Generac Standby Generators

[DedDuk]

I Think Im going to bite the bullet and get one for my place. Ive been out of power for 5 days now (I know Ducko, I'm a wuss and its not a month). I have natural gas to the house. Those of you that have one, would you change anything? Have you had any problems with yours?

[TexasBob]

Just ordered one a couple months ago and had our first use of it this week. Not even fully hooked up, I had to shut off the main and back feed through my workshop breaker. Zero complaints. If your ac isn't soft start or variable speed, you need a soft start setup installed (im researching this now). Stock up on oil and filters, check the oil regularly when running. 26kw if it helps. Ran our AC, pool pumps and all the normal lights/fans.

Edit to add- you will likely need an upgraded natural gas meter. We did that a couple years ago for the pool heater which is near my generator so most of that work was done. I still had to run some iron pipe, including cutting/threading which was no fun. You need a higher pressure run to the generator with an appropriate regulator close to it to keep up.

[Hogmauler]

We had one on our home in Colorado and it was well worth it. Only out of power four days here in Katy and was enough for me. Told wifey we’d put one in when we got back to College Sfation. We’ll be screwed if joe bidumb gets another four years and shuts off NG

[BayouCat]

In. I'm thinking of doing the same. Looking to either upgrade to a better portable or do a standby. Lots of options out there and looking for the best option for the cost.

Last house, we did 2 weeks without power during Hurricane Nicholas. No electricity or running water due to a well. Talk about becoming one with nature. I told myself I would bite the bullet and get a standby after that experience, but we had some other expenses pop up. My parents got a Generac standby after the 21 freeze. They said it's worth every penny.

[Quackerbox]

I dont but....I have a coworker who had one put in his new house. The first night of the no power their Co2 alarm went off on the house alarm and called the fire department and woke them up. Turns out the exhaust from the gen entered the house thru the garage and ended up in the home. They have 3 kids up stairs.....

FD went thru the house with C02 detectors and found stupid high levels so they didnt run the gen anymore. Went with the ol standby portable. Being the unit was new and under warranty they called the generac who sent a tech. The tech tests the exhaust from the gen who claimed their units are not supposed to expel any carbon monoxide. Sure enough its not good BUT he knows immediately what the issue is. Bad air filter. He explains that generac ships the things off with bad filters that can cause this issue. Swapped the filter and the reading went from 19 or something to zero and they went back to using it.

Just what he told me and food for thought...........

[DedDuk]

I would consider portable, but I'm gone half the time and I dont want to rely on anyone to have to go hook it up and keep fuel in it while I'm gone. I have someone doing that for me now.

[Strummer]

I’m thinking about one too . I don’t have natural gas available. I do have propane. Wonder if I would be better off with a diesel generator or propane?

[TexasBob]

I would consider portable, but I'm gone half the time and I dont want to rely on anyone to have to go hook it up and keep fuel in it while I'm gone. I have someone doing that for me now.

Food for thought- a lot of folks treat a standby as hands off, many of my friends and family as well. My plan is to check mine every 24 hours at a minimum (meaning shut down, rest for a bit, check the oil, top off and inspect.) with quick look at it every few hours (open the lid, look for oil etc). Brother in law had a leak on the oil cooler which would have caused an issue. Thanks QB, ill swap the air filter seems like cheap insurance.

[Drycreek3189]

I’ve had one about three years now, runs on propane. It has probably ran 15/20 hours not counting the monthly test. We live across from a substation so we are the first ones to come online after it goes out unless the main line is affected. It’s sure nice to have power thirty seconds after it goes out though, especially if you sleep with a BiPap like I do. Hell, it went out one night and I never knew it until I woke up the next morning.

[Bazo]

I went and bought the Harbor Freight Predator Inverter 4550 last weekend to be prepared to run fridges and freezers. I already have a Polaris 2000 inverter for lights and fans. The portability is nice to be able to take them to use for other projects or a camper in the future.

[IowaHunter]

I have a whole home Generac. It works like a charm. No issues and it made me feel bulletproof with Beryl coming into town this week.

[jds247]

I put one on our has 6 years ago when I built it.. it's a 22kw on a 3000k sf house.. when the power goes out, nothing changes as far as how we use the electricity..
we lost power for 3 days from Beryl other than hearing the generator run I have no complaints.. I let them come out once a year and change fluids and filters etc. We have used it 15 or 20 times in the past 6 years..
I am going to put soft starts on the ac units because the generator will surge when they kick on ..

[Strummer]

I’ve had one about three years now, runs on propane. It has probably ran 15/20 hours not counting the monthly test. We live across from a substation so we are the first ones to come online after it goes out unless the main line is affected. It’s sure nice to have power thirty seconds after it goes out though, especially if you sleep with a BiPap like I do. Hell, it went out one night and I never knew it until I woke up the next morning.

How efficient are they ? Any idea how long they will run on a 300 gallon tank?

[BrianL]

I’m thinking about one too . I don’t have natural gas available. I do have propane. Wonder if I would be better off with a diesel generator or propane?

Advantage with propane is you can store it for years in the tank, but you are dependent on a propane company to resupply your tank. They use A LOT of propane so a 500-1000 gallon tank would be best. With diesel fuel won't last but a year but you can go get fuel yourself... If you live rural and have diesel on hand most of the time I would go diesel, otherwise i think the propane will be much more reliable.

[RMW]

I would strongly suggest the Cummins unit, it runs at 1800rpm instead of the 3600rpm the generac does. I’ve been without power since Monday 2:00am and in 3 days my 40kw used 20% of my 1000 gallon propane tank. Also it’s super quiet compared to the Generac.