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Can portable generator power the whole house?
Posted on 10/13/25 at 6:40 pm
Posted on 10/13/25 at 6:40 pm
Ready to take the generator plunge and want one that will power the whole house. Or at least downstairs and the pool.
What is the benefit of installing one vs paying half the cost for a portable? Both generate 26k.
Is it simply just the ease of it? Automatically turns on, etc?
What is the benefit of installing one vs paying half the cost for a portable? Both generate 26k.
Is it simply just the ease of it? Automatically turns on, etc?
Posted on 10/13/25 at 6:55 pm to Dale Murphy
Depending on the size of your house...
You could easily get a big portable tri fuel (Duramax sells a 15kw) with a short ft start on your AC unit and run your whole house.
You would probably need to cycle your pool pump to be sure not to kick it on at the same time as another high amperage device.
You are paying for convenience with the whole home generator.
You can get 90% of the results for 50% of the cost.
You could easily get a big portable tri fuel (Duramax sells a 15kw) with a short ft start on your AC unit and run your whole house.
You would probably need to cycle your pool pump to be sure not to kick it on at the same time as another high amperage device.
You are paying for convenience with the whole home generator.
You can get 90% of the results for 50% of the cost.
Posted on 10/13/25 at 7:06 pm to Dale Murphy
In addition to home size/natural gas or all electric/etc etc.
What level of comfort do you want? Considering youll only use this when the power is out, do you want to use your pool? Want to host a party or all of your family?
Or do you just want to get by and maybe have some AC?
What level of comfort do you want? Considering youll only use this when the power is out, do you want to use your pool? Want to host a party or all of your family?
Or do you just want to get by and maybe have some AC?
Posted on 10/13/25 at 7:11 pm to kengel2
4500 sq ft house with gas. But a big chunk is upstairs and I’m not so concerned with that. Main reason I’m ready to get one is because we don’t close our pool down in the winter. Every year we get about a 3 day hard freeze that terrifies me. I know I could just get a portable one for that. But we’ve also been without power in the summer for over a week. And I’m all about ease which is why I’m leaning toward just getting one installed.
Posted on 10/13/25 at 7:37 pm to Dale Murphy
I run my whole house on a generac 17500. I’m about 4200 living. I run downstairs during the day and then we all sleep upstairs at night. Pool is no problem. Mostly just to not burn too much fuel. 100 gallons gets me about 5 days. My house has a 50 amp manual switch.
I did the math and just could not justify the cost of a nice liquid cooled which is really what I need. Plus there were problems with natural gas demand in the neighborhoods. 3500 for the generator and stored in my shed. It’s “portable” but it’s a beast.
I did the math and just could not justify the cost of a nice liquid cooled which is really what I need. Plus there were problems with natural gas demand in the neighborhoods. 3500 for the generator and stored in my shed. It’s “portable” but it’s a beast.
Posted on 10/13/25 at 9:03 pm to Dale Murphy
I went that route. Electrician installed a 50amp outlet. I have a 13k duramax. Soft start on bith ac units. I can only run 1 unit at a time. 2 story house. Fraction of the cost
Posted on 10/13/25 at 10:09 pm to Art Vandelay
Yea but you pay $300 a week to run it.
While
Home would
Be much cheaper…
So dependent upon how much you use it… starts to be more practical
While
Home would
Be much cheaper…
So dependent upon how much you use it… starts to be more practical
Posted on 10/14/25 at 8:30 am to xBirdx
quote:yes but don’t think running a natural gas is exponentially cheaper. I don’t know but google says $60-120 day for a 24kw. Thats if they don’t crap out because the whole neighborhood is sucking gas.
Yea but you pay $300 a week to run it. While Home would Be much cheaper… So dependent upon how much you use it… starts to be more practical
Posted on 10/14/25 at 8:33 am to Dale Murphy
Posted on 10/14/25 at 8:41 am to Dale Murphy
Yes, I power my whole house with a Firrman 7.5 KW. Just can't run the big A/C. I put in window units.
Unfortunately, I only have a 30 AMP hookup. May change it to a 50 amp in the future.
Ran it for 10 days after Ida...

Unfortunately, I only have a 30 AMP hookup. May change it to a 50 amp in the future.
Ran it for 10 days after Ida...

This post was edited on 10/14/25 at 8:47 am
Posted on 10/14/25 at 9:26 am to Dale Murphy
I have the Honda EU7000iS. Ran a 30 amp plug in my breaker panel. Run my downstairs A/C during day and upstairs when sleeping along with everything else in the house. 5 gallons of gas lasts 18-20 hours when running the central units. I've got a lot of run time before I equal the costs of a whole home. Generator was used at my hunting camp that I've since sold so it's been repurposed. Highly recommend the Honda, quiet and starts every time.
Posted on 10/14/25 at 10:22 am to Dale Murphy
quote:
Both generate 26k
26kW is a shitload for a house.
I run my 1800 sq ft house on a 9k. Now, that takes some know-how and we can't just completely live like nothing is happening. I have to start everything in a certain order to get it all online, and I have to manage the central air switching manually, but I have about $700 in my whole home generator setup. For something that gets used for a couple hours every 10 years, it's fine.
Posted on 10/14/25 at 10:55 am to Dale Murphy
I spent about $5k buying a 13kw trifuel generator, having a 50amp line run to the side of my house, running a 1" gas line, and moving a few breakers between panels. My generator runs on nat gas and powers all of the essentials in my house. I had two panels - the generator can only power what's on one of them, hence the moving of breakers. Soft start wouldn't work on my a/c for some reason which is a wrench in that part of my plan, but otherwise I think this is a great way to do it. That said, if you have the $, it's awfully convenient when those whole home generators just kick on automatically 
Posted on 10/14/25 at 2:00 pm to Dale Murphy
Maybe consider isolating your emergency loads to an emergency panel. It's not that difficult, then have the generator sized for your emergency circuits.
Posted on 10/14/25 at 2:29 pm to Dale Murphy
quote:
Both generate 26k.
In order to get more than 12k with a portable is by installing dual 50A generator inlets, even that limits you to 24k
Posted on 10/14/25 at 10:21 pm to DVinBR
Somebody told me I had to put a 200amp transfer switch but I have that firman that we all bought off eBay 5 years ago. Was that necessary? I see yall saying you have 30-50 amp and I’m not confident this firman can even run an AC
Posted on 10/15/25 at 5:56 am to baseballmind1212
quote:
You could easily get a big portable tri fuel (Duramax sells a 15kw) with a short ft start on your AC unit and run your whole house.
This is exactly what I have.
It helps if your water heater and stove are natural gas.
Posted on 10/15/25 at 9:18 am to Dale Murphy
I use a predator 8250 inverter gen to run my whole house. 2800 sq foot house. One ac on bedroom side and one on living. Hard start kits in both. I alternate running them. Everything else in the house is gas.
Posted on 10/16/25 at 7:48 am to Dale Murphy
For my modest (1,500+sf) home I use two separate setups for when the power goes out. I have a WEN gas 4,250 watt generator that I connect to an interlock that powers everything in the house except the AC unit. I also have an Ecoflow Delta Pro that is connected to a six circuit transfer switch. This is powered by four solar panels that are on my shed. I use this on sunny days suppling power to those six circuits. This system is easily expandable with battery storage and solar panels. I can also charge the Delta Pro with my generator. I have a smaller Ecoflow Delta 2 just in case. All of this cost about $6,000.
I switched my electric stove and water heater to propane over a year ago. My plan for an extended power outage is to use the generator during the daytime and the Delta Pro during the nighttime. At some point I plan on getting a dual powered generator and an additional propane tank just for it.
I switched my electric stove and water heater to propane over a year ago. My plan for an extended power outage is to use the generator during the daytime and the Delta Pro during the nighttime. At some point I plan on getting a dual powered generator and an additional propane tank just for it.
This post was edited on 10/16/25 at 7:53 am
Posted on 10/16/25 at 7:52 am to RetiredSaintsLsuFan
quote:
I also have n Ecoflow Delta Pro that is connected to a six circuit transfer switch. This is powered by four solar panels that are on my shed. I use this on sunny days suppling power to those six circuits. This system is easily expandable with my power storage. I can also charge the Delta Pro with my generator. I also have a smaller Ecoflow Delta 2 just in case. All of this cost about $6,000.
This awesome haha
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