After the recent power outages - looking at a generator. Suggestions?

[fishnsled]

Having an elder living with me and do to some health issues it would be nice to have power given any circumstance. Is anyone generator better than the next? Looking at a unit that would allow for heating in the winter, AC in the summer, lights, charge batteries for night time lighting and not having to run the generator, Things to consider would be noise and fuel consumption. Thinking portable but not ruling out an automatic gas back up system. Any personal experiences with either? Thanks for your input.

[Bernie]

Dad runs an inverter 6000 Honda as his backup for the house.
He has it hooked into the electrical panel with the proper switching.
Pretty much operates everything in the house.
Because it's an inverter, the power is clean so it won't mess up electronics.
I'd highly recommend it.

 

We have a smaller unit for out huntcamp, again, a Honda. It's also an inverter but a 3000.
What is best about the inverter units is that they only run as fast as they need to, doesn't need a specific RPM to get the proper cycles. They are probably the most fuel efficient units available and also likely the quietest of most.

 

Lew I believe has a genny that runs on propane. This can also be an advantage for those that do not get run often enough. Little or no chance of bad fuel.
There are likely natural gas units as well.

[Entropy]

I have this. http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/champion-4000w-gas-generator-0550324p.html

 

I paid $300 for it and love it. I like a cheap portable, if something goes wrong I can toss it in the garbage or sell it to my handy neighbour and go buy a new one, and not worry too much about it. This size will power anything in my house, for the big pumps only one at a time ( 120 volt well pump, sump pump, etc)

 

I'd hate to 'invest' well over $1000 in a Honda and have a problem with it. At $300 my genny becomes disposable. I once bought a second one and left it in my car while this one was running the sump pump for a day. I ended up selling it to a neighbour with the understanding that if mine quit, we'd be running a wire over.

 

I run it with a little Shell high test gas every 2 to 4 weeks for about 15 min, and change the oil once or twice a year. I know it will work in an emergency because it gets run often and actually gets used in outages.

 

You can buy this about once a year on your CTC MasterCard for $75 less sale price, which puts it at $225 every once in a while.

 

I had a Walmart generator, 3000 watt, and it started to make a bit of an odd noise. I took it to work and let it run for everyone and got $200 for it. Hey, I'll take a loss on something like this every 5 years, and buy a new one to make sure it will work and run well when I need it.

 

Something to think about.

 

Entropy

[vance]

At the last BIG power outage I had a generator panel put in and bought portable generator of 6500 watts,3000 watts at 240 volts and 3000 watts at 120. Have yet to use the 120 as it requires a separate plug and is hard to wire into the panel.

 

vance

[Big Cliff]

Lew has the ideal setup, it is all automatic, starts itself up once a week and runs diagnostics, lets you know if there is a problem. No heavy fuel cans to lug around in the middle of the night or during a storm. Comes on when needed, goes off when it isn't but they are quite an investment! If you can afford it, it would be my first choice.

 

Bernie is right about the inverter generators, much quieter, good clean power, and they do tend to be a lot more fuel efficient but if it is a wide spread power outage you could have trouble finding a gas station that can pump gas. Good second choice though.

 

The CTC type ones do work, I have a similar one, 6500 watts. I had an electrician wire it into my panel for me with a shutoff so I can disconnect from the grid in case of a power failure (wouldn't want to back feed power into the hydro lines for safety reasons). It works, but it is loud and it can burn through 5 gal of gas pretty quick if you leave it running all the time. It is still better than nothing if you have a prolonged power failure. I guess it really depends on your budget and level of comfort you want.

[lew]

Lew has the ideal setup, it is all automatic, starts itself up once a week and runs diagnostics, lets you know if there is a problem. No heavy fuel cans to lug around in the middle of the night or during a storm. Comes on when needed, goes off when it isn't but they are quite an investment! If you can afford it, it would be my first choice.

 

 

I used to have a 6500/7800 watt portable that could be plugged directly into the house and it worked well and ran the basics, but I had to be here to fire it up and transfer the power which isn't always bad but I have a high water table here in the spring with the snow melt and my sump runs pretty well continuously until the melt is all gone. If I was away for a couple days it could have been bad.

 

It was electric start and I'd fire it up once a month and run it for 15 minutes.

 

I switched over to a permanent unit a couple years back and now as Cliff said it's all automatic and I don't need to be anywhere around. When the power goes out it fires up, runs my house and then shuts itself off when power is restored and goes back to sleep till needed next time.

 

It has a built in trickle charger with power from the house to keep the battery ready and the battery has an electric blanket to keep it warm.

 

It's an expensive investment but to me well worth the $$$$ just for the peace of mind knowing I'm good to go whenever it's needed.

 

I went with Generac because alot of my neighbors use the same unit and the fact that the dealer is local and has a very good reputation and if I have an issue their here very quickly.

 

Lots of good choices around Will and it's just a matter of figuring out what will work best for you.

 

The generator at the back of the house tucked neatly out of the way.

 

 

It's wired into a seperate panel off the main and automatically transfers over.

 

 

And runs off a 1500 litre propane tank

 

Edited December 31, 2013 by lew

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

We have a Generac as well but not as nice as Lews!!...it's a portable 8000W Electric start and we have a dedicated breaker panel for it...We've had it for over 12 years now and it runs like new.

 

Home Depot sells them on-line and they're cheaper now then they were back when we bought ours.

[lew]

We have a Generac as well but not as nice as Lews!!.

 

Their all nice Steve if they keep us warm and comfy on a cold winters night.

[porkpie]

FYI, Home Depot has 5500'watt generac portables on for $800 and 3300 watt generac portables on for $440. Not a honda, but good generators and the price is reasonable.

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

You've got that right Lew!....not only during the winter. We've had 2 day outages here in the summer after storms and the Generac was in full operation...

 

Happy New Year bud to you and your wife!

[fishnsled]

Thanks for the input everyone. I have to admit I like the convenience of the automatic unit, peace of mind for when I'm not around. A friend of mines mother has one of Generac automatic units and has never had a problem with it. Good to hear you are happy with yours Lew. Good point about getting gas if the power is out Cliff. Many stations were closed with the ice storm and certainly when we had the big blackout a few years back. Will make a few calls and get some pricing and go from there. Thanks again.

[Terry]

http://www.homedepot.ca/catalog/standby-generators/171118

 

then installation and wiring

[mike rousseau]

I love living across the road from a hospital.... Our power hasn't been out for more then 5-10 minutes since we bought our house 6 years ago.... I figure we are on the same grid as the hospital....

[Rob]

Plan on a lengthy lead time to order one, mine has been on order with home depot for 2 months. Comes in on the 10th of January. The 7 Kw only carries a 2 year warranty but the 8 Kw has a 5 year.

 

Rob C

[F7Firecat]

_{Whats it cost to service those generators??}

 

_{Does generac come by twice a year or once a year and give it a service?}

[Terry]

.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Terry

[lew]

_{Whats it cost to service those generators??}

 

_{Does generac come by twice a year or once a year and give it a service?}

 

They do mine once a year and it's about $125

[GBW]

Will, my dad's place has a very similar set up to Lew's. He's VERY happy with it too.

[G.mech]

I put in an automatic natural gas fired 15000 Watt Generac about 12 years ago. I had to replace the starting battery a couple of times and do the routine maintenance every year and it's run like a champ. The automatic start and transfer is a really comforting since we are away from home a lot. Our sump pumps must run in the winter or our basement will flood in a matter of an hour or two. It runs almost the whole house when we're home so we have heat, hot and cold water, lights, freezers, beer fridge and big screen which are all the necessities! If you can swing the cost and have the fuel available (propane or gas) I wouldn't think twice about anything else.