Finally pulling trigger on whole house AC backup generator

[BlennyKravitz]

After losing power for 20 hours recently and the fact that we travel a few times a year has convinced me to finally invest in a real AC power backup system. I did not realize that although they certainly are not cheap, they were nowhere near as pricey as I expected.

https://www.norwall.com/products/11...Standby-Generator-with-200A-SE-Rated-ATS-7033

I decided on this 11kW unit with a 200A auto transfer switch built in. It should be able to run my entire house without any compromise, including the central air and doing laundry while the kids have every lightbulb on the property on full bright. The place I ordered from is also offering a free 3100 psi pressure washer and a $50 Home Depot gift card for $2800 DELIVERED. There are many other models with less/more power. My house is modest in size (less than 4000sf) and we have gas heat.

If you aren't familiar with these, they run on natural gas or propane and automatically and almost immediately switch over to aux power when the grid goes down. I have a portable generator and battery backups, but you need to be home when the power goes out and batteries don't last long when you need them to.

My house is relatively easy to hook this up as it is newish construction. But anyone with access to their main panel and natural gas lines can probably make this work. With all the money and time invested in our tanks it would be heartbreaking to lose it all to something like a drunk driver hitting a telephone pole a mile away.

Anyone else using these? Any issues with the inherent "dirty" power with your lights or pump motors misbehaving? Should be here next week. Looking forward to the extra peace of mind.

 

[donnievaz]

Wow, I'd have never guessed it to be that cheap either! Good luck, that's all I've got

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

What is the BTU rating on the generator Can you post a picture of your meter. How old is the house?

 

[don_chuwish]

That price point is certainly lower than I'd expected. Any idea what the electrician will charge?

 

[BlennyKravitz]

What is the BTU rating on the generator Can you post a picture of your meter. How old is the house?

BTU is a heat/cooling measurement isn't it? 10kW on natural gas at 40A... House is 4 years old, 400A main panel split 200A to house and 200A to garage/mancave (I made sure I would never run out of power lol. I can post a photo tomorrow

 

[BlennyKravitz]

That price point is certainly lower than I'd expected. Any idea what the electrician will charge?

We sort of planned for this when we built the house, so it should only cost about $1,000 in electrician labor/parts. Plumber might be another few hundred to hook up the gas line.

 

[BlennyKravitz]

What is the BTU rating on the generator Can you post a picture of your meter. How old is the house?

Everyone should have 200A in the garage...

 

[revhtree]

Cool! I am going to do this as well soon!

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

No BTU for the natural gas. How much will it burn?

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Post a picture of your gas meter as well. Think of your gas meter as a carburetor, you may be running a two barrel on a 454 motor. While it whistle while it works.

 

[JoshH]

The amperage in everyone's house will be different depending on the size and local building codes. But in saying that, 200 amps is FAR more than you would need to run pretty much anything in the house. and natural gas generators are by far the most efficient when it comes to converting fuel to energy. In the end a very cheap solution when it comes to the loss of a reef system. You should post up some pic's of the install

 

[Frop]

After losing power for 20 hours recently and the fact that we travel a few times a year has convinced me to finally invest in a real AC power backup system. I did not realize that although they certainly are not cheap, they were nowhere near as pricey as I expected.

https://www.norwall.com/products/11...Standby-Generator-with-200A-SE-Rated-ATS-7033

I decided on this 11kW unit with a 200A auto transfer switch built in. It should be able to run my entire house without any compromise, including the central air and doing laundry while the kids have every lightbulb on the property on full bright. The place I ordered from is also offering a free 3100 psi pressure washer and a $50 Home Depot gift card for $2800 DELIVERED. There are many other models with less/more power. My house is modest in size (less than 4000sf) and we have gas heat.

If you aren't familiar with these, they run on natural gas or propane and automatically and almost immediately switch over to aux power when the grid goes down. I have a portable generator and battery backups, but you need to be home when the power goes out and batteries don't last long when you need them to.

My house is relatively easy to hook this up as it is newish construction. But anyone with access to their main panel and natural gas lines can probably make this work. With all the money and time invested in our tanks it would be heartbreaking to lose it all to something like a drunk driver hitting a telephone pole a mile away.

Anyone else using these? Any issues with the inherent "dirty" power with your lights or pump motors misbehaving? Should be here next week. Looking forward to the extra peace of mind.

Wow cool! Cheaper than expected for the unit.