Generators

Concrete Helmet

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Yeah. But like my electrician says. The odds of both starting up at the same exact time are almost nil.
Agreed and like I said in an earlier post I would certainly alternate the AC units to conserve wattage by running only 1 at a time and then switching to the other every couple of hours...…
One thing I didn't account for is the fact that we have 7 refrigerators....4 regular sized, 2 mini's and a deep freeze.
 

URGatorBait

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Agreed and like I said in an earlier post I would certainly alternate the AC units to conserve wattage by running only 1 at a time and then switching to the other every couple of hours...…
One thing I didn't account for is the fact that we have 7 refrigerators....4 regular sized, 2 mini's and a deep freeze.
jesus christ dude :lol:
 

Concrete Helmet

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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
I think the 22KW will be the right one based on what I want to run....and what I have to run.
There would be no need to run both AC units at the same time....We would need to keep the septic pump running, pool pump, frig's and freezers, all 7 of them......Mostly exterior lights at night and of course a few lights and computer. I keep 3 regular sized propane tanks for my outdoor grill and would be able to do most if not all cooking on that as I have done in the past.
 

Concrete Helmet

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jesus christ dude :lol:
2 of them are in the cottage which by the way also have their own AC units but I would keep them turned off and only 1 is working at this time.....The power to the cottage doesn't have it's own line in so I would have to make sure most everything down there was turned off which it is most of the time anyway.
 

URGatorBait

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I think the 22KW will be the right one based on what I want to run....and what I have to run.
There would be no need to run both AC units at the same time....We would need to keep the septic pump running, pool pump, frig's and freezers, all 7 of them......Mostly exterior lights at night and of course a few lights and computer. I keep 3 regular sized propane tanks for my outdoor grill and would be able to do most if not all cooking on that as I have done in the past.

2 of them are in the cottage which by the way also have their own AC units but I would keep them turned off and only 1 is working at this time.....The power to the cottage doesn't have it's own line in so I would have to make sure most everything down there was turned off which it is most of the time anyway.

So have you calculated the starting and continuous wattage usage of all these items, even with rotating AC units?
Reason I ask is because you aren't going to want to max the generator out, you'll want to be well under the max.

Also, some of those fridges could be sacrificial, though you could also plug them in and unplug them to a power source as they can hold for quite some time if you don't open them.

we were out of power for about 12 hours. In that time our fridge went from 37 for the fridge and 0 for the freezer to about 10 degrees warmer for both. Power came back on and we didnt lose anything.
 

Concrete Helmet

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So have you calculated the starting and continuous wattage usage of all these items, even with rotating AC units?
Reason I ask is because you aren't going to want to max the generator out, you'll want to be well under the max.

Also, some of those fridges could be sacrificial, though you could also plug them in and unplug them to a power source as they can hold for quite some time if you don't open them.

we were out of power for about 12 hours. In that time our fridge went from 37 for the fridge and 0 for the freezer to about 10 degrees warmer for both. Power came back on and we didnt lose anything.
I've done some math and also used the Calculator on Generac's site to feel pretty safe about the 22KW…..Of course you have to conserve and be reasonable during times of a disaster. One good thing I thought of was to go through the breaker panels in each side of the house and flip the breaker for any non essentials and even whole rooms that wouldn't be needed during a storm....laundry room, garage and spare bedrooms, we wouldn't need all three water heaters for example so I could shut down 2 of them, really shouldn't need the washer or dryer for at least 3 or 4 days if you do all your laundry before the storm hits....hell with 2 breaker panels, one for each side of the house, I could just shutdown one side for a while then do the same to the other side since we have TV's, AC's and fridges on both sides....
 

URGatorBait

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I've done some math and also used the Calculator on Generac's site to feel pretty safe about the 22KW…..Of course you have to conserve and be reasonable during times of a disaster. One good thing I thought of was to go through the breaker panels in each side of the house and flip the breaker for any non essentials and even whole rooms that wouldn't be needed during a storm....laundry room, garage and spare bedrooms, we wouldn't need all three water heaters for example so I could shut down 2 of them, really shouldn't need the washer or dryer for at least 3 or 4 days if you do all your laundry before the storm hits....hell with 2 breaker panels, one for each side of the house, I could just shutdown one side for a while then do the same to the other side since we have TV's, AC's and fridges on both sides....
If you can maximize the efficiency on that bad boy, you'll be happy with it.
Like Brad's example, you certainly don't want to barrel through your fuel source :thumbup:
 

Blacklabgator

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I've done some math and also used the Calculator on Generac's site to feel pretty safe about the 22KW…..Of course you have to conserve and be reasonable during times of a disaster. One good thing I thought of was to go through the breaker panels in each side of the house and flip the breaker for any non essentials and even whole rooms that wouldn't be needed during a storm....laundry room, garage and spare bedrooms, we wouldn't need all three water heaters for example so I could shut down 2 of them, really shouldn't need the washer or dryer for at least 3 or 4 days if you do all your laundry before the storm hits....hell with 2 breaker panels, one for each side of the house, I could just shutdown one side for a while then do the same to the other side since we have TV's, AC's and fridges on both sides....

That’s the thing. You can pretty much decide what is necessary and what isn’t. Cycle the ACs and keep the house comfortable. Like urg says. Sacrifice a fridge or two or consolidate into one and start eating out of the other.
One other thing, notify your LP provider. Mine runs a route during hurricanes to people he knows has generators.
 

Concrete Helmet

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One other thing, notify your LP provider. Mine runs a route during hurricanes to people he knows has generators.
That's awesome advice especially since I plan on sticking with a 250 gallon tank. The generator will be the only thing running off that supply though unless I decide to put in a gas pool/spa heater which would be a non essential about 10 months out of the year.

One other advantage to flipping off breakers in the electrical panels is it would keep people in the house from flipping on every light switch as they enter a room and as is the case in our house more often than not forgetting to flip the switch off when they leave.
 

Blacklabgator

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That's awesome advice especially since I plan on sticking with a 250 gallon tank. The generator will be the only thing running off that supply though unless I decide to put in a gas pool/spa heater which would be a non essential about 10 months out of the year.

One other advantage to flipping off breakers in the electrical panels is it would keep people in the house from flipping on every light switch as they enter a room and as is the case in our house more often than not forgetting to flip the switch off when they leave.

The flipping off breakers is a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that.
 

URGatorBait

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The flipping off breakers is a good idea, I hadn’t thought of that.
Depends on your transfer switch. You might not have everything on your breaker panel running to the transfer switch, as they come with different capacities (and you also have to account for 2 spots on those switches for things like central AC, etc, since they don't run the standard 120 volts).

With 2 breaker panels (on opposite sides of the house), it will probably be best that crete just sacrifice part of the house and only run on one side, close off the side that isn't running). Depending on how big his breaker panels are, and how big is transfer box is, he may be sacrificing some of those breakers before the switch, in otherwords, he would then only need to "manage" what is running through the transfer switch.
 

Concrete Helmet

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Depends on your transfer switch. You might not have everything on your breaker panel running to the transfer switch, as they come with different capacities (and you also have to account for 2 spots on those switches for things like central AC, etc, since they don't run the standard 120 volts).
Good points. I guess I could just leave certain things off in the first place....electric stove, water heaters and dryer might be good ones to start with as well as a couple of rooms that are almost never used. I still think there is plenty of give to be able to work with the 22KW and keep it from running maxed out or very heavy loads if you do the math.
 

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Finally in the pipeline to get a 50 amp plug/transfer switch installed. Should be about $250.

After all my research, I ordered this portable generator for $1000 at Lowes.
9200-Watt Generator - Champion Power Equipment

9200 watt continuous, 11,500 watt peak. 7.7 gallon tank, and the spec says you should get 10 hours at 50% load. This thing has stellar reviews across the web.
If I ever need it, the plan would be to run this during the day and my quiet, full sipping Honda at night. Hopefully.... I'll never need it.
 

Concrete Helmet

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Finally in the pipeline to get a 50 amp plug/transfer switch installed. Should be about $250.

After all my research, I ordered this portable generator for $1000 at Lowes.
9200-Watt Generator - Champion Power Equipment

9200 watt continuous, 11,500 watt peak. 7.7 gallon tank, and the spec says you should get 10 hours at 50% load. This thing has stellar reviews across the web.
If I ever need it, the plan would be to run this during the day and my quiet, full sipping Honda at night. Hopefully.... I'll never need it.
Dude, your house is like the Southfork Ranch from the Dallas TV show......just get the standby :lol:
Actually I'm only kidding and I'd probably do the same if I didn't live in such an ignorantly set up place......I am a little suprised though since you already have LP on site :dunno:
 

bradgator2

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Dude, your house is like the Southfork Ranch from the Dallas TV show......just get the standby :lol:
Actually I'm only kidding and I'd probably do the same if I didn't live in such an ignorantly set up place......I am a little suprised though since you already have LP on site :dunno:

I've run through all the numbers so many times. The main thing for me is what happens in a REAL disaster. Irma was barely "mild" and we were without power for over 7 days. The main problem with the LP is how quickly you burn through it. With my size tank, I might be able to get away with 10 days running damn conservative. Obviously longer if we go ultra conservative. But there is no way to refill the tank without a professional company.

Also, this whole setup is less than $1250. And the generator is portable. And I can stockpile is shiit ton of gas. And it could be 10 years before it is even needed again. So just doesnt sit well with me to spend over 4-5x that amount on a whole house. If it is needed then it would be a disaster, so I'll treat it like a disaster.
 

Concrete Helmet

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I've run through all the numbers so many times. The main thing for me is what happens in a REAL disaster. Irma was barely "mild" and we were without power for over 7 days. The main problem with the LP is how quickly you burn through it. With my size tank, I might be able to get away with 10 days running damn conservative. Obviously longer if we go ultra conservative. But there is no way to refill the tank without a professional company.

Also, this whole setup is less than $1250. And the generator is portable. And I can stockpile is shiit ton of gas. And it could be 10 years before it is even needed again. So just doesnt sit well with me to spend over 4-5x that amount on a whole house. If it is needed then it would be a disaster, so I'll treat it like a disaster.
I hear ya. I've run this thing through my mind for the last 3 month's now and even thought about getting 2 separate portables, one for each side of the house and 2 separate transfer switches....My wife finally made my mind up for me when she got so tired of hearing me talk about it(I'm a little obsessive about certain things)she finally told me to STFU about it and get the standby......
One question though about storing that much gasoline......I seem to remember most stations being without for several days after Charlie....Also what size storage tanks(5g) do you have, and is it going to be enough?
 

bradgator2

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I hear ya. I've run this thing through my mind for the last 3 month's now and even thought about getting 2 separate portables, one for each side of the house and 2 separate transfer switches....My wife finally made my mind up for me when she got so tired of hearing me talk about it(I'm a little obsessive about certain things)she finally told me to STFU about it and get the standby......
One question though about storing that much gasoline......I seem to remember most stations being without for several days after Charlie....Also what size storage tanks(5g) do you have, and is it going to be enough?

Well, any setup you decide upon 100% hinges on having fuel. I would like to have 40-50 gallons onsite if a big one hit. That would get me through a week and hopefully gas stations would start coming back online after that.
 

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