Whole house back up generator

Anyone use one of these? After having to hook up my generator last night we got to talking about investing in one. There is a lot to consider besides cost and I'm not sure where to start. The gen I have now (7000 sustained watts) has served me well but I don't think it would run the heat pump. Especially if it were very cold out and the emergency strips had to kick in. I've never tried it and for some reason don't think about it when its hooked up. I'm not sure what fuel would be best. Diesel or LPG. Seems to me diesel would be better although slightly noisier but I'm not sure. I suppose the city would have something to say about that. So anyway I would appreciate any feedback anyone can give me.

Check out the "Generac" whole house system.
I believe Lowes sells a whole house system using that unit.
My BIL has one in PA running on propane.

Generac....on propane or natural gas. Automatic switch over when power goes off and back on.

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NG or LP so you don't have to worry about fuel. A guy here was getting ready to go out and when he went outside to leave he heard the generator running. He called the neighbor and asked if the power was out. He said it had been out for 2 hours and this guy didn't even realize it.

I have a Generac that runs on natural gas. Runs everything in the house including furnace and well pump. Power went out a couple of weeks ago when it was 20 below zero due to high winds knocking trees over power lines. I was watching TV and never noticed until a neighbor called me. Power was out about 12 hours and it saved me from having frozen water pipes. I was hesitant to spend that kind of money on something that I don't need very often, but it sure gives peace of mind. My neighbors around the lake here who have generators all have Generacs too.

I have a General, we are prone to power outages out here. I bit the bullet and got a unit big enough to run whole house. I can run both a/c units and oven at same time and could probably Cary drier at same time. It is also wired to my remote shop so I have power there if I need it. One thing it won’t carry is a a/c and start my big 220 air compressor. Yes it’s a lot of money but the first time you need it in the winter it’s money well spent. I can’t tell you how many times it has run in last three years but had 8-12 hours at least 3 times once in summer and twice in winter. It’s natural gas.
You do need to check the city to find what reg’s they have concerning them. Another thing is get someone who sells and installs them to give you a survey on what your needs are. I have gas stove so that’s a plus.

You do not want a diesel generator unless it’s a last resort. The day to day maintaince of the fuel system alone makes them not worth fooling with for the average person.

I was up in Canada couple years ago and wife called saying storm came through and been with out power for 6 hours already. Our power company recording of course could't say when it would be restored. I felt bad as she hated the set up we had. She had to get the propane generator out of the basement....haul it outside the patio door....hook up a 30 lb propane tank to it...prime it..start it...plug the cord into the back feed for powering just a few items and listen to the noise that thing made. As soon as I got home called my electrician buddy told him to get me Generac 22 kw to power the hole house...called my propane supplier they put a 250 gallon tank off the drive and ran a line to it and it I never worry about her being there with no power. Thing is quiet runs everything. Happy wife is well worth it !!

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Originally Posted by catchncrisco

I was up in Canada couple years ago and wife called saying storm came through and been with out power for 6 hours already. Our power company recording of course could't say when it would be restored. I felt bad as she hated the set up we had. She had to get the propane generator out of the basement....haul it outside the patio door....hook up a 30 lb propane tank to it...prime it..start it...plug the cord into the back feed for powering just a few items and listen to the noise that thing made. As soon as I got home called my electrician buddy told him to get me Generac 22 kw to power the hole house...called my propane supplier they put a 250 gallon tank off the drive and ran a line to it and it I never worry about her being there with no power. Thing is quiet runs everything. Happy wife is well worth it !!

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About how many days will that 250 gallon tank last running 24/7

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Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

About how many days will that 250 gallon tank last running 24/7

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Bill....Generac told me depending on the load expect in 4 to 5 days it'll burn about 200 gallons of propane...again depending on the load.. I had my gas company put a device on my tank when it gets down to 40% it notifies them to come fill it up. Longest we have run it since installed has been about 12 hours.

Well I work for a company that installs them. I will step aside from sales for a bit and give you my opinion and what I know from experience. Unless you have supplied natural gas its not worth the investment unless you are never out more than 4 days. Diesel and gas on tanks are only good till fuel supply is gone. To get a tanker to come out and refill propane or diesel tanks is very hard in a disaster like hurricane. If you are hauling cans of fuel might as well keep what you have. Now if your only trying to maintain for maybe a day or just hours at a time for medical or convenience purposes and have the money to spend then go for it.

I've installed some of these whole house generators for friends, in my former life I was in the electrical business for 14 years. So a few things you need to know, if you take Generac's information regarding a 22kw generator on propane it will burn about 2.1 gallons of propane an hour at half load. But there are things you have to consider about propane tanks, for instance, if you have a 250 gallon tank, first they will only fill it to 80% full, then you can on use it down to 20%. So if you take 250 gallons less 40% that leaves you with 150 gallons usable fuel. Divide that by 2.1 gallons an hour and it will give you 71.42 hours of run time, divide that by 24 hours and it will last 2.97 days. And like someone else said in a hurricane or a massive ice storm like the one that hit the Mississippi River Valley from Memphis to New Orleans on both sides of the river for miles east and west in 1994 were some people were out of power for a month or so, getting someone to deliver diesel or propane probably isn't going to happen anytime soon. Natural gas is best if at all possible.

No natural gas in my area of the swamp.

I’m fortunate that I have NG. In your case you might want to consider one just big enough to carry essential like lights, heat and things you need to survive. And in a sever storm situation be prepared to throttle back on usage. Still think it would beat the socks off a portable and having to scramble for gas. My installer explained same thing Mac just explained to me while he was hooking everything up.

Barnacle bill - do you have propane for your house now? If so, call your supplier, see if they'll upsize the tank. If a customer asked, and could prove the need, we would swap them out for free.
In a former job, I delivered propane. The bigger the tank, the less money we charged per gallon.
The reason for not filling tanks all the way - to leave room for expansion.
Your local electric supplier might have stipulations on standby generators also.

No propane. I use a portable gen right now. Its rated at 7K run and 8750 surge. I can have it set up and running the whole house except the heat pump in about 10 min. Problems are I'm getting old and my neighbor had a big standby gen installed so now my wife is really wanting one. I don't like what ya'll have told me about propane. I keep thinking that a 250 gal tank isn't going to hack it but then most times it would. Its been a long time but I keep remembering the time we lost power for about 2 weeks. That would have been a lot of propane. Maybe a bigger portable installed in an enclosure outside would be better? Oh well, just thinking. I've got a guy coming Thursday to give me some options and prices. I really appreciate all the input ya'll have given me so far.

When you see what total bill would be for generator, install,the fuel cell, gas piping, concrete pad, crane or offroad forklift rental, permits etc your wife will like your set up most likely.

Make sure you get it priced as complete package including all permits, tanks, plumbing, transfer switch, electrical connections and wiring, enclosure for elements, and pad that extends a minimum of 1' on all sides beyond edges of generator. Also get one that self cycles once a month and includes battery charger for starter battery. Don't let them leave out anything on the bid. Hold contractor you are buying from responsible for complete job including all subcontractors, trades and permitting.