Home Generator Questions?

[BrandonA]

I am seriously considering getting a Generac home generator since our power grid is just getting worse and less reliable. What size generator do I need to run all appliances , all electric, for a 2000 sq ft home. Keep in mind it’s usually just me here and I rarely use the I’ve and stove top. Most meals are cooked on pellet grill. One fridge and deep freezer. I think a 14,000 watt would be more than sufficient

[Greenheadless]

What size electrical service do you have on your house? That would be a good indicator if you want to be able to run everything.

Or you can consult with a Generac dealer (I would look at Knoler) and they can run the numbers.

[BrandonA]

What size electrical service do you have on your house? That would be a good indicator if you want to be able to run everything.

Or you can consult with a Generac dealer (I would look at Knoler) and they can run the numbers.

I have no idea. How would I find that out?

[Greenheadless]

Not the come of as demeaning, but if you don’t know that, I would call a professional.

Look at your electrical load center or main disconnect for the house and see the size of your main breaker in the load center or disconnect.

Then google how to convert amperage and voltage to wattage.

[HogHunter34]

There is an online calculator you can go through to populate might help estimate size but an electrician will be able to tell you

https://ask-the-electrician.com/generator-sizing-calculation.html#beginAdv

I used to have an NEC book that contained whole home amperage calculation.

[BrandonA]

Not the come of as demeaning, but if you don’t know that, I would call a professional.

Look at your electrical load center or main disconnect for the house and see the size of your main breaker in the load center or disconnect.

Then google how to convert amperage and voltage to wattage.

Not demeaning at all. I was just going of what the Generac website said based on their questionnaire . I have a good buddy that understands all that electrician stuff but he always seems to go overboard on the bare necessities

[Bassdeer]

18kW should do it. That's just a guess.

[60 Deluxe]

15Kw should do it even if you are all electric. I considered worst case scenario when I sized mine. I don't want to be outside cooking if the temperature is five degrees and the wind is blowing hard like it was two years ago. I want hot water, power for the furnace and maybe a couple of portable room heaters, lights, the well, the kitchen range using both the cook top and the oven at the same time, and the frig and deep freezer.

Don't immediately run down the Generac path. Before I put my generator in I did quite a lot of reading on some of the generator forums. Generac has less than a stellar reputation with a substantial number of professional installers and service people. Take a look at Kohler and Cummins, too. You don't want a service man that has a two hundred mile trip every time that the machine hiccups. It won't cost much more to put in a whole house transfer switch. Doing that gives you the option to buy a little less generator at the expense of turning off circuits that aren't needed at the moment. You have to learn how much each appliance uses and then keep a running total in your head of how much the potential load is at any given time. It isn't rocket science. It is simple math and you are allowed to create a cheat sheet to pass the test.

[eaglegolfj]

18kW should do it. That's just a guess.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ maybe even a 16kw.

[Todd-ty729]

I got a feeling this is more than you are thinking about doing/spending.

It is definitely a job for a professional if you want it to work when it is needed.

Generac is the brand we work with. A 18-20 kw unit will work if it is load-shed properly.

You are gonna need natural gas or propane to run the generator. I'm gonna guess propane since your house is all electric.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

Your big killer will be the heat. Open the panel and send me a picture of the inside. I will do a load calculation and give you an exact number. If the house is all electric I’m assuming you don’t have natural gas. In that case you will need a propane tank. And you will be looking at only about 3 days run time on it.


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[Johnny Dangerr]

We have a big house and 22K just covers it. Kohler is the way to go...

[Box-R]

My neighbor bought a Generac system after the freeze 2 years ago.
It took over 1 year for them to actually install the system; so, there may be a backlog.

[Hogmauler]

You can pull up a checklist sheet off the web. You fill in what appliances you want to run. Add the score up and that will give you an idea of what size you’ll need. Sister in law had one put in for the whole house for 15k. They come with maintenance monitoring as well. Depending on where your at you can get them for propane or natural gas, if joe biteme doesn’t kill natural gas as well.

[bowhntrmatt]

I've sized and sold a ton of generators. Sq footage of the home means nothing. The biggest thing is whether your heating sources are gas or electric. I had a 3000 sq ft home get along with a 14kw because everything was gas. They were basically powering refrigerators, lights, and AC.

I've also seen many smaller homes need 24 or 30kw to run everything in the home.

As someone else said, remember that if you don't already have natural gas, add the cost of the propane tank to this project. I'll second Johnny D, the Kohler is definitely the way to go.