Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Back-up Generators?

I am going to buy another generator for back up use. I have the wattage needs all figured and set.

Portable? Or hard wired stand-by?
If portable, do I want a transfer switch, or a Generlink connection?

Either way I'm figuring to run it on LP.

Generac seems to be the lead dog for hard wired stand-by equipment. What else should be considered?

Honda is likely the quality king for portables, but I don't really see the generating capacity I need. I figure I need 7500 continuous/10000 surge watts. Who makes a quality portable with this kind of capacity, running on LP?

Any advice appreciated.

Advice with links treasured...

I have the Honda 7000is and love it. It is fuel injected. I store 60 gals of non-ethanol fuel + another 25 or so in vehicles at my main house. I plan on installing a transfer switch. I also have a Honda 3000is for a second (small) house I have. Very impressed with the 3000is as well. I can run my entire second home with it (including 1000 BTU a/c) except the clothes washer and water heater. Would be nice to find a propane conversion kit for both generators and then plumb them into a propane source. Storing gas is such a hassle. What I like about the Honda's is that the engines only spin as fast as your energy needs at the moment, so they are fuel-efficient. The fuel-injected 7000 is very, very fuel-efficient.

Hard wired with automatic transfer switch. Our lights go out and about 20 seconds later everything is back on. I don't lift a finger.

No more hooking up, starting, fueling, ect.

405wcf

I don't understand why people want generators large enough to let them live as if there is no outage at all.

It's fine if you have unlimited resources, but it takes a lot of fuel to keep pthem running even if you aren't using all the capability.

I don’t know much about them but am getting a quote from a contractor for one as we lose power way more than we should

About all I learned are that liquid cooled are more likely to have the wattage to run most everything in the house, are a lot quieter, and are 2x the price relative to air cooled

As far as generatng capacity, considering that you are using it as back up, ask yourself if you really need to power every circuit in the house? For back up, the main thing is to power the fridge/freezer, well, water heater, furnace and a few lights and computer----and not all at the same time. Our large house uses a pellet stove for heat and propane for hot water, so we only need the gen to power the fridge/freezer, electric motor on the pellet stove, the well intermittently and a few lights. When you are in back-up mode fuel is at a premium (unless you're plumbed into a large propane tank for example) so I wouldn't worry about trying to power every circuit. Definitely install a transfer switch. Extension cords are a huge hassle.

I used my Miller bobcat up until this spring when I sold it. Living 30 miles north of ya I get what you mean on wanting to have back up as we ran some stuff on a Champion 7500W that we have. Looking at a whole house set up but we are on natural gas. There used to be a generac factory in town I live in but had since moved to Wisconsin. All 3 electrical contractors I spoke with this spring recommended staying away from generac as they see lots of small problems. May just be because of what we have around since factory was here? They all recommended going with either a Cummins brand or a kohler brand.

We are looking at a 20kW as they say you lose some potential with the NG. Prices were pretty comparative but I think the Kohler had a better warranty. Both were 5 years, but the kohler wasn’t limited by hours of runtime which I think was like 1500 or 2000 hours for the Cummins( but double check as I would have to dig out quotes to be sure which brand). But if you have 2k hours of runtime on a generator in 5 years you pry will just be glad you had one. 400 hours/year would make 2 weeks a year roughly with out power. Might need to think about better options bc at that point.

A LOT of choice. See:

https://www.absolutegenerators.com/standby-generators
https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/
https://www.norwall.com/

We bit the bullet 3 years ago and bought a 22KW Generac installed by a dealer with an automatic transfer that kicks on 30 seconds after the power goes off. Since we live in a frequent power outage area it is real nice especially since I have serious sleep apnea. The machine kicks on for a test run every Monday morning at 7AM and hasn't given any trouble at all. The power was out 8 hours about 2 weeks ago. We are all electric except heat. That is wood but even that requires a fan for forced air circulation. We also have 2 portable Briggs and Stratton generators that we were using prior to the Generac but they kind of a pain to get going and run extension cords etc.

The problem with generators is fuel. If you get a large one that can run everything in your house all the time, it has to be backed up by a pretty large Propane reserve or Natural gas. Many think Propane is better for real bad disasters, because with Natural, you are dependent on an outside source for your fuel supply. Gasoline is fine if you prepare your fuel with preservatives and rotate it every year. I've found that the large gas old type gensets such as 7000W to 10000 W use too much fuel for longer term emergency use, so I went to a smaller 4000W unit that can run heat, refrigerators, and small window AC. Mine can run 12 hours at 1/4 capacity on 4 gallons of gas, but usually longer because you don't draw from it all the time. Those type set are running at a steady RPM most of the time even if you aren't using the electricity, so the larger ones are overkill in a blackout for a few days. With my 4000W I can keep 25 gallons of gas on hand and get by pretty well if I don't waste it. I just rotate the gas through my lawn equipment to keep it fresh. The larger units will burn 25 gallons in no time. If you get one of the more expensive inverter types, they are better on fuel, but to me the smallest you can get by with in emergency situations, the better off you will be when you really need them. You have to adjust your ways and be a power miser until the power is restored.

I have a Generac 15KW propane standby generator and it got lots of work last week when the power was out for 4 days. It is hard wired with an automatic transfer switch. This size will run everything in our house: well pump, ac/heat mini-splits, boiler, all appliances and lights. We didn't do the Generlink thing. One thing I will advise against; if you go with a Generac with the transfer switch DON'T leave the little rod handle for the manual switch IN the switch. Someone left the rod handle in the switch on our transfer switch and the rod hung up on the box cover preventing it from switching over and the switch burned out. A costly repair. Nowhere on our box does it warn to not do that. Other than that, it has been very reliable and useful. Besides the little annoying outages that occur whenever the wind blows or we get icing on the wires, we've had to use it twice for extended periods of time due to a small tornado and the recent tropical storm.

We had to get a 500 gallon LP tank installed (we had a 100 gallon before). We manually turned it off at night to save LP and even then we used about 65 gallons in 4 days. My brother in law is an electrician so we saved that cost.

I use a Yamaha iSEB3000 boost. to power the whole house. I backfeed a 60Amp 220VAC plug from the garage. I have jumper in the 220VAC plug to connect both legs of the 220VAC together. This way I can use both legs of the house wiring. All I must do is open the main and all 220VAC breakers except the 60 amp welder feed. I can run the TV, fridg, furnace and lighting without problems. The well is 220VAC, so I can't run that, but I have about 60 gallons of storage in the system. This is a complicated system that you should not attempt if you don't know what you are doing. If you don't follow the correct process you will have fried equipment.

I use my cell phone to monitor the wi-fi Edison meter to determine when the power comes back on.

Having a high capacity, automatic system is very nice. After long consideration, I went the other direction and bought a dual fuel Champion 1500/2000.

Why?

Propane stores well. I put in 2 20 lb. bottles for emergency use.

My approach was to ask how little I could get by with. I need to power my wife's oxygen concentrator, a few lights, maybe the TV briefly to get information, and possibly my ham equipment, plus intermittent power for the fridge and freezer.

We have a gas fireplace that won't do much, but will keep the house above freezing.

I don't have unlimited resources, but living up North when there's no power, we're cold - - quick. Also, before we had the generator we lost lots of food from the fridge and freezer. We travel and can be away from home and it's no fun coming home to rotting food in your freezer, frozen/burst pipes etc. The fuel isn't cheap but neither is a hotel room, repairing water damage and replacing the contents of a freezer. It's one of the best things we've done. Several of our neighbors don't have generators and come to my place to take showers, get water for drinking and flushing toilets (we're all on wells) and put stuff in our freezer if we have room.

I have a Honda 2000i.
It produces 1800 watts.
It only weighs 50 lbs and my wife can start it with one hand.

It powers my freezer, refrigerator/freezer, PC computer and monitor, flat screen TV, some lights and keeps all the battery powered devices charged.

Our longest outage so far has been 5 days and 17 hours, and I used a little over 10.5 gallons of gas.

I can run around 12 hours per gallon,and can rig it to run from a remote tank, so theoretically it can run several days without refueling.

It's so quiet, when I'm inside I can hear my neighbor's generator running but not my own.

I realize some need more power, but people should resist the urge to get more than you absolutely have to have.

If I had to have 220 volts I'd look at a larger Honda
https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators

Kinda like me. Last multi day outage I had a Miller trailblazer and a Legend. Had the trailblazer hooked up at my place and the legend at the nearest neighbors.
Both of them are sold now. And I don't need that nice of a generator.

Actually looking at a Champion portable dual-fuel. I work with and am friends with several industrial electricians. The 3 I talk with the most all own champions and call them the best value available.
I like the GenerLink as it is so simple. But a couple of the above mentioned electrical types have offered to assist with transfer switch installation.
And i am rural and already have a 500 gal LP tank out back. I suppose that if I bought a dual fuel portable I'd get an 80 gal LP to roll around with it.

The hard wired stand-by has an appeal, but I don't expect to use it often enough to justify the cost..
Still...

With the experience of a couple a bad ice storms over the years and monthly minor outages, we have configured our winter scenarios with 2 sets of gas logs (500 gal propane tank)

Aint much but would would just have to live in the Living Room or the master bedroom. Additionally we have an outdoor sunroom pavillion with propane 4 burner range top, also weber genesis grill. All ran off of that big tank.

If im in an outage, my concerns are not necessarily daily hot shower, nor are a washer and dryer,
Worst case, after 3 days I’d drive my family 50 miles to a hotel for shower.

I dont have desire to spend $8,000-$10,000 for enough kw to run a 5 person household and 400amps worth.

My bare bones sole concern would be my 5 freezers, 2 fridges and God forbid my walkin cooler if I had carcass hanging.

Only thing I have is an 8000watt gasoline jobsite gen. I’m really vulnerable to loss. I could play the 2 hour switcheroo game on my units.
2 are chests, if no peeking, they would go 2 days without jack long as it isn’t dead of summer. Those 2 are outside in a workshop

I ought to just suck it up and get about a 10kw, propane plumbed Generac and transfer.
I have long time bud from high school, he said he would help me fix it all up, him being a licensed electrician, a JW, would be a micky mouse job for him.

If I had that homeset, I could run my outdoor wood boiler it uses my blowers in my heat pumps

A small super low budget and low wattage offering: i also have a couple of 1000watt dc to ac inverters, alligator clamp jobs, hook to car batter, let the car run. Have a few extension cords. Could tun a few lamps, lights, TV, maybe a small appliance. No good for compressor start ups.

Hope you get something that works for essentials and budget

Here is what you asked for. Consider the numbers will be slightly lower on propane which makes it fit your parameters.

https://www.electricgeneratorsdirec...le=0&grade=7&watts=5&brand=0

My brother installs backup generators as side job, I've helped him install several including the one on my home. He is a Kohler dealer and of course he recommends Kohler and for good reason. Parts and repairs and the Kohler engines are more efficient at high altitudes. I live at 8000' elev..

I have a 14kw Kohler on my 1800 sq ft house, detached garage, and apartment and it powers everything pretty well, I can overload it though when using electric heaters in my garage and apartment along with the house load. House has propane heat except for additional electric heat in baths.

My father in law had a generac that was about 10 yrs old and it had some components burn up and Generac did not support it anymore and was not interested in trying to help. Most Generacs made overseas.

Kohler however supports their complete line and when making upgrades try to make things interchangeable between years. Kohlers is made in USA.