I always wanted a whole house generator but will skip out on that now. Most people I know with them they either quit working due to issues with natural gas or they just quit working on them a few days or a week into the outage. Instead I plan on getting a high end portable generator (12-15K watts) and installing a transfer switch (I think that is what it is called) into my house panel. That should be enough to power everything except my dryer, stove/oven and microwave.
Another reason I don't want to get a whole house generator is because I likely wouldn't have left for Ida had I had a whole house generator. I would have thought I was set with storm shutters and a generator.
Another alternative to a portable or whole home generator is solar with a battery backup. There are pros and cons to this. The cons are possible damage to the solar panels if something falls on the roof and more expensive to install. The pros would be silent operation, never have to worry about gas shortages or storage, little to no maintanence, no CO worries, and a vastly cheaper electric bill, which would allow for an eventual return on investment.
We're likely going to be grabbing a portable in the near future since we don't plan on staying in this house long term, but I'm going to be looking very closely at getting solar installed at our next home.
I have a portable 8,000 running/10,000 starting Generac that worked flawlessly the 12 days I was out of power for Ida. Changed the oil every other day and ran it all night (roughly 11-15 hours each night) with the fridge/freezer, light circuits, and a 5000 BTU window unit as well as phone chargers then about 5-6 hours each day with all the same running as well as an electric burner to cook on. When it was time for showers, I turned off the fridge/freezer and ran the water heater circuit for about 45 minutes. We had more than enough hot water for showers each day/night and had everything we needed to be comfortable.
I probably could’ve ran much more at the same time but I didn’t want to risk blowing out the generator when we still needed it so I was very conservative with my approach.
This was all done with an interlock kit and outlet to plug into the main panel that a certified electrician installed for me spring 2020.
Only problem was for some reason it wouldn’t run my washer. The electronics came on but the washer never would kick on for some reason so I never even tried the dryer. I figured I’d have that issue with the dryer instead of the washer but what do I know!?
Total cost for the generator and interlock kit with installation was $1,600. Money well spent and much, much cheaper than a whole house generator.
This is exactly the type of thing I like to see. Done correctly and safely. Let’s keep the gas discussion at our civil levels. This is a great thread that has been needed for awhile. A main part of my generator preaching is affordability over the long haul. How much $ have people spent now leaving a relatively safe area time after time. Generators aren’t about bravado and storm survival but just common sense for many. The gas thing. People have the right to do what they want with it. Many people who have successfully and safely prepped there dwellings may not have the ability or $ to leave. What we do is fill about 6 cans of fuel in June for the car. Funny though, I didn’t do it this year and I’m not sure why lol. We eventually use the fuel in the vehicles after the season. Perhaps people with generators are asking why is everyone filling their tanks to evacuate and using all the fuel my family needs???? Use as much fuel as u need to do whatever in a hurricane situation. Gas is the same whether in your car going 400 miles or running a generator for a few days. Worry about being safe and comfortable not gas.
Post by gentizzy - PRC, MS on Sept 19, 2021 12:15:11 GMT -6
Anyone have experience with propane whole house generators? Don’t need top of the line - would be nice for water, lights, ceiling fans and refrigerator.
Otherwise, will look into some other possibilities. Thanks.
I always wanted a whole house generator but will skip out on that now. Most people I know with them they either quit working due to issues with natural gas or they just quit working on them a few days or a week into the outage. Instead I plan on getting a high end portable generator (12-15K watts) and installing a transfer switch (I think that is what it is called) into my house panel. That should be enough to power everything except my dryer, stove/oven and microwave.
Another reason I don't want to get a whole house generator is because I likely wouldn't have left for Ida had I had a whole house generator. I would have thought I was set with storm shutters and a generator.
We have totally switched gears and are pushing the portable NG conversions over the whole house standby. The part u will probably use is a interlock to attach to your panel and may or may not use a transfer switch. $1500-2000 whole setup as opposed to around $8000 for a standby 22kw if u get a fair priced installer. And if your portable goes bad in 10 years just buy another one for a grand and you are still into the whole thing for $3000ish. One of the biggest problems with generators is lack of maintenances. Not only do the engines need to run but they need to be tested under a significant electrical load. We have never had a NG delivery problem that I know here in the NOLA area. Including Katrina and now Ida. People hook them to their gas and they run fine without being under load. Then let’s say a year later it needs to be used but won’t run right. The generator is usually asking for more fuel but the gas pipe is either too small and or long to supply load fuel. The NG regulator can have problems also. I had a conversation with an ATMOS gas engineer over 20 years ago regarding service during a major. Was not going to invest in equipment that would be useless. Basically what he told me is they never shut the whole system down and if they do very isolated. There are a few pictures of ruptured lines and the flame above the floodwaters in NOLA post Katrina for days until they shut that particular site down. Most NG generator problems are with the pipe run or generator itself. Just trying to get our two decades of experience out there. These portables produce much cleaner power than earlier ones. You have everything except central AC, but refrigerator, lights, tv and 1 or two window AC’s. Some of the larger portables may run a central also. We have found that using a larger generator than called for contributes to a lot more longevity.
Anyone have experience with propane whole house generators? Don’t need top of the line - would be nice for water, lights, ceiling fans and refrigerator.
Otherwise, will look into some other possibilities. Thanks.
Propane is a better and more consistent BTU product than NG. Great generator fuel if it is set up for that. You need to have an evaluation of how large your propane storage tank is and the fuel burn per hour etc. Consider a nice propane portable and you’ll save lots of fuel and can still have everything but central AC. Just use 1 or 2 window units. The fuel storage capacity is key. I didn’t calculate my whole house consumption yet but it was about $20-25 per day natural gas. Hope this helps.
Last Edit: Sept 19, 2021 13:27:14 GMT -6 by grisairgasm
Another alternative to a portable or whole home generator is solar with a battery backup. There are pros and cons to this. The cons are possible damage to the solar panels if something falls on the roof and more expensive to install. The pros would be silent operation, never have to worry about gas shortages or storage, little to no maintanence, no CO worries, and a vastly cheaper electric bill, which would allow for an eventual return on investment.
We're likely going to be grabbing a portable in the near future since we don't plan on staying in this house long term, but I'm going to be looking very closely at getting solar installed at our next home.
I did not see one damaged solar system in the city including missing panels. The president of Posigen was on the news saying that out of 9000 installations only 123 were damaged. We are evolving to your idea above. Generac’s battery is running about $10000 right now. Another option are used forklift batteries. And other lower cost less power options. I’m thinking of the main generator running the house and charging the large battery(s) during the day then the battery running a few lights, tv, refrigerator and one or two window units. Get rid of the noise at night. The solar panels will follow.
We were using a natural gas powered 12,000watt generator my inlaws gave to us about 12 years ago and they had it for years before that. It finally went out, then we used a gasoline powered unit that was 6000watt. If we stay in this house, we'll probably buy at least a 22000 generator. We have a switch that was installed by the previous owner who was an electrician. All I can say is whoever invented the generator should be nominated for sainthood.
That may end up being quite an additional investment for just having no noise at night. Home battery banks charge at up to 50A, so you would need a pretty beefy generator to charge that on top of running everything else during the day. What may be more feasible would be to have it set up as more of an APU that is popular on semi trucks. Everything is run off the battery and the generator is solely used to keep those batteries within a specified state of charge. It wouldn't completely eliminate the noise at all hours, but at least it wouldn't be running constantly which should save some gas.
I will say this- do know that there were many deaths (including an apartment complex fire) due to carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators. Do keep in mind the realities of portable generators- since they must be used outside in open-air ventilation, they are essentially useless in the middle of a tropical storm/hurricane itself, you must stock up on gasoline to keep them running (personally it chaps my ass when I see people in pick-up trucks at a gas station just before a major storm filling up about eight of those ten-gallon cans when other folks in line just want to gas up their car), and many of them can be noisy. Also, they are good for keeping the fridge and freezer going but not much for AC.
Whole house generators are an excellent option as you can have your lighting and keep your cool (literally) however you do have to choose carefully according to your wiring. I have aluminum wiring and for that reason wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.
We have some forum members who are well-versed in generator set-ups; I'm sure they will contribute in due time.
Luv u and tequila shortly but:
A few storm related deaths due to persistent ignorance, although sad, are not a generators fault and I bet any fire was either a “hot” gas fill or some other non code mistake. If you are in the medical field, large scale evacuations kill many elderly and and convalescents besides the evacuation car deaths and injuries. Like it or not, COVID is also right there in the mix. That’s just a few examples. I didn’t quit driving because people die everyday in cars. MUCH more danger than any generator. It may have changed since I last read this but every American has a 1 in 80 lifetime chance of being killed in a car wreck over a lifetime.
None of us run a generator during the storm event until it is safe to go outside and check wiring, water, or any other danger. Everyone of our generator houses have good sized fire extinguishers or I don’t hook u up. We have never had anything close to a safety related generator problem. All connections and startups are done with two people assuring two sets of eyes.
Again, I see NO difference between the gas used to flee and feel safe and comfortable compared to the generator gas used to stay with comfort and safety. That argument to me is a strange rabbit hole. The perception I get sometimes is those who stay are irresponsible and daring. Grand Isle, lower Jefferson, Terrebone, Lafourche…get the hell out with a storm like Ida unless you live or have access to a known safe place. But you have the right to do whatever regardless of who thinks what. I’m not a fan of exposing young children to these major events though. I have more but use 6 five gallon cans for airplane fuel then stored car gas during the season. They were empty and I just never got motivated to fill them. The car and truck were topped off. So about three days after the storm I get a call from my one of my good friends on the forum. His brother and mid nineties mother had stayed, were hot and exhausted and he had less than a1/2 tank of gas in the car.What???? I could not believe it but one can in the stored row had 5 gallons! They grabbed it and headed west. In a bad situation everybody use as much gas as u need for whatever. How can somebody say I have the right to that five or 100 gallons at the pump and u don’t???
Almost every small generator will run refrigerator , tv, lights, and 1 window unit. Your bigger ones will do all that plus a second window or large rolling indoor unit. The #1 reason anybody in the SE gets generators is for AC. They work perfectly when coupled with an appropriate generator. I’m using my portable in that configuration and less on the whole house as it’s NG cheaper and we cool what is only necessary.
Again, the reason I learn and have my work done or checked by an electrician. Aluminum wire is a great choice for the longer standby and portable wire runs. It’s way less per foot than the now ridiculous price of copper. It does have some specific requirements though like torque values. A few of us have saved a bunch using aluminum. Totally to code although I do not know much about it or other limitations. Aluminum wiring is a great affordable option in some setups.
Last Edit: Sept 19, 2021 15:30:53 GMT -6 by grisairgasm
Has anybody else had Entergy surge problems when power was restored? Looks like it killed my 3 yo refrigerator and ATT modem. Pissed.
Only things I’ve heard of is one persons house burned down when the power was turned on, one person said different outlets were doing weird stuff (like a fan would work on medium but not low or high but when they put it in a different plug all 3 speeds worked) and a few transformer fires when turned on.
Post by grisairgasm on Sept 19, 2021 18:39:31 GMT -6
Another thing we did was to turn off all the main breakers on the houses where our neighbors and friends had evacuated. However the surges came a day after restoration. We were hoping the mains being off would allow initial surge to pass and also allow houses to be checked before the breaker was on. Many houses here had roof damage and water in outlets, ceiling fans, and junction boxes. We kept a fire extinguisher with us as we turned their breakers back on to cool their houses as they returned. A few of the houses still have fuse boxes and that presents much more hazard than modern breakers. So what we learned here: Turn your main breaker off if evacuating or have staying neighbor do it.
Has anybody else had Entergy surge problems when power was restored? Looks like it killed my 3 yo refrigerator and ATT modem. Pissed.
Only things I’ve heard of is one persons house burned down when the power was turned on, one person said different outlets were doing weird stuff (like a fan would work on medium but not low or high but when they put it in a different plug all 3 speeds worked) and a few transformer fires when turned on.
Making me think more about the grid coming up besides generators. I wonder how many fires were attributed to reenergizing in affected areas?