Whole house generator question

olonmv

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can you elaborate on this soft start feature.
I also have the 8750 predator generator ( with the 6 circuit gentran) and would love to have my central air on the circuit as well
A soft start reduces start up amps by about 70%. Startup amps are what bogs down a generator and causes the generator circuits to trip. My startup amps were brought down from 109a to just under 40a. I didn’t want to invest in a 15-20k generator setup that just sits on my property. After a ton of research I settled on the 8750 because of the extremely low THD’s it runs. I have yet to run it on emergency but I’ve tested it running my entire home during peak times with a good load and it ran flawlessly for over an hour. My major appliances are gas so it helps. During that hour I had 2 fridges about 3 tvs my kids playing PS and all lights on in the middle of July in texas. Quite happy with the setup. Of course, during emergency situations I will load shed but it’s comforting to know that if I wanted to, I could run business as usual on generator power.

edit: I forgot to mention that it also has a Bluetooth feature that allows you to monitor your condenser unit and also “learns” your system and if anything wonky is goin on with it, it automatically shuts down the unit to help prevent major damage.

 
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mfinn

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A soft start reduces start up amps by about 70%. Startup amps are what bogs down a generator and causes the generator circuits to trip. My startup amps were brought down from 109a to just under 40a. I didn’t want to invest in a 15-20k generator setup that just sits on my property. After a ton of research I settled on the 8750 because of the extremely low THD’s it runs. I have yet to run it on emergency but I’ve tested it running my entire home during peak times with a good load and it ran flawlessly for over an hour. My major appliances are gas so it helps. During that hour I had 2 fridges about 3 tvs my kids playing PS and all lights on in the middle of July in texas. Quite happy with the setup. Of course, during emergency situations I will load shed but it’s comforting to know that if I wanted to, I could run business as usual on generator power.


My central air is from a heat pump. Would this work as well?
The company that installed my heat pump said I would need 5k to 7k additional watts to just power the heat pump.
 

HuneyBear

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We are having a whole house Generac installed. Should happen in the next few weeks. I just bought 2 small UPS to plug the Hydros and pump controllers into.
It’s good to have a UPS on your controller as well as internet/router/modem. That way when there is an outage you still get contacted about it through your monitoring. Some sort of battery backup setup for power heads is a plus as well if you want but the size can be dramatically smaller it only has to carry the switch on time. I’ve been on backup power and not known it other than push notifications from my Profilux and look outside to see complete darkness.

I have an 11k generac but I have natural gas for almost all major appliances.
 

olonmv

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My central air is from a heat pump. Would this work as well?
The company that installed my heat pump said I would need 5k to 7k additional watts to just power the heat pump.
I’m not exactly positive but I found this review on their site. Call their customer support (they are extremely helpful and responsive) and ask them but it seems like it’s a possibility. 10C5263E-6A9C-4121-861C-CE93A6C5BE0D.jpeg
 

Grumblez

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The problem with solar to me is that for power outages it relys on batteries, and even though battery technology has improved dramatically, they still wear out over time.

I mean the same applies to generator parts, you just have to get a new battery or extra one every 10 years.
 

jda

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You could run the most sensitive stuff on our whole house generator. I forgot what kind it was, but it had a Ford v6 in it and could truly run the whole house at once except for maybe both of the large AC units if we turned on the electric oven and dryer too. The unit and the transfer switch figured it all out and it was reliable.

All AC units are heat pumps. Some heaters are (think AC run in reverse) and some heaters are furnaces. They take a lot of wattage. If you want to run AC or a true heat pump, then 15k should probably be your minimum if you want to run other stuff to. A furnace only needs to turn on the gas valve and run the fan motor and can run on 10 amps of 100v instead of like 40 amps of 200v. We had like a 20-22kw generator, or something like that... maybe 25kw. It once ran for 2 weeks on a few hundred gallons of LP after a tornado near us wiped out the power lines.
 

Pistondog

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My central air is from a heat pump. Would this work as well?
The company that installed my heat pump said I would need 5k to 7k additional watts to just power the heat pump.
To power the ac side no, but for heating, there is usually some resistance heaters to augment when the outside temp gets too low for the heat pump. 5kw sounds about right.
 

Gtinnel

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Regarding line workers nasty surprise, has this ever happened? I would think the generator would fail/trip trying to feed the neighborhood - town - grid.
For a properly installed backup generator they use a transfer switch that seperates the generator from street power
 

Pistondog

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For a properly installed backup generator they use a transfer switch that seperates the generator from street power
Yes, that is true.
My question is regarding anecdotes about power repair workers getting hurt with generators running, no transfer switch.
 

olonmv

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Yes, that is true.
My question is regarding anecdotes about power repair workers getting hurt with generators running, no transfer switch.
It happens and has happened….mostly because of DIY folk who fail to turn off main at panel when backfeeding into house panel. There are cheap options to prevent this from happening to where either main or backfeed breaker is on but not both simultaneously. 5AA2A83D-95CF-4D78-9330-6BCDF434FFE3.png
 

Pistondog

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It happens and has happened….mostly because of DIY folk who fail to turn off main at panel when backfeeding into house panel. There are cheap options to prevent this from happening to where either main or backfeed breaker is on but not both simultaneously. 5AA2A83D-95CF-4D78-9330-6BCDF434FFE3.png
I get the need for a transfer switch.
I question how a generator is going to backfeed a grid without tripping its overload breakers, unless the power lines are isolated from other loads.
 

WVNed

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It’s good to have a UPS on your controller as well as internet/router/modem. That way when there is an outage you still get contacted about it through your monitoring. Some sort of battery backup setup for power heads is a plus as well if you want but the size can be dramatically smaller it only has to carry the switch on time. I’ve been on backup power and not known it other than push notifications from my Profilux and look outside to see complete darkness.

I have an 11k generac but I have natural gas for almost all major appliances.
I have 2. All the DC return pump controllers and the Hydros are on them. Everything else should come back within 2-3 minutes or after the cable modem restarts. To power that would require 2 more and I am thinking about it.
But I have managed to get by for days with a 3500 watt portable generator running 1/2 my equipment. If the internet goes down and stays down I would just have to move my skimmer off the Hydros power bar and add make up water manually.
 

olonmv

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I get the need for a transfer switch.
I question how a generator is going to backfeed a grid without tripping its overload breakers, unless the power lines are isolated from other loads.
Good question. I can only assume the transformer that is in line with the grid between the home being served and the rest of the grid plays a role.
 

HuneyBear

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I have 2. All the DC return pump controllers and the Hydros are on them. Everything else should come back within 2-3 minutes or after the cable modem restarts. To power that would require 2 more and I am thinking about it.
But I have managed to get by for days with a 3500 watt portable generator running 1/2 my equipment. If the internet goes down and stays down I would just have to move my skimmer off the Hydros power bar and add make up water manually.
I have 4 UPS only because of the way everything is separated. Modem, router, and 2 on tank-at each end. I could get away with 3 but it was easier to not stretch and route power cables lol. I stream TV so if I’m watching tv I don’t have to sit and wait for internet to reset either.
 
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