My wife and I have talked about one for some time. After a recent outage we decided to make the next step and get a quote. I had a rough idea what it would cost; however, my wife is a little hesitant now.

Here's my question, Does 4500 seem high for the installation portion? There isn't any digging etc involved.

While searching the forums here, I came across this
http://www.generlink.com/

At the very least I want something to plug a generator into to power parts of my house in the event of an outage.

Get a quality (Miller or Lincoln) gas or diesel powered welder. Then you can do something besides just look at it between power outages. A trailer for it and a hookup to plug the house into it when necessary should be far south if $4500.

That's what I have now. I'll be getting a 27Kw PTO generator to run with my tractor as soon as they are in stock again.

If that's what the cost is without the generator itself and "just" for a setup to plug a backup genset into, then yes, it sounds high. Then again, these aren't normal times.

I wanted to get a PTO generator, my wife hit the ceiling. "what if it doesn't run", meaning the tractor. Geez, nothing is foolproof!

Had a natural gas powered generac 22 kw installed just before Xmas. Ran 60+ hours. During our famous freeze.
Was not expecting to use it in winter. Thought it would only be used during storm outages.
BIL has a large gasoline powered generator. But when the power is out it’s usually out at the filling stations also.
Better have a lot of gas cans or diesel. Hasbeen

I have
Lincoln Vantage 400 Diesel 17K 3ph 100% duty cycle 11.5 K 1ph 100% duty cycle
Polaris 12K gas Generator
Predator 8750K gas Generator
Ryobi 2K Generator
Lincoln Weldnpower gas with a 6K 1ph 100% duty cycle
and I just pot together a (8) 12v 200amp lithium battery system with a 4400 watt (2) poles of 120v 30amp & (1) pole 220v 30amp.
Magnum Energy Inverter system.

I can power an entire city block with what I have.
And my girl still says that we need to get back ups for power when we go to Arizona to work our property there.

Womens are never happy or satisfied with what you got when they get a bit paranoid.
What can ya do?????

Around every corner prices seem out of hand. Just can never decide if it's me thinking that or the reality. It was just installation cost. I knew what the unit was going to cost. But mentally the installation came out twice as much as I thought the high end would be.



My wife gets paranoid, then sees the price tag to get prepared and suddenly isn't so paranoid 😆.

At the least I'll get my house set up to plug in a portable generator. Anyone ever do that themselves? Or just better to hire someone? Then again those dang installation costs might be high.

Whatever you decide to get, get one that is at least duel fuel, our Firman can run on gas or propane and we always have plenty of both on hand, no more power outages for us.

Depends on what you want to power with your generator. If you're looking into a whole house transfer switch then it could get expensive. If you're just looking to power a small number of appliances then you could get by with a $400 generator and some extension cords. A big question to ask is if you plan to run your central AC, electric stove, electric heat, and electric water heater. If not then you can get by with small amount of money.

Aside from all the alternatives for power, I think a $4500 install is generally out of bounds for an install.

If the gen is on the opposite end of the house from he panel. or the gen is so big that it can power everything in your house, 4500 bucks is too high.



But what does that price include, & how many amps is it?



Then again, your looking at UT. cost & my values are Ky. cost. Likely different economies.

I have a 5kw gasoline generator.

I installed a #8 awg 220volt weatherproof drop cord at my incoming power outside box. I tied it into a 60 amp 220volt breaker.

**You have to have a procedure to do the following **.

When the power fails and if for a suspected long term:

1. Open the Main incoming breaker from the utility power and tape over the toggles.
2. Open the 220 breaker that the gen set will back feed power into for your home.
3. Open the 220 volts breakers that feed your aircon, electric heat, oven and stove (the big users).
4. Start your gen set and allow it to warm up.
5. Close the 220 volt breaker that the gen set feeds to.

You should have plenty enough power to run lights, fridge and freezers, ceiling fans, tv, etc. (110 volts users).

To refuel the gen set:
Open the 220 volts breaker that it feeds, stop the gen set, refuel, check oil, restart and close the 220volt breaker that the gen set feeds.

When main utility power is reestablished:
1. **Stop the gen set and unplug it from the cord that feeds the 220volt breaker**. Secure the weatherproof cover over the drop cord.
2. Remove the tape from the incoming main breaker and close the breaker restoring utility power to the home.
3. Close all remaining breakers that were opened.

Others here may have more advice concerning using portable gen sets.

Not legal in most jurisdictions... you have to have an UL approved mechanical device that blocks the incoming main anytime the secondary power is turned on so there is no way to defeat the switching and back feed from your generator. Tape isn't considered a mechanical block in this case...

They only cost $650 to $800 depending on what options you choose. Buy direct from Generlink or from your power company. Took a few months to arrive. They didn't charge my card till it shipped. It was installed by the power company for $100. It's a great setup. Power whatever you choose by flipping breakers on. Uses a 220v 30A L-14 connection to the generator. Options include surge protection and Bluetooth cell phone connection to let you know when the power comes back on. Includes a cord.

One of my older neighbors, he just had a 23kw Generac, transfer switch, concrete pad, buried propane line, etc.
(Already had propane tank for gas logs)

Counting his install, whole thing was $9,000

He’s in his 70s just had his knees replaced so he is/was in no shape to DIY or bargain.


I thought it was high


-because:
Me and him both were pricing 18-20 kw units about 4 years ago installed by our local natural gas utility for $5500-6000.

His $9,000 guy was a private outfit as our utility no longer offers the generator packages.

Anyone have experience with one of the Generac systems?

They sell those mechanical devices.

It’s not like it’s hard to tape the main breaker and then install a lock on the box.

9k$ For that size gen set with complete, turn key installation sounds about right for our area.

My old friend had to wait about 6 months for his turn at getting his install executed. The little company doing it is blown the fugg away with business and can charge a bit more, demand is so high.
Makes sense too after Texas this winter. The grid is not as dependable and underbuilt.

6-8 month waiting list here.

According to the quote I got, $4500 seems average. In New Jersey, I was quoted $11,500 for a 24kw Generac which lists for around $5200, $3-5K for a 500 gallon above ground propane tank plus someone to DitchWitch the propane line, absolutely ridiculous!

Generac is pretty low-end. IMO, what you get depends more on the outage you foresee. Do you want something that will run your whole house for a week or two whilst Texas gets its act together? A couple of days while the local utility finds the problem and fixes it? Do you foresee some event that lasts for a year? If the former two, Generac is fine. For some long-term deal, you're gonna need a CAT diesel or the like. Two problems with Generac or similar brands...one is longevity. I don't think ANY gasoline, propane or natural gas system is going to be long-lived. Second problem is cost to run it...just fuel. Diesel is gonna cost a lot less over the long run. I expect there are a lot of people who could withstand the $10k to $20k expense of a full-featured, whole house genset, who couldn't afford to run it for a year.

JMO and I'm no expert.

More or less the new norm; Generac is buried & their stock has doubled in the last couple of years.

$7500 for a 16KW, NG system installed.

If you can handle having enough gasoline or propane available, then a $1,000, 8-10KW gen plus around $700 for a switch & external plug installation will work for most moderate size house needs.

Not "automatic" & you have to do the switching/plugging in when needed, but works fine.

MM

We bought a Yamaha 7200 and had our solar guy hook everything up including transfer from our panel for just about $2000. Ours is not automatic as we have to start the generator and switch the electric panel but it works great. My wife can even do it so I know its no problem to start up. Had to use it twice and no problem getting it going. Just to be safe though, we use non polluted gas in it.

The Generac 22 kw system I bought is automatic. When the power from the grid is interrupted. My transfer switch automatically disconnects after about 20 seconds. The generator starts and powers up my house.
When power is restored by the grid the generator stops and the automatic disconnect hooks me back up to the power company grid.
You can go online to buy the generator and disconnect.
The installation depends on the distance between you gas supply and your electric box. I was lucky my natural gas meter and breaker box was on the same side of the house. Generator installed in between. Also I had a slab pored for the generator. I also had to have a larger gas meter installed. Remember plumbers and electricians aren’t cheap.

Another thing . Insurance companies and fire marshals don’t like jury rigged plugs backed thru drier plugs.
Also manual disconnects should be used when hocking up a portable generator thru your breaker box.
Hasbeen

7 years ago we bought a house that had a 20KW Generac installed. Immediately after moving in, I needed to run a propane line to the kitchen, the convenient place was to use the generator feed. My thought was to temporary it in for testing, then I'd make it permanent. Of course, I disconnected the generator, got the kitchen up and running, and left the generator disconnected for 2 years.

Then we bought a new house and moved.

I hooked the generator back up (that had sat for 2 years untouched). Manually started it, fired after about 10 seconds of cranking. Shut it off. Pulled the main feed to the house. Generator fired right up and powered the whole house.

So, I have no experience running in a true power outage, but had no issues running after sitting untouched for 2 years.

with a natural gas furnace, I have a couple of gas generators - a chinese construction generator that can run tools and lights and a Honda for the furnace and the fridge .

I'd like a whole house generator but I've lived here for 20 years and have been without power for maybe 10 days total. I can get by with what I have as long as I have fuel.

MIL lives on the gulf coast and has a Generac on propane. Keeps a trickle charge on the battery and has me start it up and perform maintenance on it once a year. Its kept the lights on after hurricanes for her twice now in a 12 year span.

I believe that the installed NG units require their own dedicated natural gas pressure regulator aside from and downstream from the gas regulator for your home.

Our electric service is on the opposite side of the house from the propane tank. We checked on a whole house propane unit and install, it was eye popping expensive.

I decided portable units would be good enough for us. After adding 2 more freezers the 2400 Yamaha would have been maxed out so I took a chance on a Horrible freight 3500 inverter.

I can buy a bunch of really nice drop cords for the $4k install fee.

We really only lose power because of hurricanes and then only sporadically. Might be a few hours or a few weeks, never know how that's going to go down.

I do drag them out and test run them at least twice a year, draining the fuel afterwards.

Pizz on a hurricane.

Yes,we had a generac 17 kw (propane) installed 11 years ago cost was $4600 installed.Change the oil & filter once per year 5w-30 full synth.oil>never one single issue..

We have a 20kw generac. Had it installed around 2009. Generator, pad, switches, and labor was $9500ish. We run off propane. It was money well spent. It was much used during the Texas big chill, but I learned I need a bigger propane tank. If I had natural gas, like in the city, I’d have gone with that.

Never had any trouble with it, and I do the oil changes and tune ups.

$10K for full install of 22-24 kw generac here, transfer switches, concrete pad, NG hook up, etc. That's delivery of generator next march/April and install in june/July.

We've been without power for close to 90 hours since March. The pulling extension cords and fueling portable generators has gotten old.

Hit your knees and praise God that you got a woman that understands.

That's about what our total quote was as well. But dang that's a long wait time. I'll have to see if the same rings true where I'm at.

I've been saying I'm gonna do it after every outage for the past decade. This last one broke me.

that's my thought's why worry about having a supply of gas sitting around, with national gas there is no refilling..