Thinking of adding a standby electric generator to our home, Information from quote (Per Lowes & Generac): unit size 22kw w/200 amp transfer strip:$9,740, includes Propane 250 gal tank (Rented and installed w/full tank). the quote is for fully furnish and install the unit plus battery, Generac Gardian 22000 Stand By Generator.
My price from Lowes for that unit is $5,047, before a 15 per cent discount. It appears that the installation price is excessive, that's just my thought, what say you ? Should I go for another installer or someone to do it ?

Every time the Gererac commercial comes on I think about getting an estimate. I guess lucky for me is the commercial only comes on at night so I forget by the next day. That seems pretty pricey.

Based on what I paid 8 years ago, your price seems in the range of reasonable.

My mom had one installed 15 years ago and it was $7k and not nearly as large a unit.

I’ve told this story before. Big hurricane in Houston. We were without power for 8 days, and I had to stay in town and work, while the wife and kids went to the ranch with steaks and the Margarita machine. I was miserable, and about the end of the 8 days I was looking for sympathy or commiseration. I saw a buddy at lunch and told him my sad story and asked how long he was without power. His answer was “10 seconds”. He had a Generac. A few years later we retired and moved to the ranch and built a nice home, but found we were on the end of the wire. Lost power for short times very often. One of those times, in the wee hours of the morning, when the power went down, I remembered my buddy saying “10 seconds”. I called a few places, got the bids and got the 20kw Generac.

Sometimes the justification for an expenditure isn’t just the money or the return on your investment.

My country neighbor just had his Generac installed after years of our place being lit up like the Vegas strip while they were in the dark.

Buy the unit and install from one supplier. There will, over years, be problems, so you want one phone number to dial.

Also: add an inline filter on the propane line at the generator. Also make sure your supplier/installer is Generac certified. Also, use non-synthetic motor oil in the Generac for the first oil cycle, so the piston rings will have enough friction to wear in and seat (Generac told me that). Then go to synthetic.

Oil changes are pretty easy. The back spark plug is a bit of a bother to change, but not that tough. Batteries are easy to swap out, but get the right size or it won’t fit.

That’s all I can think of. It was money well spent, and I paid a little less than your bid, but have a smaller unit.

“10 seconds”

If that’s a turn key price with install and ATS, it sounds like a good deal.
Just watch out for hidden extras that they might try to sneak in at closing, like overpriced maintenance contracts and such. The warranties are usually pretty good on those units, but the control boards do fail and are pricey.

How much is the rent on that propane tank? Can anyone refill? It's the consumables that get you in the end. Otherwise, that's a good turn-key price

I was wondering what the break even point was on rent vs buy.

We were in Ohio for two years in a small town. Half of the homes had generac generators. After the power went out a few times, I got it. Smart move.

I live in a rural area and power outages are common. Like 603Country, after hurricane had us without power for a week I decided a generator was a worthwhile buy. Went with a Generac 36kw protector quite source. It uses less fuel, runs at only 1800 rpms, and is very quite for the size. Also runs Ours off natural gas.
Around here natural gas is about 1/3-1/4 the price of propane. It doesn’t have a tank that needs to be refilled.
Your quoted price seems reasonable to me. The money you spend will make you think twice up until the minute you lose power.
The “10 seconds” is right