Portable Generators

[philip964]

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/diy-p ... on-of-cost

Whole house generator at a fraction of the cost.

[Keith B]

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/diy-p ... on-of-cost

Whole house generator at a fraction of the cost.

12kw is NOT a whole house generator, unless you have a gas furnace, gas water heater, gas stove, gas dryer.... and in summer, with two AC units, you would need all of that just to run those alone....

[92f-fan]

I managed to keep house warm and food from spoiling with a small honda 2k generator so it depends on your expectations.

[Take Down Sicko]

Like I said earlier, I have a Ford 11000 watt that works great in an outage. The biggest reason I got a generator is because my wife is on oxygen 24/7. Yes she has the portable cylinders but they are only good for a couple of hours and really too heavy for her to carry around the house. Now, just a couple of months ago, we went with the Indogen that has a rechargeable portable. But it’s only good for 2.5 hours a battery. With the time we were without power along with the large area that had no power, we had nowhere else to go.
We also had just stocked our freezers with a side of beef and a whole hog. I am too old to unload all of that meat into oh, my pickup bed and then back again.
Plus, I was able to pull a cord to my neighbors house and give them heat

Have you had any issues with the Ford generator? I see one advertised at Home Dopey model FG1105OPBE for $1,184.00 thats gas and liquid propane that looks like a pretty good option. How many hours do you have on it if i may ask?

[mrvmax]

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/diy-p ... on-of-cost

Whole house generator at a fraction of the cost.

12kw is NOT a whole house generator, unless you have a gas furnace, gas water heater, gas stove, gas dryer.... and in summer, with two AC units, you would need all of that just to run those alone....

It would be close for me, I'm all gas with a small, one story house with one ac unit. But, when I got my whole house nat has gen estimates I was looking for at least 16kw.

[EastTexasRancher]

I'm thinking the 22kw Generac at around $5000 is not a bad deal. Right now they have a deal for two extra years of warranty for a total of 7. Installation is shown to be $2000. Does anyone know if they ever have an installation special?

I just bit the bullet. Generac 22kw delivered to my home with the automatic transfer switch, battery, and sales tax was $5,600. Because my home is in Sugar Land, and the way it’s constructed (power on one side, natgas on the exact opposite side), I have to put it in the backyard and trench gas to it, then conduit buried and along the house to the power panel. $7,200 for install.

But, this is officially our “forever home”, so I’m doing it. And, our home seems to always be susceptible to outages as well. We even went 16 days after Ike. Old age might mean we have to rely on power for medical equipment, so now is the time.

[EastTexasRancher]

www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com. Ordered 2/23, shipped 3/15. Website shows that if you order today it’s 7 weeks or so, but so did mine originally.

[Take Down Sicko]

I finally got a generator delivered today. Westinghouse wgen9500df. It runs great on LPG. Havent tried it with gas yet.I bought a can of LPG, two 5 gallon gas cans and stybil additive.Still need a few 10 gauge cords and a few more things.

[tomneal]

The wife and I have "completed" our Portable Generator connection project. We used a local electrician.
We started our contacts with the electrician in late April and completed all aspects of the project over last weekend. (It rained a lot in May and the breaker box is on the outside.)

Our starting point was a small 3800 Watt generator that my son and I had used at a deer camp.
It powered the entire camp including bunk house heaters when it was cold and an RV Air Conditioner when it was hot.

When I started looking for an Interlock kit for my breaker box. I discovered that my FPE breaker box was noted for failing breakers and the associated 'issues' that occur when breakers fail to do their job. We decided to replace the box with a Square D box. Replacing the breaker box escalated the project to include Center Point, Permits and inspectors from City of Houston, as well as an electrician. We ended up replacing the Meter housing and weather head to pass inspection.

I 'think' I have the skills to do the generator connection part of this project but since the electrician was here anyway...

Minimum requirements
-an Interlock kit https://www.amazon.com/s?k=interlock+ki ... doa-p_3_13
- a power inlet box
- a 220volt breaker for the box

If you can SAFELY change out a breaker at your mom's house, the interlock kit and power inlet could be a DIY project.

3800 watts is too small to power the Oven, Stove, or Central Air Conditioner (Clothes dryer is gas)
When the power goes off:
- drag out the generator
- turn off the main breaker
- turn off all the 220Volt breakers
- Connect up the generator and start it up
- inform the spouse, Don't use the hair dryer or the microwave.
- when the generators tank is full we have about 7 or 8 hours of power.

We got a real test last Friday night (Less than a week after the electrician finished). A Center Point transformer blew. The first thing I did was to run to the panel and check for smoke, etc. The transformer one house over was smoking.
When the power was still off Saturday morning, I connected the generator for the first time. By lunch time the power was back on. Saturday afternoon, we bought a room AC for the Master bedroom.

The house electricity is not ready for TEOTWAWKI but it is ready for the normal interruptions of service caused by Transformers, Hurricanes, and Ice Storms. A couple of hours up to a couple of weeks.

[Take Down Sicko]

Good job Tom Neal. I bought a new window a/c unit from Home Depot last weekend for emergency use. Haven't even taken it out of the box. MY generator should run it plus a few other things if I should lose power some day. I got an LG one ton unit.

[tomneal]

Are you going to use the generator to power the house or just use extension cords?

[Ruark]

Watch out for oil changes, especially in cheap generators. I've seen several that required oil changes every 15-20 hours, not even a full day. Of course, you won't find that information on the outside of the box when you're looking at it in the store.....

[carlson1]

Watch out for oil changes, especially in cheap generators. I've seen several that required oil changes every 15-20 hours, not even a full day. Of course, you won't find that information on the outside of the box when you're looking at it in the store.....

My Honda (EU3000IS) was not cheap for sure, but I still change my oil about every 15 hours no matter what. It has worked for me now for about 15 years.

[RPBrown]

Like I said earlier, I have a Ford 11000 watt that works great in an outage. The biggest reason I got a generator is because my wife is on oxygen 24/7. Yes she has the portable cylinders but they are only good for a couple of hours and really too heavy for her to carry around the house. Now, just a couple of months ago, we went with the Indogen that has a rechargeable portable. But it’s only good for 2.5 hours a battery. With the time we were without power along with the large area that had no power, we had nowhere else to go.
We also had just stocked our freezers with a side of beef and a whole hog. I am too old to unload all of that meat into oh, my pickup bed and then back again.
Plus, I was able to pull a cord to my neighbors house and give them heat

Have you had any issues with the Ford generator? I see one advertised at Home Dopey model FG1105OPBE for $1,184.00 thats gas and liquid propane that looks like a pretty good option. How many hours do you have on it if i may ask?

Sorry, I just saw this. No we have not had any issues at all. I have 130 hours on it and have changed the oil once.

[Take Down Sicko]

Are you going to use the generator to power the house or just use extension cords?

I plan to use it with cords until next year. At that time i will get it wired for whole house and maybe buy another one to power other items.