had a baby a couple weeks ago... so with Florence and the possible uncertain conditions with it, niece didn't know what was going to happen if her power went out for any length of time. So wife told her they could come over here if they lost power. We were BLESSED and never lost power.
 
I am seriously considering one of these. Costco also has a Cummins that is the same size for around $1000 more.
https://www.costco.com/Honeywell-20KW-Standby-Generator-W-Transfer-Switch-Model#7063.product.100321543.html
What's the ballpark estimate for the install one of those? I saw people mentioning $10K-$12K total. But that item is less than $3500...and includes the transfer switch.

Labor for pad, electrical work and NG plumbing is gonna be what? Or are there other expenses I'm not thinking about?
 
When we were having our home designed (unfortunately, by a talented but novice architect), I tried to imagine every single goodie we could want and afford. Sadly, I was working and spending nearly full-time in Italy and couldn't participate in the design nor construction as I would have liked. Looking back, high on the list of mistakes were not specifying a generator and well. :(
 
for some strange reason, he couldn't grasp the idea that I wanted the entire house to be powered by the generator.
lol. I can relate to this.
Got one lady with a 10,000 sq. ft. house. (Yeah I know ridiculous. 3 stories.) 800 amp service. Wanted the whole house on during a power outage, and she's got some stuff..electric shades and screens, 3 laundry rooms, 30amp coffee machines, electric doors, elevator, swimming pool, water features everywhere inside and out, gawd...and she wants to be able to use any of it at anytime always.
Best we could do was set an 80,000 watt generator, uses a Chevy V8 on NG, and even then had to do load sharing( a computer program that prioritizes loads and shuts off lesser needed things as demand increases), and she still doesn't like it. She wants all 800 of them amps buddy. And better yet is the house is a smart home. You can control anything electric in the house with your phone from anywhere.
All this crap has to work together. Me & the computer-programmer guy were about to commit hari-kari.

How dare you remind me of this lady @Qball
Dadgum pita customers that can't live without their electric door.
I think I'm gonna come over and shoot you. :rolleyes:
 
6.5 KW? Meh....
12 KW? Meh....
21KW? Meh...
80KW? Meh...

400HP Cummins Big Cam powered 225KW Kohler cranking out 480 volts of glorious 3 phase power! When you want to be able to power the entire neighborhood.... :D

View attachment 74848
I wish I knew the specs on the ones in an office I used to work in. One of the AT&T/BellSouth COs in Charlotte. At the time they had two...both 2-cycle V-20s. Something like six turbos on each one? Just chillin' out at 1800rpm when they fired up.

Since then, they've added a 3rd one and had to build another building to house it. Massive radiator fans for all of them.
 
6.5 KW? Meh....
12 KW? Meh....
21KW? Meh...
80KW? Meh...

400HP Cummins Big Cam powered 225KW Kohler cranking out 480 volts of glorious 3 phase power! When you want to be able to power the entire neighborhood.... :D

View attachment 74848

Are the neighbors required to chip in on the fuel bill? If not accepting more neighbors
 
I wish I knew the specs on the ones in an office I used to work in. One of the AT&T/BellSouth COs in Charlotte. At the time they had two...both 2-cycle V-20s. Something like six turbos on each one? Just chillin' out at 1800rpm when they fired up.

Since then, they've added a 3rd one and had to build another building to house it. Massive radiator fans for all of them.

We had some like that at our CO’s. Sounds like some 3000 - 5000 kw units. The funny thing was, most of the power was required in order to run the air conditioning equipment that kept the switch electronics cool.
 
I have to agree D. I'm currently drawing our next house and a whole home generator is part of the build.

Even for spec homes that we're building, I'm including wiring and piping to the generator area as a selling point.
Good ahead and include the generator as well. The cost is wrapped up in the financing so it doesn't affect cost too much and nobody will complain if it's already "included"

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
6.5 KW? Meh....
12 KW? Meh....
21KW? Meh...
80KW? Meh...

400HP Cummins Big Cam powered 225KW Kohler cranking out 480 volts of glorious 3 phase power! When you want to be able to power the entire neighborhood.... :D

View attachment 74848

Please pm GPS coordiantes for next storm. I'll walk and bring booze.
 
I have to agree D. I'm currently drawing our next house and a whole home generator is part of the build.

Even for spec homes that we're building, I'm including wiring and piping to the generator area as a selling point.

Good on you for not being a typical cheap-ass builder.
 
Recently added to the code is a requirement for a dedicated electric car charger branch circuit.
I have to agree D. I'm currently drawing our next house and a whole home generator is part of the build.

Even for spec homes that we're building, I'm including wiring and piping to the generator area as a selling point.
Unheard of by contractors. I would definitely like hearing about that feature when buying a new home.
 
How are those whole house generators looking fellas? Dont forget about them
 
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