Let’s talk home generators.

Right now I have gas heat and gas water heater and a 250 gallon propane tank. This weather, along with some storms we’ve had has had me thinking about a generator, now I’ve been kicked in the butt to get it. Ideally I’d like to power HVAC, all fridges/freezers, lights, fans, outlets, etc.

I can either get a stand-alone propane tank for the generator or go up to a 500 gallon to supply both the house and generator.

What do y’all have and what size? What all does it power? Reading about all this is making my head spin.

and a wood burning stove for your shop........and keep your wood in the shop too.

Nah. If you actually move around and work in the shop you’ll stay warm. Getting that wind off you is key.

You’ll have plenty of time to figure it out if I’m guessing what the line is like on getting em

It's been that way for awhile.

While I have my power pole wired with a transfer switch, and my welder on a trailer that plugs in, it won't run the whole ranch HQ here. You have to click off what will overload the limits of the generator.

SOooo.... Before hurricane season was on us, I started trying to buy a PTO generator that produces more than enough amps to run the entire rach, water wells and all, and both houses and all outbuilding.

Backordered.

Still backordered. Been that way since July.

Lots of stuff is like that now.

If you need something, and see it somewhere, buy it. You may not get the chance in the future.

50 kva would be plenty.

BigPig, Your electrical provider should be able to come out and calculate the size of the generator needed for your application. The manufacture of the generator can tell you how much propane it will use under load. Most electrical providers have customer service reps to help. Daniel

My parents have a Generac out in east Texas and love it. Power goes out in the house and within seconds it kicks on.

A good friend's new Pulsar G12KBN 12,000 W generator blew up this week just when he needed it most...

Tire stoves are pretty impressive. What we had in our shop in panhandle

One word........Generac. Size will depend on how big your house is and what all you want to power.

FWIW........Just had this discussion yesterday with a electrician friend in Nebraska. Told him my requirements, wanted a "standby" NG powered generator, basic home with 115/220 needs, (typical home, lights, 2 HVAC units, pool pump etc.). He said that most residential units will go up to 20KW. Told me that would more than work for my home as basically anything above that would fall into commercial requirements and pricing, would be over kill.

Asked him what brand, he recommended Briggs & Stratton, always had good performance from them and parts are reasonably priced. He also recommended to stay away from Generac, parts are extremely expensive.

Also, as previously mention, leadtimes are many months and have been since all the Hurricanes have created massive demand. Said to expect to pay $7-$8k installed.

I tried to search the internet before talking to him, made my head hurt. Hope this is useful to you.

^^^ This

We have a Generac 20kw. It’s been great when we lost power in hot weather, but it can’t quite run our heat strip in the heat pump. I don’t know if the thing is slightly underpowered, or if it isn’t running up to spec. This is the first time, that I can recall, that the Generac was short on power in winter.

One thing for sure is get the biggest propane tank you can find. We finally ran low, so I run it for an hour or so for showers and meals in the evening. The propane folks don’t even answer the phone anymore. Neither does the power company, and we are without power again.

So...yes, get a Generac or something similar, bigger than you think you need, and a huge propane tank. In the event that we ever have weather like this again, don’t run the generator 24/7. Be stingy on propane use.

Also, buy a bazillion 1 pound cans of propane and 10 or more 20 pound cans.

Get a Buddy heater and/or a Mr Buddy, and get the hoses needed to run them off 20# cans.

And keep up on preventive maintenance on the Generac. And put a filter in the feed line to the generator.

They make a 24kw Generac now. I will get one.

That’s all I can think of.

I ll buy some like new generators when all these people take theirs back on Sunday.

Nice Chinese engine.

Mom has a 22kw Generac. She has city water but septic and pool and it runs it all on about 4 gallons of LPG and hour.

Not the most convenient but even using extension cords and my welder generator to power what needs power off and on for the last few days.

.

In another THF...Honda brand seems to get good reviews.

4 gallons of propane an hour? That’s a lot of fuel.

I needed a cheap solution for this storm, so I purchased a portable generator for Harbor Freight. I’m always skeptical of their products, but reviews on the Predator model are pretty strong. Plans are to use the generator at the deer lease and for anyone in the family who may need one. Small sample size, but the generator has done exceptionally well, but not sure about longevity.

Long term I will be buying a Generac for the house. I will say it was really nice to know that I could have some power when the electricity was out. $700.00 for the generator and heavy duty extension cords. Sucked to spend that money, but great to have some capabilities.

That's running a 3000 sqft HVAC system, pool and septic and everything in the house in 100° weather. Would probably burn much less in the winter.

looks like either the Rod hit it or the counter balance gear broke.
he check his oil?

Briggs was in the works to purchase Generac, and had a 5 year agreement to complete the purchase, but in the end Briggs just stole the generator technology and now Generac after purchasing 2-3 other companies is a larger company than before the Briggs agreement.