Whole house generator

[outdoorstom]

With retirement approaching and more travel in our future, my wife and I decided to have a whole house generator installed. We're putting in a propane powered 18kw Kohler. We bought a 500 gallon tank, and I went to work burying it. The contractor will be here next week to install the generator and I'll update the thread then if anyone is interested. No more worrying about the sump pump when we're not home!

 

[Native Hunter]

Sounds like a great project, and glad to see you getting one large enough to do the job. When you install your switchgear I would like to see your pics. I'm assuming you are going with an automatic transfer switch for power outages when the grid goes down. That will give you some good peace of mind while you are traveling.

 

[foggy]

Yep....I don't understand burying the tank. Will it prevent freeze up?

I have a 12 kW gen set wired into our home. We have natural gas. Already had two outages over the past 10 months. It ran all night when we had cold temps last winter. With all the disasters that seem to come about.....the gen set provides some peace of mind. I like not worrying about fuel storage.

 

[outdoorstom]

Aesthetics is the only reason.....we didn't want it sitting in the yard.

 

[outdoorstom]

If you look at the last picture you can see the green access cover. The gauge is there, the regulator is attached to the house.

 

[Bill]

I'll be following this. I'm seriously thinking about getting one of theses.

If you don't mind what's the price range? Had guy give me a ballpark of $10k to power my 200 amp service. Seemed steep to me.

 

[outdoorstom]

I'll be following this. I'm seriously thinking about getting one of theses.

If you don't mind what's the price range? Had guy give me a ballpark of $10k to power my 200 amp service. Seemed steep to me.

The genset completely installed is running me $7,500. I bought my propane tank because I wanted to be able to shop around for the best price on gas and it's already paying for itself. The company I bought the tank from came to fill it and wanted to charge me $1.99 a gallon. I told them I had called other companies and found it for $1.69. They matched it.

 

[foggy]

I bought my gen from Wise Sales out of IL. They do a big web biz in genny's. When we were building our home, I had my electrician and HVAC contractor hook up the gas line and the transfer switch box alongside our electrical panels. I paid about $3500 for the benny.....and I suppose another $2000 to get things rigged right. I have a low cost gen set....but hopefully it doesn't run too often. Mine is a Briggs & Stratton 12 kw. It powers everything fine.....but I would not run A/C with mine. My main concern is running our furnace, refers and sewer and well pumps.

If you have natural gas.....hooking up to it is a no-brainer IMO. No storage issues.

 

[outdoorstom]

I bought my gen from Wise Sales out of IL. They do a big web biz in genny's. When we were building our home, I had my electrician and HVAC contractor hook up the gas line and the transfer switch box alongside our electrical panels. I paid about $3500 for the benny.....and I suppose another $2000 to get things rigged right. I have a low cost gen set....but hopefully it doesn't run too often. Mine is a Briggs & Stratton 12 kw. It powers everything fine.....but I would not run A/C with mine. My main concern is running our furnace, refers and sewer and well pumps.

If you have natural gas.....hooking up to it is a no-brainer IMO. No storage issues.

That worked out well for you to have it installed as you were building. I wish I had natural gas available, I would have preferred going that route!

 

[foggy]

That worked out well for you to have it installed as you were building. I wish I had natural gas available, I would have preferred going that route!

Are you putting the transfer switch outdoors?......or near your electric panel? Given a choice.....I'd place it near the electric panel(s).

 

[outdoorstom]

Our panel is on the enclosed back porch, but the switch will be nearby, outside. For my own education, why is one place better than the other?

 

[Bill]

Thanks for the info...

 

[foggy]

Our panel is on the enclosed back porch, but the switch will be nearby, outside. For my own education, why is one place better than the other?

Our electrician wanted to put ours outside too. I guess I just wanted it near the other panels and out of the weather. Probably no big deal.....just in my head? :confused:

 

[outdoorstom]

Good eye and good question. Years ago someone braced the beams on that side of the barn and ran support beams right across the opening, rendering the doors useless. It's not a problem because I can access through other doors.

 

[outdoorstom]

I know it's over 100, but not sure how much over.....
They definitely have a lot of character.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I've been an electrician for over 30 yrs. and generally, transfer switches are put inside buildings. Commercial & industrial applications are usually inside. It may vary according to local codes either from the municipality or the power company's requirements. Codes can vary from one area to another. From a logistics point of view, if the transfer switch is next to the panel, you can save on wire footage. There are automatic and MANUAL transfer switches. Some of the smaller transfer switches are meant to handle only 4, 6 or 8 circuits to keep the necessary things running, such as frig., well pump, furnace, lights on 2 floors, etc. The smaller ones are less $$$ than the full-service automatic models. It all depends on your situation.

 

[outdoorstom]

H

I've been an electrician for over 30 yrs. and generally, transfer switches are put inside buildings. Commercial & industrial applications are usually inside. It may vary according to local codes either from the municipality or the power company's requirements. Codes can vary from one area to another. From a logistics point of view, if the transfer switch is next to the panel, you can save on wire footage. There are automatic and MANUAL transfer switches. Some of the smaller transfer switches are meant to handle only 4, 6 or 8 circuits to keep the necessary things running, such as frig., well pump, furnace, lights on 2 floors, etc. The smaller ones are less $$$ than the full-service automatic models. It all depends on your situation.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. Maybe I misunderstood where it's going, I'll clarify with him. This is the full-service automatic model. We don't want to worry when we're away for extended periods. Thanks again.

 

[foggy]

I've been an electrician for over 30 yrs. and generally, transfer switches are put inside buildings. Commercial & industrial applications are usually inside. It may vary according to local codes either from the municipality or the power company's requirements. Codes can vary from one area to another. From a logistics point of view, if the transfer switch is next to the panel, you can save on wire footage. There are automatic and MANUAL transfer switches. Some of the smaller transfer switches are meant to handle only 4, 6 or 8 circuits to keep the necessary things running, such as frig., well pump, furnace, lights on 2 floors, etc. The smaller ones are less $$$ than the full-service automatic models. It all depends on your situation.

Yep. At my "old" home I had a manual set up, and I think I had 6 switches. My new system has an automatic transfer switch.....which will power up a few seconds after a power outage. Everything works automatically. Much easier with everything pre-wired and ready to go. :)

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Agreed. It depends on your budget, your needs, your confidence to manually throw a " manual " x-fer switch. They're simple enough, but some folks want a hands - off system. Lids for any pot.