Was planning on doing this before the baby is born and last night even made is seem like a better idea.The electrician I have do all my big stuff told me a few months back about $4500.Last week a buddy told me he could do it(for free) but thought the parts/materials would be around $5k.I would just get the items so its not like he was planning on making money that way.
Also he said I would need a 15K one seems a bit overkill to me.
Thanks again
what are you even asking?
hmmm good point. lol
What does one normally cost and + is there anything special I will need to do?
Hope that is a little better and yeah I admit that first post was kind of vague.
i have looked into them (kinda need one now) but this is the one i was/will be picking up soon… and i will put it in myself
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200350472_200350472
My buddy’s family had one put in at their business in Arcade. It is a natural gas 4 cylinder baddie. I am sure that cost a little more than 5K though.
why would you need a built in…
the power doesnt go out enough here to warrant a built in…
get a decent “portable” generator… and a bunch of extension cords, or wire in a patch into your box to plug the portable generator in there if you ever have to…
So you have a couple estimates from people who know how to install them, and your asking US how much they normally cost… why
that made me lol
My parents do.
+1. My boss just had his patch panel wired in and it cost him $500. Nice weather proof twist on plug outside the house, transfer switch, and a switch panel next to his circuit breaker box that lets him select which parts of the house he wants to power. He’s got the same $700 generator I have that I linked in the other thread. I’m debating doing the same thing, but I’ll probably just still with the extension cord plan. I takes me < 30 seconds to hard wire my furnace to an old cord I keep right next to it and everything else can just plug right in.
I could see spending 5k for a hard wired system if you lived in hurricane alley, but up here losing power once a year for more than an hour is a lot. I haven’t used mine since the Oct storm. Basically I drain the gas once a year, dump it in the truck, add fresh with some new Stabil, and let it run for 10 minutes or so just to make sure it’s ready to go.
you could probably go from $300-$10,000 depending on what you want/need. (portable/fixed, ATS/MTS, size, fuel, etc)
i’d recommend at least a manual transfer switch instead of having to run a bunch of cords all over the place during a failure.
My parents have a gas powered Dewalt unit that is patched into the circuit breaker. If power goes out in my shack…I head on over there and enjoy good living.
Probably the best route. However having seen your house and everything…adding a built in unit will only increase the potential value of your home.
Viper,
looking for info on the whole idea I guess.
“or wire in a patch into your box to plug the portable generator in there if you ever have to…”
What would be involved in doing this?This seems like possibly a better idea and kind of why the thread is just to get a discussion going as well.A nice portable would be good as well,as I could take it other places or let fellow speeders borrow if needed.
I sell these to the contractors for a living. Call me at my office and I will tell you EXACTLY what you do and don’t need. Mike Gleeson 893-3030. I can even hook you up like a mofo on the generator.
if you want to do it legally, youll need either a manual transfer switch or a breaker interlock (so you cant have both the main and gen breakers active at the same time)
pretty much just gotta grab a 4 wire receptacle (rating/config depends on gen type/size) and run it to the transfer switch or breaker.
relatively cheap and will pick up the entire house with minimal work
No horrible idea. Whole house gensets are not plug in via a 4 wire receptacle. They work off of an automatic transfer switch. It is basically a control relay and a power relay.
the manual tfr. switches are for portable generators, and the same goes for your common breaker interlock. Generac (you guys probably know it by Guardian) has started to manufacture a panel that has the automatic tfr built in including a motorized interlock.
D - you should realize one big drawback to permanent NG fired generators…
In a widespread outage (like the Oct Storm), large buildings (think: hospitals, churchs, police stations, etc) also run those sorts of generators. If for some reason you have a problem with your generator - you’re most likely going to be at the end of a LONG line of service calls, which is the last place you want to be when you are in the dark.
$0.02 on that.
As far as wiring a portable to you main breaker box - it generally costs $300 - $1000 depending on what you’re install is like. Doing this allows you to basically flip a switch which “turns off” the feed from teh pole and “turns on” the feed from the generator output. Gas up & start your portable, plug it into the recepticle (on the outside of the house) and voila.
Regardless of permanent or portable - Another nice thing is that with a switch panel you can directly power specific circuits within your home (i.e. - the furnace, the circuit the fridge is on, lighting circuits, etc) without having to run a bunch of HEAVY duty 50’ cords throughout your house.
Again, I will walk you through the whole house option. Nick, you are right if you are talking Guardian. That is the Home Depot version of Generac. They are the same exact generator however if you have a guardian and it breaks it is ~30 days for service. Generac guarantees 24-48 hour response for any issues. There are about 15 techs in Buffalo that are certified to do warranty work.
15K is crazy.
Do you have a disco in your basement?lol
I have 6K and that is more than enough.
Do you have a well pump?
Do you have a sump pump?
For $5,000 that thing better power the whole neighborhood on natural gas.lol.
The hook up shouldn’t be more than $500 and a generator can vary from $800-$80,000.
AWDrifter - 15kw is ~130 amp service. Thats not outlandish for someone who insists on running their entire house during a power outage.
But otherwise, yea, that is waaay into overkill if you just want to subsist for a few days - weeks.
good point, thanks, i forgot that.
The most accurate way is to size a generator for any application is to measure the total amount of electricity required to power the circuits or appliances that will operate with emergency backup power. In addition, certain appliances such as central air conditioners can require up to five times as much power to get them started as they will use when running. When selecting a generator, that additional starting requirement must be taken into consideration. Generac recommends that you consult a qualified electrician to ensure your generator is correctly sized for your specific requirements.
I have a table that I can scan in that tells you what is capable between 7Kw, 10Kw, 13Kw, 16Kw (subtract 1Kw from all but 7 & 10Kw models to account for NG not Propane connection) The biggest load on the gensets is an electric stove, dryer, or most importantly the Air Conditioner. Those bitches take a lot of power.