whole house generators, who has/had one?

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  • foz1359

    Time Traveler
    Rating - 100%
    15   0   0
    Feb 18, 2013
    221
    28
    Jefferson Parish
    For whole house on auto xfer switch I'd def get the Cummins

    Any briggs or honda 6kw portable with a tri fuel kit will do what you need to do (minus central AC of course) -I suggest using an interlock kit to avoid problems in the heat of the moment
     

    Emperor

    Seriously Misunderstood!
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    11   0   0
    Mar 7, 2011
    8,376
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    Nether region
    If you can afford a nice home generator and you don't have one, you don't love yourself enough!

    That said, I completely understand that people are in all sorts of varying financial situations. I empathize with anyone scraping by! But, 2 weeks without power after Katrina in B.R. in September, trying to sleep in sweaty sheets that I couldn't wash each day, and a 2 yr old with only a fan blowing on him in the middle of 95 degree heat was all the encouragement I needed. Got a 35KW Olympia by Caterpillar on natural gas installed within the end of the year 2005. Was it cheap? No! But, guess what? Gustave had my neighborhood out of power for over a week! My Genset didn't even blink! Just for fun; I turned EVERY appliance, light, electronic device, and my A/C on at the same time to see how much it would draw from the Genset, and it laughed at me!

    Again, I love myself; ALOT! Could afford a very nice one! Never looked back! Never regretted the purchase! Couldn't give a rats ass how much it cost to run when the power goes out. When I move, it's either coming with me, or I am buying an exact model or updated version thereof!

    Understand and know what a little pain and discomfort in life feels like, but don't ever deprive yourselves of comfort if it is within your control to fix. Life is way too short!

    I can't speak to any other brands of home Gensets, but I need look no further than Olympia or Cummings for the next one I need!
     

    cyclone1970

    Oldie
    Premium Member
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    0   0   0
    May 10, 2014
    408
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    Covington LA
    Emperor, you captured my and my wife's feelings exactly. When one gets older, being nice to one's self is very important. When I was younger, I had a gasoline powered generator. The fuel storage debate (how much to keep on hand or scrounging when you need to refill), dragging heavy duty extension cords and the genset out, all were so much less of an effort then what it would be for us now. I won't list what all we gave up to get it, but we feel it has been worth the trade off. Also our south shore relatives come to our house, north of Covington, for storms. We all will stay here unless our house actually blows away.
     

    Emperor

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    Mar 7, 2011
    8,376
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    Nether region
    Emperor, you captured my and my wife's feelings exactly. When one gets older, being nice to one's self is very important. When I was younger, I had a gasoline powered generator. The fuel storage debate (how much to keep on hand or scrounging when you need to refill), dragging heavy duty extension cords and the genset out, all were so much less of an effort then what it would be for us now. I won't list what all we gave up to get it, but we feel it has been worth the trade off. Also our south shore relatives come to our house, north of Covington, for storms. We all will stay here unless our house actually blows away.

    Good for you! I will never apologize for being in a position to take good care of myself through cash! I worked my ass off (and still do), for every cent I make! So, I spend on myself like my life depends on it! ;)
     

    Emperor

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    Someone mentioned earlier about the competency of the people who will install these.

    Could not agree more! DO NOT allow some dummy to mess with your install, or your genset. You will regret it when it counts most!

    I have given up on finding competent people to work on mine, so I learned how to maintain mine myself! And I'm not just talking about changing oil!
     
    Last edited:

    machinedrummer

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    Apr 5, 2010
    3,685
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    Kingwood, Tx
    My mother in law had a Generac natural gas generator installed in 2006 after Katrina. She has never had issues with it. She does have the protection plan. It cycles I believe once a week and is serviced by a authorized dealer I believe once a year. It’s done her well and never failed.
     

    shrxfn

    Well-Known Member
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    1   0   0
    Oct 25, 2015
    855
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    SWLA
    I have been without power for at least 6 days twice now this year. Here is what I have done to make it easier.

    I had a manual transfer switch installed at the entrance of my main power line so that I can flip the switch and it will cut off the main line and will now accept power from a receptacle installed on it.
    I made an extension cord that can handle 220V 60Amps of power with a weatherproof plug on one end that goes into the receptacle on the trasnfer box and the other end has the 60 Amp plug on it that fits the generator I have.
    I marked all of the breakers in my box as to what needs to be on to supply power to my necessities in the house.
    When the power goes out I roll my Firman 8500ish Watt generator to the front porch turn it on and then run the cord to the transfer switch box and plug it in. Go into the house and turn off all breakers that are not marked. Then I go outside and throw the power swtich to cut of main power. I now have power to all the necessary outlets in the house. I can run 2 room ACs off the generator and all the fridges and freezers and other items.

    With this setup I was able to walk my neighbor through hooking up my power in less than 10 minutes with no running of electrical cords in through windows.

    Another way to do this is if you have a tractor you can buy a PTO generator for it and do the same thing with the transfer switch. I don't know how much it would take in diesal but I have seen some of the farmers aroundhere doing that.

    I looked at whole house generators but out here we don't have NG and propane is 2 dollars a gallon and it would kill my 250 gallon tank in a few days so it doesn't seem like it would make financial sense for me right now.
     
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    cyclone1970

    Oldie
    Premium Member
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    0   0   0
    May 10, 2014
    408
    43
    Covington LA
    My sister owns a farm, has a diesel powered tractor and a big diesel fuel storage tank. She has a PTO powered generator. That seems to be the way to go out in the country.
     

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