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If i had to guess I would think they are setting up a few hours of OT. Good money in a decent part of the year if their doing maintenance!
Home generator
- Thread starter PeterJ
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If i had to guess I would think they are setting up a few hours of OT. Good money in a decent part of the year if their doing maintenance!
jag312
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My nephew and I have been talking about getting a generator. We think it is a good idea after a long power outage we had this Winter. It also adds value to the property in the event that my place will ever be sold...which will happen over my dead body.
When I built my house here in S. FL back in 1994, power outages were frequent, almost daily. Sometimes a couple minutes, sometimes hours. It was annoying having to reset all the blinking lights and clocks every day.
Then in 2004 when every hurricane that year seemed to zero in on my address, I snagged a portable generator to get by while the power was down for 3-4 days. Since then, they've had fulltime crews keeping the lines clear of potential problems and outages are infrequent. During the last two hurricanes it never even blinked. I'll have to stick with the portable for now. It's easy to go 3-4 days with it, and after that--go visit family!
Then in 2004 when every hurricane that year seemed to zero in on my address, I snagged a portable generator to get by while the power was down for 3-4 days. Since then, they've had fulltime crews keeping the lines clear of potential problems and outages are infrequent. During the last two hurricanes it never even blinked. I'll have to stick with the portable for now. It's easy to go 3-4 days with it, and after that--go visit family!
I've never installed a Kohler but they look like good units. One thing you might want to check on: if they are like the Generac units we've installed, they come preprogrammed from the factory to run wide open during the weekly test cycle. I never understood the reasoning behind this. On the Generac units, you can scale this back to 50%, which is more than enough to ensure the unit is functioning and doesn't beat it to death.
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One of the convincers for me to get my generator was during either a major snowstorm or Super Storm Sandy there were people in the Baltimore area (only 45 miles away) who were without power for a week.
OP
PeterJ
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From what I can make out from the literature that came with the gen, the exercise cycle is run at partial throttle and will fluctuate at times. It's set up to run at noon every Saturday and lets me know on my phone when it runs. Neat.
Tom, I appreciate your comment.
I asked the contractor who installed and maintains my Kohler about this. He said that one can program it to run at lower speeds, but that "I recommend running the unit at full speed unloaded every week. The reason is to keep condensation inside of the engine and inside the generator enclosure away due to the wet environment in our area. The added heat that is built up during a normal full speed exercise does help to keep this away. There is a little more noise generated during the full speed exercise, but the benefits are well worth it."
Our area being the burbs of Portland, OR. Maybe we should back it off in the dry summer months though...
Started checking then the monsoon hit. I’ll get to it tomorrow.
Igiveup
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Wife and I were just discussing the purchase of a Generac. We live in the country and have a well. We are dead in the water when the power goes out. We do have propane, but just for the stove top. Heat in the winter is by wood, with electric backup. After reading all these posts, I think we better start getting things in motion.
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We went with a Generac 16 KW a year ago. Fueled by a 250 Propane tank. Saved us a lot of money last year when the power was out 4 days. Freezer was full of winters food & nothing froze in the house.
We have a great coop. Our power has only gone out a couple times in over 5 years. Maybe a couple hours tops. Even during the big freese we never lost power (very lucky). I wanted a generator for storms to keep the A/C running I hate being hot. I never dreamed of the freezing thing happening. We could always get in the wife's living quarters trailer and stay warm. But we have horses to keep watered and it makes for way more work if no power. Besides we live out in the boonies, some neighbors with a different coop lost power for 5 or 6 days. Like everyone else I kept putting it off until it got more expensive, but at least it's done. Generac 24 put a separate 250 tank in for it, house tank being on the other side. Had to learn a bit about heat pumps/coils and such. Luckily we have a small (2000) well insulated house and I can shut off half the emergency coils and it will still run you out of the house. A small item the salesman forgot to mention. It doesn't take many heat coil type appliances to shut down the gen. The 24 wouldnt run our smaller type set up if all 20 of the coils were on. So buyer beware. But we feel more secure with it so its good.
If I was building a new house, I would put in some propane wall heaters or a couple nice pellet stoves. Then at least heat wouldn't be an issue ever.
If I was building a new house, I would put in some propane wall heaters or a couple nice pellet stoves. Then at least heat wouldn't be an issue ever.
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What the contractor told me with our 20KW Kohler is that if too many appliances are run simultaneously the air conditioner/heat will shut off, and then restart when the load drops. I think it must be how its wired up...
prairieviper
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We have been hearing on the local news reports that we may experience blackouts and brownouts this year due to problems with the power grid. If that ends up being true (and I hope that it isn't) I'll be glad I bought that Generac.
The condensation discussion as it pertains to internal combustion engines has been around a long time. I first heard it as it related to car engines, especially those used for short trips. It was pointed out to me as a kid in regards to exhaust systems that rusted from the inside out and was then extrapolated to inside the engine itself. However engine generated heat will evaporate water at 120 degrees just as it will at 200 degrees, it just takes longer. While I've never heard the condensation conversation carried over to generator engines, if it's of concern, I'd still prefer to decrease the engine RPM and increase the run time to resolve the matter. I also had someone tell me running wide open was to ensure the generator's battery was kept charged but that's not true.
Some air cooled engines require a minimum rpm to stay within recommended temps because they employ a fan for cooling and if that's the case, then by all means, follow the manufacturer's recommendation! My Kawasaki powered zero turn mower makes this recommendation.
Most generators are installed with "load shed relays" that cut off generator power to high wattage appliances if too much demand is placed on the generator. The most common load shed relay is for the air conditioner. During installation of our 20 kw Cummins generator, the installer asked me to do a generator stress test. With the A/C running, I had to turn on both electric ovens, all four cooktop burners, and the electric dryer while the generator was supplying power. The generator could handle any three of these four appliances, but not all, so a load shed relay was added for them (no extra charge!) in addition to the standard relay for the air conditioner. Since in the 35 years we've lived here, we've never had all of these on at the same time, the test demonstrated to me that we have sufficient generator power to meet our needs.
Muley Gil
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Some “city” folk are unaware. If you are on well water you need power to run the pump.
Without water you may find it a bit difficult to potty.
About 9 years ago, our power was off for a week. My 5K Champion portable generator gave us power for the ice box, lights and fan. However, it was wired to run the well pump. I hauled water from the creek to flush.
Last year, I had the breaker box modified for a cut-out & now I can use the generator to run the house and the well. I just turn off the hot water heater and I don't use the oven if the power is out.
chief38
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I JUST wrote my final payment check about 10 minutes ago for our brand new Generac 22K unit that was installed a few days ago. It's been fired up, tested and "ready to run".
They got really expensive since I installed one in our last home 15 years ago - about twice the price now, however the first time it gets used (hopefully it never will - yea right) it will be worth all the pain!
The Generac we had back on Long Island ran flawlessly through 4 major and at least half a dozen minor outages. When we moved we had logged over 405 running hours on it. We ran it for 10 days alone during the Super Storm Hurricane Sandy aftermath which was the worst hurricane on LI in my lifetime!
As much as no one wants to spend the big bucks on a generator to sit there, I view it as "insurance" - hope to never need it but it's there if I do.
In our new development I'd estimate at least 70% of the homes have already gotten them. Probably 95% Generac's and the rest are Kohler. Thankfully, we do have Natural Gas here!
They got really expensive since I installed one in our last home 15 years ago - about twice the price now, however the first time it gets used (hopefully it never will - yea right) it will be worth all the pain!
The Generac we had back on Long Island ran flawlessly through 4 major and at least half a dozen minor outages. When we moved we had logged over 405 running hours on it. We ran it for 10 days alone during the Super Storm Hurricane Sandy aftermath which was the worst hurricane on LI in my lifetime!
As much as no one wants to spend the big bucks on a generator to sit there, I view it as "insurance" - hope to never need it but it's there if I do.
In our new development I'd estimate at least 70% of the homes have already gotten them. Probably 95% Generac's and the rest are Kohler. Thankfully, we do have Natural Gas here!
Well said, Chief.
Gas H2O heater and range would solve that issue pretty quick... I went gas clothes dryer too.
DWalt
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Home fuel cell systems using natural gas do exist and are available. Yet little is heard about them. It seems as though they would be ideal for homes having gas service that occasionally require standby emergency power. Can anyone explain why fuel cells are not better known in this application?
Another thing, if you have a basement with a sump pump, or your basement takes on water during storms, you’re going to need some form of power unless you want an indoor lap pool.
Had not heard of this so spent a few minutes on the internet looking it up. Did not find the answer to your question, but think it is an intriguing technology.
Found this short video of some guys trying to bring your idea to fruition: Powering Your Home with a Fuel Cell - YouTube
I think the idea of having these in many/all homes and then linking them is appealing. No power outages. Sorta like you can't take down the entire internet because there is no central place to disable.
Maybe wide scale production and adoption lag because while a new technology it uses fossil fuel which does not have a lot of support these days...
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DWalt
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Gensets also use fossil fuels. And from what I have read, fuel cell systems are vastly more efficient in turning fossil fuel into electricity. Obviously a technology worthy of further study - such as combining a fuel cell generator with battery storage such as used with solar panels. See:
Fuel Cells | Peoples Natural Gas
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