Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Might get to test my new generator. Winter Storm Advisory for a lot of Ohio tomorrow and into Saturday. They're talking possibility of the storm starting off as freezing rain turning over to snow. Calling for 3" to 6" with a possibility of a lot more depending on how quickly the freezing rain turns to snow. BRING IT!!!!!! :cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Lol- hope you guys get pounded:yes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Isn't there some other way to test that generator ? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Isn't there some other way to test that generator ? :) Yeah, but there's already enough "faking it" going on in that house already. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckhunter76 Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I hope it don't get to bad, my 4 wheel drive ain't workin in my truck, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckhunter76 Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 their calling for 3 to 4 inches of snow mixed with ice, brrrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggs Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 3-6" Chris? Aren't you originally from Cleveland? Come on, that's an afternoon dusting up here, Pal. Don't forget your roots!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 3-6" Chris? Aren't you originally from Cleveland? Come on, that's an afternoon dusting up here, Pal. Don't forget your roots!!! I laugh all the way to the bank on weather down here Eric. It's unbelievable what they can handle and tolerate down here. Although, I will say, we get way more ice down here than we ever did up in Elyria. 150 miles and that lake make all the difference with it comes to icing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hope you don't need it Chris, but if you do hope it performs flawlessly for you. What size did you go with? Think when we do get one, probably going to go with a guardian 14kw propane model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okiedog Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I'm wanting to try my new genny out as well. When I needed one this past weekend my 50+ year old standby decided to take a dump. By the time I scrambled around and got a new one the power was back on. I may just pull the main this weekend and she how it preforms:cool2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hope you don't need it Chris, but if you do hope it performs flawlessly for you. What size did you go with? Think when we do get one, probably going to go with a guardian 14kw propane model. If you go to generac's homepage they have a calculator that will tell you what size you need, or what they suggest. http://www.generac.com/Residential/Sizer/ Their calculator suggested at least 18w for us, but 25w would be best. We ended up with a 21w with a load shedding switch. The guy who installed it came out and we talked it over. He told us the difference between the 18w vs. the 21w, and for the price of the installation (same for a 18 or 21) we decided to spend a little more and now we can run the whole house like there was no outtage at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I saw that calculator on there before Chris, think it said we needed like a 28-37 kw setup for our size house and that was not including anything in the basement or any electric appliances like a range or dryer. I know when I looked at the individual units it said a 14kw would run a 4-5 ton ac unit. Plan here is for emergency backup to run just the circuits we need to get by. Hoping we can get in our house by June and be able to ammend our tax return so we can get the long time home buyer tax credit, will have to see where we are at when we finish the house off but a standby generator is something Catrina and I have discussed for several years and it may be a while yet but we will be getting one sometime in the next few years. Figure if I am gonna put in a propane tank to run one I am also going to run a vent free gas log set for emergency heat source too. Your setup is probably on natural gasline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I saw that calculator on there before Chris, think it said we needed like a 28-37 kw setup for our size house and that was not including anything in the basement or any electric appliances like a range or dryer. I know when I looked at the individual units it said a 14kw would run a 4-5 ton ac unit. Best I can tell, Generac's site is going to suggest a generator that will do the job in a worst case scenario, probably because of sales dollars. I'm a moron when it comes to electricity, but in listening to the guy who installed ours, there are things you can do to get by on a small 14w generator vs. not having to worry when you have a bigger generator. A 14w will do the job, but you will really stress the generator if you're trying to run your well pump, furnace/AC, some lights, septic pump, etc. all at the same time. You just have to make some decisions as to what you want to designate as "essential" circuits. The 18w generator would only allow us like 8 circuits I think it was, and 1 circuit was your standard 15amp breaker, well, the furnace or heat pump alone would have been 2 of those circuits, so that really limited what we could have done with that generator. The 21w generator allows us to run 16 circuits at the same time. 16 circuits all at the same time would max out the generator engine, so that's why we added the load shedding switch. Figure if I am gonna put in a propane tank to run one I am also going to run a vent free gas log set for emergency heat source too. Your setup is probably on natural gasline? Ours runs off propane, but they can run off natural gas too. They even have ones that run on diesel if you want to go that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Good luck! We got this generator last fall and have had to use it once already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Best I can tell, Generac's site is going to suggest a generator that will do the job in a worst case scenario, probably because of sales dollars. Yep, bigger generator means more dollars, so guess which one they are going to try to sell you. The site suggested as much as a 37 kw for us, but I know there is no way we would need that much generator. I'm a moron when it comes to electricity, but in listening to the guy who installed ours, there are things you can do to get by on a small 14w generator vs. not having to worry when you have a bigger generator. A 14w will do the job, but you will really stress the generator if you're trying to run your well pump, furnace/AC, some lights, septic pump, etc. all at the same time. You just have to make some decisions as to what you want to designate as "essential" circuits. We have a 4500 watt gas generator, it is small. The 14kw is probably minimal to do the job, price difference between the 17 kw and the 14 kw is only about $400 best as I remember. May be that the 17 kw was more likely to be the one I was thinking about, I know it was in the $3500 range for the generator with a 16 circuit switch. The larger the generator you also have to remember that in most cases the higher the fuel consumption. That means if you are on a propane tank your tank will run out that much faster, may be a concern if inclement weather has your power out. Assuming since you are not on ng you have a propane tank. You have to look at startup useage of the devices you are going to be using. While it might be likely to run more than one of those things at once, it is not real likely your startups are all going to take place at once, you can bring on what you want to by selecting those circuits. The 18w generator would only allow us like 8 circuits I think it was, and 1 circuit was your standard 15amp breaker, well, the furnace or heat pump alone would have been 2 of those circuits, so that really limited what we could have done with that generator. The 21w generator allows us to run 16 circuits at the same time. 16 circuits all at the same time would max out the generator engine, so that's why we added the load shedding switch. Think the 17 kw generac unit I had looked at came with a 16 circuit transfer switch. The 20 kw was about $1300 more than the 14 kw and about $800-$900 more than the 17 kw unit. Ours runs off propane, but they can run off natural gas too. They even have ones that run on diesel if you want to go that way. Yep, the ratings I believe are higher for same units when they are setup to run off of propane. All sorts of generators, there are also those that run off your tractor's pto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 You have to look at startup useage of the devices you are going to be using. While it might be likely to run more than one of those things at once, it is not real likely your startups are all going to take place at once, you can bring on what you want to by selecting those circuits. Right. I remember him saying that. Think the 17 kw generac unit I had looked at came with a 16 circuit transfer switch. The 20 kw was about $1300 more than the 14 kw and about $800-$900 more than the 17 kw unit. That's about right. I don't remember the exact amounts, but I know our switch is different than the normal switch. Our switch is a "shedding" switch which allows the control panel to pick and choose which circuits should be run based on load. The generator, shed switch and installation with tax ran just over $8K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Be careful what you wish for Chris! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Isn't there some other way to test that generator ? :) yea. might i suggest a hunting camp???:hammer1:lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Central Ohio looks to be getting 5-8" now with a possiblilty of 10" or more depending on how much rain vs. snow falls. :eat: Unfortunately for school's sake, it's going to hit about 12 hours too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Unfortunately for school's sake, it's going to hit about 12 hours too late. No snow day for you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 yea. might i suggest a hunting camp???:hammer1:lol Since we hunt in the backyard, I suppose this maybe could be viewed as our hunting camp. That's about right. I don't remember the exact amounts, but I know our switch is different than the normal switch. Our switch is a "shedding" switch which allows the control panel to pick and choose which circuits should be run based on load. The generator, shed switch and installation with tax ran just over $8K. You probably came out alright on that deal Chris. Think the 20kw generator runs around $4500, and that load shedding switch is probably around $1500. The labor to tie all the gas line and all the electrical in and no headache for you with it you probably came out ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 The house is gorgeous bud....WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted February 5, 2010 Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 I only got a small 6k after Katrina, and havent used it yet, except for building some blinds in the woods during the summer. I hope to never need it, but at least it will run the frig and freezer and some fans next time we have another hurricaine. The heat after Katrina was almost unbearable for the 2 weeks I was without power, but the fans sure helped out after I bought the generator. Not too many worries down here about winter outages thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 You probably came out alright on that deal Chris. Think the 20kw generator runs around $4500, and that load shedding switch is probably around $1500. The labor to tie all the gas line and all the electrical in and no headache for you with it you probably came out ok. We thought so. All the generac dealers in our area were very competitive, there's enough of them out there to keep them honest I think. I'll look up the specifics of our contract, but I think you're pretty close there William. Ditto with Kyle on your house, that's gorgeous. Tom told me all the time "it will be worth it..." and it is. It's terribly stressful going through it, but now that it's over and we're able to entertain and live the way we want (minus the landscaping ) we're very happy with the new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Just got the word, they're sending us home early. :eat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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