Whole house generator and Apex equipment

[nbd13]

Hi everyone,

The wife and I are going to get a whole house generator coming up here. I was wondering if others have this on their house and how it affects their tank’s equipment with the monthly test? I’m worried the loose of power every month and the generator kicking on will cause havoc to the radions, apex gear and all the other stuff on the tank.

Do others have this? Can you comment on when the generator tests monthly what it does to your tank.

Thanks

 

[Phyber]

I have a Generac whole home unit. It does a self test once every two weeks. During this time the transfer switch is still off so the home never knows it's running.

I've only had to go through one power outage so far with the generator; the initial outage lasted 10 seconds before the generator took over, and when power was restored to the lines, the handover from generator to utilities was seamless.

 

[Reefnman2]

We have a Generac whole home also, and like Phyber, within 10 sec. it's up and running with a power outage and my reef equipment never misses a beat...we,ve had a half dozen times or so of usage with the tank.

 

[homer1475]

Whole home generac here also.

Mine does a self test every 2 weeks(I think it runs like 5 minutes), and with the transfer switch my home never knows the generator turns on.

 

[Reefnman2]

Ours tests weekly, every Saturday at 9 am runs for 5 mins. must be how ever the installer sets it.

 

[homer1475]

Ours tests weekly, every Saturday at 9 am runs for 5 mins. must be how ever the installer sets it.

I think you may be right, never really dug into it. Mine will email me or send an alert through the app if it finds something not working correctly. I believe I can adjust that through the app, but never really dug into it. It works when I need it to, so never really had a need to play with it.

 

[nbd13]

Thanks everyone. So I just need to make sure the transfer switch is installed so when it does the test it won’t actually switch the home over. Does that sound right?

 

[homer1475]

Exactly.

Make sure you get an automatic transfer switch.

The manual switch will work, but you will have to manually switch from generator to line power, and vise versus. Kind of defeats the purpose of a whole home generator IMO.

That transfer switch is almost as much as the generator. My friend had a whole hime generator installed with a manual switch, a few years later decided to switch over to an auto, it was nearly as much as the genny was. Not sure if it was because it was basically a retrofit, or if they are actually that much.

 

[alton]

Since you already have the expense of a full blown home generator, why not add a 1500 KVA UPS to run all your equipment and protect it from power surges, and voltage spikes. The biggest issue with using UPS units it they don't last very long, well you only need a minute or less.

 

[Phyber]

Thanks everyone. So I just need to make sure the transfer switch is installed so when it does the test it won’t actually switch the home over. Does that sound right?

yes, a transfer switch is a required and standard part of a generator setup. It will be sized along with your generator output. It senses utility power, and when that's lost for X amount of seconds, it will close and fire up the generator which powers your home. When power is restored and holds for X seconds, the switch will open and your generator will idle down after some time.

The transfer switch is hands off otherwise. You can only manually turn it off should you ever need to service your utility input. Since a self test would (usually) happen when you have utility power, there's no reason for your home to ever come off utility.

 

[Phyber]

Since you already have the expense of a full blown home generator, why not add a 1500 KVA UPS to run all your equipment and protect it from power surges, and voltage spikes. The biggest issue with using UPS units it they don't last very long, well you only need a minute or less.

I'm experiencing "first world problems" by looking for a small UPS battery so that I don't have to keep resetting my coffee pot/microwave clocks during those 10 second outages. If you know of one please let me know!

 

[Phyber]

Exactly.

Make sure you get an automatic transfer switch.

The manual switch will work, but you will have to manually switch from generator to line power, and vise versus. Kind of defeats the purpose of a whole home generator IMO.

That transfer switch is almost as much as the generator. My friend had a whole hime generator installed with a manual switch, a few years later decided to switch over to an auto, it was nearly as much as the genny was. Not sure if it was because it was basically a retrofit, or if they are actually that much.

Might have been the seller... My auto transfer switch was ~$600. Nowhere close to genny cost.

 

[ca1ore]

I have a standby generator also. It can be set to exercise itself every week or every two weeks. Runs for 15 minutes, but as others have noted, the power to the house is not affected. I suppose it's possible the system can be set to do a more robust test, by automatically interrupting the mains power to ensure the transfer switch is working; but mine does not do this. I do shut the mains power off manually every few months just to make sure the generator and transfer switch is working though.

I have found that the apex brain does not like to lose power, and mine behaved curiously when it did, so I have it hooked up to an UPS. That way the UPS keeps the brain powered while the standby generator spools up (only about 10 seconds) thus you don't need a big one. The only other problem I have had with a basement sump is that brief power interruptions cause a back siphon on my return line, which back spins the pump impeller, and the pump won't start up properly and runs the risk of burning out. I have the main pump outlet on my apex set so that it delays pump restart so that any back siphon is competed before turning the pump back on.

 

[ca1ore]

That transfer switch is almost as much as the generator. My friend had a whole hime generator installed with a manual switch, a few years later decided to switch over to an auto, it was nearly as much as the genny was. Not sure if it was because it was basically a retrofit, or if they are actually that much.

Depends a lot on the size of the genny. When I bought my Kohler 20K Summer of 2018, the generator was $4500 and the automatic transfer switch $1,200. I'm not even sure you can buy a standby generator without an automatic switch anymore. Agree that a manual switch is singualrly pointless.

 

[ScottB]

Whole house generator and APEX here too. Probably 1/3rd of the time that we lose/regain power, my APEX won't reconnect. My equipment & programs all continue to operate fine, but my APEX will remain disconnected until I get home and cycle the network router & Wifi. All my other network devices operate fine.

I vaguely recall others talking about this and perhaps that someone had come up with some code to get the brain to try to regain a connection. Gotta go search the user forum for that some time. That ring a bell with any of you?

 

[bar|none]

Whole House Generac, the 22K Variable Speed. No problems with tank equipment and transfer switch. You will love it.

 

[steallife904]

I was just going to ask what a ballpark price to get a whole house installed is??? We are thinking about it this year. Was thinking 4-5k? Am I in the ballpark?

 

[homer1475]

Whole house generator and APEX here too. Probably 1/3rd of the time that we lose/regain power, my APEX won't reconnect. My equipment & programs all continue to operate fine, but my APEX will remain disconnected until I get home and cycle the network router & Wifi. All my other network devices operate fine.

I vaguely recall others talking about this and perhaps that someone had come up with some code to get the brain to try to regain a connection. Gotta go search the user forum for that some time. That ring a bell with any of you?

I have this same issue. Not a huge deal, but certainly a PITA. Are you on the "new" apex, or "old" out of curiosity?

 

[homer1475]

I was just going to ask what a ballpark price to get a whole house installed is??? We are thinking about it this year. Was thinking 4-5k? Am I in the ballpark?

Depending on generator size, yes. I have a smallish home so my genny was one of the smaller ones they have, and I was right around 5K installed.

 

[ScottB]

I have this same issue. Not a huge deal, but certainly a PITA. Are you on the "new" apex, or "old" out of curiosity?

New. Yeah, everything runs. But I am spoiled and don't like to be "blind" about what is happening with the systems. Not sure why it sometimes reconnects and sometimes does not. Cannot find the pattern.