Whole House Back up Generator

[Dave W]

I am looking at adding a whole house back up generator for my house in Houston. I am thinking a 20kw Kohler on ng.

I talked to one guy and he was thinking $12k and I'll need to add a bunch of wire on top of that.
Another friend said to stay away from Generac. They have circuit board problems.

It's a 2500 sf home with single 5 ton ac.

Any advice or contact?

[Greenheadless]

Yes, Koehler over Generac.

I think your estimate is low when installation is included. If within city limits, lots of things to consider ETO be code compliant. Enough to make me want to consult with a professional.

[Johnny Dangerr]

We love our Kohler. Turn key at 12K is a good price...

[TheWidowMaker]

Electric heat? I'm not too savy with HVAC nomenclature but the electrical diagram on the heating side of my unit says 20kw, has a heat pump, and 4 heat strips. I installed a 26kw generac and when the heat strips kicked on it would overload the generator and shut it off. When I turned off 2 of the 4 heat strips it quit having a problem.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Electric heat? I'm not too savy with HVAC nomenclature but the electrical diagram on the heating side of my unit says 20kw, has a heat pump, and 4 heat strips. I installed a 26kw generac and when the heat strips kicked on it would overload the generator and shut it off. When I turned off 2 of the 4 heat strips it quit having a problem.

This is very important! What I'd recommend is have a professional come out and do an assessment of your needs. That's what we just did. We also have a heat pump with heat strips... We also have a wood burning stove that we had installed after the big Feb. freeze... since then, our heat seldom comes on... In addition to the heat pump, we have another conventional unit in the other end of the house, 3 freezers, 2 fridges, all electric home... We had to go with a 26KW... They will do everything. All I have to do is have the propane tank installed and filled (that happens 2nd week of July)... I highly recommend Grasten Power Technologies in Conroe... (on Hwy 242 east of town) First class outfit! BTW, we went with Kohler too...

[Txhunter3000]

OP said he's going to run the generator on natural gas so I don't think he has a heat pump. I'm pretty sure he has a gas furnace. I would go with at least a 24kw, especially if he has two ac units.

[SaltwaterSlick]

In our case, they are going to install two control modules that locks out the heat strips on the heat pump, and if we reach 80% of load, our second water heater is locked out... All that occurs automatically... In an outage, all appliances are available, but with the control modules, we can set a priority on various devices... To run everything all the time, I'd have had to gone with a 30+Kw unit... I got a quote on an air cooled unit with the load control modules and a liquid cooled unit (load control not available on those)... The liquid cooled unit was a 36KW unit... Really wanted it, but just could not justify it for the 40% more cost... The 26Kw Kohler delivered, installed and a 1 year full service contract with 5 year initial warranty was $14,500 complete.
Anyone who may be on "the north side" and looking for something like this, PM me and I'll give you the guy's contact information we used... He's very knowledgeable and did not come out to try to sell me anything. He came out to evaluate our application and give me the options I wanted, then we talked a few times afterwards until I decided what I wanted to go with... I felt no sales pressure at all from him.

[Huntingfool]

26w turn key $17k well worth it

[60 Deluxe]

I had close to $3000 in the switchgear and wire on mine. Labor was zero, because I don't pay myself. If you think there will be extended outages, then consider a liquid cooled unit. We don't have propane, so I wanted liquid fuel. I ended up buying a low hour 33KW diesel for about $10,500 after sales tax. Similar new generators installed would have set us back $25,000 to $35,000 depending on brand.

[Dave W]

Looking at a 20kw Cummings for about $10k.
tje rep thought it would work and they are a Cummings dealer.

[Samson]

For true redundancy you should go diesel or a propane tank that's local to your generator. Don't rely on a fuel ( natural gas) that requires electricity to deliver it to your house. Cause when you need it most, it isn't going to be there...