Whole house generator: seeking wisdom and advice

Planning to purchase a nat gas whole house backup generator this year, to be pro-installed. We don't get frequent power outages, but since we will be traveling more and for longer periods once my wife retires, it seems a prudent investment to protect against freeze damage and flooding since we have multiple sump pumps and cold winters. Reliability is my highest priority.

Home is 2100 sq feet plus the same size basement. Nat gas heat, electric A/C and water heater. Well pump. Induction range. Planned hot tub. Located in NE Ohio.

Looking for advice in several areas.

We will likely be needing something in the 18-22 Kw range without load management. This is on the border of air cooled vs. liquid cooled so I'm interested in pros/cons of that choice.

Best brands--there are dealers for Generac, Kohler, and GE (briggs and stratton) in the area among other lesser known brands. My HVAC contractor, who I've been really happy with, reps the GE/B&S brand. Any reasons to strongly prefer or stay away from any of these brands? There are a zillion Generac dealers in the area, a few B&S dealers, and just 1 or 2 Kohler dealers (and they are relatively far away) What about parts availability. Other brands I should look at?

My gas meter and electric service entrance are on opposite sides of the house, roughly 60 feet apart, so either gas piping or electric will need to be a long run. My preferred location for the generator would be on the side with the gas meter since it is far away from the bedrooms. There is a fairly straightforward way to run either gas or electric right through the center of the basement, so there shouldn't be a lot of trenching. Any reason to prefer placing the generator near gas over placing it near electric?

Other things to look out for or think about?

 

What size is your electrical service? Where is it located?

Since you are planning on carrying the whole house you will need to interrupt the service conductors off the meter and reroute them through an automatic transfer switch.

From the panel to the generator, you will need the 3 wires for power (hot, hot, neutral) a Ground wire, and control wires so that may be as large as a 2" pipe.

PJMax is the generator pro so I'm sure he will have some better information.

 

Your codes may dictate the size of generator needed for your home. Since the generator is automatic it must be able to accommodate whatever load can be thrown at it when you are not at home. They will look at your home's potential electrical load and will consider; heating, water heaters, air conditioning, well pump, stove, clothes dryer, hot tubs.... Using load management may allow you to have a smaller generator.

I choose Generac for my generator largely because they have the largest installed base by far. The volume of generators helps insure that someone, Generac or aftermarket, will be around for years to support the generator.

Consider the noise of the generator when picking it's location, especially since you'll have to run wiring or gas either way. In my install the gas or electric had to be run a long distance and the cost was similar for both. The tie breaker was one location positioned the generator much better for it to be quiet in the house. Either way you will have the transfer switch located next to your electric meter and/or breaker panel.

 

I also like Generac equipment, but am not so thrilled with who they like to push as qualified installation contractors. My past experience was that Generac pushes the cheap installers that many times are not even licensed in a particular area. They bank on slipping in, doing the job quickly and slipping back out before getting caught.

 

Thanks for the replies. We have 200 amp(underground) service. The meter is mounted to the side of the house and the main panel is just below it in the basement. Plenty of room for the transfer switch outside next to or underneath the meter base.

CJ--I hear ya and I will certainly be looking hard for a good contractor. I will insist they pull a permit and that helps weed out the really shady operators. And fortunately I know enough to know if they are doing a good job. That's one of the reasons I'm attracted to using the company that did my HVAC install, they did a first class job on that, above and beyond. But I'm hesitant to go with GE/B&S gear. I like PD's logic for going with Generac.

So any thoughts on air cooled vs liquid cooled? From what I have read, liquid cooled is better for hot climates (which we are not really, except for a few months) but require more maintenance. Is that it, or are they other factors to consider?

 

I agree about the Generac installers. Many aren't the best. Insuring they pull a permit was a pretty blatent requirement for my install so there was no question that there would be a permit taken out. Still, inspectors can't catch everything so you still need a good installer.

In almost all cases liquid cooled is better than air cooled. Diesel is better than natural gas/propane/gasoline. Their prices also follow that path. Air cooled is least expensive. Then you take a significant jump in price for liquid cooled or diesel. That alone is the deciding factor for most.

When I looked at the past 20 years of power outages I realized that an air cooled generator was appropriate for my application. Yes, they others would probably have a longer life. But, the air cooled should provide more running hours than I need.

 

Thanks PD, good thoughts. I have no need for diesel otherwise, so I don't see going that route. As I think back on the outages we've had, there was really only one extended outage in the summer, and most were in spring or fall. The one in summer was due to a failure in the underground feed to the house (probably nicked during installation) and it took a few days to get a crew in to repair it. I hope I won't have to deal with that again. So air cooled is probably OK. I'll see how the quotes come in.

 

If you have natural gas available, why deal with tanks of diesel fuel?

 

I the past 35 years I've lived through three outages of 7 days or more. There have been several outages lasting a day+ and many lasting only hours. The air cooled generator is perfect for that application where it spends most of it's life doing nothing.

I've seen in many places where Generac states a 3'000 hour engine life estimate. I'm suspicious since they don't say whether that's air or water cooled or diesel. I have some air cooled engines that have over 1'000 hours and are still running so it's possible.

One thing I have heard and after seeing how hard these engines can be pushed is that oil quality is critical to long life. In my first year the standby generator ran about 15 hours and I changed the oil. After that I do it based on running hours, not calendar date. I keep extra filters and oil on hand in case an extended outage occurs and I need to change while the power is still out and online ordering & shipping may still be disrupted.

 

Routine oil changes are critical to generator engine life.
I install mostly Kohler generators. Several newer water cooled.
Yes they have more maintenance but they run at half the speed of air cooled.
They can run longer between oil changes and are much quieter in operation.

For most applications.... air cooled is fine.