You are correct in what you say about noise and fuel consumption. But on the other hand I was just pointing out that you can keep the lights on for a lot less than 15K!
I have the 15KW Generac unit and an quite satisfied with it's performance to dollar ratio. When the lights go out and mine come back on, I'm happy to have the $3K unit running rather than sit in the dark and wish for a better unit!
Gary
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Hey! Aren't you supposed to be working?
Northern Tools has transfer switches available that will allow you to put a generator on the selected circuits (freezer, refrigerators, etc...). The price was affordable. Get an electrician to install these....it can kill you.
Bo McCarty, Realtor
<font color="purple"> on the other hand I was just pointing out that you can keep the lights on for a lot less than 15K!
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Yep, even my Onan was much less than 15K installed (about 25% less). We don't (yet) have frequent outages here, but being tied to the grid with CA, and with our summer fire seasons, I am expecting some extended ones in the future. I want to be able to power our AC when that happens [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Just finished hook-up. Rather electrician did.
Coleman 5500 watt / 6875 watt peak generator.
Proper manual swich/panel
Total $1688 canadian taxes in.
Security - priceless!!!
Will run:
Furnace
Freezer
Fridge
Well Pump
2nd Floor lights
1st floor lights - back room plus TV/Satelite dish
Stove/range is propane.
lloyd
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Sunday morning, we participated in our Wildlife Management Association's annual bird count. After walking around in the (sometimes pouring) rain for 2+ hours we headed home. The discussion was whether we wanted hot chocolate or hot tea. It looked to be 'none of the above' when we arrived back at the house to find the power out. (A call to the co-op revealed half of the county was down.) I fired up the generator, and the microwave and furnace were back to doing their thing. This was my first test of the system, and it was GREAT! We bought the unit figuring if there was an outage, due to some storm, we might not get back up for a long time as there are not a lot of electric customers where we are. In the old house (back in the city) we spent 2 days without power after a storm, and it was not fun. If you anticipate any sustained outages, get a generator, and hook it up properly.
There are some companies that sell a transfer bracket. It allows you to use a dual breaker at the top of the panel to feed the generator into the panel. The transfer bracket allows only the main infeed breaker OR the generator breaker to be closed. One at a time. I think they are about $150. I had already made my own when I found out about this. I like theirs better.
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