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Backup Generator

Slammed&cammed

Slammed&cammed

Certified Asshole
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
42
Messages
71
Do you have one? In twenty years I have lost power for maybe five hours total but I wonder what might happen in this new clown world... Do you have one, specs, thoughts?

J
 
City slickers are on the grid, so they get dibs on that power.
The rest of us, yeah we have a generator because we need it more often every time a tree falls on a power line during a snowstorm, or we're in an area turned off by PGE for wind.

When I had my first child, we were without power for 5 days. No generator back then so it was no fun.
 
8kw lp auto transfer. We loose power a few times a year. Plan on upgrading to 14-20kw w/200a transfer switch at some point.
 
I use a Honda 2k converted to propane, it covers the basics and will run 24 hrs on a 20# BBQ. I don't have room for a large tank or I'd go larger.
 
Every time this comes up the answers are all over the place, in typical fashion for this place. Everything from a suitcase inverter to 30kw with auto transfer. And everyone says “it runs everything I need just fine”

What loads do you want to run, what’s your easiest fuel source, do you want it to auto transfer, manual transfer, or tie in with a cord?

My current place is not set up well for a permanent generator with auto transfer so I have an 8500 portable. It is just enough to run our 2 refrigerators, 2 freezers, lights, 2 furnaces, and the well pump.

If/when we move our next place will have a 24kw with auto transfer. That way even if we are not home everything will operate just fine without load shedding.
 
I have a full house natural gas system .
Auto transfer switch.
24kw

Starts every Sunday and runs through a heat cycle.

Funny thing generators will only go so far.
If the real shit hits the fan. We might only have a couple days of use till all supply chains are down and we become refugees.
 
I’ve always had a generator or 3 laying around. It’s only as good as your fuel stores and it’s maintenance. If I was thinking longer term power outage I’d go solar or propane gen on a 500 or 1000lb tank. It’s pretty damn important that they run once a week
 
I am planning on a Generac for my new house I am getting later this year.

Big thing for me is I am not sure if I want the auto switch.

How does it work with the transfer switch, can you select what circuits get powered up?
 
crispins said:
I am planning on a Generac for my new house I am getting later this year.

Big thing for me is I am not sure if I want the auto switch.

How does it work with the transfer switch, can you select what circuits get powered up?
Click to expand...
My house has the wiring and manual transfer switch, no generator. I'll be getting a little Honda EU3000 probably for the remote possibility that a hurricane takes out something. Enough to run a single refrigerator, some lights and a few fans. Not worried about the HVAC system, hurricane season is the summer and it doesn't get cold enough to freeze to death in winter.

The manual transfer switch is just as it says. It has one big breaker to energize a 5 (maybe 6? I'd have to look) circuit panel that is ran in parallel to the regular breakers. You can just turn on the breakers you want, as long as it is one of the ones you have wired up.
 
Currently I have a 7500W to start and plug in as needed. Longest we've ever lost power here is a few hrs. My only power necessitates are the freezers and we'll.
If we build our addition next year as hoped, I'm putting in a whole home transfer switch and gen plumbed off the 500gal tank.
 
Placed an order last week for a 24KW Generac propane powered standby generator with an auto transfer switch. Going to run me $8100 out the door installed. Doesn’t include the price of the propane tanks.

my understanding is power in Maine is finicky and goes out somewhat regularly for long periods. I wanted enough juice to run everything in the house normally. I also wanted the auto transfer so if the power goes out at 1 am in an ice storm I don’t have to trudge outside and fire up the generator and manually switch over to it. Also with the auto transfer switch, it will shut itself down and switch back to the grid when power is restored.

I elected propane because I don’t have to worry about any potential fuel issues. Gas goes bad over time. Diesel can gel in the cold, etc. propane pretty much never goes bad.
 
crispins said:
I am planning on a Generac for my new house I am getting later this year.

Big thing for me is I am not sure if I want the auto switch.

How does it work with the transfer switch, can you select what circuits get powered up?
Click to expand...

You can either use a service entrance rated auto transfer switch to power your entire existing panel, or power a sub panel that only has your selected circuits in it, or use the smart modules or "load shed" modules to only turn on selected loads. There's really no reason not to use the auto switch and feed your selected circuits accordingly.
 
Jscwerve said:
The manual transfer switch is just as it says. It has one big breaker to energize a 5 (maybe 6? I'd have to look) circuit panel that is ran in parallel to the regular breakers. You can just turn on the breakers you want, as long as it is one of the ones you have wired up.
Click to expand...

This is true only if you buy with the available sub panel. There's plenty of other options, see my post above. Some manual transfer switches also are just a 3-pole knife switch, no breaker.
 
Tin Roof said:
This is true only if you buy with the available sub panel. There's plenty of other options, see my post above. Some manual transfer switches also are just a 3-pole knife switch, no breaker.
Click to expand...
Yep.

for info purposes for others, this is the current manual transfer switch installed at my place. Handle up the main panel is fed from the grid. Handle down it’s fed from (the old, no longer here) generator. I am having this replaced with an auto transfer with my new generator install.
C14E9C2A-B996-46D1-B943-5589FAF5174E.jpeg
 
Ive done the run the chords through the door, and backfeed the panel with 2k to 8k gas generators. Keeping them filled up becomes a huge hassle after a couple of days. Went to a 17k Generac with load shedding xfer switch about 12 years ago rather than 24k with standard transfer. The load shedding switch had a nervous break down about a year ago and it seems that it was a short lived model and parts are difficult to find and expensive. I replaced the load shed with a standard auto transfer switch and the electrician assured me that even with A/C I would be fine as long as I don't want to run the welder and compressor with the A/C. FWIW I have a very high efficiency A/C and furnace and all my house bulbs are led. My biggest loads are sewer pump, well pump, and a/c Having the gen go on when at work or at 2am in a storm and not having to do anything is a godsend after using the other methods.
 
We loose power a lot. For days at a time some times. Longest stretch was 10 days in October a few years ago. We have a champion 4800 watt that plugs into the house through a reliance 10 circuit breaker. It lives in our mudroom and I wheel it out and plug it in when the power goes out. Keeps the first floor lights and internet on, as well as runs the well pump for water. Heat and hot water are propane, so we can take hot showers and do laundry, but no electric stove or dryer. With generator, transfer switch and some to install it I think were in for about $1200
 
I'm fed from a 3-phase service that was put in for a black top plant a few miles away and I rarely loose power despite my location. I have a 750 watt inverter that runs of of whatever equipment or vehicle has fuel in it and has a good size alternator and that will run the fridge and freezer or well pump. Also have an old but reliable 400watt honda, 4050 champion neighbor hater I can run the critical stuff (wood furnace blower, heat pump water heater, etc.) on if needed, and a 14kw honda RV genset I haven't fired up in 20 years. I also built a dip tube on a rope and have it and the tools to pull the well cap in an ammo can "just in case".
 
I have a 7500W Generac that I suicide cord to my welding outlet in the garage and backfeed the subpanel to the main panel in my house. I have a written procedure posted at the main panel (in case my wife has to get it up and running). I can run my well pump, most of the lights, heat (oil furnace) and 2 fullsize fridges no problem. In the summer I can also run 1 zone of my central air (2 zones in house 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs).
 
6500 converted to propane here hooked up to a 500 gallon tank. Going to do anlock out device in the next month or 2 because I a cheap and have room. It can run the basic lights, Fridge and upright freezer, well pump and outlets,no big deal. Along with alternating my chest freezers every few days. And making sure I get out of them what I want on their cooling days. Both will stay frozen just fine for 2 days at a time.
 
watch craigslist and eventually some garbage will show up for $20 or less
get that and fix on it a little
bingo bango

or get an engine drive welder when one of them shows up around $500, same story on the broken
 
There’s a lot more people here with wells/pumps than I’d have guessed.

my house is on propane. I have a gasoline 4kw Honda to keep freezers cold and run the blower on the furnace if we loose power. I’m on the hunt for an 8kw that is either already propane or could easily be converted to propane.
 
Small 2000W inverter generator here with a couple gallons of gas in the shed. Used it 3 or 4 times so far after trees took out power lines, one of them power was out for a couple days. Kept the food good, was about all I needed.

Have an 8k I got for free that needs some carb work, never screwed with it and there's a chance i never do.

Woodstove heats enough to keep the pipes from freezing in winter emergency, and pool was the shower in the summer. Ideally I'd be able to run the well pump but haven't tried to figure that out yet.
 
I live on a street fed by a sub station 1/4 mile away, there are 2 main lines feeding the neighborhood , lost power 3 times .

one of the feeds shorted out underground, power company installed jumper wires from the other feed for a few months.
My yard transformer was going bad, blew the pole breaker, they reset it, about a month later they changed my transformer, I whish I had the camera rolling when they tested it ,blew up pretty good.
 
budget76 said:
pool was the shower in the summer
Click to expand...
I lost power for 9 days after Hurricane Florence. When the spillway/earthen dam washed out, the sudden water loss washed out the roads and the city water lines. We used a sump pump and an inline filter to take advantage of the flooded basement, BEST shower ever!
 
For some reason this year we have been having multiple hour outages, last night it was out for 8 hours last winter it was out for 14 hrs, and there have been several 2 and 3 hour. Told mom we seriously need to look into a whole house.
 
Utility shuts my power off a few times a year for a couple days to a week or more at a time when the wind blows...

I've been getting by with a 4kw gasoline Generac powering just what I need, (2) full size refrigerators, (1) kegarator, (1) large chest freezer, internet, one TV, few lights, etc. I am tired of tripping over extension cords. Last summer I tried to find a contractor to install a 24kw whole house generator, but out of everyone I called, only ONE contractor actually showed up to bid it, and they never even submitted a bid. They want to install it so it is easy for them, not how I want it. The one contractor that showed up is like "why don't you just take up that parking spot, get rid of your access to your backyard, and set a separate propane tank next to it?" And I'm like, "How about not. I want the generator over here on a new concrete pad, a new concrete pad over here for a new 500 gallon propane tank, conduit trenched under my driveway to the new ATS placed here, and asphalt restored." So, I ordered the 24kw Generac and ATS and will eventually have to install it myself because contractors up here don't want to work. Unfortunately, with my current project load, that is going to be a minute before I can get to it. Thinking I may get the ATS hooked up, which should only take a couple hours, then with the generator still on the pallet, plumbing it to my existing 500 gallon propane tank temporarily above ground, and running an SO cord to the ATS as a temp solution to get me through this simmer/fall...
 
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We have a briggs 6250 thats saved us a couple times from losing a bunch of refrigerated and frozen food. More than paid for itself.

There is also a nice feeling when everyone is in the dark while the family still has creature comforts.

I’d love to hard wire it into the house but we move every couple years (military) so not possible.

Looking into a tri-power conversion but not sure its needed just yet.

Anybody have insight on plus and minuses of tri-fuel adapters?
 
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