www.iFourWinns.com

Anyone out there have advice on brands to consider/avoid for a permanent install residential generator?

I'm looking to get one that runs of natural gas. We lose power here often enough that it's worth getting one. It does out at least once a week, usually for no more than about a half hour. But that's long enough to make for problems as I do a fair bit of computer work at home. I'm only looking at it from a convenience standpoint. This is not about disaster survival. If things go bad enough that they can't deliver natural gas then I'm already well on my way to getting the hell out of the region. So, please, let's leave this to just natural gas-based ones not tangents about diesel and the like. I don't have room for a tank anyway.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Hey Bill, I was considering this last year myself, glad I held off though, because we finally had natural gas to the house and that would have just been another thing to convert. I was looking hard at the Generac unit and Home Depot had some good pricing on them too. The Onan's I looked at were a fair bit more. I think either one would be a winner IMO. FWIW

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Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

We have been thinking about a home backup system and found this site to have lots of options to compare:

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/

decent pricing as well.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Great thread here.

http://www.boatingabc.com/forums/ubbthr ... 712/1.html

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Hmm, I kicked around the idea of getting an LP or NG a couple of years back when a hurricane swept through and left us in the dark for 7 days.
After checking out the specs on fuel consumption on a 6-7kw vs. local prices it worked out that it would be significantly cheaper to stay in a hotel.
Damages resulting from the blackout are insurance beyond that. Would be a nice accessory, just not very cost efficiant around here. Then there is another thing to maintain . . .

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2008 Four Winns 210 5.7 GI/SX
2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Crew
1966 Fed-Up Wife

Not really concerned about efficiency as much as inconvenience. I can only have just so much battery capacity to keep my computer rack running. Then there's the very annoying surprise of discovering the batteries have crapped out in one of the UPSes. So instead of the typical 15 minute coverage it dies in 2. This happened in three units, in a row. Power dropping out plays hell on the systems. I just want a genset to come online within a minute and keep power going for, on average, about an hour and half. This happens at least twice a month. Looks like most are around $2k all told. Seems like a reasonable cost to save the headaches.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

To do a proper job for an AUTOMATIC standby genset you will be hard pressed to do it for 2 grand.

I dont know how large your service is or how big the load on you house is but Costco sells a 12KW NG or LP Cummins Onan
unit with weatherproof sound attentuated enclosure, subaru engine, 200 amp automatic transfer switch, exerciser, mounting pad and includes freight for $5299. My house has a 200 amp single phase service and if I had two power outages a month this is what I would install. If your gas and electrical services enter you house near the same place it will cut down on install costs.

I have installed quite a few gensets here in Colorado over the last 30 years, and I would be suprised if I could buy it cheaper from the Cummins Onan dealer I buy from. I saw this unit at a trade show last year and thought that it was about time someone came up with a small unit with all the features of the larger units we install in trophy homes.

We have had good luck and gotten good service from Cummins Onan- but you seem savy enough to know that
there isn't anything with an engine connected to electronics that runs automatically once a week and when there is an outage that will not require some attention. BTW- make sure its not too oversized, they need to run pretty loaded to keep from getting gummed up. (The genset has a 50 amp load breaker- the transfer switch is sized to automatically control the full service of the house)

The other option is some of the weird setups the small gas gensets offer, but they involve pulling a rope and throwing a switch after an outage- and it doesnt sound like that is what you are looking for.

Get on the costco website and do a search for RS12000.
Its a lot more money than two grand, but you asked-

Wags
'07 258 Vista

I don't need 12kw. At least not for the purpose of maintaining power to a *few* key circuits. To run the whole house, HVAC, stove, oven, microwave, fridge, all at the same time... maybe. But I'm looking more in the 8kw range. This isn't to maintain power indefinitely, it's to keep a couple of circuits running for a few hours. I already have a transfer panel, it was installed by a previous owner but for a portable unit. And there's a gas line to an old, no longer used, heater right nearby. I'm of course expecting to have to add an automatic controller.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Is it not true that when you run a gen set on LP/NG, you lose 30% efficiency, if so, the 12kw from costco may be what you need? Or when they rate a unit that is to be ran on NG, they have rated accordingly?

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

Bill-

Sounds like you dont need 12Kw (Powellcrazy is right- on LP this unit is 12Kw and on NG it is only 10.5) if you only want to power a couple of circuits. A loaded 20 amp 120 volt circuit is 1.92Kw- If you are at altitude the rule of thumb is derate 3 percent per thousand for anything above like 3000 feet.

But- all of the automatic features- the transfer, the load monitoring, the exercise programming, the hourmeter and
maintenance reminders are part of the automatic transfer switch and are built and designed for this unit. All of the components will work seamlessly together and you may or may not notice a blink of the lights when there is an outage.
I think it has an interior control panel that will even tell you the load on it when it is running and allow you to adjust
what you have on during an outage. Automatic starting requires a starter which requires a battery which requires a charger. I think you will find that smaller gensets will not come NG, or with a starter, battery or charger, and the weather proof enclosure and pad to mount it on will cost extra too.

Trying to make that happen with different parts can probably be done, but it is one of those things that might end up costing the same ( plus a lot of brain damage) and might or might not work the same -and then who do you call when it doesn't work?

Sorry if I sound like a salesman for Cummins Onan- automatic standby home gensets and home theater remote controls are two things that are difficult. On the genset side, it was nice to see a manufacturer address the issue at a pretty reasonable cost.

Good luck with whatever you do-

Wags
07 258 Vista

One of my very good clients is an electrical contractor and he's also a Generac dealers. He swears by the Generac brand because he has to do all the warranty work and service on them. I am not an expert on them but he swears by them.

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"Where Da Go"
2002 248 Vista
Lafayette, IN
http://blueoceanlife.worldventures.biz

Well Bill, I stand corrected-

I started looking into Generac, and for the difference between them and Onan, and the good reviews on Generac, I would sure as heck try them. They do make a 8KW NG for $ 1800- and a 200 amp automatic transfer switch in less than $900.00. Pretty incredible and this old dog just learned something new.

Please excuse me!!

Wags
07 Vista 258

Yeah, I've been reading good things about them. I'm going to be talking to local dealers in the next week or two. For the price they do seem to be offering a pretty decent set of features.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista