Natural Gas Generator

I'm putting a 10 kw in next month. Generac about 2800 bucks. I don't have natural gas so I'm getting propane tanks to run it. My friend is an electrician so that's covered. They tell me generator will run 7-10 days straight on 200 g of propane. Looking forward to it. It's always a pain in the ass wheeling my portable out of the shed and running extension cords everywhere. Plus I get paranoid going away in the summer in case of outages.

Will deff be my next investment to our house. I havent done any research on units yet though


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The unit came with a transfer switch, but we ended up getting a bigger one.



We chose to run ours on propane. It powers on once a week for about five minutes. It's called a "whole house" generator, but only provides 200 amp service, so turned out to be too small to supply power to our entire house. It is enough to run the new equipment room, and most of the new addition. There are plenty of outlets that we can use to run extension cords to the kitchen appliances. A little inconvenient, but still much better than no power in our all electric house.

pacu mom said:

The unit came with a transfer switch, but we ended up getting a bigger one.

We chose to run ours on propane. It powers on once a week for about five minutes. It's called a "whole house" generator, but only provides 200 amp service, so turned out to be too small to supply power to our entire house. It is enough to run the new equipment room, and most of the new addition. There are plenty of outlets that we can use to run extension cords to the kitchen appliances. A little inconvenient, but still much better than no power in our all electric house.

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Wow pacu mom you always are going big, so modest but at the top of the game


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Installation can cost almost twice the price of buying the unit. Some plumbing and lots of electrical work involved. If you are going to have one installed, you might as well get one that will do your entire house. http://articles.courant.com/2011-11...105_1_outage-gas-or-liquid-propane-time-power

Another read: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wiring/msg1115580829244.html

I agree the installation costs really bump up the overall price.

We had a Kohler 12RES (12KW) propane whole house generator installed professionally in April 2005 for $7000. The price included a 100A auto transfer switch, 100A disconnect switch (at meter), ADC digital control, 30+ feet of PVC conduit & wiring to get from the generator to the main electrical panel, other materials, permits, inspection fees, etc.. Our unit also has a battery installed in the generator housing for the weekly automatic 15 minute test run.

This unit was sized for our 1800 sq.ft. house, including being able to run the entire house plus the water well pump & A/C unit. It's one of the best home investments I've made, especially since increasing the number of aquariums we have and the increased frequency of power outages that have been happening.

Another consideration in choosing a whole house generator is whether the unit is air cooled or oil cooled. Oil cooled do require additional maintenance but seem to be more dependable.

It wouldn't cost you anything to get a professional estimate for a whole house generator and it will definitely give you a better idea of what would be appropriate for your needs. Also find out if you are actually able to install a permanent generator in your neighborhood as some restrict setbacks or don't permit them.

Good info, I really have to do this.

The power from the generator seems to be cyclical, and the sole Hammerhead pump on the 300 gallon tank makes a different sound when powered by the generator. This reminds me that we will be gone for a week. We need to run extension cords from the 300 g tank to outlets tied to the transfer switch...just in case....

I have the same 20KW Generac unit PacuMom posted up only it runs on natural gas. Real nice unit and much quieter than older models.

The transfer switch kicks over in less than 10 seconds when the power goes out.