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re: How much are you paying for a full home generator? Sizing and pricing question.
Posted on 6/15/22 at 4:24 pm to Bayou
Posted on 6/15/22 at 4:24 pm to Bayou
quote:
During emergency time with power out for a few days (barring the exception of Laura or Ida) why is it so vital for people to power everything in their house?
Mine was already installed when we bought the house 3yrs ago. Since then we have averaged an outage over 4hrs at least once a month, a lot of times they tend to be a lot longer. Entergy just finished a major upgrade and it seems to be better but if mine went out tomorrow I would have a new one on order immediately.
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Posted on 6/15/22 at 4:58 pm to Bayou
quote:
why is it so vital for people to power everything in their house? Save money with a transfer switch and power what you need. 10's of thousands more $$$ doesn't make sense.
You’re basically buying insurance for 20-30 years later that you will have emergency power at-the-ready. With my wife and kids, a coworker called it “the price of peace and quiet” and in that respect it’s worth just going ahead and getting the Cadillac setup.
The biggest advantages I can see with a standby generator over a portable are the ability to power the whole house, the automatic transfer, and getting rid of the need to haul out the equipment. If someone doesn’t mind the delay of bringing out the equipment and doing the transfer manually, then it may be worth it to save money and get the portable. It’s a weighing of pro and con like anything else.
Having lived with my Honeywell 20kW for almost a year, I like that the transfer is quick and seamless and the transfer back to the utility is barely noticeable. It requires a lot less input for the user compared to a portable with a manual switch.
Posted on 6/15/22 at 5:25 pm to dewster
My neighbor is getting one this week. Not sure of size. His house is maybe 1800sf. Paid $6500 for generator. $14k for install.
Posted on 6/15/22 at 5:48 pm to bapple
quote:
To get a basic understanding of your electrical loading, there should be a nameplate on every electrical device showing its data. If you have a watt rating on the nameplate, that is your loading right there. If you have amps, multiply by 240V or 120V (depending on your source voltage) to get watts. This will give you a starting point to estimate the size you'll need.
I’m about 2 years away from getting one (need to replace a/c & compressor first due to their age); but do you factor in everything coming online at once to have a safety buffer for the off chance it happens? Or, is there a logical assumption that some items (fridge, freezer) would be a one time start up?
Posted on 6/15/22 at 8:04 pm to dewster
I just got quoted 11k for a 20kw installed.....Kohler.
Posted on 6/15/22 at 8:23 pm to dlmast87
quote:
I just got quoted 11k for a 20kw installed.....Kohler.
Where?
I’m in Nola and that same generator is being quoted $15k installed.
Generator and ATS is ~$6300, aluminum stand and concrete pad is maybe another $1000, battery And other misc parts maybe another $500.
So another $6500 for a day of work between plumber and electrician? Some of these numbers are stupid. Permit requirements may make me get another survey…$750.
A friend had a 27kW liquid cooled installed a few years ago for $15k. That same thing would be $21k at these install prices.
Posted on 6/15/22 at 9:36 pm to Weekend Warrior79
quote:
I’m about 2 years away from getting one (need to replace a/c & compressor first due to their age); but do you factor in everything coming online at once to have a safety buffer for the off chance it happens? Or, is there a logical assumption that some items (fridge, freezer) would be a one time start up?
The inrush of the compressors from your fridges and freezers will pale in comparison to your A/C compressors so I'll just focus on those since they are much larger electrical loads.
Under normal operating conditions when connected to the utility, the chances of your A/C compressors starting at the exact same time is very slim. But if you think about it from the perspective of losing/restoring power, the chances increase quite a bit so you have to have some equipment with features to prevent it.
Overall, I think there are 3 ways you can do it:
1. I know for sure that Honeywell WiFi smart thermostats have a 5-10 minute delay once power is restored. So if your power goes out and you have two units with the same type of Honeywell thermostat, they may kick back on simultaneously. A thermostat with the ability to adjust this setting would be a way to stagger them (not sure if the Honeywell can do it or not). Or if you purchase two different types of thermostats that have different default settings that could stagger the startup too.
2. I have an Emerson Sureswitch solid state contactor that has brownout protection. I'm not sure if it's an adjustable setting but I know it will prevent the compressor from firing back up quickly after power is restored. (reference: LINK & LINK) You may be able to contact the manufacturer and ask if this setting is adjustable.
3. I have a MicroAir soft starter on both of my units that can connect to your phone via bluetooth. In the app it allows you to adjust the time delay setting when power is restored. One unit in my house is set on 3 minutes of delay and the other is on 5 minutes of delay. ( LINK) Obviously the soft starter's main purpose is to lessen the jolt on the compressor and generator during startup but it also has some other cool features like this setting.
If I had to guess, there is probably a module of some sort available from the generator manufacturers to prevent simultaneous startup of your A/C compressors but I haven't looked into it deeply. That might be something you could ask an installer to see.
Posted on 6/16/22 at 9:41 am to Finnish
quote:
Where?
Probably doesn't do you much good but Ohio. We don't have the threats like you guys do but we had a derecho roll through Tuesday night that made us pull the trigger. The threat of ice storms has also been a concern for us.
Posted on 6/16/22 at 10:15 pm to dewster
I bought. 22kw generac with the transfer switch for a little over 5k 2 years ago. I bought the generac power cable that is color coded with every wire u need to connect everything which cost me roughly $1k for 120 feet of it. Poured my own slab for the generator. For a total cost of about $6200 it was complete
Posted on 6/16/22 at 11:00 pm to Skeeterzx190
quote:
I bought. 22kw generac with the transfer switch for a little over 5k 2 years ago. I bought the generac power cable that is color coded with every wire u need to connect everything which cost me roughly $1k for 120 feet of it. Poured my own slab for the generator. For a total cost of about $6200 it was complete
I would do this, except for permits.
Posted on 6/17/22 at 6:44 am to dewster
The Generac website will let you type in all your appliances etc. and give you an estimated size. I had a 22KW with a transfer switch installed 4 years ago for around 9K. I have a 5ton and 3ton AC with soft starters, an Electric washer, two fridges, a freezer, and a mini-split. I can run everything at once. Now as for the price increase, I would pay 20K to have one before something like IDA happens again. Not fighting for gasoline 1 time was amazing. Mine ran for 18 days straight only shutting down to change the oil every 4 days and my gas bill was $460!!! That's a deal.
Posted on 6/17/22 at 7:46 am to dewster
Step up and get the liquid cooled. Look back at the threads where all the air cooled units were shutting down after a few days of running. It is hard to air cool a stationary object when the air being sucked in is 100 degrees .
Posted on 6/17/22 at 8:21 am to dewster
If it helps you with what size generator to get…. My home has been added on to since original build. So we ended up with 3 a/c units. I have 2700 sq ft home
With 3 ac units and during power outages we went on with normal daily power needs without issues. Obviously you would consider load management. During heat of the day when all ac units would be running I would
Avoid dryer and oven use when possible. Although during long term outages we had no choice and 22kw handled with no problem.
With 3 ac units and during power outages we went on with normal daily power needs without issues. Obviously you would consider load management. During heat of the day when all ac units would be running I would
Avoid dryer and oven use when possible. Although during long term outages we had no choice and 22kw handled with no problem.
Posted on 6/17/22 at 12:21 pm to dewster
42K water cooled Gillette unit just finished getting installed today (ordered around November- 200a transfer panel was backordered for 6 months)
Probably could have gone with a smaller model, but this one was supposed to ship a bit faster, and they jump from around 24Kw to 42kW.
Unit sits on a pair of cement parking blocks on gravel, probably 6 ft from gas and 6ft from electric.
All in was $26K
Probably could have gone with a smaller model, but this one was supposed to ship a bit faster, and they jump from around 24Kw to 42kW.
Unit sits on a pair of cement parking blocks on gravel, probably 6 ft from gas and 6ft from electric.
All in was $26K
Posted on 6/17/22 at 12:41 pm to tiger626
quote:
Step up and get the liquid cooled. Look back at the threads where all the air cooled units were shutting down after a few days of running. It is hard to air cool a stationary object when the air being sucked in is 100 degrees .
It seems like most of those issues were with Generac units, some of the other manufacturers have better forced air cooling designs. Also, many of those problems were the result of having a generator that was rated only slightly more than the load it was powering. Based on actual measurements, and the online sizing calculators a 14 KW generator would have been sufficient to run my house, but I installed a 20KW. With the AC going the generator is only operating at 60% capacity.
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