Post by crashtestdummy on Oct 31, 2020 10:52:39 GMT -6
Will change your life forever when dealing with weather events. Removes almost all stress related issues especially the heat after most hurricanes. I’ve had one for over 20 years and will purchase another within 10 minutes when this one dies. The problem is that so many of these installation companies charge outrageous money to put them in. They prey on people’s emotions, fear and past experience without electricity. I’ve put mine in and others for $1000 in materials beside the generator. It’s some labor but nothing difficult. Read and educate yourself
before buying one. Your basic 20kw Generac and transfer switch is around $4500-$5000. Shop around. We order all of ours online and shipping is free or not much. Most companies
charge at least $4000 to put them in. I’ve seen old people ripped off for $12,000 just to put them in. Sad. You can do most of it yourself if handy and inspired. Having friends or family who are skilled and have some electrical knowledge is a big plus. No matter what....always have someone certified check your work. They really are not that complicated when you break it down. There are also options to hook portable natural gas conversion generators into your panel safely. Can be done for 20-25% of the cost of the whole house generator. Will run everything in the house except central AC. This is what I have as backup in case my big house generator fails. We are using this method in quite a few houses in my neighborhood and I’m using my backup now as we don’t need AC in the cool weather and my big generator is getting old and burns twice the natural gas. Flawless so far. In a summer situation, just get 1 or 2 window AC units for $200 and just keep one or two rooms cool. All anybody really needs is one cool part of a house, refrigerator and
, lights, tv, and device charging. A 9kw $700 Predator portable generator will do all of that. You can still come in we’ll below $2000 with the natural gas conversion kit and all the wiring and fixtures needed to safely hook it up to your electrical panel during a temporary outage like now. Again, either have it done by an electrician or checked before use. This portable method has actually become my favorite as it is just sooo cost effective. We luv it around here. The main difference is you just can’t run the central AC but anything else including a window unit. Also, if you go with the whole house generator consider using a smaller (cheaper) one and just
cool one portion of the house on one AC unit. Example: Just live in the downstairs and not use the upstairs AC unit. You’ll still have everything working upstairs or turn the bottom unit off and the upstairs on if sleeping up there. Then you can get by with a smaller generator and will also save a lot on natural gas. And, consider a family investment in one dwelling where everyone
can come during an event. I spent some time here during the lull because I’ve had an endless parade of people coming by here to see and learn. Everyone is swearing this is the last time without power ever. You can pm me if you need help or advice. I am NOT an electrician but very familiar with generators at this point. It is just a must have to me if you live down here.
Our 18kw Generac ran great during this event. Definitely a life changer.
+1! We did that last year, and love it. Having played the 'generator dance', testing the generators, dragging the generators out and hooking them up, and THEN keeping them fed, it's amazing what a load it takes off your shoulders knowing you'll have power when the power's out.
We had an old Honda that my Dad bought the week after Alicia hit, and we were still out of power. I wired our well so we could plug in to that Honda and use it just for water (another 'dance' you do when you're on well and the power's out). The Honda started giving us fits, and while I was searching for a replacement, the only thing I could get that would match the well hookup was something with a 50 amp RV hookup. Those generators are in the 10 KVW+ range, so we were already about half way to a stand-by unit anyway.
We went with a 20 KVW Kohler unit that runs off natural gas or propane, and ended up having gas run to the house just for it (for now). The company that did the install handled everything, including pouring a pad for the generator to elevate it 2 feet off the ground.
Couldn't be happier. Now, as storms approach, we don't have to worry IF the generators will start, and where we'll get gas. So nice!