Generators

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
Now that I think about it if the transfer switch is located at the main power coming in it would power both interior breaker boxes anyway.....I would probably only run one AC unit at a time and then switch every couple of hours to lower consumption....Are you limited to any set number of circuits on your transfer switch like with a portable set up?

Again, I'll preface this with my limited knowledge of electricity...lol. The tranfer is wired in to the entire house before it goes into the breaker panel. so the entire house is "hot". It will trip itself out if the load is too big and you have to kill some breakers and then reset the generator. Turning on more and more breakers. The way my guy explained it to me is odds are all the stuff won't start at once (like both ACs kicking on the exact sane time so the load is typically not enough to trip the generator.
 
Last edited:

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
Now that I think about it if the transfer switch is located at the main power coming in it would power both interior breaker boxes anyway.....I would probably only run one AC unit at a time and then switch every couple of hours to lower consumption....Are you limited to any set number of circuits on your transfer switch like with a portable set up?

IMG_3138.JPG IMG_3139.JPG

Here’s how mine looks.
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
Jul 29, 2014
22,047
23,183
9966
9967


Here’s how mine looks.
Thanks. How far away is your propane tank? Is the gas line from the tank to the generator buried?
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
Jul 29, 2014
22,047
23,183
Distance is a two function thing: 1) local zoning type rules stipulate minimum distance things, and 2) beyond that, where you want it.
Oh you forgot the 3rd distance....that's where my f vcked a$$ up Communist governed local "6 month's before we look at anything" c#cksucker morons issue a permit to do anything....9 weeks to have a 28" wide door from the bathroom to the pool deck, yay, can't wait to do the other 5 sets of matching French doors ...over 5 month's before a simple bathroom renovation is finished and closed.....almost a year from beginning to end on my seawall....yeah there's a 3rd distance.....unless...….
 

Concrete Helmet

Hook, Line, and Sinker
Lifetime Member
Jul 29, 2014
22,047
23,183
Well I'm gonna do it so I called Generac to schedule an appointment for assessing the best set up....Guess what? They can't get me an appointment until August 24th....Should I just buy a 22KW with a transfer switch and call a local Electrician? I don't know if it would effect the warranty or not and they're running a promotion right now for an extended 10 year warranty if purchased before 8-26-18.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
Well I'm gonna do it so I called Generac to schedule an appointment for assessing the best set up....Guess what? They can't get me an appointment until August 24th....Should I just buy a 22KW with a transfer switch and call a local Electrician? I don't know if it would effect the warranty or not and they're running a promotion right now for an extended 10 year warranty if purchased before 8-26-18.
Go bigger :grin:
 

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
Well I'm gonna do it so I called Generac to schedule an appointment for assessing the best set up....Guess what? They can't get me an appointment until August 24th....Should I just buy a 22KW with a transfer switch and call a local Electrician? I don't know if it would effect the warranty or not and they're running a promotion right now for an extended 10 year warranty if purchased before 8-26-18.

It all depends on how big your house is and what you want to run all at once. I have the 22KW and a pretty good size electrical load and it will run my house. Might have to kick off an air conditioner to run the dryer or oven. It haven’t tried it.
Our power went out a few months ago. At night we were all up, TVs going ACs etc. 4 seconds later (my wife counted. lol ) everything was back up and running.
Seems like there’s a load calculator on generacs site that you can plug a bunch of stuff into.
As long as you use a licensed electrician your warranty is fine. When you get it installed the electrician has to call generac and give his info. (They don’t ask for permits).
Check the pricing at Lowe’s and northern tool as well. I got mine from northern(cheapest) and it had free delivery.
 

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
Well I'm gonna do it so I called Generac to schedule an appointment for assessing the best set up....Guess what? They can't get me an appointment until August 24th....Should I just buy a 22KW with a transfer switch and call a local Electrician? I don't know if it would effect the warranty or not and they're running a promotion right now for an extended 10 year warranty if purchased before 8-26-18.

If you know a good electrician he can probably tell you what size you need better than generac.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
If you know a good electrician he can probably tell you what size you need better than generac.
He has 2 ac units, so if he wants to run both he needs to account for starting wattage, not just running wattage.
with 22kw, he will be running almost a 50% load, on that generator regardless, a little more on start up.
 

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
He has 2 ac units, so if he wants to run both he needs to account for starting wattage, not just running wattage.
with 22kw, he will be running almost a 50% load, on that generator regardless, a little more on start up.

Yeah. But like my electrician says. The odds of both starting up at the same exact time are almost nil.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
Yeah. But like my electrician says. The odds of both starting up at the same exact time are almost nil.
true, but the both carry a heavy continuous load, when running, and hurricanes, by nature, are during hot periods of the year. Although I must say, after the hurricane last year, the temp was great for about a day and a half :lol:

With a big house like that, he really needs to gauge what he has to have and what he can do without, for say up to a week, and then determine their starting and continuous loads. That is a lot of money to throw at something you aren't certain of
 

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
true, but the both carry a heavy continuous load, when running, and hurricanes, by nature, are during hot periods of the year.

With a big house like that, he really needs to gauge what he has to have and what he can do without, for say up to a week, and then determine their starting and continuous loads. That is a lot of money to throw at something you aren't certain of

True. Like with me the most important things were the freezers, fresh water, and AC with a few lights. If we go 7 days it’s gonna be like the zombie apocalypse anyway. Lol.

22KW is a lot of generator. Now granted. We don’t all live in mansions like him.
 

URGatorBait

Founding Member
Ox's Former Favorite Poster
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
34,886
32,913
Founding Member
True. Like with me the most important things were the freezers, fresh water, and AC with a few lights. If we go 7 days it’s gonna be like the zombie apocalypse anyway. Lol.

22KW is a lot of generator. Now granted. We don’t all live in mansions like him.
The other thing is he will want to try to strike a balance between efficiency of the generator (meaning not running the thing at near 100% load) and capacity. So it would be of benefit to get a larger generator than one necessarily "needs".
 

Blacklabgator

Lurking Member
Lifetime Member
Jul 7, 2014
3,083
4,166
The other thing is he will want to try to strike a balance between efficiency of the generator (meaning not running the thing at near 100% load) and capacity. So it would be of benefit to get a larger generator than one necessarily "needs".

One thing that helps me is I have a lot of gas appliances in my house. That significantly cuts my electrical load
 

bradgator2

Founding Member
Rioting
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
9,507
24,945
Founding Member
True. Like with me the most important things were the freezers, fresh water, and AC with a few lights. If we go 7 days it’s gonna be like the zombie apocalypse anyway. Lol.

22KW is a lot of generator. Now granted. We don’t all live in mansions like him.

Exactly. My area was almost 7 full days after Irma. Other parts of Ocala were 10 days. All my neighbors ran their whole house units like nothing major just happened. They all realized on the 6th day that they were sucking fumes and started to conserve power consumption. The LP company laughed at them when they asked for a refill ASAP. It’s a freaking disaster. Cut half your house off for air (for the 2 AC unit people) and make some other drastic changes to conserve fuel.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.