Whole House Generator

mpcart

mpcart

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Since we've had a tough year with power outtages and I'm going to be getting a bigger tank, I'm considering getting one of those whole house generators for the new house I'm building.

However, the things are expensive. Since I'll have a gas furnace and gas water heater, can I get away with a smaller (and cheaper unit)? I would only use it to run the furnace blower, the tank, and lights in one section of the house - just enough to keep everyone comfortable.

I was looking at this unit.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=07132504000&vertical=Sears&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

It's 7000W but I have no idea how that matches to the usage in a typical house.

The house will be 2 stories and a finished basement - approx. 4900 feet total with 4300 ft2 finished. Would the 7000W unit be enough?

Thanks,

-Mike
 
I think the thing that drives up the cost on that unit is the fact it runs on LPG.

As it is... I think 7000 watts is enough, but it is dependent entirely on what you want to run at once. If it is just heating, and your tank, some hot water, then I believe you'd be fine.

They make larger capacity units, but the run on unleaded gas.... cheaper though...
 
As long as you're not going to try to run your central air you should be able to get by pretty well with a unit that size.
 
I have a 5500 Watt Generator and ran the following -

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8663768#post8663768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hobbes8017
Still down and out in Florissant. You can see places coming back on, but not my street. I feel sorry for the Ameren workers. This has got to be harder work then the summer storm. They cant even get their trucks in where they need to work.

I think I am definitely pushing the upper limits of my generator.

Runnning the pump, 2-400W MH, and heaters on the 215. Heater, filter, light, and maxi on the QT Tank, entire Nano, and the fresh water tank.

For the house I am running my furnance, frig and TV (my parents are here and needed something to do)

I am also running a power cord to my neighbor. She is 75 and refuses to leave her house. So we put her in a room with a space heater. Her daughter is staying with her.

The generator has a load meter and is running 97-99%.
Click to expand...



If it was summer and I needed to cool things off, I would have been extremely limited. I have this model because we also use it at NASCAR race weekends and is semi-portable. (has wheels) If they were not so large, I would have went with an 8500 model.


I dont really know your budget, but if you can swing alittle more money, I would look at around a 8.5K to 10K for a whole house unit. The summer storm will really kill you if you have tanks and need to keep them cool.

Another reason the "Whole House Generators" are more money is, they make much "cleaner" electricity. The portable generators are really not meant to be running higher end electrical components. They were really created to run construction sites and campers. My Dart Pump sounds different running on my generator than it does on house power. My TV has a different quality when it was run, by itself, on the generator. If you read about the "Whole House Generators", they actually mentiuon that theu "condition" the electricity to handle the changes in loads as thing turn on and off.

Just my opinion
 
If I got one, I'd like the ones that use NG and turn on automatically. I travel out of the country on business several times a year and need something that my wife won't have to hook up. I was lucky this time as I was supposed to be in Mexico until Friday of last week - I cancelled my trip last minute without knowing about the storms. Otherwise, I surely would have lost the whole tank.

My hope was to get something that would keep the tanks running and keep part of the house (likely the basement where the tanks will be) comfortable for the family. That's why I thought I could get away with a smaller unit.

If I waited to make a decision on the generator, is there something I should have built into the house now that will make a future installation less expensive?

-Mike
 
considering what i have spent on my tank, equipment, LR, LS, fish, coral, 2 years from now when me and wife have our new house built i definitely plan on getting built in with house piped in to natural gas line I don't want to have to worry about losing power the whole home generators aren't that costly considering what you can lose without one.
 
You really cant do anything before with the electrical because they are all so different. The install is not that bad, just have to kill power to the house, do some wiring to hook up the auto-cut-over, and then turn it on.
 
i know someone who has a plug outside his house to plug generator into and the other end wired to some multiple seperate outlets in his house for generator power, of couse he live way out in country and deals with power outages more often than we do but this year been a bad year. Having that done shouldn't cost much, but i'm sure there are many different ways to go about it.
 
Clayton had a generator running when I visted them on Sunday. It was probably as big as a shed...
 
If I undertand correctly, the house either hasnt started being built yet, or is in the process of being built?
I'm not an electrician , but from what I understand, a whole house generator is easiest to install at this point than at any other.
The power to the house will need to be shut off in order to wire in the transfer switch. You need a transfer switch for two reasons:

1...you want the automatic transfer of power. Power goes off, generator starts up, everything is back on like nothing ever happened.
2...When the power comes back on, you want the generator to quit supplying power to the house so that you dont start a fire from the resistance between the two (genset and Ameren UE's power) causing a fire.

I have a larger generator that we used earlier this year during the summer. Running it on my set up which is horribly inefficient electrically speaking, a freezer, a couple of lights, alarm clocks and fans. we still needed to fill it with gasoline every 12 hours. It got expensive in a hurry.
I would strongly suggest going with at least a 12kw unit for your house and would also strongly suggest getting a natural gas powered unit. An earthquake or gas shut off's are the only issues you'll have to contend with at that point, and with an earthquake...we've all got bigger issues to worry about.

Eventually, my wife and I will be buying a whole house unit.

Things to remember:

Generators can be very dangerous...exhaust heat can cause fires, and exhaust fumes can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. You are creating electrical energy by burning an explosive liquid, (in portable gensets), two men in E STL were killed this summer because they couldnt take the time to shut down the generator, unplug everything, let it cool for a few minutes, then refill it with gas, restart it, and replug everything in. Instead they filled it while it was running, spilled gas on the hot exhaust, it caught fire and the generator exploded...

Maintenance needs to be done while they are not being used. Twice a year its a good idea to start up the generator, (whole house and portable), and run it under a load for a few hours to keep things well lubricated, and to ensure it works properly.

HTH,

Nick
 
Yes, the house is in the process of being built. Right now I just have a hole in the ground and a lot of concrete. Based on feedback I got in a previous post, I put a floor drain and sink in the basement for a future fish room.

CIMG03325B05D1-1.jpg


I think I might wait on the generator since I'm a little overwhelmed with costs right now. It's been a bad year for power outtages but its hard to justify $5k for a generator when long outtages are so rare in my area. I may go with the smaller one or just get a portable generator.

Of course, I said the same thing this past summer and am kicking myself now.

-Mike
 
whole house with transfer switch is the only way to go,if you think of it this way,you only use what you need instead of leaving every light on,however it starts up and transfers load while your away,the briggs units seem to be real reliable
 
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