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  • TDuhe87

    PADUE
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Oct 17, 2012
    86
    8
    Prairieville
    In the market for a stand by home generator to run on natural gas Just seeing what yall have installed and how you like it. Any major issues with any brands. I have heard some horror stories on a couple of them.I have gotten quotes on Generac, Briggs and Stratton, Kohler, Honeywell, and GE. Also looking for a company to install it. I live in the Dutchtown area. Any input is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks
     

    mforsta

    Pops
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Jun 25, 2012
    494
    28
    Denham Springs
    I just had a 22kw Generac installed by Optimize. Could not have asked for a better experience with whole deal, sales, pre-install inspection, installation and followup setup. The installation was spot on. They bury all on the utilities, gas line and electrical. I don't have all of the pipes and electrical conduit hanging on the side of my house. I had a horrible experience with the sales team at GenPro. They did not come out for a site visit and just sent a quote via email with no explanation. I then get a call from them about a week later asking me if I need a quote. I explained that I had gotten a quote from Scott, one of owners, and the sale person informed me Scott would be calling me back. That was in March, still haven't gotten that call.
     

    Emperor

    Seriously Misunderstood!
    Rating - 100%
    11   0   0
    Mar 7, 2011
    8,376
    113
    Nether region
    I have an Olympian 35kw by Caterpillar. It is an absolute beast! It was pricey! It is kind of large. They have smaller ones.

    It was not a drop-down and quick-connect to transfer case snap. I had to pour a slab at the electrical boxes, had to run 2 inch gas pipe underground all way the around the back of my house (from original gas meter), needed a separate gas regulator at the site, genset needed to be lifted off of trailer with small backhoe, and had to hire a plumber, an electrician, and Cat did everything else. But that is what I wanted!

    Pros: Can run everything (and I mean everything), electrical in my entire house at full amperage draw effortlessly; with plenty of power left over to share with neighbors if necessary. Very low gas consumption. Very Quiet. Very low maintenance (with some exceptions). Worth every penny I paid! Particularly during Gustav.

    Cons: Very proprietary! Caterpillar wants way too much money to service their equipment. I cancelled my yearly service contract with them after only 3 years in because every time they came out it cost $700. All they did was change oil, and filters. When you need parts, it is a pain in the ass with Caterpillar. Other generator service companies are not skilled enough to work on these Gensets. So now I do everything myself. I have learned how to interpret and fix fault codes and issues related to them by necessity. However, if my EMP (motherboard), goes out I will need Cat and I am certain they will charge a lot.

    I went big and all in, from jump street. Overkill? Not to me. I am VERY satisfied with this thing. In fact, when I move, I am taking it with me, unless getting another new one is less headache. I see that Generac must have sent a sales team to my neighborhood after Gustav, because I was the only person that had power during that one. Afterwards, I saw plenty of Generacs in my hood.

    If you are looking for a small generator investment under $10,000, Caterpillar is not for you.
     

    astronut

    *Banned*
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 25, 2019
    40
    6
    anywhere at a moments notice
    A lot of the local residences in my area have some type of Generac stand by generator or another. My self, I have a wheeled portable Champion generator that I can hook up to my home and run the essential things to save food, run window a/c units, ceiling fans, fridge, freezer, microwave, etc. Plus, I can use it for other things when needed since it is not permanetly mounted and can be moved to where I need it to use it. I suggest you decide what is most important to your use and choose accordingly.
     
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    cyclone1970

    Oldie
    Premium Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    May 10, 2014
    408
    43
    Covington LA
    I just had a 22kw Generac installed by Optimize. Could not have asked for a better experience with whole deal, sales, pre-install inspection, installation and followup setup. The installation was spot on. They bury all on the utilities, gas line and electrical. I don't have all of the pipes and electrical conduit hanging on the side of my house. I had a horrible experience with the sales team at GenPro. They did not come out for a site visit and just sent a quote via email with no explanation. I then get a call from them about a week later asking me if I need a quote. I explained that I had gotten a quote from Scott, one of owners, and the sale person informed me Scott would be calling me back. That was in March, still haven't gotten that call.

    I also have a Generac 22kw genset running on natural gas. My electrician, a very trustworthy guy who did my whole house, recommended Pan American Power in Covington. The electrician cautioned me about the importance of getting a company with a good relationship with the Generac company for installation and service. Apparently that is where some of the bad reports about Generac come from.

    If you can afford it, get a genset that uses a water cooled automobile type engine.That is what I have. I have had mine for over five years and have had no problems at all. I do pay the $350 annual service contract which includes oil changes and other inspections & services, however.

    The smaller units are air cooled. As has been noted by numerous sources, comparing water cooled to air cooled gensets is like comparing your automobile engine to your lawn mower engine. My wife gave up an Alaskan cruise that she wanted to go on with some of our friends to get a generator. She insisted that if she gave up the cruise, our generator must be big enough to run darn near every electrical device at once for a long time, and it does just that.
     
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    Ninja Defender

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Apr 25, 2019
    26
    1
    Baton Rouge, LA
    I finally broke down last year and got a portable generator. I picked a Firman 3650 watt unit, just something to run the window unit and fridge. I didn't have anything for Gustav or for the '16 flood. I lost power for several days for both events and it was pretty miserable. After '16, I got serious about looking for something so the outages are a bit more bearable.

    Of course, the downside is that you have to have fuel for it. If you don't want to keep a large supply of gasoline in the garage, then you have to be able to predict when a storm might hit and stock up then. Typically, my area doesn't lose power for longer than a few days, and it's not hard to stretch gasoline at least that long. If an outage lasts for longer than a week, then that's going to be a problem as fuel will likely not be easily available.
     

    noob

    enthusiast
    Silver Member
    Rating - 100%
    41   0   0
    Mar 18, 2008
    4,284
    48
    New Orleans
    I have a wheeled 5k watt generator that was given to me. I thought about buying a whole home generator but my wealth management guy strongly urged me not to get one. Basically for 30k, plus yearly maintenance, I can stay at a 4-5 star hotel for many months if I ever have to. And realistically I’ll RARELY need to use it. I’ve lived in my neighborhood 6 years now, and the absolute longest I’ve gone without electricity is 2 hours. Maybe 1-2 times a year it till go out for 5 min, outside of that it’s rare to go out. Our wires are underground and the Entergy guy lives in a neighborhood on the same grid so he makes sure it stays up.
     

    twinin

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    May 5, 2017
    952
    43
    Houma
    I have a Generac 20kw Air Cooled for a few years now. It has been issue free so far. Runs the whole house. You really are paying for the ease and convenience of whenever you have to use it, but wow 30k. I could do the whole block for that much
     

    noob

    enthusiast
    Silver Member
    Rating - 100%
    41   0   0
    Mar 18, 2008
    4,284
    48
    New Orleans
    I have a Generac 20kw Air Cooled for a few years now. It has been issue free so far. Runs the whole house. You really are paying for the ease and convenience of whenever you have to use it, but wow 30k. I could do the whole block for that much

    That’s what I was quoted for whole home, everything running in the house (2 ac units, my 2 fridges and 1 freezer, etc). It was mid 20’s for air cooled, and this was including installation and everything involved with *hiding* the unit per HOA’s
     

    twinin

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    23   0   0
    May 5, 2017
    952
    43
    Houma
    That’s what I was quoted for whole home, everything running in the house (2 ac units, my 2 fridges and 1 freezer, etc). It was mid 20’s for air cooled, and this was including installation and everything involved with *hiding* the unit per HOA’s

    Gotcha. Yeah, that makes everything more expensive
     

    usmc-nav

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    50   0   0
    Feb 19, 2008
    1,224
    48
    Baton Rouge
    I thought about a whole house unit but economically it doesn’t make sense. My neighborhood has underground power. In the 20 years I have lived here we have had extended power outage, not 2-3 hours here and there, for maybe 10-15 days over the years. So if you divide 20,000 by 15 you get a daily cost of
    1,333.00 per day for power.

    I bought a small 7500 generator and had a separate hookup wired into the house by an electrician and have less than 1500 invested. Only weakness is fuel during extended outage.
     

    Sig220

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    May 22, 2014
    175
    18
    Bridge City,TX
    During the rebuilding of my house and shop in 2009 (Thanks, Hurricane Ike) I decided to purchase a whole house genset. I picked up a 18K NG Generac with the automatic switch panel and installed it myself. My wife was initially against the purchase, but quickly came over to my side. We can leave home without worrying about coming home to a freezer full of ruined food, we can sleep without worrying about the power knocking out the AC! Here if you don't have AC you have a sauna and the mosquits keep you from opening a window here!

    The whole purchase/installation was done for less then 3K, in 10 years it has only ran about 5 times due to power outages. I change oil yearly, unless it runs for more then a couple of hours and then it gets changed after a event. Had to change the start up battery once in 10 years. Looking back, it was the BEST purchase/decision I made during out rebuild (we got flooded). The repayment has been made through worry relief!

    I ran a portable genset during the ice freeze in 1997 for a week. We were the only house in our neighborhood that had power for heat, freezers/fridges and lights. Had to swap out freezers during its use to keep all frozen w/o over taxing the genset. It required refilling with gasoline every 6 hours....around the clock. I was a tired bunny when the power came on but in better shape then most. Now the problems I faced in refueling, long time running a genset are addressed with the NG powered Generac.
    Peace of mind! My cost averaged out is less then $300. per year, now.
     

    Ninja Defender

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Apr 25, 2019
    26
    1
    Baton Rouge, LA
    Long term power outages are pretty rare here, so it's hard to justify whole-house generators based on how much they cost. But, when those outages do occur, it's not hard to understand how priceless they become.
     

    340six

    -Global Mod-
    Staff member
    Premium Member
    Rating - 100%
    5   0   0
    Apr 12, 2012
    6,499
    113
    Kenner, La
    Got 3
    15 hp Briggs Tri fuel
    3500 Honda,Gasoline
    1175 Honda Gasoline

    I have less than that. I have a,4000watt 1993 Briggs cast iron 8hp.
    Everything here other than the A/C is,gas. So all the large stuff is gas. I ran the whole home with my 6.5 days with low fuel message when the power was out in what was it 2008 or 9? The Hurracane damaged the lines from spilwayi to Kenner Jefferson. 1st 3 days,balls to wall 24 7 then off at night. But had all lights ceiling fans. TV as have free air and was only one who had TV. So Lights fans TV fridge freezer could take hot showers cook surf the net everything. Cooked for the hood had everyone's phones charging even had guest staying in the spare room who had a cold mini fridge and foot ball on their TV.
    With my small square footage I could do it all with 8-10 whole home. But have not.
    I would just get a better gas one. Do solar with battery back up instead and get more bang for my buck.
     

    Gator 45/70

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    31   0   0
    I have less than that. I have a,4000watt 1993 Briggs cast iron 8hp.
    Everything here other than the A/C is,gas. So all the large stuff is gas. I ran the whole home with my 6.5 days with low fuel message when the power was out in what was it 2008 or 9? The Hurracane damaged the lines from spilwayi to Kenner Jefferson. 1st 3 days,balls to wall 24 7 then off at night. But had all lights ceiling fans. TV as have free air and was only one who had TV. So Lights fans TV fridge freezer could take hot showers cook surf the net everything. Cooked for the hood had everyone's phones charging even had guest staying in the spare room who had a cold mini fridge and foot ball on their TV.
    With my small square footage I could do it all with 8-10 whole home. But have not.
    I would just get a better gas one. Do solar with battery back up instead and get more bang for my buck.

    Ran the 15 Brigg for 3 day's after Katrina,Humping gasoline to feed it, Had plenty of neighbors wanting to come suck-up my BTU's.
    Told the women and children to come inside,Told the men to go hustle up some gas if they wanted to cool off....After that
    cluster I converted it to triple-fuel,Ran 13 hr.s on nat-gas for the 2008? storm.

    After that had to bring it down to Terrebonne parish to power up the in-laws.....Who finally got off their azz and got their own set-up.

    Picked up the small Honda for powering up a party barge IF I get a spot on Toledo

    Picked up the EM-3500X Honda for the camp.

    Love me some Honda Generators!!!
     

    buttanic

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 2, 2010
    1,254
    63
    LaPlace, LA
    The advantage of a portable generator is, get ready, it's portable, if I need to power where there isn't any I can take it with me.
     

    DWT

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 100%
    39   0   0
    Jun 9, 2008
    641
    16
    New Orleans
    I just purchased a 16Kw Generac natural gas system w. auto transfer switch from Mr. Sparkey. Installation was smooth and professional w. no delays. Total price, $10,200.00. Generac now offers an optional wifi monitoring service for their generators, but I have not seen a need for it.
     

    Markmmg

    Well-Known Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 12, 2010
    152
    18
    I have a 5500 watt Briggs and Stratton portable generator and I run two refrigerators and a window AC unit on it without any problems. My power goes out so rarely that I could never justify the cost of a whole house generator. In the 2016 flood, we lost power for about 9 hours. The generator will run for nearly 12 hours on a full tank of gas. If a hurricane is in the forecast, I have several 5 gallon gas cans that I fill up as soon as the forecast shows it coming our way. If I do not need the gas for the generator, it gets used in the cars. I have never had to use it for about more than maybe two days which was Gustav. I run it once a year to keep it in working order, but it is literally only really used once every 5 or 6 years. We just rarely lose power.
     
    Last edited:

    Forgotten

    Well-Known Member
    Premium Member
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Aug 30, 2016
    415
    63
    Lafayette, LA
    So how did everyone's generators work for the storm? Been thinking about a Generac 22kw or Kohler 20kw.
     
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