standby generator

Im thinking about getting a whole house/standby generator and looking to get some info on what I should expect to pay for installation. I understand that every install is different, just looking for some ballpark figures...thanks

Generator

I did a lot of research a year ago. I wound up buying the Kohler 18 kw Residential. I was told it was large enough to run my whole house. The Generac has a lot of bad reviews. A neighbor that worked for a company
here that sells them was not very complimentary of them. The Kohler installed
was $7000.00. I have a 4 ton and 3 ton central air compressor for cooling.
The 18 kw will not start up with bot units running. One of them has to be
off and then the Generator will start. I am satisfied. I would recommend
the Kohler if can afford one.

good luck in the hunt.

You will need to answer a few questions before an installation cost can be determined.

1. Do you know what size (kW) generator you need?
2. Gasoline, natural gas, or diesel?
3. Do you want to have a manual transfer switch or automatic transfer switch installed?

My advise would be to spend the money on a generator that is locally sold and serviced. I installed a Generac natural gas unit a few years back for a customer and their service is horrible. I recommend an Onan, Caterpillar, or Kohler. My folks live in St. Charles. Send me a PM with you phone number if you want more information. I personnally have a portable tri-fuel generator (gasoline, propane, natural gas). Works great but I have to hook it up every time I need it. Takes me about 10 minutes.

I just bought a John Dear from a local company (GenStar, New Iberia). 23KW diesel. I am in the process of contracting for the slab, electrical hook up, fence, etc.. Hope to get it done in the next several weeks - I'll let you know what I learn.

i am leaning toward the Kohler 12 Kw, natural gas. It lists on home depot website for $3600. I have a split ac system, 1 5 ton and a little 2 ton. just looking to run the 2 ton, some lights, hot water heater, and a microwave. Ive also been looking at the GE and the Briggs. I have read reviews on alot of them and while many report no issues with the generac I have read some bad ones. Based on the reviews ive read, Kohler seams like the way to go. I just looking to get some info on these before I deal with a salesman...

Here is the deal as it went for me....I bought a new generation 17kw generac. The bad reviews didn't bother me. My father has an older 24k water cooled and sells them. The installation is another matter in Baton Rouge. We have, let's say, a lack of committed electrical and plumbing professionals from which to choose. After now knowing that, there is the obscure fact that if you buy one of these from a "Big Box" that they don't advertise the cost of the transfer switch which is necessary for the "standby" effect. Expect 4-5k for the purchase of the generator and transfer switch and 2k for the installation if you are not up to code (and most aren't) with a 200 amp exterior panel. DON'T do this when it's hot! If you have to upgrade your panel for this, Entergy has to disconnect the electricity completely from your house which means they take the wire off of the pole and when the job is done you have to have a city inspector come back to inspect installation and then you have to wait for Entergy to come back to reconnect your house to the grid. Possibly 24 hrs. without electricity. OK, that's out of the way. Now, upon recommendation of a sales rep at Teche Electric, I hired a guy named Brent Bernard (Bernard Enterprises). He is a factory trained sales, installation, repair, and warranty dealer. This is the guy you want on your side if you by a Generac. Quite a number of "big box" buyers have had their generators installed in a way that voided the warranty of their generators. I had all of the specs of where and how this was to be installed BEFORE any work was done. When the electrician and the plumber(for natural gas run) were done, he finished the connection to the house and we tested and I have great confidence about my generator and my service if ever needed. I go two hundred hours between oil changes(which isn't hard to do) and IF the power goes out, I need wait only about 12 seconds and we're rockin' again. My unsolicited recommendation if you are considering this deal is ... Brent Bernard
Bernard Enterprises 225-975-1709 or autoxfergen@yahoo.com

LOL I installed mine with the meter pan hot not a big deal just be extremely careful. Make sure the main breaker is off before you pull the meter.

what is the cost for a natural gas generator for a 3000sq ft house running everything if anyone knows ive talked to people after Gustav that have them or knows someone and it sounded expensive to run

FD807 said:

what is the cost for a natural gas generator for a 3000sq ft house running everything if anyone knows ive talked to people after Gustav that have them or knows someone and it sounded expensive to run

Click to expand...

Ours cost about 50 bucks a day for the natural gas. Its going to cost you more since your going to need a bigger generator. Its well worth it imo.

I went with a Generac portable - 7.5kw. Converted to run on natural gas. This will run most everything in my house except the central air.I have gas appliances so no need to heat water or cook. The difference for me was the cost of running my central air. It was going to cost about $5k more to run the air conditioner. I decided to go with the portable and buy two window unit AC's which will cool my house well enough. I have a 60 amp transfer switch that backfeeds my air conditioner compressor ckt. It's only 10 feet from my gas meter so the gas line can be kept short. This transfer switch setup is actually against the local electrical code but as long as the main breaker in my panel is off, it's safe. The entire setup cost about $1500 or so.
I had heard that converting a gasoline engine to natural gas or propane will ruin the engine but I spoke with more than one generator tech that assured me that wasn't the case if done properly. There may be some loss of power but not much if any. One of the main things for me was not having to keep a dozen gasoline cans around and filling them up then keeping the gasoline fresh. Natural gas and propane don't degrade like gas. Diesel is more stable for storage but is even more difficult to find in desperate times and what isn't burned in the genny can't be put in most cars or the lawnmower.
My system is designed to be hooked up easily and put online fairly quickly without tools.

The bid I got for pouring 2 slabs (9X18 for generator and fuel tank + 4X4 for water well) and electrical hookup of generator and water well is $2200. I have a transfer switch already.

Hi!

You put lots of good info on your post about your generator but gave no cost. I, too, am looking to install a system similar to yours and would appreciate a cost range if you don't care to quote an exact amont.

Many thanks.

7.62mm

My earlier post was directed at "PrairieCajun". Sorry if that wan't clear.

7.62mm

I don't understand why folks will go to all the trouble to get and install a backup generator, then put it on a slab-on-grade, where it will be so vulnerable to even a little flooding.

leVieux

leVieux said:

I don't understand why folks will go to all the trouble to get and install a backup generator, then put it on a slab-on-grade, where it will be so vulnerable to even a little flooding.

leVieux

Click to expand...

Cuz not everybody is vulnerable to flooding .

Like he said

The point that I don't understand is why people buy these generators with failure prone cheap computer controlled transfer switches, I much prefer the idea of a manual start generator with a manual (prefer knife blade double throw) transfer switch. Mine is a military surplus 3KW (anyone else would rate it at 4.5KW+) diesel generator (MEP-701a), bought it off Goverment Liquidation a couple of years ago for $450, it will run all the important stuff (refrigerator, freezer, some lights, tv, computer, as well as the 8,000 btu window airconditioner in my utlility room, and the 11,000 BTU room portable air conditioner I bought just for outages) this lets me keep the bedrooms and food cool and only consume a maxiumum of .5 Gal/Hour (that is over 100 hours of run connected to a 55 gallon drum of cheaper offroad diesel), is rated at full output 24x7 unlike the optimisitc standby ratings on many residential units, and has a real pressurized oil system with 125 hours between oil changes. Note I do have a gas stove/oven and gas central heat only needing electricity for the blower fan in the winter.

Ike

You do realize that those fancy automatic transfer switches have a manual override if something fails right? It works just like your manual one at that point. Even though most of the homeowner guardian, watchdog, kohler, etc. arnt rated for 24/7 running just about everyone does it and they have less then a 10% failure rate doing it. If its really important to you just buy the commercial series and pay the extra.

yamatitan, the better ones do, but a lot of the cheaper ones don't

I edited out to add some stuff and you caught me in the middle. I have installed just about everyone and have never seen one that couldnt be manually switched over and a generator that couldnt be manually started.

It's like everything else. You get what you pay for and everything eventually breaks. However there are companies / products with better historical results than others.