Thanks, this is what I needed to see. Does she have electric or gas for heat?
Gas for heat and hot water. Electric stove, built in oven and everything else.
ETA: Her entire panel is ran off the Generac with a smart switch. I has three "mains" that the smart switch phases in a few seconds apart so they don't all hit the generator at once. The only reason she knows she's on generator is if she hears it running. It has no issue with her central AC and electric range and oven all on at the same time.
ETA: Her entire panel is ran off the Generac with a smart switch. I has three "mains" that the smart switch phases in a few seconds apart so they don't all hit the generator at once. The only reason she knows she's on generator is if she hears it running. It has no issue with her central AC and electric range and oven all on at the same time.
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I have a 17.5kw portable Generac that runs on gas and had to run it for 8 days during the ice storm in 2021, and it cost me around $550.
I have a 8500 Watt Black Max with Honda engine that will burn 5 gallons of gas in 24 hours. To me that is costly and I really don't need that much wattage. At $3.00 per gallon, it equals $15.00 per day-go for 6 days and it's around $90.00.
it is always better for the generator to match the load within the power factor of the generator. having to much generator capacity just waists fuel and can cause equipment failure like wet stacking a diesel. not having enough generator and running in a constant overload will just burn up the engine or the gen head along with your appliances.
I considered one of those whole house generators for a minute.
Then considered we've only been out of power 4 or 5 days during the ice storm
And this week other than a couple times it was out a couple hours.
In the last 15 years.
Figure I can go stay in the fanciest hotel in town or jet set away for a few days cheaper.
Then considered we've only been out of power 4 or 5 days during the ice storm
And this week other than a couple times it was out a couple hours.
In the last 15 years.
Figure I can go stay in the fanciest hotel in town or jet set away for a few days cheaper.
I have a 6500w generator but I haven't used it yet since my power has never been out long enough. The main reason I have it is for the food in the fridge. I have a ton of non-electric cooking devices grills/camping stoves etc so cooking is not an issue. In Wintertime I have blankets and sleeping bags. Summertime I only worry about a lack of AC. I also have some small solar panels that will take care of my phones, light devices, and CPAP. I also have a pantry full of freeze-dried food that requires no refrigeration. So I can survive for quite a while without electricity. I think 6 hours has been my max here in OK, I did one week in the winter in WA.
BTW my generator is dual fuel propane/gas. Propane runs a bit less efficiently but propane never goes stale/bad.
BTW my generator is dual fuel propane/gas. Propane runs a bit less efficiently but propane never goes stale/bad.
That's the message I was getting as late as this afternoon, but the power came back sometime around 4pm according to the e-mail they sent me.
I have a 22KW Generac and discovered it wasn’t enough when we lost power in 2021. I have a heat exchanger along with electric resistive “emergency” heat strips (which I’d never had before). Was sitting there all fat, dumb and happy when all of a sudden the generator tripped on overload. When utility power came back on I had the Mrs switch those heat strips on while I had a Fluke clamp-meter on the line side of my ATS. Just one heating unit pulled over 80 amperes and I have three.
Had to completely rethink my strategy and thankfully I have a very workable solution. There are two gas/propane fireplaces in the house and believe it or not those darn things keep the whole house toasty and then some. We used that to heat the house this past winter and only went through 100 gallons of propane for the entire season. I know that with all the other loads we’d be running between 1/4-1/2 load so I’m back in business. 
We have the 24kw Generac with 1000 gallon propane tank (800 gallon usable) installed last year. Our home is all electric and it's hooked up to about 75% of our homes power needs. Figure we should get just over two weeks of power on one tank of propane at half power. Would have to start looking for delivery of propane about a week in to make sure we could have a dependable delivery. I'd be pretty good about keeping most things off and only use the necessities when on generator power but my wife on the other hand; I'd have to keep an eye on her. Whatever the cost of the generator and propane used I'd be OK with so long as I could still lead my hermit lifestyle in peace. Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!!
