Whole home standby generators - best brand?

Knowing nothing about home standby generators, why does the board push the Kohlers?

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There is a reason people in the industry refer to them as Generjunk. The generator end is not where you will most likely have problems, it is the engine and controls where most problems happen. Kohler will be much more reliable in that area. I’d rather have an engine company who makes a generator vs a generator company who makes an engine.

Thanks for the input. Unsure if I’m ready to put that much money into a water cooled unit if we end up upgrading homes in a few years but the water cooled units seem great.

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you can get two EU3000’s, an ATS and a parallel cable for less than 5 grand

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how many central units and appliances could this set up handle?

a single EU3000 is 3KW
run in parallel two will get you about 5KW

it won’t run your 15 tons or whatever of AC but it will run everything else and you could get some window units that it will run. It’s all about your budget. I agree with the guys saying that a generac large enough to power your house would be a poor investment, particularly for a rare event like an extended power outage

at that size you want a water cooled propane or diesel unit

Much appreciated. Looks like we will likely be without power for a couple of months, according to an engineer with entergy.

The correct way to size a generator is to turn everything on you want the generator to run. Have someone measure the amps and from this you can size the generator.

Most generators are rated using propane as fuel, if using NG expect a 10-15% drop in available KW. Cummings is the only generator I know of who rates theirs using NG. Generators turn either 3500 or 1800 rpm. There are advantages to a 1800rpm generator. Many generators companies will not honor the warranty unless a dealer runs it the first time. You will want to research dealers who give good service.

I have a 25kw water cooled Cummings generator 8' from my bed room wall. It's no problem sleeping when it is running.

Mine is a 30 KW early 70’s Onan (pre Cummins) water cooled. Still running strong with only regular maintenance and one 300.00 control board replacement in its lifetime. I think it at somewhere around 2800 hours now.

When I decide to get one it will be a Kohler.