Home Generator?

[BowhunterNJ]

Looking for some home generator recommendations. All I know is the previous owner had a 7500 watt one, already has it wired with a separate control panel and gave me the adapter cord. Never owned one before and figure where I'm living now it's a good investment!

[Axiom]

I bought a 7500 watt and wish I didn't... But it was the only generator I could find  during one of those days long post hurricane blackouts so I had to buy it.. Oh sure it delivers amps.. a lot of amps.. So much amps I can run the house normally... But here's the thing.. It holds 8 gallons of gas that will run the generator for 12 hours.. Do a cost to run per day analysis and you will see it pretty much adds up to the cost of a hotel room, not to mention fuel becomes hard to find when the lights are out for an extended period of time.... Another thing is its weight.. 300lbs of pure burden.. not to portable IMO

 

If I had to do it over again I would get a 5000 watt.. The cost difference is notable, is more compact, better on fuel and will run all the  basic essentials in your home... In short, it's better than " good enough "... 

 

With that said.. 3000 watt would probably suffice

 

[Haskell_Hunter]

If it is a portable generator (has wheels, portable being a relative term), get a trip-fuel adapter:

 

http://propane-generators.com/tri-fuel_kits.php

 

Axiom is right about finding fuel in the middle of an emergency, however, if you have natural gas or a 1,000# propane tank, that adapter will make all of the difference.

 

Sizing is important.  Generally speaking, Volts x Amps = Watts.  Next thing to do is prioritize what you want to power.  Heat, water pump, hot water, fridge, and a light with a power strip to recharge all of your wireless gear (cel phone, rechargeable batteries, radio, etc.).  As you add a device, calculate the power draw and leave a little headroom for power bursts.  When a generator kicks in, it draws a lot of power for a quick moment.  Most generators have a running wattage and a burst/surge wattage to accommodate for these things.

 

Take a look at how the transfer panel is wired to see if it has a manual or automatic transfer switch.  This is important because you don't want to be sending power back out onto the grid and zap some guy trying to do his job and work with the lines, and alternatively you don't want street power to hit your generator.  Both are very bad, so see if you have a transfer switch or some other way to cut power from the road when you turn your generator on.

 

I also keep 24-hours of gasoline on-hand not only for the generator, but also for the chain saw, cars, and other stuff.  Gas stabilizer is your friend, and you should rotate through that gas by using it in your lawn tools and snowblower.

 

I have a 5,000-watt generator.  It heats the house, runs three fridges, my "infrastructure" (servers, internet connections), and a few lights in the house as well as two power strips for charging.  Hooks directly into the house via natural gas with a ball-lock hose, so I don't have to wait in gas lines.  I'm probably at the top end of the generator with what I have attached to it and am considering a whole-house generator in a few years or so (if I can afford it).

 

You'll never go wrong by having one, but to Axiom's other point, they weigh a ton, and you need to have a clear plan laid out to get it into service.  Think about where you're going to store it and how you're going to get it into service when it's crappy out or you have 2+ feet of snow on the ground.

[Bucksnbows]

I have a 7500 watt portable on wheels and a frame that is battery started.  I'm having it wired soon into my main panel.  Yes, they are gas hogs, but it allows you to stay home and not to lose all your food when the power goes out.  Hotels aren't always available nearby and sometimes they also have issues keeping the lights on.  And you really don't need to run them a full 12 hours per day.  The whole key is finding an open gas station or having gas or propane, neither of which I have here at home.  

[BowhunterNJ]

So just to throw some more info out there.

 

The previous owner wired the house (appliances, well pump, lights, etc) with a separate control panel in the garage that hooks into the main electrical box (also in the garage).

The "switch" is manual from one to the other, and as part of the home inspection request for repairs an electrician had to fix the wiring (which was going into the main lugs and could have had exactly what HH described happen).

 

Portability is really moving it from the garage corner to outside (due to fumes/exhaust when running)...only about 10 feet maybe. The plan is to just run the house as-is with the previous owner's setup, and at some point post remodeling, possible addition, etc...I'll look to get a whole-house generator sized and installed, while the one I get right now serves as a backup just in case.

 

Unfortunately gasoline is the only option I believe unless I get a propane tank. The house's primary heating source is oil, although the neighborhood is petitioning PSE&G to get gas lines run in (they need 100 "agreements" from homeowners to switch to gas).

 

Home ownership...quite a learning experience

Thanks for the feedback and help guys!

 

Any generator brands you prefer?

[Haskell_Hunter]

Pick a brand that you can get serviced locally. The auto-throttle on mine broke and the local repair shop turned around the fix on the same day. Yeah, I had to pay for it, but they were prepared. That's the best advice I can give you.

 

Also, 20# of propane runs like 5-gallons of gas in my generator. A grill tank is 20#, but some only fill them up to 17#. Since that stuff never goes bad, like gasoline, I keep a couple of canisters around for various things.

[BowhunterNJ]

I'm all electric with oil heat.

They are discussing running gas to the neighborhood and petitioning for it.

So I'd have to go with gasoline powered or propane for now.

 

It already has a dedicated switch and panel for power off the generator that I can switch over to.

The previous owner just didn't leave the generator.

 

I'm really looking to get by at a minimum obviously, but wouldn't mind having some amenities like TV while I waited for full power to be restored (could be a few days).

I just don't want to undersize and not be able to run the minimum

I asked the previous owner how his 7500 watt unit worked for him, waiting on his feedback.

[CJ3a]

Inverter generator is the way to go but it costs more. Most of the homedepot type scare the crap out of me. Bad voltage regulation and the 60 cycles by the cheap engine governor. You get what you pay for here.

[Haskell_Hunter]

I got one of these for when the power goes out:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Volcano-3-Collapsible-Cook-Stove/dp/B000FDKXN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415063652&sr=8-1&keywords=volcano+grill

 

That plus a cast iron dutch oven and you can eat forever.  I usually stock up on charcoal when it goes on sale at Home Depo at the beginning of the summer.  The grill is tri-fuel (a theme in my life), so after you've used your chainsaw to remove the tree that landed on your house, you can use the branches to cook dinner.  True story....

[Bucksnbows]

Given all the storms we've had over the last few years, we've lost power for exactly 2 days, so I don't sweat these things.  We have underground utilities, live near the electric switching station and not far from the overhead main lines that then run underground to our 'hood.  We didn't have the generator for those 2 days and it obviously was no big deal.  That was during Sandy as we never lost power in the Halloween snowstorm or Hurricane Irene or other weather events.  If I had unlimited funds, I would convert to gas which runs in the street in front of our home and then add a whole house system running off that as backup.  F-it if a bad event happens in that situation!  But I'll roll the dice and live off gasoline in my portable 7,500 watt generator and keep four 5 gallon containers on hand as any storm nears.    

[nycredneck]

I own a 6500W Honda, I use it at work. I was able to keep my whole house going ( all gas appliances & heat & hot water ) plus do a load of laundry during Sandy for a week @ 3 gallons a day. I only ran it 6 hrs a day, two hours at breakfast, two at lunch time, another two hours at dinner time. We took turns taking showers at those three times, I have a well, no city water. It was fine, yes I had to economize and be smart, I kept fridge cold and deep freezer frozen.  During an emergency I want to be safe and somewhat comfortable and I was, it just was NOT business as usual.

[BowhunterNJ]

Anyone know anything about Westinghouse generators?

Amazon has this one rated pretty high, and affordable.

The Generacs seem to be the top brand, but a little bit more expensive for comparable size.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-WH7500E-Portable-Generator-Starting/dp/B009PVNAUW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[Haskell_Hunter]

http://www.westpropower.com/generator_info.iml?id=5

 

From the source.

 

The only thing I couldn't determine is who makes the engine.  That's the part that usually needs to be serviced.  The generator coils that creates electricity will rarely be serviced by a local engine repair guy, and are probably cost prohibitive to replace, IMHO.  But it's best to determine the make of the engine.

 

I have some Home Depo generator but it has a killer Subaru engine that's rated fairly well with parts available locally.

[BowhunterNJ]

There are a number of dealers/service centers around this area, so that might be a good option.

Run time seems on the better end at 11 hours for 50% as well.

 

Home Depot carries it as well, solid ratings there too.