I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.
Please reply.
Thanks, Bob

bhamm4254 wrote:
I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.
Please reply.
Thanks, Bob


One caution before you buy any model- you may need an
expensive upgrade of the meter/service. Ask the
utility before making any firm decision.

Jim

bhamm4254 wrote:

I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.

Don't assume you need to replace your rated service. Most backup generators just
need to handle the kitchen and a few lights. Depending on the climate, you may
want to include the furnace fan or possibly some minimal a/c. Depends on what
the outage history is in your area.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever."

On Apr 22, 10:12 pm, bhamm4254 wrote:
I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.
Please reply.
Thanks, Bob

Hi Bob,

I installed a backup generator about a year ago and it was for
approximately to power 40% of the things in the house. It really
depends on the size of your house but for a whole house I think you
are looking at perhaps a 40Kw generator.

The generator I ended up going with was a Cummins Onan 20kw unit. This
powers my well pump, furnance, fridge, lower house air handler and
compressor, garage door openeers, water treatment systems, alarm,
upstair air handler and some lights. It does not however power the
larger HVAC compressor so I have no air conditioning on the upstairs.

The unit has been reliable so far, and works on LP Gas (Propane)
because I have no gas
mains where I am. I have a 500 gallon tank of Propane. Some posters
have reported issues with lower natrual gas mains pressure which may
be an issue for the size of generator you are considering.

The unit is fairly quiet, about 68 db. You know when it is running
though. It is like having a car outside running at 1,800 rpm. Some
cheaper lawn-mower engined power units are even louder. For the pwoer
you need though your unit will be truck / car engine based running at
1,800 rpm.

The unit has an automatic transfer switch (200 amps) and will power up
and be online within 20 seconds of power failure. It also has heating
built in for the motor for fast starting. Note this heater will use
power all the time, and more in the winter. The advantage is you
always have a warm engine, and so will start easier. The unit also
will keep the battery topped up so that your generator will start. It
depends a bit on where you are, in Florida I guess you may not need
the heating bit.

The project needs professional instalation in that the generator is
heavy 1,000 lbs and over. So you need a concrete pad and a hydralic
backhoe or crane to lift the generator into position.

One final tip is while you have your electirican on site to wire up
the thing, ask him to install a whole house surge arrestor /
supressor / protection system. This is not that expensive $US 500 -
$US 1,000, but you do not what your generator being zapped by surges.

Warmest regards, Mike.

Rick Blaine wrote:
bhamm4254 wrote:

I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.

Don't assume you need to replace your rated service. Most backup generators just
need to handle the kitchen and a few lights. Depending on the climate, you may
want to include the furnace fan or possibly some minimal a/c. Depends on what
the outage history is in your area.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever."

That used to be the idea but McMansion owners think differently. I have
a relative who installs gensets and he said it isn't unusual to install
75kw units in a residence.

In article ,
lid (George) says...
Rick Blaine wrote:
bhamm4254 wrote:

I want to get a whole house generator that runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.

Don't assume you need to replace your rated service. Most backup generators just
need to handle the kitchen and a few lights. Depending on the climate, you may
want to include the furnace fan or possibly some minimal a/c. Depends on what
the outage history is in your area.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever."

That used to be the idea but McMansion owners think differently. I have
a relative who installs gensets and he said it isn't unusual to install
75kw units in a residence.

McMansions often are not habitable without electricity. My house is 35
years old, but was built by a pioneer family familiar with 19th century
technology. With wood heat and a good selection of candle sconces and
oil lamps, we don't even bother to start the generator until the second
day of the power outage, and most of the time just use a small 1200 watt
unit that will power the freezer and refrigerator. We fire up the large
generator a couple hours a day for showers - the water heater is
electric, and so is the well pump. The rest of the time, 1200 watts is
plenty, and doesn't make so much noise. I have a propane camp stove
for cooking, but it has never been used. We just cook on the wood stove
during outages, and eat stews, pot roast, etc.

--
For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
with my first name and last initial.

George wrote:

That used to be the idea but McMansion owners think differently. I have
a relative who installs gensets and he said it isn't unusual to install
75kw units in a residence.

Wow...

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever."

We're drifting off topic, but still on generators.

Please tell me about the 1200 watt unit. Is it a ETQ? I got one
of those from Ebay. The once I used it "for real" was a friend's
very old furnace, when he didn't pay the bill and the power was
off. It needed ether to start, but powered the furnace nicely.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Larry Caldwell" wrote in
message .. .
:
: McMansions often are not habitable without electricity. My
house is 35
: years old, but was built by a pioneer family familiar with 19th
century
: technology. With wood heat and a good selection of candle
sconces and
: oil lamps, we don't even bother to start the generator until
the second
: day of the power outage, and most of the time just use a small
1200 watt
: unit that will power the freezer and refrigerator. We fire up
the large
: generator a couple hours a day for showers - the water heater
is
: electric, and so is the well pump. The rest of the time, 1200
watts is
: plenty, and doesn't make so much noise. I have a propane camp
stove
: for cooking, but it has never been used. We just cook on the
wood stove
: during outages, and eat stews, pot roast, etc.
:
: --
: For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
: with my first name and last initial.

On Apr 22, 8:12 pm, bhamm4254 wrote:
I want to get a whole housegeneratorthat runs off natural gas, there
are allot of differant modles to chose from. Does anyone have any
suggestions aouut ones to buy or ones to stay away from.
Please reply.
Thanks, Bob

In looking at the various specification sheets, it looks like all of
them are very noisy with a specification of about 71db. The quietest
one that I've came across is the Kohler "15RES". It's rated at 61 db
with the "sound enclosure". Based on general rules of noise perception
this Kohler would probably be perceived as being about half as loud as
the other models.

http://www.kohlerpowersystems.com/pdfs/g4108.pdf

In article , cayoung61
(Stormin Mormon) says...

Please tell me about the 1200 watt unit. Is it a ETQ? I got one
of those from Ebay. The once I used it "for real" was a friend's
very old furnace, when he didn't pay the bill and the power was
off. It needed ether to start, but powered the furnace nicely.

It's a generic that I bought at Coastal Farm Supply for $129. It's a 2-
cycle engine (not for sale in California) that starts pretty easily. It
runs about 4.5 hours on a gallon of mixed gas. Voltage regulation is by
spark interrupter, so it only fires about half the time under no load.
It has a 12 volt output that is just about worthless, since the breaker
will trip if you hook it to a discharged car battery. If you start with
a charged battery, it will keep the voltage up.

Anyway, it's small, light, quiet and cheap, both to buy and to run. A
gallon of gas a day will keep the freezer frozen. Don't leave stale gas
in the tank. I run Red Line synthetic 2-cycle oil, and have had very
good luck with small, cheap 2-cycle engines. I had to pull my $69 leaf
blower apart last year because of a broken handle mount, and the
cylinder showed no signs of wear after 5 years of use.

--
For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
with my first name and last initial.

Thanks for the field report. Sounds a lot like my ETI. I didn't
know that about the 12 volt charger. Might have to plug in a
regular battery charger in that case. The one time I used it
during a power cut, I gave it a splash of maybe a quart or so of
gas mix. Ran for two hours or so, running the furnace. When I
tried it, I could hear the motor, but much quieter than a lawn
mower for example.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Larry Caldwell" wrote in
message .. .
: In article , cayoung61
: (Stormin Mormon) says...
:
: Please tell me about the 1200 watt unit. Is it a ETQ? I got
one
: of those from Ebay. The once I used it "for real" was a
friend's
: very old furnace, when he didn't pay the bill and the power
was
: off. It needed ether to start, but powered the furnace
nicely.
:
: It's a generic that I bought at Coastal Farm Supply for $129.
It's a 2-
: cycle engine (not for sale in California) that starts pretty
easily. It
: runs about 4.5 hours on a gallon of mixed gas. Voltage
regulation is by
: spark interrupter, so it only fires about half the time under
no load.
: It has a 12 volt output that is just about worthless, since the
breaker
: will trip if you hook it to a discharged car battery. If you
start with
: a charged battery, it will keep the voltage up.
:
: Anyway, it's small, light, quiet and cheap, both to buy and to
run. A
: gallon of gas a day will keep the freezer frozen. Don't leave
stale gas
: in the tank. I run Red Line synthetic 2-cycle oil, and have
had very
: good luck with small, cheap 2-cycle engines. I had to pull my
$69 leaf
: blower apart last year because of a broken handle mount, and
the
: cylinder showed no signs of wear after 5 years of use.
:
: --
: For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
: with my first name and last initial.