re: Price for a Generac home generator

Amazon has a 15kw for $5K and 22kw for $6,300. Both units come with the transfer switch, but both units are air cooled. Spend a little more money and get the water cooled.

Running a gas line can get expensive if you have to go far.

I had a 22kw installed about 3 months ago in NW FLA. My outside panel was already set-up and I already had a natural gas line close to the install spot. It was 10K but that is for a manual start-up. An auto start would have been probably another 3K.

Home standby generators are only as good as the company that maintains and services them. If you want to purchase one online you had better go to school and learn how to repair them because I assure you your local company will not make any repairs you need a priority.

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Just go with a portable and back feed it...

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This. Ran a 7000w during the last outage.
It covered a window unit AC, freezer, fridge, and the TV.
How much comfort do you really need beyond that?

Just put in a 24k Generac. About 14k but I had the transfer switch installed when I built the house.

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I have a roughly 1,420 sqft townhome.

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You need someone to go look and see if its even possible and if your landlord/HOA will even allow it.

I considered a Generac, but couldn't justify the cost when I hadn't even had to start my Honda generator in 3 years. (Ida)

should I invest in a generator or do I use the money to fund another travel ball baseball season? those bats aren't cheap

Granted Houston has gone through some stuff this summer but companies were quoting 2 - 3 months out after ordering.

We got a 24kw Kohler installed for $16k. We also had to update our electrical panel which was another $9k. Most people need the gas meter upgraded too.

Just an anecdote with a caveat that this was not in an area with prolonged power outages.

I have Installed hundreds, of backup generator systems in the US, Europe, Mexico and multiple Carribean countries. Not residential systems but industrial and commercial systems. I have done this as an electrician and a contractor. I have installed systems designed by others and I have installed systems I have designed. I do DOD consulting to this day in this industry. I do not and would not have a system at my house because they are too damned expensive and maintenance is extensive. It is more than most home owners will keep up with and the systems are notoriously unreliable when not maintained properly.

I designed and installed a system for a rural county in north Georgia years ago at the emergency communication center. They had a very nice Vietnam era trailer mounted diesel 40KW 480/277 volt 3 phase generator with a transformer and 400 amp 120/208V 3 phase panel. This thing had been maintained by the Georgia National Guard since it was given to the county in the early 90's. During the design process I asked what they wanted to do with the generator. They said they wanted it hauled off. I asked the National Guard about it and they did not want it. I carried it to my house. I installed that generator and automatic transfer switch. Had enough power to power most of the neighborhood if I wanted to do so. It ran like a top and was relatively easy to maintain. It was a very nice system.

We sold that house without every doing anything with that generator other than exercising it monthly under a load. I disconnected the system and sold it for $30k. Did not install it for that. Our next house we did not have a system. We had an ice storm and lost power for 10 days. I used a 4500 watt contractor portable generator the entire time, backfeeding the main breaker and lifting the grounded conductor. It required turning brakers on and off and I did have to re-land the neutral after the power was restored. I would not have a system attached to my house, I would use a portable and drop cords. They are expensive and require lots of maintenance that most people do not do and the wind up in the same shape as people without a generator. Just my $.02 cents worth of advice.