House generator advise

[Rural Ruger]

Can anyone throw out a ballpark estimate for a whole house 25K continuous propane generator installed with a tank and an automatic transfer switch? $10K? More?

This is old and also pre-COVID pricing but I think mom and dads was ~$8K installed, but that was without the tanks/gas (they had 2 "small" tanks, then moved HVAC system to propane + a huge underground tank, then plumbed Generac into that larger tank...and none of us remember what the costs were on the tanks anymore/because of all the change). Again though, that pricing is from almost a decade ago and a slightly smaller unit than what you describe (20kw I think). But I will say that they didnt shop around either... they probably could have saved some if they had.

$10-12k all in seems reasonable for what you describe, but just a guess on my part.

[Jhaydeno]

I don't recall ever seeing one at an auction but I'll start looking for them more intently. I don't know if it was bullshit or not but an electrician once told me that PTO units wouldn't work because the generator needed to spin at a precise speed to put out 60hz.

That was true to a point, but many of the new generators are run through inverters, so you can slow down the spinning portion at lower electrical load. I've got a 6kw Honda with inverter, and it will slow the engine down under reduced electrical load. I had a PTO 20kw run of a diesel JD 2440, but frankly, the fuel use was heavy for what I needed. 6kw (220V) can run the well, heat a tank of water, and keep the fridge and freezer cold, and it doesn't use more than 5 gallons over 24 hours. While I would love to have AC and all the comforts of home in an outage, I've gone 5+ days with no power, and no way out for the first 3. Fuel sipping is a must for me!

[Walleye Hunter]

That was true to a point, but many of the new generators are run through inverters, so you can slow down the spinning portion at lower electrical load. I've got a 6kw Honda with inverter, and it will slow the engine down under reduced electrical load. I had a PTO 20kw run of a diesel JD 2440, but frankly, the fuel use was heavy for what I needed. 6kw (220V) can run the well, heat a tank of water, and keep the fridge and freezer cold, and it doesn't use more than 5 gallons over 24 hours. While I would love to have AC and all the comforts of home in an outage, I've gone 5+ days with no power, and no way out for the first 3. Fuel sipping is a must for me!

You outta get yourself a tank or two. They're fairly frequent at the auctions and off-road fuel is cheaper.

[Grizzlytrap]

Get an EV150. You can power your whole house for 20 minutes.

WTF..Whats up with the garage door Two opener's, like drive thru? Is this Justins house? J/K

[pens87pgh]

If you can swing for a whole-house one, they are nice. Mom and dad have had a Generac for close to a decade. 20k watt I think, plumbed into their heating/propane fuel tank. The biggest issue is the upfront cost, and other than that, the only other issue they've had is a couple burned out computer panels that they think is from local grid surges (and trying a special surge protector to remedy now). Other than that it's been pretty flawless though. Dad used to work for the electric company and bought it explicitly because of what he saw at work.

We actually just got a HF Predator 9k from them as a gift too. Too early to share opinions yet, but my BiL has the exact same one for 2-3 years and likes it. Noisey, but among the cheaper options. Battery start is nice. I grew up with a grumpy, green Coleman 5k that was a PITA to start...this thing is easy as can be. For ~$1k that's a decent option. We have geothermal heat and I dont know yet how far that one will go in running that system, but since I added a woodstove the other year, its no longer a necessity to have it power the HVAC.

If they hadn't bought the HF one for us, my long term plan was to go with either a used whole-house jobber (they turn up on Facebook Marketplace from time to time) or possibly a PTO driven one (and then bought a tractor capable of running it obviously). Truthfully, I probably would've bought the PTO one already had the wife not taken a much lower paying job.

I got one of these a few years ago, the 16kW version - which is well more than enough power to run our furnace, AC unit, a fridge + deep freezer and every other normal thing in our house. When we were pricing them out, the installer was convinced I only needed the 14kW version, but I run a lot of computer/server equipment at home and wanted the extra juice. I love that it can automatically detect when the power is out, fire up the generator and transfer your feed to the generator.

As mentioned in the quoted post, they install them with commercial grade surge protection for both the utility power and generator lines to protect your house, so nice added bonus. The up front cost is steep, and there is a yearly maintenance cost associated with keeping it going (it's an engine, so regular checks, oil changes, etc) so you don't have to worry about it failing but it's worth it to basically never lose power. Put a UPS battery on anything you consider important that can run for 15-20 seconds and you'll always have power.

[JAKIII]

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions on a reputable, reliable generator.

generac-generator-2-1024x683.jpg

[staylo]

My Kohler 20kw, which is the biggest residential generator they make, runs my entire house including the heat pump in the summer for central AC just fine. The Generac dealer tried to tell me it wasn*t big enough and I should buy their 22kw but we*ve not had any issues. I went with a Kohler over Generac because some electricians I know said Generac*s customer service isn*t all that great. I have no personal experience with it so I can*t see either way. They recommended the Kohler over the Generac.

If my memory serves, it cost us about $10,000 for the generator, the transfer switch, the concrete pad, and installation. That was about two years ago. We already had a propane tank for something else so we tied into that.

[Bethzur]

My boss has a whole house one as does his dad. They seem to need expensive repairs a lot, but they are very, very convenient. Water cooled ones allegedly last longer, but that's not been his experience.

I got a basic 7200W or something at Costco. This is our second one. The first one died after like 18 months, so back it went.

I ran a propane line to the back with a quick connect so I can plug it in there and a 30A port to plug it in. Pretty simple.

Naturally, since I've done all that, I haven't needed it.

[DukeConnor]

I've thought about a generator but we never seem to lose power here and if it does go out it's usually just a blink.

[Walleye Hunter]

I never verified it but one of my buddies who got one and did his homework on them tells me that Generacs are made in Chi Na and Kohlers are made is USA. Something makes me think that Briggs and Stratton also makes one in America but I'm not sure on that one.