JMortensen Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 I am in a wooded area with above ground power lines and last year this house lost power for 4 days in the middle of winter, so I'm considering getting a generator before the weather turns. I have gas so gas heat and water heater, and I basically want to run the fridge, the heater blower motor, some lights, and a computer with the generator. I know NOTHING about generators, and very little about electricity in general. I talked to the home inspector when we bought the place and he gave me a couple guidelines, but I'm hoping to get some more concrete info on what to purchase. I think he told me that I needed 5500W or better for this home. He also mentioned a special plug that can be installed by an electrician that allows the generator to plug into the house but protects the house somehow. I didn't really follow what he was saying, but it kinda sounded like a big surge protector. If that's what it is, this house already has a big surge protector on it. We are apparently the first house off of the main power lines and a couple years back lightning hit the main line and burned up every electrical appliance in the house, so at that time all new appliances were installed and the big surge protector was installed. I think the other way to hook up a generator is to fire it up and plug it into an outlet in the house. Not sure how that energy doesn't just get fed back into the grid. So, size of generator is a question, does 5500W sound like enough? Features that are handy to have would be useful. If you know about the plug thing please explain. I'll probably be getting something from Harbor Freight, so it will probably be one of the following: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94191 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3708 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91377 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=55380 They do have others with lower power ratings if that would work. I'm just going by the 5500W suggestion of the home inspector at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Jon, it's called a drop out switch. Kind of like a magnetic starter with a 110v coil. Disconnects the line from the house when the power goes out so you can use a generator. There are several home generator systems currently on the market that do just that automatically when the power goes out for more than 15 to 30 seconds. I have one, it's propane fired, 8000 watts, cost about $5K installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegasnative Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 check home depot online they have setups just for that problem stand alone unit that run off your home gas line . cost a little more 2000 and up but no worries 5 sec after power outage they start up. got one for my mother this summer ,she lives outside buffalo ny had no power for 7 days last winter,bad ice storm ,and dealing with the gas problem ,filling about every 8 hours for an old lady was not fun plus dealing with fumes depending on were you put it[outside always] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 20, 2007 Author Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hmm... automatic and NG sounds nice. I'll take a look at those. I also found this older thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=117523 and I have to say it's got me even more confused about how to hook one up safely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I'd get a battery backup for the computer at least. I wouldn't trust generator power to be clean enough, esp. on start-up. Oh wait, I don't trust line power either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I use brickwall filters on my computer and A/V stuff in addition to UPS's. No MOV's that degrade with each surge... Depending upon the size of your house, I probably wouldn't go much below 8.5KW, and probably higher - if you want a TV or have an extra freezer for instance. Kohler has some software on their site to help you pick it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 We've been researching this a bit as well... What I was told is that if you want to run the AC and other high draw devices, you'll need 8K or better. If you don't care about AC, then you can get away with 5800 or better. My business partner is feeding his house with a 6K unit and he's got everything except the ac running off it... He's powering 4600 SQft of space. I was trying to get something more "portable" so I could wheel it into the car trailer to take to the track, but I may just end up getting a small unit for that, mounted on a platform and get a real home unit for the house and have it setup as Doc has his. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Hmm... automatic and NG sounds nice. I'll take a look at those. I also found this older thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=117523 and I have to say it's got me even more confused about how to hook one up safely. The only legal way to do it is to call an electricial and write him a check. The only thing you really need to know is how large of a check to write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 If you are going to get a lower priced genset make sure you run the piss out of it every fall to make sure it will run for the winter. Also upon perchuse. You can also install a manual cut over switch as well, i mean the electrician can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCchris Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 You can also install a manual cut over switch as well, i mean the electrician can. My electrician installed a large double pole, double throw switch in a huge box on the side of my house. The house is connected to the center, the electrical line is connected to one of the throws and a HD cord is connected to the other throw for the generator. That way you cannot be connected to the generator and the line at the same time. Best investment I've made in a while. I did this about 4 years ago and have not needed it yet! chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Its very important that you isolate your generator from the main power line, otherwise your generator can backfeed the main line and zap someone working to restore power to the neighborhood. A local person here didn't wire their generator properly and did just that. It cost him a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Looking at these for the more permanent automatic style: http://www.guardiangenerators.com/Products/Residential/Guardian/Guardian7kW.aspx http://www.guardiangenerators.com/Products/Residential/Guardian/Guardian10kW.aspx I have to see how much they would cost installed, but aside from that anyone have any comments. The one thing I saw that I didn't like is that the engine fires itself up every WEEK to make sure everything is OK. A self test every weeks seems excessive. I'm thinking once every 4 or 5 months should do it. I don't know if there is a way to change the self test schedule, but it seems like a way to sell you some maintenance more than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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