Thoughts on house generators

[Conndog]

With storm Henri happening and climate weather changes taking place, I want to set up a generator system for our house, which we are remodeling extensively and is surrounded by trees. What considerations or recommendations would help produce a good system that is dependable, kicks in automatically, and is strong enough to power our house? We have a heat pump system for heat and air conditioning and also charge up one electric car and one hybrid; otherwise, normal electrical needs as far as I know. Home is in southern NH a little north of Keene, NH.

Thanks for any advice you have

 

[Dove]

I was told that 100 gallons would run my entire house for about 8 hours. So I figured if I'm going to do this and spend all this money I would want to make sure I have enough propane to run the house for a few days. That's why I went with the 500 gallon tank. I figured we've never lost power for 40 hours so that should be good. Having only enough propane (200 gallons) to run the house for 16 hours seemed pretty stupid to me.

The kW of the generator is key. 7 kW generator should last 66 hours on 100 gallons. 12 kW is about half that.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Oh so yours is the only opinion that matters? There's a word for that and it's worse than you calling people cowards. And it is similar since the OP was asking directly about what to do about installing a generator. He wasn't asking if he's a coward for installing one. To each his own.

All good dude. But the thread title is "thoughts on house generators." Those are my thoughts.

 

[HooperScooper]

The kW of the generator is key. 7 kW generator should last 66 hours on 100 gallons. 12 kW is about half that.

I found this article which says a 20kw generator with a 500 gallon tank should last 6-7 days. The guy who installed ours said about 4 days. Whatever.

As for another example, again depending on what you are powering and the size of your generator (let’s say 20kw in this example), a propane generator may use around 2-3 gallons/hour. So, if you have a 500-gallon tank, which can only be filled to 400 gallons, then a full tank would last you around 6 to 7 days. Again, these are all rough estimates and a true estimate of generator fuel consumption rates would need to be given by a Generac specialist after they take into consideration what you plan to power and the type of fuel you plan to use.

Generac Generator Fuel Consumption | How Long Will A Generac Run?

Learn more about the different fuel types of generators and an estimation for generator fuel consumption rates you could expect to receive.

www.alternativepower.com

 

[Duncan Idaho]

You sound like the guy in the best sandwich thread who said he'd rather eat grapes than a sandwich.

Or never had his water pipes freeze.

 

[huskeynut]

I found this article which says a 20kw generator with a 500 gallon tank should last 6-7 days. The guy who installed ours said about 4 days. Whatever.

As for another example, again depending on what you are powering and the size of your generator (let’s say 20kw in this example), a propane generator may use around 2-3 gallons/hour. So, if you have a 500-gallon tank, which can only be filled to 400 gallons, then a full tank would last you around 6 to 7 days. Again, these are all rough estimates and a true estimate of generator fuel consumption rates would need to be given by a Generac specialist after they take into consideration what you plan to power and the type of fuel you plan to use.

Generac Generator Fuel Consumption | How Long Will A Generac Run?

Learn more about the different fuel types of generators and an estimation for generator fuel consumption rates you could expect to receive.

www.alternativepower.com

When we lived in CT, we had a whole house generator plus a 500 gallon propane tank installed. The electrician who wired the house originally wired the auto transfer and the generator. Great work BTW. Auto transfer kicked in about 20 seconds after the power loss. The house was 3,100 square feet with four bedrooms and 4 baths.

We installed a Generac 21 kw generator with auto test once a week. Worked like a charm. When hurricane Sandy hit, we were without power for 8 days. We used about 400 gallons of propane. Now, when the wiring was done, there were items that were not wired to the generator - the stove/oven, the AC unit and the dishwasher. This we knew in advance of purchase.

As with all major projects, get at least three estimates. Know all the lines you want active. This will dictate what size generator you will need.

Best investment we made for that house.

 

[8893]

Or never had his water pipes freeze.

Guessing he also doesn’t have a well or septic system, or daughters.

Between Sandy and Irene, we lost power for 11 days and 9 days, respectively. Might be the other way around. In any event, I was ready to harm people both times for failing to get our power restored quickly enough. I lost my mind.

Swore we’d get a generator after that but of course we still haven’t yet. Thankfully it hasn’t been that bad since, but we were down for like three days after Isais last summer and that was pretty brutal, especially because we lost a few hundred dollars worth of food.