Generator guidance needed please

[paysensmom]

We are going to buy one but not sure where to start. We know we want one that hooks into the gas line and that is it! Where is an affordable company to purchase through? We want one that automatically turns on if the power goes out and we don't want to pay more than necessary

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

So....................a portable unit won't meet your needs?

The permanent ones are nice but they are also expensive. They have to be properly (with permits) be hooked up to your gas line and also your power panel with a provision to prevent feedback back to the main power grid.

You have to select the right size for any generator so that it can power up the loads you want to depend on.

I am sure there are many sources to actually buy the generator and have it delivered to your door. The other expense variable is how much a technician will charge to hook everything up.

See if Sam's or Costco might have them available.....................

 

[EMAW_KSU]

We are going to buy one but not sure where to start. We know we want one that hooks into the gas line and that is it! Where is an affordable company to purchase through? We want one that automatically turns on if the power goes out and we don't want to pay more than necessary

The first thing you need to do is determine what you want to have backup power. Do you want the whole house on backup power? Do you just want a few things like lights and refrigerator.

 

[ellone]

So....................a portable unit won't meet your needs? The permanent ones are nice but they are also expensive. They have to be properly (with permits) be hooked up to your gas line and also your power panel with a provision to prevent feedback back to the main power grid. You have to select the right size for any generator so that it can power up the loads you want to depend on. I am sure there are many sources to actually buy the generator and have it delivered to your door. The other expense variable is how much a technician will charge to hook everything up. See if Sam's or Costco might have them available.....................

This.


My parents actually looked into getting one to hook into their gas line but due to town ordinances they are unable to have one (the location of the gas line would make the generator too close to the neighbor's house).

 

[YachtClubWoman]

Within the last month we had a Kohler whole house generator installed. When the power goes out, everything in the house will come on including air conditioning.

Total cost including a pad constructed out of paver stones was $8400. We worked with an electrician who worked with Kohler reps to purchase the unit and dealt with borough permits and scheduled all inspections.

 

[rock_doctor]

Homedepot or lowes could also do it for you.

 

[DVC-Don]

Our HVAC company installed a Generac generator this past winter for us. It runs the whole house including AC when the power goes out. Cost about $6,200.

 

[Anthony1971]

as above Lowes and HD are a good starting point.
I would say prices will be the same for the unit but installation will vary...
You will need a plumber with a gas fitters license for the gas line and an electrician with a license for the sub panel hookup. You will need to get the permits and have the inspections done to protect yourself. Most units will come with a sub panel/transfer switch as this is what prevents the generator from back feeding the electric line.... Why? when your line breaks (the line in your area) and the power company comes to fix if you are back feeding the line the person will get electrocuted and you are then responsible... speak with your electric company... so have it done wright and it will be expensive.
This does happen -- people will take a portable generator run a line to their panel and let her rip... or just create a double sided plug aka suicide plug..... this is illegal.... However so long as you turn the main principle off on your panel it does work but as above you are still responsible as you can install a transfer switch for a portable one as well.
If you have frequent power outages a permanent one is a good investment. They do however sell large portable ones that run on natural gas as well that should save you thousands after the transfer switch and gas line is installed.

 

[barkley]

we used a very reputable general contractor so we only had one person to deal with (vs. the 3 specialties needed), he also handled all the permits/schedualed inspections, picked up and delivered the generator from Costco.

we purchased through Costco b/c they sold it for less than anyplace else (including our contractors resources), and we could use our amex Costco card to extend the warranty and get cash back rewards.

generator (10 kw) was right at $2000. everything to get it in and running (we already had a cement pad adjacent to the garage) including-upgrade to gas line/hook up to gas line, 2nd electrical panel installation/wiring, minor work on the wall the 2nd electrical panel was installed on-right at about $5000 (this included a 10% premium b/c we used a general contractor and our state's almost 10% sales tax on construction). we worked with the contractor to decide what we did/did not need on the generator-with the size of our home (esp. with a well pump that has to be on it) it was more cost effective to just opt out of some items being on it (to upgrade to the next higher model at the time was crazy expensive)-during outages we just do without the washer/dryer, dishwasher and a couple interior lights in rooms that are largly not used.

I don't include it in the installation cost because it took us almost a year to accomplish it, but-we also doubled the size of our propane tank to 1000 gallons. our 500 gallon would have worked fine for several days on end-but I wanted the pc. of mind to know that if the power were out for upwards of 2 weeks I didn't have to worry about getting a delivery (took us about a year b/c first we had to wait for one to become available, then had to wait for the ground to thaw such that we could get it put in).

I LOVE IT. knock on wood we haven't gotten any long term outages in ages-but when something happens to know our neighborhood out for several hours it's wonderful not to have to deal with it.

 

[rbork]

Electrician and Plumber are needed. Companies offer a couple kinds of online generators. Generac is a big name around here.
Ours is a Generac and run on propane. Throwing overspeeds, overcranks, general upkeep, tune ups, etc.. can be costly. Then there is the cost of propane. We own two 250gal tanks. Power losses are long here... I go through about 2 tanks for 10 days of running it. We conserve by running it manually when the power is expected to be out longer and we can't always get a propane delivery in time.
All in all the Generac we have was ~$7K and the tanks an additional 1500$ plus propane fill cost$. Service contracts are about $300-5$00 annually.

In my next home, I will have a less expensive portable generator and underground power lines.

 

[barkley]

Electrician and Plumber are needed. Companies offer a couple kinds of online generators. Generac is a big name around here.
Ours is a Generac and run on propane. Throwing overspeeds, overcranks, general upkeep, tune ups, etc.. can be costly. Then there is the cost of propane. We own two 250gal tanks. Power losses are long here... I go through about 2 tanks for 10 days of running it. We conserve by running it manually when the power is expected to be out longer and we can't always get a propane delivery in time.
All in all the Generac we have was ~$7K and the tanks an additional 1500$ plus propane fill cost$. Service contracts are about $300-5$00 annually.

In my next home, I will have a less expensive portable generator and underground power lines.

OUCH! you had to buy your own tanks? we rent ours-$102 per year for a 1000 gallon tank.

 

[lucyem]

OUCH! you had to buy your own tanks? we rent ours-$102 per year for a 1000 gallon tank.

We don't own our propane tanks, the propane company does. We are not charged any rental fees. So when we hooked up our generator they just dropped a tank near the generator. Our whole house generator is placed outside our house as near to the electrical panel in our basement as we could. This is the opposite side of the house as the tank for our stove.

A lot depends on your town and whether you need permits etc. We needed nothing. My DH bought our generator on sale at Lowes, in the spring after a bad winter and they had a ton left over. My DH got it all set up. An electrician came and installed it into our electrical panel. We were having other work done and upgraded the whole panel at the time. Then the propane company came and hooked up the propane. My DH does his own yearly maintenance on it as well.

 

[eyor44]

We had a full house generator put in when we built our house in 2006. We purchased the generator from Home Depot. We were first in our area to get one and there were not any electricians who were familiar with them and hooking it up to automatically turn on. We ended having an extra switch installed that we have to flip to turn the power on to the house.

We also had a gas tank installed to power it. Works great and we have been the only house in our neighborhood with lights and AC on after a storm.

There are checklist you can use to determine the size you need for your house. Which ever you determine you need, go a step higher. We thought we got one big enough for our whole house, but it isn't.

Also, talk to your power company. They might have rules about the autoatic turn on ones and who can install it.