Question about back up generators and some news

Armed4defense

Armed4defense

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First, the wife and I bought some property in Virginia -35 acres between Lynchburg and Charlottesville. It is out in the sticks. Which I love but the wife, well she wants a whole house generator because it is so far back. We do have underground to the house which is a good thing but for you guys that have whole house back up generators, which brands would you say are better and why? I done a bunch of reading but everyone has an opinion online. Would appreciate your input on this rather major decision. BTW - having bought this property means I will be selling my property in Granville County -probably in the next 2 years or so -4.95 acres and a +/- 1600 sq. ft ranch. If anyone might be looking to relocate, we can PM and talk further about that. Thanks guys....
 
I have no practical experience, but my research and the apparent market presence led me towards Generac.

They're everywhere which also suggests support and parts are there too.
 
IMO, get a 300 gallon propane tank and a generac big enough to handle what ever load you need. If I can save my shekels, that's my next purchase, tired of messing with the gas gennies.
 
I’m kinda with ReelDoc but I’ll go with one further ... gas stove, gas hot water, gas heat and then an LP gas generator setup. For that I’d say a 500lb tank minimum or better yet a 1,000lb tank to supply the whole thing.

As to locating and setup the tank you can setup a nice little area away from the house with both the tank and generator. A great thing would be having a decent outbuilding type structure for storage of lawn tractor and such with an open side shed to setup the generator under. You can run the lines under ground (in separate trenches) to the house a good distance to place the ugly tank out of sight and the generator out of ear range.
 
My recommendation would be dependent upon your budget. In the telecom world, Generac is not considered to be a high quality brand.

However, there is about a 6 - 7K difference between a consumer grade (3,600 rpm) whole house setup (5-6) versus a commercial grade (1,800 rpm) system (12K on up).

Also, you have to decide if you will do some reasonable power management during an outage (such as not running an electric clothes dryer at the same time as your air conditioner), or if you want it all.

At any rate, having gas appliances (furnace, hot water heater, stove) will significantly reduce the size of the generator required.
 
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Scsmith42 said:
My recommendation would be dependent upon your budget. In the telecom world, General is not considered to be a high quality brand.
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In my world of developing apartment communities Kohler is the only brand I use. A little more expensive but a LOT more support from a company that's been around since the beginning.
 
Bailey Boat said:
In my world of developing apartment communities Kohler is the only brand I use. A little more expensive but a LOT more support from a company that's been around since the beginning.
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Kohler’s mid and top end generators are some of the best there is. They were our telecom’s preferred supplier.
 
Home Depot also uses Kohler diesel generators at the stores. 60KW
 
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On properties that need a back up (multi story) the first and most pressing use is to power the elevators and then a minimum of common area lighting inside and out. Even at that the average size installed is around 30 to 35 KW. Well made machines and top notch service personnel...
 
If it were me, I would get a 7500 watt Honda electric start to run the house and a 2000 watt inverter genny to carry around the property.
Portable power is really nice.

OR - buy the compact tractor you've always wanted and use a 3pt hitch pto genny. That simplifies fuel requirements, and your going to want a tractor to maintain your property anyway.
You can get 15kw for $1500 in a PTO genny plus you get a cupholder on the tractor. Makes perfect sense to me.
 
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Thanks for the replies guys! Still trying to decide - more for the wife since for a couple years at least, she will be up there more than me until I retire. Leaning toward Generac just because of parts availability.
 
My parents had a whole house Generac back in the Sierras running off their main propane tank (of which size I can't recall). Anyway, I was there over the holidays once when it was snowing and they lost power. Lights went out, things got quiet for 30 seconds and then everything came back up. Ran for 2+ days powering everything with zero drama, and the propane tank even 'called home' to let the service company know they would need a refill ahead of schedule. If you've got the coin, it's hard to beat if you like the lights on.

They had it under the deck in a 'sound deadning' enclosure, but it was still pretty loud. I assume that higher end gear is quieter (sorta like a honda vs. my generac portable unit which is LOUD).
 
Know a few people here who have generac, they are satisfied. Only caveat is to run a monthly test/load run to make sure everything is good, but that is any genset.

If you have the coin, a big kohler and a 1000 gal propane tank would be the sh1t...
 
We power our home with this during a rare power outage...it’s an excellent back up generator and powers everything we need. We don’t live far from a substation, so if we do loose power our power company begins looking for the problem from the substation first working its way out.
So fortunately power outages are rare and short lived where we live. -Super quiet back up generator.

https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu7000is
 
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I have been happy with my 22kW Briggs & Stratton. Eight years old, no problems. Kicks in automatically. Smart breakers will turn off the water heater temporarily when the HVAC needs power. Self test runs weekly.
 
Coltdefender1911 said:
View attachment 84338
How do you feel about a Cummins? It's natural gas and should run the whole house. It's only 1250Kw
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I've got it's baby brother providing 480VAC 3 phase power for my shop. I use it as needed to run the bigger equipment.

Kohler 400hp big cam Cummins, 225KW. I can power the whole neighborhood off of this!


Kohler 400 hp.JPG
 
a Backup Generator is Plan B for the generator you already have (Plan A).
so...for a backup....my opinion is an electric start on wheels 10K unit.
 
I have a Generac on propane whole house set--up.

Is it the "last for years, mad max " set-up: no
Is it the " Real world, power down for 3-8 days" set up-- yes.

So far (2+ years) it has run at the most 5 days. And it did great.

If the zombie rise up, it will last long enough to get ready for more long survival. And that is not a life that is like today. think 1800"s.
So if you think you can do long term power....
 
Just bought a Briggs and Stratton 20KW Fortress whole house generator. Located in Southeast Guilford County looking for zn electrician to install. Have the autoswitch and load shedding ability.

Anyone have recommendations for electrician and idea of cost to install?

Thanks.
 
Heavy Barrel said:
Just bought a Briggs and Stratton 20KW Fortress whole house generator. Located in Southeast Guilford County looking for zn electrician to install. Have the autoswitch and load shedding ability.

Anyone have recommendations for electrician and idea of cost to install?

Thanks.
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@1911gobang ?
 
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