On Monday, March 12, 2018 at 1:39:18 PM UTC-5, Don Wiss wrote:
On Mon, 12 Mar 2018, trader_4 wrote:

Why would you think you need 20KW? That's 80 amps at 240V or
160 amps at 120V.

She has two refrigerators, plus a freezer. None new. One ancient. Two
central air units. Not top-of-the-line. Plus the usual in a mostly gas
powered house.

But then I guess it also depends on how much
more the larger one costs and a lot of the cost is the install,
which would be the same anyway.

The price difference is $844. The other costs overwhelm this. Especially
the $5,000 (or more) to run a new gas main. If she doesn't run a new main,
she could only have a partial house one (like the neighbors that didn't
install a new gas main) and there is the complication of load management.
With the whole house, life goes on as before.

Plus the house is going to be sold after she dies. Maybe in five years? It
is a tear down candidate (ceilings are only 7' 10"). The extra size should
be a plus.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


Kohler is the Cadillac of home gensets but still needs regular service. As I recall, the NG fueled gensets I installed required 11 inches water column gas pressure to operate properly. I remember having to get the gas company to change out the meter and main regulator to give us the higher pressure. We had a T before the new pressure regulator feeding the home. It was a matter of changing the meter and regulators. The genset was usually near the gas meter and I ran a 1/2" copper line to the little 8kw gensets and a 3/4" copper line to the 10kw and up. The gensets have a demand regulator which feed NG to the generator based on the airflow through the carb. Me and the guys installed a lot of home generators in the wealthier communities after a series of storms knocked out power for days some years ago. We were very busy for a while. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Stormy Monster