Well like everyone else with the recent black out i was looking how to get power

Through one of my suppliers I found out there is a Natural Gas one, they are a fair bit bigger than the local tool depot starting at 17kw. and then after watching the news of people burning their garage down etc from pour gas into a HOT generator (those I guess were lucky to get one). So doing further research this would not happen with a NG as they are stationary set up.

So.. what am inquiring about has anyone had a NG one before or currently? Did it hold up well for you? As well looking to see those that would be interested in a product like this (market research).

Thanks guys

 

17 KW would be a monstrosity !

 

I believe you're talking a pad mount in an enclosure which is wired to automatically start and switch-over. It will be expensive to install and maintain and then it will cost money day to day. There will be a battery maintainer and possibly an oil heater too which will be constantly running costing money. If you have the cash, it makes for a really nice setup. I think they generally work well but you really need to search the specific make and model for any issues that particular unit has.

Depending on what else you have in the house, you can typically run a whole house off 2-5kW if you don't have an electric furnace. One of my co-workers has now done it twice for 3 days. He runs a 5kW and it powers his house including the submersible well pump. He just can't run the stove and all the burners at the same time. Cheat and install a 30A, 240V, 4-wire plug and make up a cord to connect the genset. Just turn off the main, connect it up and the house has power. I've used a little 1800W unit for my house. Town water and a gas furnace so I have little that needs much power. This little genset will run 10+ hours on a fill up of gas (<3 gallons). It was dirt cheap at $300 to buy. The big disadvantage of the smaller units is no 240 output so you can't power anything requiring 240V. Keep the thing outside and avoid suffocating yourself or burning your house down.

Here, the worst outage I've so far has been about 15 hours in the 15 years I've lived here and I always have access to a small unit so I could survive. It's hard to justify spending thousands for a setup to provide power for maybe 10 hours a year. If things get worse, then maybe it would.

 

I've got one of these and a 3000watt Honda inverter and a 6500 watt Honda generator.

http://www.generatorsolutions.ca/gen...w-it-works.php


Runs the house no issues. Just need to be wary of what you have running at the peak. LPG furnace for me.

Noise bylaws are not an issue where I am.

Dodosmike

 

My neighbor has had a NG one for 10 years. It works flawlessly. It cycles once a month automatically and get's serviced once a year to make sure it's in good working order. I can't remember the brand but he can power up his whole house with no issue. I have been considering getting one this summer.

 

I'm in the lower 48, but my zoning is rural.

I have a Kohler 20kw unit on a pad out side of the house. It's hooked up to my 1000 gallon lp tank. It cycles every two weeks.

The most important thing is that you need some type of switch to prevent electricity traveling back out to the lines outside the house. You don't want to injure or even kill a lineman trying to restore power.

Bob K.

 

If all you want to do is turn on the furnace then the fan need about 1.5 hp or 10amps, motors are about 85% efficient.
So with a 2000watt generator you have 17 amps to play with, these generators are usually fused at 20amps. So that's enough for the furnace and the refrigerator and a couple lights.

With 15000watts a gas heated home can operate normally. The current amps supplied is based on 120volts but a home service from the mains is at 240volts, so your home service rated at 100amps = 200amps at 120volts

I think the most important factors are the noise, HP rating of the generator, and switch gear. Only the really well made standby generators will go to the expense of good noise abatement which determines size of package also. think about having a rideon lawnmower going all night at wideopen, you wont need any power after the neighbours burn you out.

but then again I could be wrong.

 

Lots of info here:

http://www.generac.com/Residential/

Their generators run on NG or LP

Don't know the cost, but I assume it would be pretty high for a whole home unit professionally installed.

 

I have a Craftsman 5600 W gas generator. We looked at what we really needed to run if the power was out for extended periods of time. Eight days is the longest so far. We need power for the water pump (rural setting), it takes a fair bit of power to get it to start. Eventually we need to run the fridge to keep the food from going off. It works fine for our needs, we can heat with wood if it goes out in the winter. Our primary source of heat is electric but it is becoming unaffordable.

If I was buying now I would look at Honda Generators that idle back when there is no demand, others may have it as well. My Craftsman runs wide open even if there is no demand. It works well but is "old" technology I guess. Fuel Injection and on board battery starting would figure into the decision as well.

There were lots of lessons leaned from the recent Toronto ice storm. Certainly keeping the generator away from the house is critical. Fumes and refuelling are just dangerous so close to a structure. We just run extension cords so we are not energizing the system in anyway.

I think the NG system would be overkill unless your demand for power is really high. Good luck with your decision.

 

Here we are again - back on the generator again after I put all the cabling away LOL

Ancient but little used HOMELITE 2500 W bought at a swap meet a few years ago.

Made up a 50A 240 cord to plug into my welder outlet and just switch side to side to either run furnace or sump pump and whatever lights happen to work.
Not enough to start the well pump properly - will be looking for some thing around 5 KW in the future.

I'm lucky I have a separate shed that I run it in - out of the weather and keeps the noise down.

 

Good to know, I believe the one I was looking at is pretty good from one of my suppliers.

I'm an HVAC guy and the price of the unit is not at all comparable to the local home renovation places store ones, and installation is not a problem for myself just need to find out if I need a certified electrician or is my ESA approved contractor cert will be acceptable. more research ahead.