Generator Advice

[golddigger14s]

I've never lost power for more than a week in 60+ years (a dozen different states). I just need a small generator for my fridge (and I still haven't even used that one in 4 years). I have enough BBQ and camping stove stuff to cook for weeks. $22K for a generator I might use an hour a year?.....................Nope! Adding insulation-type stuff to your house would probably be more cost-effective. I would only consider a big generator like that for a true SHTF, but even then you are screwed on the fuel situation. So again why bother?

 

[Fitz-]

And I’m afraid I’m no help being down near Lawton. I’d contact Kohler and Generac directly and ask them for a couple of names for whom they suggest.

Another thing to consider is your heating system. I have three heat pumps (my one and only experience with them) and man oh man, the first year we were here We lost power and I was sitting all fat, dumb and happy when my generator kicked off on overload. What? Come to find out those darn emergency heat strips draw about 82 amps just my themselves….and that’s just for one heat pump. Good news is once I got that all figured out and am fortunate to have two propane fueled fireplaces on opposite ends of the house that are very efficient and keep everything nice and toasty. I use the generator for everything but heating the house and have more than enough power.

Unfortunately Kohler CS phone seems to kinda suck, not very helpfull lady which gave just Airco as a local dealer who are the ones who quoted 16k for the work.

 

[CHenry]

electric furnace is a killer. consider installing a gas fireplace insert with forced air? and another gas heater if needed. then it sounds like you can get by pretty easy with a small 5500 or even a 10,000 watt generator. when you replace your furnace go gas. the harbor freight gens i have are not the inverter type and i have no problems with sensitive electronics. buy a kill o watt meter and plug it into some of your appliances to see what the running watts are? or just go ahead and get a good fluke meter? look for an interlock kit for the brand of your breaker box.

I had a wood pellet stove. Much cheaper than propane furnace and it used about 100 watts of power to run the fan and augur

 

[jllrue]

So I got slapped in the face with reality.

Was fixing to order a 20kwh Kohler generator for about $5500, figured double that price w/ installation....... Nope they want 16k roughly for the work to install it with the auto transfer switch, stub out my propane tank line etc. At 22k roughly, I think I can deal with some extra ******** if we lose power.


So alterate plan, I need to find a wood stove insert for my unused chimney would be ideal. (Never shopped for these) And then for the fridge/freezer/space heaters or portable AC's a big portable generator outside.

Only issue is I'm scared of week long outages neighbors have reported in other years. So fuel is the question, I'm not sure how fast a gen will burn through gasoline, but it means I need a ton of propane cylinders or gas and worrying about keeping it fresh.

So I'd still like to try and figure out if I can get a hookup installed to run a portable off my 250gallon propane and of course get a house with interlock switch installed.



I just don't know **** about the generators themselves, whether for rare occasional use I can get the biggest harbor freight, or what brands are still good these days instead of coasting on name + advertising. I'd intend to have my tv/computers off, but not sure if I still need to attempt to get a inverter generator so the power quality doesn't zap my fridge or something else possibly sensitive.

I just bought a 22 kwh Generec Generator, hooked to my gas, with a transfer switch and whole house surge protector for $13500 installed.

 

[trekrok]

Unfortunately Kohler CS phone seems to kinda suck, not very helpfull lady which gave just Airco as a local dealer who are the ones who quoted 16k for the work.

Yeah $16k sounds like the 'we don't want this work, but if you make us do it, here's the price' kinda number.

 

[tynyphil]

generator like that for a true SHTF, but even then you are screwed on the fuel situation. So again why bother?

That's true.....my SHTF plan was the propane fueled portable generator and stockpile some 20# propane tanks to run it.......that fuel will store indefinetly.....however, still finite.

 

[geezer77]

We lost power for 9 days a few years back during huge ice storm that hit the central OK area. I kept the fridges and freezers going by playing musical power cords with our little Honda EU2000i portable, but it was definitely not fun because the little Honda can't power a 240V water well pump. It goes without saying that when mama can't flush, mama ain't happy. She did not consider the nearby woods a viable option. So after 4-wheeling back and forth to a neighbor's generator-powered house with loads of 5-gallon water buckets for 9 days, we considered a 20-25KW auto-start. However, lack of natural gas service out where I live kills that idea. So it came down to burying a new LP tank near the house, which turns out to be a very expensive project in itself. We're all electric except for a 250 gal propane tank that heats a separate shop building. Buying and burying a new 1000 gal LP tank, combined with the generator & switch purchase/install would have pushed the cost north of $22K at last year's prices, and with Bidenomics that's probably a LOT higher now. So we opted for a Honda EU7000i on wheels feeding a 12-circuit manual transfer switch. Total was around $7K including switch install. This does of course require me to roll out the generator and flip a few switches when an outage starts to look like it might last a while, but it runs everything we need including fridges, freezers, water well (!), coffee makers, microwave, toaster oven, TV, lights, WiFi and Internet, etc. Essentially everything except kitchen stove and the heat pump. Works for us and we pocketed around $20K. Oh, and the Honda is so quiet we literally can't hear it running in the house, which is an amazing thing, and appreciated by the neighbors too.

 

[User_3155]

$16k for install is probably, "I hope you don't take this bid because I have more to do than I can get done in 2 years, but if you do, OKKKK!!!!! see ya next Thursday!!!"

 

[cowadle]

We lost power for 9 days a few years back during huge ice storm that hit the central OK area. I kept the fridges and freezers going by playing musical power cords with our little Honda EU2000i portable, but it was definitely not fun because the little Honda can't power a 240V water well pump. It goes without saying that when mama can't flush, mama ain't happy. She did not consider the nearby woods a viable option. So after 4-wheeling back and forth to a neighbor's generator-powered house with loads of 5-gallon water buckets for 9 days, we considered a 20-25KW auto-start. However, lack of natural gas service out where I live kills that idea. So it came down to burying a new LP tank near the house, which turns out to be a very expensive project in itself. We're all electric except for a 250 gal propane tank that heats a separate shop building. Buying and burying a new 1000 gal LP tank, combined with the generator & switch purchase/install would have pushed the cost north of $22K at last year's prices, and with Bidenomics that's probably a LOT higher now. So we opted for a Honda EU7000i on wheels feeding a 12-circuit manual transfer switch. Total was around $7K including switch install. This does of course require me to roll out the generator and flip a few switches when an outage starts to look like it might last a while, but it runs everything we need including fridges, freezers, water well (!), coffee makers, microwave, toaster oven, TV, lights, WiFi and Internet, etc. Essentially everything except kitchen stove and the heat pump. Works for us and we pocketed around $20K. Oh, and the Honda is so quiet we literally can't hear it running in the house, which is an amazing thing, and appreciated by the neighbors too.

why bury the lp tank?

 

[ssgrock3]

So I got slapped in the face with reality.

Was fixing to order a 20kwh Kohler generator for about $5500, figured double that price w/ installation....... Nope they want 16k roughly for the work to install it with the auto transfer switch, stub out my propane tank line etc. At 22k roughly, I think I can deal with some extra ******** if we lose power.


So alterate plan, I need to find a wood stove insert for my unused chimney would be ideal. (Never shopped for these) And then for the fridge/freezer/space heaters or portable AC's a big portable generator outside.

Only issue is I'm scared of week long outages neighbors have reported in other years. So fuel is the question, I'm not sure how fast a gen will burn through gasoline, but it means I need a ton of propane cylinders or gas and worrying about keeping it fresh.

So I'd still like to try and figure out if I can get a hookup installed to run a portable off my 250gallon propane and of course get a house with interlock switch installed.



I just don't know **** about the generators themselves, whether for rare occasional use I can get the biggest harbor freight, or what brands are still good these days instead of coasting on name + advertising. I'd intend to have my tv/computers off, but not sure if I still need to attempt to get a inverter generator so the power quality doesn't zap my fridge or something else possibly sensitive.

hey brother, check out currentech out of kingfisher. 405-863-8650 [email protected] They installed a 22kw Generac with switch and tapped the gas meter and house. 10k out the door. We are very happy with what they did, and no one else could even touch their price and install was seamless and clean.