Very Informative Video. Besides The Convenience I Have Concerns With A Generator's Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). Whole House Generators By Big Name Companies Typically Have A Much Lower THD Than A Portable Unit. With All The Sensitive Electronics In Our Home We Are Going With A (38kw Kohler) Whole House Generator. Thank You Again.
@Spicer Designs yes, an installation video would be great right now! Would work allow you to do a video ? That would be interesting! And even some other work videos.
Yes it is convenient and recommended to have if someone can afford it. But only if your natural gas supply works during an emergency. During the widespread winter Texas outage, many homes natural gas supply stopped working. Effectively rendering their NG standby generators useless and them without power at the worst possible time. If a person has one of these, I would recommend to still have a portable generator in case of a serious emergency such as the one Texas had.
Thanks Doug! Great video, most of my friends here in s. Fl. Have also opted for the generac especially as you pointed out if they already have a city gas line. Best wishes to everyone on the west coast of Florida and inland as this storm likely will affect most all of the state.
Great video! I have an 8K Generac portable and had my house wired with a transfer switch to power lights, well pump, water heater and receptacles. I have an electric heater for winter heat and ceiling/box fans for cooling. It is adequate for our area. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Good info, but to anyone looking for a generator you should check the "THD" Total Harmonic Distortion. You want lower THD to run your electronics. Stay safe everyone and make sure you have a working carbon monoxide alarm.
Glad I stumbled upon this. I live in South Florida and purchased one of these in 2005 after 15 days of no power after Hurricane Wilma. The sad part, I have never installed it. Never found the time to prep the house for the install and deal with the installation and have kept it, literally, under wraps with all the accessories and original parts and instructions. Was feeling like I was missing out on the newer models with wifi and unit management apps, but I like your setup and feel that for the purpose at hand and the fact that you've had your model for so long, I might just stay with the unit I have and get it installed asap. Great video. Thank you.
You are welcome. I highly recommend sticking with the old one and getting it all hooked up! The new ones shouldn’t have computers attached to them. Lol
Thank you so much for this video! We installed solar, weighed batteries vs none. The batteries would have dropped the AC. We can install a Generac for less money and run the AC; a very needed benefit in Phoenix area. Praying for those in Florida.
Good video, Doug. If you can afford it, the whole house system is absolutely the way to go. At our house, we were having a few power outages every year about 15 years ago. A couple of times, we were out for five days in the winter along with several other shorter outages. The first year that it happened, we were boiling water to produce steam heat - no fun, but it worked. Since we were on a tight budget, I looked at the essential circuits that I wanted to get power to: kitchen (gas range), furnace (gas furnace), blower for fireplace insert, and living room. It all worked out to around 4 - 5,000 watts. I tried to find a generator with a long running time on a small amount of gas that had a peak that covered the load because the refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, etc. would not be running constantly. I settled on a Honeywell 4,000 watt unit with a Chonda motor and wheels. We added a six circuit transfer switch that was professionally installed. When we have an outage, I bring the generator down to the house, plug the cord in, start the generator, flip the switches, and we are back in business. The entire cost of the system was under $1,000. It has worked flawlessly for the past twelve years. It holds 6.5 gallons and is pretty easy on gas (specs say 2 hours per gallon at 50% load and that sounds right) and I use only non-ethanol gas which keeps the carburetor clean. I have changed the oil a couple of times, but that is all of the maintenance that has been needed. We usually need to use it a couple of times a year, but not for days on end anymore. The positives include low initial cost and the portability of the unit (can be moved to another location to get power) although it is heavy. Negatives include the fact that it is a manual system - you have to be here to start it if the power is out, the need to move the generator from the garage to the house, exposure of the machine to the elements unless I set it on the porch (and it is heavy), NOISE, necessity of keeping gas on hand (and the current cost of non-ethanol gasoline), and although it starts pretty easily my unit does not have electric start and that could be a problem as my wife might have trouble pulling the cord. This system has served us well, but if you can swing it, financially, a whole house system is the way to go and you could size a system to your indivdual need for circuits as I did, then get one of the small rechargeable battery power packs for portable needs.
I enjoyed the video. I was having flashbacks of the ice storm we had a couple years ago. We lost power for 13 days. Luckily, I had purchased a Honda EU7000is just a few months earlier and had a transfer switch and outlet installed at my main panel for the generator. We ran 3 space heaters at night to keep the house warm, then switch off the heaters and power up the water heater for about 20 minutes. We’d then switch the water heater off and switch the well pump on to take showers. Thankfully, the roads weren’t too bad to make the daily gas station run. We seriously considered purchasing a whole house generator after that ice storm. A whole house just didn’t make much sense for our home since we don’t have a local gas utility and we didn’t want to have a propane tank just for a whole house generator.
Great video. Thanks! The biggest advantage to the whole house system is that it works even if you are not home. So if the house is empty or your family members are not capable of the portable generator set up (usually in a storm or frigid conditions) it still works. You have essential needs covered like furnace, sump pump, refrigerators and freezers - even water if you have a well pump. As for installation, I set up my 20kw unit and connected the gas line. I hired an electrician to do the electrical part. This is not an installation for a non professional. You have to work upstream of the protected circuits to make the connection. You do not want to “play” in that space. In fact, in my state you can’t. Only a licensed electrician can cut the seal and pull the meter. Oh, and one more thing about the whole house unit… you still get to play in the shop during an outage!
Doug, there is actually an "in-between" option where you use a portable generator as a whole house generator. You can plug your portable into the house electrical panel and make it a whole house gen thereby avoiding the need to run extension cords all over the place. I happen to know how to do the wiring so I did it myself but most people will need an electrician to do the wiring. Not a big job. The plus of the "in-between" option is it doesn't cost anywhere near the cost of your Generac yet you get whole house convenience. The negative of the "in-between" option is you still have to roll out your gen and plug it into your electrical panel. It doesn't automatically fire up like your Generac. You also have to fill it up with gas as needed (though it can be modified to easily connect to nat gas supply). The other negative is capacity. Portables are generally half or less than your Generac therefore you will not be able to run everything in your house at the same time. The rule is, anything that heats up will suck the most juice...and by far. Even coffee pots and hair dryers will suck up a good 1000 Kw. So you have to be judicious with the appliances you use. Just thought I would add there is an "in-between" option to the two you presented. Thanks, Doug!
Great video as usual, Doug! Very thorough. I would always stick with the whole house set up. I would spec it perhaps with a little more KW rating than what you need. You will always get a little less with natural gas as you’ve pointed out. As you pointed out the exercising of the unit which, depending on your application could be weekly or monthly. Keep an eye on the battery, make sure they’re OK. We used to put battery tenders on them just a small 2 amp to keep the battery healthy. Some folks will try to buy conversion kits to convert from gasoline to natural gas or propane. I used to work in the parts for Onan sets, mobile & standby. Those kits are obsolete now. The EPA took care of a lot of that as well. As far as a portable units, there are inverter type generators that are very popular. They have, I believe multiple fuel capabilities. One consideration is the decibel level. When you’re in a campground, they can only emit so many decibels. Thanks for touching on the ATS or automatic transfer switch. I don’t know if Generac includes that with their Generators or if it’s a package deal? I know with Onan, they were separate. I think it all depended on the capabilities and the draw and requirements of it. Like I said, for home use, I would definitely stick with the whole house unit, something that will run the common sense items. For example HVAC systems, freezers, refrigerators, lights, and something some people don’t think about, medical devices. Keep up the great work, looking very forward to the next video. We’ll see you in the next installment.
I'm looking into for my mom. She lives alone and has no mechanical inclination and can't run a portable by herself. My dad maintained all the tools and machines. She would have to use propane. All she'd have to do is make sure its full. May get a 250 tank.
Great information and video. I wanted something that could run for extended periods of time so I bought a liquid cooled 1800 rpm whole house 40kw generac. Liquid cooled 1800rpm is the only way to go
I have a 8000w Champion portable generator. It runs off the 1000 gallon propane tank. I have a transfer switch on the house which powers the house and garage, It stays permanently attached to the propane. We don’t have a natural gas option.
Great video! the other thing for the portable generator, is that you need to get the proper connection set up at your house meter to connect the generator to power your house. otherwise its just gonna be a bunch of power cords spread around to a select few items
I was just out for 3 days for Hurricane Fiona a week and a half ago here in Bermuda, I got by easily with two Honda EU2000i generators running in parallel. I have them connected to a transfer switch panel that feeds my house (no extension cords) & it ran everything besides my water heater which I am considering transferring to a propane water heater. I have a tri-fuel kit for them which would allow me to run the Honda's on either propane, natural gas, or gasoline so I have a wide option of fuel choices. I also have an extended run fuel system which allows me to run these generators for a couple days between refueling. I use Stabil in my fuel which allows me to store the fuel for up to two years (after which time if the gas isn't used by the generator it is used for the lawn equipment & new gas for the generator is purchased & treated with Stabil for another two years of storage) & if for some reason I don't have the fuel I still have the other two fuel options available. I have my water pump, fridge, stove, deep freezer, whole house lights/ceiling fans, TV's computers, 9,000 BTU air conditioner, washer, & internet connected & running off of the generators. I've had these Hondas running in this configuration for about 13 - 14 years now and they still purr along quiet which is not something that can be said about standby generators. An acquaintance complained about his whole house generator which runs on propane had an issue with its' regulator so he had a generator that never kicked in when the power went out. Another thing to consider with a whole house generator that is in a fixed position so if your area is prone to flooding you may end up with a situation where your generator gets flooded out while with a portable generator you can relocate it into a position that stays dry. Which brings the versatility of a portable generator to the table, you go camping? You can bring your portable generator, need power in a remote area? You can bring your portable generator & it's still there as a whole house backup option when required. There are remote start & automatic start options available for a lot of these inverter generators available which can also be wired into an ATS so they in turn will behave exactly as a fixed position whole house generator. In the end, get what works for you.
Nice informative video. Our Generac whole house unit is only 4-5 yrs old. It came set up to cycle ever other week and runs only 5 minutes. Vary pricy to set up without a natural gas supply. A propane tank needs to be purchased and propane is more expensive then NG. Also propane doesn't spoil like regular gasoline. It replaced My pto powered. generator.It would only run 9 hours on a full tank of fuel. It replaced Our main source of power a 15KW little diesel powered when We were off grid.When fuel went up out of the teens We buried 1900' of under ground cable to access local electric.All well and good until We had a week long outage. That was it. No heat or water was Our deciding factor. Same unit as Yours' was 8000.00 with propane tank filled. Our Son installed it.
Another thing to consider if you rely on a gasoline powered generator, is that in a widespread outage, service stations may not be able to sell you gasoline, because they need power to run their pumps!
I work for a utility company. Last numbers I heard was over 2.6 million people out of power. It’s gonna be a while till it’s all back up and running. I have both. An 11 kw portable generator and a large 45 that I run the whole farm with. Both are great to have!
We were just out for 3+ days here in Nova Scotia & got by with a 2000 Honda but it sure was difficult. Not having a well pump or heat pump were a couple items that made it difficult. Rethinking as to whether we should plan/budget for a whole home system
I went with a PTO generator that can run my whole house. Now, I get it won't automatically kick on....but I know my tractor will always work and I have the added benefit of portable power (a lot of it). So, in the event the crap really hits the fan in Erie County, I can drive over to help my neighbor's farm or other neighbors. I've used it a handful of times when we've had bad storms and when using Economy PTO with my tractor the diesel burn rate is really manageable. I did add an outdoor connection to handle the load and a transfer switch to isolate the house from the line when using generator.
I have a 8K portable generator (dual fuel) with a manual transfer switch that will run 6 circuits in my home including the well pump, furnace, fridge, freezer, & kitchen. It does not power the entire house, but is better than nothing. I would definitely like to have a whole house generator. Great comparison.
Only thing we've had trouble with is the trickle charger for the battery. It's had to be replaced. Found this out during Hurricane Ida. Battery went dead and stopped the Generac. Good thing we had extra batteries, from boats and a camper. Other then a 45 minute gap, to figure out why it stopped running. Then changing the battery. It ran for 3 days. Yes it's a lot of money. But then so is throwing out at least one freezer full of food. Living in southeast Louisiana the temps are usually in the 80's and 90's from April thru October. When your air conditioner goes out it gets miserable pretty quick. Natural gas whole house generator is the only way to go.
Good video mate. Hundred percent agree with what you’re saying and it’s a must have if you lose power. We live in an area that if we lose power we lose water and we get a lot of bushfires during summer. So I generator is essential. Question, is it a metric 10 seconds or an imperial 10 seconds you have to wait?
Yeah Doug I hear you I wish I was able to afford the convenience if a whole house self-activated generator but we also don't have natural gas in our area so it would have to be a gasoline option but we just went through Fiona up here in Nova Scotia where I'm at we lost our power for 4 days we got it back now but we survived on a portable generator it gets what we need to run in the house we run a couple extension cords we rotate through fridges and stuff if we're out for a long time but some of using Nova Scotia are still without power today after the hurricane last Friday and some of them are going to get it back till next week so as your friends in Florida we up here in Nova Scotia feel their pain but everyone safe is the most important thing
Thanks for the video! We lived through Katrina so i have a few concerns about putting that kind of money into a whole house unit. Water and wind damage! The 10k you just invested has been destroyed by a tree falling on it or several feet of water gotten into it? I could see the convenient it would be if your power goes out for other reasons, but to say you will have power in the middle of a storm, well... There is no guarantee.
A point to think about losing power. A freezer and/or refrigerator only keeps things cold for a very short time depending on age, seal conditions and how many times you open the door. Consequently your food will start to defrost and possibly spoil. I lived in Scum City (Houston) through several hurricanes and tropical storms and lost power many times. Your homeowners insurance doesn't usually cover the entire contents of them and you usually WILL NOT be able to replace all your food with their reimbursement. The cost of a generator isn't all that bad and will prevent such a loss. The generator won't normally power your entire house from what I gather so you have to decide what you need to power up.
Something to consider. My cousin who works for the EPA said their studies show that if a home has an attached garage, 15% of the air entering the home comes from the garage. His job as a researcher is to supply data to the regulatory side. I told him, PLEASE don't screw up anything like they did with gas cans again.
Wouldn't a simple fix to the inconvenience part be buy a portable generator. Buy a box for it and pay someone to wire in a whole house inlet to your breaker box? 3 grand total vs my quoted 10k for the generac installed system and it would do the same thing with the exception of I'd have to turn it on.
I don’t know of any portable generator that can run an entire house when the power is out. The point of a whole house generator is to function as normal when the main power grid is down.
I have a Firman 7500 tri-fuel generator that I run off LP. I have a manual transfer switch with 6 circuits. It will power all of my refrigerators and freezers plus most of my lights and 120 volt outlets. I prefer using LP because I don’t have to rely on public utilities.
My generac is 27 years old and it was the best thing I have ever got and the only thing in the 27 years I have replaced is the battery every 3 to 4 years I don't have natural gas but I got a 250 gallon of propene
We just had a major addition put onto what is now our retirement house. Being in a remote location the power has a tendency to go out frequently. We decided to put in a whole house generator to assure we could run the water pump, furnace and appliances. We also put in a wood burning fireplace to cover the heat problem should the generator not kick on. Almost a year and the power hasn't gone out to see it's full potential. (Figures) Just it's testing cycles. We are prepared though!
@@OneEyeCustoms I totally agree!! My wife calls me the "worse case scenario guy". It helps to be prepared. The "big blackout" and the ice storms we've had in the past should be an eye opener to many but not all are getting the message. A great video and a great message! Hoping for the best for those affected by the recent hurricanes north and south of the border.
Question is, what price would someone put on the convenience of whole home generator, like a Generac. For most American's living on a tight budget, the idea of spending $10K on a generator isn't even an option. Even with a loose budget, that is still a lot to swallow. In our small community, power outages used to not be a problem. Maybe a day or two here or there. Then the utilities started shutting off power whenever it would get windy, "just in case". These outages would end up lasting 4 or 5 days. The utility company is supposed to be burying all the power lines in the next 10 years. Once this happens, power outages will drop down again to one or two days a year, if that. We ended up getting a 6500 watt generator with a 240V connector. A friend set up the patch panel with a connector. So when power goes out, I fire up the generator and we get enough power for all the essentials. Fridge/freezer, internet, heater. I do have to keep an eye on the gas and I keep it nice and stab-il, so it doesn't go bad. I try, when I can, to get ethanol free gas too. this last year, we had a once in a 50 year lifetime storm. Trees were really dried out from several years of drought. Then a heavy, wet snow storm came through. Probably 2 feet of mud like snow. This resulted in limbs breaking and entire trees falling over from their roots all over the place. The damage to the power lines was extensive. We ended up with no power for 15 days. Not just our isolated community, but communities for 100's of miles. Many people with Generac generators connected to propane ended up using all the propane in their tanks. So many were calling in for Propane refills, the companies all ended up with wait list several weeks to fill people back up. (throw in people who just needed to refill in the middle of winter) It ended up being very expensive and not too convenient for those who had the Generacs. $1000 to refill when they were able to. No power or heating for several days. I had to make daily trips to the gas station. I had to fill up 4 gas cans. It was pretty expensive for me too. Not nearly as expensive as refilling a propane tank in the middle of winter when rates are highest though. Granted, our situation is pretty unique. Most people aren't as rural as us, depending on Propane deliveries. also, not likely to have a snow storm like this one for a really long time. Hopefully by then, all the power equipment will be buried and/or protected. If I lived in a cold area with routine power outages and I could afford it, I'd definitely go with the Generac though. Thanks for the food for thought.h
We had a contractor run his generator outside, but the muffler was pointing towards the house. The house filled with with carbon monoxide and all of our detectors went off. Just having the generator outside isn’t enough.
Remember that if your NG company also has no electricity, there will be no pressure on the gas line... And you're back to hot, dark nights. Get a large propane tank!
Over 20 years, I can’t even guess. Maybe 5 times a year where it was longer than an hour. Some times it was days and other times it might have been just 25 minutes. Either way, it has paid for itself just for the convenience of having power when everything else was out.
3000 KW?!? You can power more than a few neighborhoods with just a megawatt :) :) :) I have a 24KW Generac whole house generator that runs on LP (we don't have NG available). It has a WiFi adapter so it can report it's status to a phone app. It's set up to run every 2 weeks for 15 minutes. It's rated for 2 to 4 gallons per hour of LP, depending on the load. Like yours, the power has to go out for 15 seconds before it kicks on. We're also on a well, which has an electric pump. If the power goes out, not only do we lose heat (no power for the blower, even though the heater is LP), we also lose water. We have a wood stove insert in the fireplace, but that also requires power for the blower. Like you, just having the piece of mind of knowing that if the power goes whether I'm there or not, the house won't freeze up, etc. LP can be a downside. We have a 500 gallon tank, and I try to avoid letting it get below 300 gallons. If we assume 2 gallons an hour at 50% load, and a full 400 gallons of LP (a LP tank is only every filled to 80% of rated capacity), that's 200 hours (8 days and 8 hours) of run time. Of course, that does assume the tank is full and the heater never runs. In reality, at any given time in the winter, there's probably 4 solid days of handling a power outage. I'd like to put in an in-ground 1000 gallon tank.
Wow here in New Mexico your placement of the Generic wouldn't fly! It must be a minimum of 10' from any door, window or opening to a habitable area! We have a Generic 22kw it was $6500 plus installation about $2500. Ours runs every 2 weeks for 10 minutes it also has wifi so you can monitor it from inside the house.
Very Informative Video. Besides The Convenience I Have Concerns With A Generator's Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). Whole House Generators By Big Name Companies Typically Have A Much Lower THD Than A Portable Unit. With All The Sensitive Electronics In Our Home We Are Going With A (38kw Kohler) Whole House Generator. Thank You Again.
Thank you
Ya ive installed about 200 of them. I did a 14kw kohler Monday. I should do an install video. Might be helpful. Great video Doug!
@Spicer Designs yes, an installation video would be great right now! Would work allow you to do a video ? That would be interesting! And even some other work videos.
@@OneEyeCustoms i dont know. I could do an overview of the install. I do one on the side every once in a while. Then i could do it
I'd do it, be good info!
Good information to know. Thanks for the video Doug.
Good information very timely 👍👍
Yes it is convenient and recommended to have if someone can afford it. But only if your natural gas supply works during an emergency. During the widespread winter Texas outage, many homes natural gas supply stopped working. Effectively rendering their NG standby generators useless and them without power at the worst possible time. If a person has one of these, I would recommend to still have a portable generator in case of a serious emergency such as the one Texas had.
Thanks Doug! Great video, most of my friends here in s. Fl. Have also opted for the generac especially as you pointed out if they already have a city gas line. Best wishes to everyone on the west coast of Florida and inland as this storm likely will affect most all of the state.
Great to see your new channel
@Quadrille thank you!
Good video Doug with good information.
Super content Doug! P.S. My heart goes out to the folks in South East USA!!!! Alaska has you all in our prays!
Great content!
Thank you!😊
Great video thanks
Great video! I have an 8K Generac portable and had my house wired with a transfer switch to power lights, well pump, water heater and receptacles. I have an electric heater for winter heat and ceiling/box fans for cooling. It is adequate for our area. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Good info, but to anyone looking for a generator you should check the "THD" Total Harmonic Distortion. You want lower THD to run your electronics. Stay safe everyone and make sure you have a working carbon monoxide alarm.
Glad I stumbled upon this. I live in South Florida and purchased one of these in 2005 after 15 days of no power after Hurricane Wilma. The sad part, I have never installed it. Never found the time to prep the house for the install and deal with the installation and have kept it, literally, under wraps with all the accessories and original parts and instructions. Was feeling like I was missing out on the newer models with wifi and unit management apps, but I like your setup and feel that for the purpose at hand and the fact that you've had your model for so long, I might just stay with the unit I have and get it installed asap. Great video. Thank you.
You are welcome. I highly recommend sticking with the old one and getting it all hooked up! The new ones shouldn’t have computers attached to them. Lol
Thank you so much for this video! We installed solar, weighed batteries vs none. The batteries would have dropped the AC. We can install a Generac for less money and run the AC; a very needed benefit in Phoenix area.
Praying for those in Florida.
Good video, Doug. If you can afford it, the whole house system is absolutely the way to go.
At our house, we were having a few power outages every year about 15 years ago. A couple of times, we were out for five days in the winter along with several other shorter outages. The first year that it happened, we were boiling water to produce steam heat - no fun, but it worked. Since we were on a tight budget, I looked at the essential circuits that I wanted to get power to: kitchen (gas range), furnace (gas furnace), blower for fireplace insert, and living room. It all worked out to around 4 - 5,000 watts. I tried to find a generator with a long running time on a small amount of gas that had a peak that covered the load because the refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, etc. would not be running constantly. I settled on a Honeywell 4,000 watt unit with a Chonda motor and wheels. We added a six circuit transfer switch that was professionally installed. When we have an outage, I bring the generator down to the house, plug the cord in, start the generator, flip the switches, and we are back in business.
The entire cost of the system was under $1,000. It has worked flawlessly for the past twelve years. It holds 6.5 gallons and is pretty easy on gas (specs say 2 hours per gallon at 50% load and that sounds right) and I use only non-ethanol gas which keeps the carburetor clean. I have changed the oil a couple of times, but that is all of the maintenance that has been needed. We usually need to use it a couple of times a year, but not for days on end anymore.
The positives include low initial cost and the portability of the unit (can be moved to another location to get power) although it is heavy.
Negatives include the fact that it is a manual system - you have to be here to start it if the power is out, the need to move the generator from the garage to the house, exposure of the machine to the elements unless I set it on the porch (and it is heavy), NOISE, necessity of keeping gas on hand (and the current cost of non-ethanol gasoline), and although it starts pretty easily my unit does not have electric start and that could be a problem as my wife might have trouble pulling the cord.
This system has served us well, but if you can swing it, financially, a whole house system is the way to go and you could size a system to your indivdual need for circuits as I did, then get one of the small rechargeable battery power packs for portable needs.
I enjoyed the video. I was having flashbacks of the ice storm we had a couple years ago. We lost power for 13 days. Luckily, I had purchased a Honda EU7000is just a few months earlier and had a transfer switch and outlet installed at my main panel for the generator. We ran 3 space heaters at night to keep the house warm, then switch off the heaters and power up the water heater for about 20 minutes. We’d then switch the water heater off and switch the well pump on to take showers. Thankfully, the roads weren’t too bad to make the daily gas station run.
We seriously considered purchasing a whole house generator after that ice storm. A whole house just didn’t make much sense for our home since we don’t have a local gas utility and we didn’t want to have a propane tank just for a whole house generator.
👍 Thanks for the vid.
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video. Thanks! The biggest advantage to the whole house system is that it works even if you are not home. So if the house is empty or your family members are not capable of the portable generator set up (usually in a storm or frigid conditions) it still works. You have essential needs covered like furnace, sump pump, refrigerators and freezers - even water if you have a well pump. As for installation, I set up my 20kw unit and connected the gas line. I hired an electrician to do the electrical part. This is not an installation for a non professional. You have to work upstream of the protected circuits to make the connection. You do not want to “play” in that space. In fact, in my state you can’t. Only a licensed electrician can cut the seal and pull the meter.
Oh, and one more thing about the whole house unit… you still get to play in the shop during an outage!
Doug, there is actually an "in-between" option where you use a portable generator as a whole house generator. You can plug your portable into the house electrical panel and make it a whole house gen thereby avoiding the need to run extension cords all over the place. I happen to know how to do the wiring so I did it myself but most people will need an electrician to do the wiring. Not a big job. The plus of the "in-between" option is it doesn't cost anywhere near the cost of your Generac yet you get whole house convenience. The negative of the "in-between" option is you still have to roll out your gen and plug it into your electrical panel. It doesn't automatically fire up like your Generac. You also have to fill it up with gas as needed (though it can be modified to easily connect to nat gas supply). The other negative is capacity. Portables are generally half or less than your Generac therefore you will not be able to run everything in your house at the same time. The rule is, anything that heats up will suck the most juice...and by far. Even coffee pots and hair dryers will suck up a good 1000 Kw. So you have to be judicious with the appliances you use. Just thought I would add there is an "in-between" option to the two you presented. Thanks, Doug!
I like that option. I have a 9500 predator. It works really well. I need to do that in between at my place.
@@FirstnameLastName-sx8ls , certainly a lot less expensive than the whole house Generac. But if you have dough to burn you can't beat the whole house.
Great video as usual, Doug! Very thorough. I would always stick with the whole house set up. I would spec it perhaps with a little more KW rating than what you need. You will always get a little less with natural gas as you’ve pointed out. As you pointed out the exercising of the unit which, depending on your application could be weekly or monthly. Keep an eye on the battery, make sure they’re OK. We used to put battery tenders on them just a small 2 amp to keep the battery healthy. Some folks will try to buy conversion kits to convert from gasoline to natural gas or propane. I used to work in the parts for Onan sets, mobile & standby. Those kits are obsolete now. The EPA took care of a lot of that as well. As far as a portable units, there are inverter type generators that are very popular. They have, I believe multiple fuel capabilities. One consideration is the decibel level. When you’re in a campground, they can only emit so many decibels. Thanks for touching on the ATS or automatic transfer switch. I don’t know if Generac includes that with their Generators or if it’s a package deal? I know with Onan, they were separate. I think it all depended on the capabilities and the draw and requirements of it. Like I said, for home use, I would definitely stick with the whole house unit, something that will run the common sense items. For example HVAC systems, freezers, refrigerators, lights, and something some people don’t think about, medical devices. Keep up the great work, looking very forward to the next video. We’ll see you in the next installment.
Nice, I would give you a 8 out of 10 for this review . As I have had both for 25 years.
@MrRickoscar An 8, why so high?? Lol thanks for watching!
@@OneEyeCustoms Because you are so sincere and do your best to help others.
I'm looking into for my mom. She lives alone and has no mechanical inclination and can't run a portable by herself. My dad maintained all the tools and machines. She would have to use propane. All she'd have to do is make sure its full. May get a 250 tank.
Best of luck to you. Hope the video helped.
Great information and video. I wanted something that could run for extended periods of time so I bought a liquid cooled 1800 rpm whole house 40kw generac. Liquid cooled 1800rpm is the only way to go
I have a 8000w Champion portable generator. It runs off the 1000 gallon propane tank. I have a transfer switch on the house which powers the house and garage, It stays permanently attached to the propane. We don’t have a natural gas option.
Having both is the best choice you can make, two is one one is none 🙂
I have a 10kw dual fuel and a 1kw solar generator
Great video! the other thing for the portable generator, is that you need to get the proper connection set up at your house meter to connect the generator to power your house. otherwise its just gonna be a bunch of power cords spread around to a select few items
I was just out for 3 days for Hurricane Fiona a week and a half ago here in Bermuda, I got by easily with two Honda EU2000i generators running in parallel. I have them connected to a transfer switch panel that feeds my house (no extension cords) & it ran everything besides my water heater which I am considering transferring to a propane water heater.
I have a tri-fuel kit for them which would allow me to run the Honda's on either propane, natural gas, or gasoline so I have a wide option of fuel choices. I also have an extended run fuel system which allows me to run these generators for a couple days between refueling. I use Stabil in my fuel which allows me to store the fuel for up to two years (after which time if the gas isn't used by the generator it is used for the lawn equipment & new gas for the generator is purchased & treated with Stabil for another two years of storage) & if for some reason I don't have the fuel I still have the other two fuel options available. I have my water pump, fridge, stove, deep freezer, whole house lights/ceiling fans, TV's computers, 9,000 BTU air conditioner, washer, & internet connected & running off of the generators. I've had these Hondas running in this configuration for about 13 - 14 years now and they still purr along quiet which is not something that can be said about standby generators.
An acquaintance complained about his whole house generator which runs on propane had an issue with its' regulator so he had a generator that never kicked in when the power went out. Another thing to consider with a whole house generator that is in a fixed position so if your area is prone to flooding you may end up with a situation where your generator gets flooded out while with a portable generator you can relocate it into a position that stays dry. Which brings the versatility of a portable generator to the table, you go camping? You can bring your portable generator, need power in a remote area? You can bring your portable generator & it's still there as a whole house backup option when required. There are remote start & automatic start options available for a lot of these inverter generators available which can also be wired into an ATS so they in turn will behave exactly as a fixed position whole house generator. In the end, get what works for you.
Nice informative video. Our Generac whole house unit is only 4-5 yrs old. It came set up to cycle ever other week and runs only 5 minutes. Vary pricy to set up without a natural gas supply. A propane tank needs to be purchased and propane is more expensive then NG. Also propane doesn't spoil like regular gasoline. It replaced My pto powered. generator.It would only run 9 hours on a full tank of fuel. It replaced Our main source of power a 15KW little diesel powered when We were off grid.When fuel went up out of the teens We buried 1900' of under ground cable to access local electric.All well and good until We had a week long outage. That was it. No heat or water was Our deciding factor. Same unit as Yours' was 8000.00 with propane tank filled. Our Son installed it.
Another thing to consider if you rely on a gasoline powered generator, is that in a widespread outage, service stations may not be able to sell you gasoline, because they need power to run their pumps!
I work for a utility company. Last numbers I heard was over 2.6 million people out of power. It’s gonna be a while till it’s all back up and running. I have both. An 11 kw portable generator and a large 45 that I run the whole farm with. Both are great to have!
Hi
I bought a generic home generator 2 years ago and at that time it cost me $8000.00 dollars with installation. 22k gen.
We were just out for 3+ days here in Nova Scotia & got by with a 2000 Honda but it sure was difficult. Not having a well pump or heat pump were a couple items that made it difficult. Rethinking as to whether we should plan/budget for a whole home system
I went with a PTO generator that can run my whole house. Now, I get it won't automatically kick on....but I know my tractor will always work and I have the added benefit of portable power (a lot of it). So, in the event the crap really hits the fan in Erie County, I can drive over to help my neighbor's farm or other neighbors.
I've used it a handful of times when we've had bad storms and when using Economy PTO with my tractor the diesel burn rate is really manageable.
I did add an outdoor connection to handle the load and a transfer switch to isolate the house from the line when using generator.
I have a 8K portable generator (dual fuel) with a manual transfer switch that will run 6 circuits in my home including the well pump, furnace, fridge, freezer, & kitchen. It does not power the entire house, but is better than nothing. I would definitely like to have a whole house generator. Great comparison.
Only thing we've had trouble with is the trickle charger for the battery. It's had to be replaced. Found this out during Hurricane Ida. Battery went dead and stopped the Generac. Good thing we had extra batteries, from boats and a camper. Other then a 45 minute gap, to figure out why it stopped running. Then changing the battery. It ran for 3 days. Yes it's a lot of money. But then so is throwing out at least one freezer full of food. Living in southeast Louisiana the temps are usually in the 80's and 90's from April thru October. When your air conditioner goes out it gets miserable pretty quick. Natural gas whole house generator is the only way to go.
Good video mate. Hundred percent agree with what you’re saying and it’s a must have if you lose power. We live in an area that if we lose power we lose water and we get a lot of bushfires during summer. So I generator is essential. Question, is it a metric 10 seconds or an imperial 10 seconds you have to wait?
Yeah Doug I hear you I wish I was able to afford the convenience if a whole house self-activated generator but we also don't have natural gas in our area so it would have to be a gasoline option but we just went through Fiona up here in Nova Scotia where I'm at we lost our power for 4 days we got it back now but we survived on a portable generator it gets what we need to run in the house we run a couple extension cords we rotate through fridges and stuff if we're out for a long time but some of using Nova Scotia are still without power today after the hurricane last Friday and some of them are going to get it back till next week so as your friends in Florida we up here in Nova Scotia feel their pain but everyone safe is the most important thing
Thanks for the video! We lived through Katrina so i have a few concerns about putting that kind of money into a whole house unit. Water and wind damage! The 10k you just invested has been destroyed by a tree falling on it or several feet of water gotten into it? I could see the convenient it would be if your power goes out for other reasons, but to say you will have power in the middle of a storm, well... There is no guarantee.
I agree with you! There is always some unforeseen risk that could happen.
At 1:52 first time I see a 3 megawatt generator that small!
A point to think about losing power. A freezer and/or refrigerator only keeps things cold for a very short time depending on age, seal conditions and how many times you open the door. Consequently your food will start to defrost and possibly spoil. I lived in Scum City (Houston) through several hurricanes and tropical storms and lost power many times. Your homeowners insurance doesn't usually cover the entire contents of them and you usually WILL NOT be able to replace all your food with their reimbursement. The cost of a generator isn't all that bad and will prevent such a loss. The generator won't normally power your entire house from what I gather so you have to decide what you need to power up.
Something to consider. My cousin who works for the EPA said their studies show that if a home has an attached garage, 15% of the air entering the home comes from the garage. His job as a researcher is to supply data to the regulatory side. I told him, PLEASE don't screw up anything like they did with gas cans again.
Wouldn't a simple fix to the inconvenience part be buy a portable generator. Buy a box for it and pay someone to wire in a whole house inlet to your breaker box? 3 grand total vs my quoted 10k for the generac installed system and it would do the same thing with the exception of I'd have to turn it on.
I don’t know of any portable generator that can run an entire house when the power is out.
The point of a whole house generator is to function as normal when the main power grid is down.
Portable!
I have a Firman 7500 tri-fuel generator that I run off LP. I have a manual transfer switch with 6 circuits. It will power all of my refrigerators and freezers plus most of my lights and 120 volt outlets.
I prefer using LP because I don’t have to rely on public utilities.
My generac is 27 years old and it was the best thing I have ever got and the only thing in the 27 years I have replaced is the battery every 3 to 4 years I don't have natural gas but I got a 250 gallon of propene
We just had a major addition put onto what is now our retirement house. Being in a remote location the power has a tendency to go out frequently. We decided to put in a whole house generator to assure we could run the water pump, furnace and appliances. We also put in a wood burning fireplace to cover the heat problem should the generator not kick on. Almost a year and the power hasn't gone out to see it's full potential. (Figures) Just it's testing cycles. We are prepared though!
@WH It is like a fire extinguisher, I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it!
@@OneEyeCustoms I totally agree!! My wife calls me the "worse case scenario guy". It helps to be prepared.
The "big blackout" and the ice storms we've had in the past should be an eye opener to many but not all are getting the message. A great video and a great message! Hoping for the best for those affected by the recent hurricanes north and south of the border.
Metal plates behind the generator? We set the generator to close to the house and melting the siding? Ha Ha.
maintenance includes change air filter
Good review but will it produce 1.21 gigawatts to power the flux capacitor?🤪🤔😲
Have a Jesus filled day everyone
Greg in Michigan
Question is, what price would someone put on the convenience of whole home generator, like a Generac. For most American's living on a tight budget, the idea of spending $10K on a generator isn't even an option. Even with a loose budget, that is still a lot to swallow. In our small community, power outages used to not be a problem. Maybe a day or two here or there. Then the utilities started shutting off power whenever it would get windy, "just in case". These outages would end up lasting 4 or 5 days. The utility company is supposed to be burying all the power lines in the next 10 years. Once this happens, power outages will drop down again to one or two days a year, if that. We ended up getting a 6500 watt generator with a 240V connector. A friend set up the patch panel with a connector. So when power goes out, I fire up the generator and we get enough power for all the essentials. Fridge/freezer, internet, heater. I do have to keep an eye on the gas and I keep it nice and stab-il, so it doesn't go bad. I try, when I can, to get ethanol free gas too. this last year, we had a once in a 50 year lifetime storm. Trees were really dried out from several years of drought. Then a heavy, wet snow storm came through. Probably 2 feet of mud like snow. This resulted in limbs breaking and entire trees falling over from their roots all over the place. The damage to the power lines was extensive. We ended up with no power for 15 days. Not just our isolated community, but communities for 100's of miles. Many people with Generac generators connected to propane ended up using all the propane in their tanks. So many were calling in for Propane refills, the companies all ended up with wait list several weeks to fill people back up. (throw in people who just needed to refill in the middle of winter) It ended up being very expensive and not too convenient for those who had the Generacs. $1000 to refill when they were able to. No power or heating for several days. I had to make daily trips to the gas station. I had to fill up 4 gas cans. It was pretty expensive for me too. Not nearly as expensive as refilling a propane tank in the middle of winter when rates are highest though. Granted, our situation is pretty unique. Most people aren't as rural as us, depending on Propane deliveries. also, not likely to have a snow storm like this one for a really long time. Hopefully by then, all the power equipment will be buried and/or protected. If I lived in a cold area with routine power outages and I could afford it, I'd definitely go with the Generac though. Thanks for the food for thought.h
We had a contractor run his generator outside, but the muffler was pointing towards the house.
The house filled with with carbon monoxide and all of our detectors went off.
Just having the generator outside isn’t enough.
Remember that if your NG company also has no electricity, there will be no pressure on the gas line... And you're back to hot, dark nights. Get a large propane tank!
Its a oil pressure switch
I’m guessing you don’t use that oil drain line with your oil sucker vacuum thing lol
I can put it down the dipstick. Haha
That's an old Generac!
The generator is set to close to the window and door
I've seen quite a few you tubers buying the harbor freight generators and they're not holding up very well when that's all the power source they have.
How many days and/or times have you had to use the whole house generator over it's life?
Over 20 years, I can’t even guess. Maybe 5 times a year where it was longer than an hour. Some times it was days and other times it might have been just 25 minutes. Either way, it has paid for itself just for the convenience of having power when everything else was out.
3000 KW?!? You can power more than a few neighborhoods with just a megawatt :) :) :)
I have a 24KW Generac whole house generator that runs on LP (we don't have NG available). It has a WiFi adapter so it can report it's status to a phone app. It's set up to run every 2 weeks for 15 minutes. It's rated for 2 to 4 gallons per hour of LP, depending on the load. Like yours, the power has to go out for 15 seconds before it kicks on. We're also on a well, which has an electric pump. If the power goes out, not only do we lose heat (no power for the blower, even though the heater is LP), we also lose water. We have a wood stove insert in the fireplace, but that also requires power for the blower. Like you, just having the piece of mind of knowing that if the power goes whether I'm there or not, the house won't freeze up, etc.
LP can be a downside. We have a 500 gallon tank, and I try to avoid letting it get below 300 gallons. If we assume 2 gallons an hour at 50% load, and a full 400 gallons of LP (a LP tank is only every filled to 80% of rated capacity), that's 200 hours (8 days and 8 hours) of run time. Of course, that does assume the tank is full and the heater never runs. In reality, at any given time in the winter, there's probably 4 solid days of handling a power outage. I'd like to put in an in-ground 1000 gallon tank.
@Wayne Flanigan I know that. That's why the :) :) :).
We're About To Put In A 1k Gallon In-Ground Propane Tank For Generator Installation. It Is Expensive But It Will Be Worth It.
Wow here in New Mexico your placement of the Generic wouldn't fly! It must be a minimum of 10' from any door, window or opening to a habitable area! We have a Generic 22kw it was $6500 plus installation about $2500. Ours runs every 2 weeks for 10 minutes it also has wifi so you can monitor it from inside the house.
how much fuel does it burn per hour?
I honestly have no idea. It very rarely ever has to run more than an hour or two. I can see if it states that in the manual.
In Illinois I could not put my Gererac in front of widows due to carbon monoxide poisoning. . You must have different safety regulations.
You are not comparing equal size products! Try a 15,000 watt portable generator to your generac, then your comparison will be more equal!
Not a 3000kw its a 3000 watt