Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Generac standby generators.

Anyone had one installed, what's the price.

Yesterday our power went out at 330-345 and I don't think it came on until midnight. The house starsts to get a little warm after awhile.

I got a little Champion 3500/4000 watt, but I couldn't get that bastid started. I could of at least run a fan and some lights.

I have two generators. If I ever have a problem with one, the other has always fired up. You should be starting your generator and letting it run for a few minutes, every month. I shut off fuel and run the carborator dry each time at shutdown. Also, check your fuel, gas does not store well long term without additives.

Yeah, I had additives in it, but it was just to old...

With an outboard motor, and this has been debated on the 'fire', running the carburetor dry seems to be a good practice. Straight gasoline, and Stay-bile can't hurt.

Marine gas is best, due to no ethanol, but it is a little more money. Available at most marinas. And age has littfle to do with it. I know off-gridders with machines older than you are. Maintenance matters, and the availability of parts.
One of my two was 13yrs old before it was even removed from it's box. I was immediately told by a shop it was unrepairable due to it's age, due to the lack of parts. (They lied. They just didn't want to do their jobs right. ) It just needed a coil. They deteriorate over time. $27.00 for a new coil, a little labor on my part, and I got a backup generator for the cost of repair.

I am interested in propane generators, since I heat with propane. Most people probably don't store alot of gas, and it has a shelf life. Propane is alot cleaner. I believe the generators more money though.

Propane is the only fuel that can be stored indefinitely . And there are propane adapters for most gasoline engines . However, There are fewer BTU's in propane than gasoline, So a converted gasoline powered generator will perform at a lower level . (Common set up with off-gridders)

Roughly $5K for a 22KW "whole house" Generac installed when building the house - extra $500.00 when adding to existing house - I priced a propane unit.

My only experience with Generac was a 3500W we had at work. We got it new and ran it a couple times to make sure it was working ok and doing the job we wanted it for, then we parked it. The 1st time we needed it, it was just out of warranty. The engine worked ok but it wouldn't put out any juice. The circuit board in the generator head was bad and we couldn't get parts, not even from Generac. Nobody in town could fix it. We ended up trashing it.
It was like a Harbor Freight unit but more expensive. Generac imported it from China but didn't import parts. It was a very expensive throw-a-way unit.

I can not say about a Generac, our PTO unit has brushes that can stick. I've been told to turn it over, even by hand every so often.

here ya go........

https://homegenerators.cummins.com/standby-generators

We installed a generac 20kw unit 4 years ago when we built the house. I think it was right at $5,000. We have needed it about 3 times, once right at the beginning of the super bowl. It turns itself on once a week and runs for 15 minutes. I change the oil / filter once a year. That reminds me.......

Can't answer the OP's question, but do have experience with a Generac 20KW unit that was in a house I moved to.

The first month of living there I added a line to run propane for a kitchen stove. During the hustle of piping it in, I disconnected the Generac, and never went back in to plumb it back in. In 2 years of living there we never lost power.

Went to sell the house and decided I should make sure the generator worked. Plumbed the propane line back in to it, flipped the switch to manual, and in 5 seconds I had a generator running my whole house.

Here's a site that keeps track of gas stations that carry pure gas. It's often cheaper and more convenient than going to a marina.

PURE-GAS.ORG

My ex made me buy one for Y2K. Got a 10.5k, wheels, and the switch panel, which I had installed by an electrician.

Ran it once after a hurricane took out the power. Had tv, fridge and freezer, lights, water, and microwave. Was riding high! Went next door to see if the neighbors needed wate and was told the commercial power had been back on for 45 minutes.

If you're gonna do it, don't go Bubba on it. Do it right and make sure you undersand how to operate it properly. Power company techs have been killed because someone was running their backup without opening the mains and energized the feed. Best, and priciest is an auto system. It has to be routined and maintained. During the Sandy storm, "smart guy" Bill O'Reilly's setup didn't work because he never ran routine checks on it.

There is (or was) a converter for my unit that would allow it to be run on either gas or propane by throwing a switch on the carb or maniflold. Propane makes sense for someone that already has a big tank for other stuff in the house.

I don't worry about normal outages, but it's not been that long ago that folks in parts of VA were without power for weeks. Having water in times like that is a huge deal.

we put a whole house generator in when we built. 22Kw Generac that runs on natural gas. I'll never be without one again. Learned my lesson the hard way.

That was our experience with a Generac we bought in the 90's for our off grid cabin. Motor ran great but the generator head kept failing. Had it repaired twice, once under warranty & about $500 the next, and the third time they couldn't even get the part. We bought a Kohler standby (still working fine) & gave the Generac to someone who needed the motor.
I think they've cleaned up their act these days. My nephew is an electrical contractor and installs back up systems. He says they're top rated and have the best customer support of the ones he's dealt with.

Seafoam is my favorite additive to keep gas fresh. Also, when shutting down, turn the gas line off and let the machine die. I also start mine about monthly just to keep everything running well. Also, NEVER use ethanol gas. I buy only high octane, premium ethanol free gas for all my small motors.

As for the generac question, I am interested in the replies as I feel the need to invest in one of those.

I would say $5-6K is about right installed for about 20kw of power. Depends on new or existing construction and how much power you want. You could easily spend $10k. Generac makes several models that run on propane or NG. It's a pretty neat setup once installed, though they generally cannot be installed by DIYer. Gas hookup requires licensed plumber, and electric hookup, a licensed electrician - if you want to do it right. Running on propane is great if you have propane. Just have to keep the tank at least half full. Switched out our 500gal for a 1000gal after the generator was added. NG shouldn't be an issue assuming that some SHTF situation doesn't disrupt the supply of it.

Good, thank you. Looks like I will have to hit a marina in a neighboring country though. Nothing local listed.