# Whole Home Standby Generators



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Does anyone have a whole home standby generator? If so, what brand?

There is a lot of love/hate for Generac, but I think that's because they have like 75% of the residential standby generator market share - so more people naturally have an opinion about them.

Kohler and Cummins seem to be the contenders. Honeywell is a rebranded Generac. There is also Briggs & Stratton, but didn't they file for bankruptcy protection earlier this year?

Between COVID, hurricanes, wildfires and everything else going on this year, it looks like every brand is experiencing extended lead times.

We're building our new house "generator-ready" with the natural gas drop and space reserved for a genset and automatic transfer switch, but haven't pulled the trigger on buying one yet.


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I do not own one, because they are very expensive for what they offer, and are often underutilized.

It really depends on the infrastructure in the area surrounding your home, and grid vulnerability.

I deliberately chose a house with all underground utilities, and close proximity to a substation.

I have four neighbors who bought Generac whole home natty gas sets. About $7000 a pop....

They have almost never used them. We lose power when new homes get energized, mostly.

The other power outages last only a few minutes. We never lost power in Hurricane Harvey...(!)

My take: I would rather have a portable generator for emergencies and an off-grid power source.

Then I would use the $5000 price difference to either buy something I want, or invest that money....

But if you are out in the country, a dedicated whole home system would be worth that investment.


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## Jgourley124 (Feb 21, 2019)

John,

I did extensive research and spoke with many qualified electricians and they almost always said Generac. One reason was because they are the mostly readily available in my area via supply houses and their service in my area is better then Koehler and Cummins.

I have a 2300sq/ft house with all NG appliances and according to a few load calculators and electricians I needed a 9000KW continuous running unit. I opted for the 13KW #7174 with the automatic transfer switch. I went 4KW over the calculated rate just for the area of expandability. The WiFi module was also a nice selling point for me, being able to see the status of the generator if I'm not home and power goes out.

A couple things most people wont tell you, is they have an automatic test mode. Every once in a while the unit will start up on its on at low RPM and run a test cycle for 5-10 minutes. The oil should be checked and changed every so often. They are noisy just like a portable generator, I wouldn't say as loud because of the covering but they will be an annoyance.

Since your new house will be generator ready, most of the hard work is done. I was in total $7000 for my unit. The cost was mostly the electrician and the fee for having the utility company shut the main incoming to my house. I was able todo the plumbing since that's my normal job.

Knock on wood I haven't had to use it yet, we normally only loose power in the summer months during hurricanes and hardly in the winter. When the power does go out, we will be living in style. Having to go through the summer months last year with no A/C for 3-4 days made me make the switch. Hope this helps.


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## Tinsmith292 (Oct 2, 2018)

I had a Generac when we lived up in Michigan . Was the best thing we ever bought for the house. It will test itself every week for about 10 minutes if I remember correctly. You will need to change the oil once a year and the battery every 2 years. You will also notice your gas bill will be higher when that bad boy runs but the peace of mind is well worth it. I was always worried about the sump pump but with the whole house generator no worries.


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## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

After three storms this summer with resulting power outages and realizing the infrastructure around here is in horrible shape, I pulled to the trigger on a generator. Every installer here pushes Kohler, and yes, expect extended delivery times due to the weather in the gulf region. I ordered last September and delivery is expected in December. I'm not keen on the idea of installing it with a foot of snow on the ground though.

The generator sucks a huge amount of nat gas. The electrician says it requires a gas meter with a 250 cu ft per sec rating. I had to call the gas company to get my meter upgraded. The label on it said it was only 175 cfps. That was another $200 to get done. So make sure you have adequate gas flow for it.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

@Jgourley124 and @Tinsmith292 10-4 on all points.

My in-laws have a 20kW Generac. It isn't needed a lot, but it is one of those things that is sure nice to have when the power is interrupted. Our biggest threats around here are spring storms/tornados and occasional ice storms in the winter. Being in a rural area means most people are further away from substations and most electric is overhead.

Generac definitely has the market share here where I live, so as much as I like a few of the features of the other brands, that's probably the way I'll go.

To @FlowRider's point, it is probably not worth the cost for a lot of people, but I think you could say that about a lot of the things members of this site purchase. 

I work for a natural gas utility, so it's obviously one of the end uses of our product that we like to promote. And as you can imagine, there will be a lot of other natural gas appliances in our home.

Planning for one (even if we don't purchase right away) on the front end of a new construction project is definitely the way to go. It is really going to help minimize the installation costs. The genset will sit directly behind our electric panels, adjacent to the meter base, so wiring distances will be very short. The plumbers made the gas drop last week while piping the rest of our house, so that's not going to cost us any more than the drop for a the BBQ grill. The genset will be next to our A/C condensing units, so the cost for a pad will essentially just be the extra concrete when that time comes.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

****o1 said:


> ...The generator sucks a huge amount of nat gas. The electrician says it requires a gas meter with a 250 cu ft per sec rating. I had to call the gas company to get my meter upgraded. The label on it said it was only 175 cfps. That was another $200 to get done. So make sure you have adequate gas flow for it.


Good point. What size generator are you installing? A 20 kW generator will use around 300 cfh at full load. Every utility's rate structure is different, but we typically do not charge our customers when they request a bigger meter (i.e. cash register). 

Natural gas rates vary by region/commodity prices too, but using our current residential rates that 20 kW generator that uses 300 cfh at full load will cost about $2.50/hr to operate. That could be up to $60/day, but keep in mind it's probably not going to be running at full load 24/7.

Portable generators are much cheaper option on the front end, but they come with the added hassle of hauling/storing fuel, dragging out cords, etc. Definitely doable, but not something my wife would want to be doing if I was out of town, or if something ever happens to me.


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## Uk0724 (May 1, 2019)

I have a 22kw Generac on natural gas. I installed in in 2018 and it has been used for about 30 hours. It test every Saturday at noon. During the 30 hours it ran, the NG bill went up approx. $20. I have gas heat and water. It ran everything just fine. I selected the 22kw based on the kw of the transformer out front that services my house. I think being NG it decreases to 19kw.

I put it next to the gas meter and it was about $150 to hook up. Then ran about 100 ft of copper to the meter base.

I got the WiFi version...dont waste your $500. It was useless. WOnt stay connected and the app doesn't really tell you anything. In order for a Generac to work, you have to call and get a code. That gives them an easement to call you constantly trying to sell you warranty and other junk. Just fyi...worst thing about my generator so far.


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## ocean-front (Jun 21, 2020)

We have a 22KW Generac for approximately 2500 sqft.My neighbor has a 20KW for approximately 5500 sq ft and a 3 story home.She left for a hurricane and didn't turn anything off,all 4 A/C units running etc.Both of us use a 125 gallon propane tank, hers ran for 14 days till she ran out of gas.I am a lot less load and we calculated It to be about a month of run time and living day to day as usual.Needed it once during a storm and it did a great job and we have had no issues to date.It was the first thing I had installed when we bought this house and I would not hesitate to do it again.I also put a separate filtration system in the garage to backed feed the house from my artisan well.Ice and AC are very important for moral!


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

ocean-front said:


> We have a 22KW Generac for approximately 2500 sqft.My neighbor has a 20KW for approximately 5500 sq ft and a 3 story home.She left for a hurricane and didn't turn anything off,all 4 A/C units running etc.Both of us use a 125 gallon propane tank, hers ran for 14 days till she ran out of gas.I am a lot less load and we calculated It to be about a month of run time and living day to day as usual.Needed it once during a storm and it did a great job and we have had no issues to date.It was the first thing I had installed when we bought this house and I would not hesitate to do it again.I also put a separate filtration system in the garage to backed feed the house from my artisan well.Ice and AC are very important for moral!


That's pretty impressive considering Generac claims both of those units use over 2 gal/hr at half load, and closer to 4 gal/hr at full load.


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## massgrass (Aug 17, 2017)

My mom had a 22 Kw Generac installed last year. She lives in an area that loses power a few times a year, so my brother and I were able to talk her into pulling the trigger on one. It was very difficult getting a contractor to return her calls (even after they stopped by to do an initial assessment), so she did end up paying a premium.

My dad was always too cheap to spend money on something like this, so when they lost power a few years ago I had to drive to their house and pick them up in a blizzard so they wouldn't freeze in their house or spend a few days sleeping on cots in a shelter. I certainly sleep a lot better at night knowing that my mom will have heat and power the next time a winter storm knocks out the power for a few days.


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## dpainter68 (Apr 26, 2017)

I've had a Generac Guardian 22kw for a couple years now. I'm on propane and have a 500 gallon tank (wish I would've went with a 1000 gallon tank just in case). Never had any problems with it. I've only needed it twice for short periods of time, but I'm glad I had it.


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## TheE (Feb 3, 2019)

@Ware, I really like your idea of planning for the future and having your new home "generator-ready".

I do not understand the following; can you please explain a little more so hopefully I can make better sense of it.

"with the natural gas drop and space reserved for a genset and automatic transfer switch,"


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

TheE said:


> @Ware, I really like your idea of planning for the future and having your new home "generator-ready".
> 
> I do not understand the following; can you please explain a little more so hopefully I can make better sense of it.
> 
> "with the natural gas drop and space reserved for a genset and automatic transfer switch,"


Sure - I don't have any photos, but while the plumber was there running the gas piping for other appliances (furnaces, water heater, dryer, logs, etc.), I just had them run adequate size pipe over to the exterior wall and stub out in the vicinity of where the generator will be.

This location is right behind my 200A service panels in the garage, adjacent to where my electric meter base will be on the exterior wall.

The air conditioner condensing units will be outside along the same wall, so when we pour the concrete pad for those we'll just extend it enough to accommodate the standby generator with proper clearances.

So when we buy the generator and automatic transfer switch, everything will be there. The plumber will just have to come back and connect the gas from where we stubbed out of the wall, and the electrician will mount and wire up the automatic transfer switch. The wiring runs will be minimal since the meter base, panels, generator, and automatic transfer switch will all be in the same location.

Where some generator installs can get expensive is if the gas piping or wiring runs are long - i.e. gas meter at one end of the house and electric panels at the other. By planning ahead we are able to minimize those distances.


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## ocean-front (Jun 21, 2020)

Good morning Ware,when you get your gen set get extra keys made for your enclosure.You can put a set inside your transfer switch box so when you need to change oil etc you know where the keys are.I have a box in the closet with all the keys to the house but it makes it easier when they are in there for the service tech....and you don't have to remember where you put them.CRS is a real thing!!Another thing you may have already have considered is putting your set on a raised platform.Mine is 36 inches high because of storm surge but it makes it easier to do maintenance when you can stand up as well as keeping water or snow from building up around the air vents.Little things that make life easier.


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## TheE (Feb 3, 2019)

Ware said:


> TheE said:
> 
> 
> > @Ware, I really like your idea of planning for the future and having your new home "generator-ready".
> ...


Great! Makes perfect sense - thank you, sir.


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