Looking to have a natural gas standby generator installed at my mom’s house this spring. Something that will self test every X weeks and automatically fire up and power up her house in an outage. Anyone had one of these installed and have a recommended installer?
I have a generac 10kw. Not enough for the whole house but it runs the furnace, well pump, fridge, garage door openers, couple outlets/lights on the first floor and same on second floor. It runs every Wednesday at 1am for around 15 mins. I’ve never timed it but once power goes out it waits a like 30 sec then fires up. My brother is a contractor so he installed it.
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A lot of generators did not work in blizzard conditions. The air filters became clogged, one caller to WBEN 930AM called Generac with 1 hour hold and no resolution, then called installation electrician. Resolution was to go out in snow, remove air filter, and run like that.
Master Electrician at my work runs a business on the side, Certified Generac Dealer. He’s done work for my family and I, as well as all the upper management here. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll ask him for his info!
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That’s exactly what I’m looking for. Pass along his info and I’ll get in touch with him.
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Yea people need to maintain their shit. I change filter/oil/plugs on mine once a year. Went and checked on it a couple times during the blizz to make sure snow wasnt building up. Highly recommend one. I have a generac 16kw.
Copy that, I’m heading out to the floor now I’ll stop by his hang out spot.
You could reach out to my good friend Sam. He is a licensed electrician and works for the town or Tonawanda and has his own business. Just give him a ring or text. He does generator all the time. He has a generac in stock atm. Not sure one size tho. +1 (716) 923-3118 Just let him know I sent ya.
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Its a big purchase but well worth the piece of mind of not having to worry about dragging one out of the garage, having enough gas, dealing with extension cords, wife complaining or my kids screaming. Power goes out and within a minute life is back to normal. Honestly the only annoying thing is having to set all the clocks.
I’m good with my portable generator now that it’s wired into my panel. My mom lives alone though so dragging out a generator and hooking it up is t really working anymore, and during the kind of weather that usually comes along with long term outages it’s not like I can just run over there and help her out.
I’m probably going to do this fellas -
Bob (the guy I recommended to @JayS ) fixed up a portable generator plug with a separate box in my parent’s basement to run just the essentials.
So I saw this -
10,500 watts, portable, but it also runs on Natural gas. I’m going to have Bob put the plug on my house and I’ll run my own natural gas line outside, and put a rubber hose on the generator.
It’s 1/4th the cost of the generac and I can take it with me when I move.
Downsides - Unlike a generac, I will have to go outside and manually turn it on & I suppose it can be stolen, but I will remedy this by chaining it to my house. You can still cut the chain but it’s better than nothing.
Upsides - A generac with the same wattage is 8-10 grand.
Also for you guys that have sump pumps I put one of these in last year, if you need the number of the guy who helped install mine (pipefitter at my work) let me know.
I installed one of these a few years back:
Gives me peace of mind that I don’t have to rush to get the generator going. Food will go for hours as long as you’re not opening the fridge/freezer. Sump is really my only critical power need.
Take the wheels off of it. I imagine it weighs a shit ton. Nobody is going to steal it if it weighs 500lbs and needs to be picked up.
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