What's the cost on those?

Welcome!

I would yes (almost everything electric), but you are right, some can get by with smaller depending on size and if they have gas heat or appliances.

No. This one was quoted for me as a natural gas Hookup since I had natural at the house. But you can get a propane run generator. Either way, they would quote without the gas supply. They would want you to get the tank and/or the line ran then they would make the connection. So that would be an additional cost.

Typically, you work with the utility to get a meter installed to make a connection to their system for your service. The quote I received did include the installers making the pipe connection on my side of the meter, but yes, ended up too salty for me.

Sounds like a good use case.

I would ask for a detailed breakdown. At least you could see labor vs material.

56 hours in a year is a lot so sounds like you definitely needed it!

Nice! Where did you get the system from?

@@MooGary1signature solar

I’ve learned A LOT in the process. I’m not a professional by any means, but I am retired, so I had plenty of time to work it out on my own with a little help from the tech and sales people…

When the power goes out in a snow storm you may be surprised. That battery will not charge and will drain faster than you think. I install these systems and they are not ready for outages yet.

Especially in an emergency

Thats interesting. Where can you go to look at the failure rates of each brand? That would be helpful for folks.

You can get a longer cable for the connection between the generator and your plug. The door that is cracked is from the uninsulated garage to the back porch. I put mine on the back porch so it's covered, but you also hear it from inside which is a drawback (although that's a small price to pay for backup power when needed).

Wow, yeah yall put in a lot of additional work to really make it nice. That's definitely some things to consider on top of what they quote you! Have yall used the generator since then?

@@MooGary1 I think we lost power three times in the past 18 months for more than 15 seconds, the longest of which was about 5 hours. We also have a 6,500W portable that we use as a backup now. But I’m in my 60s now and schlepping it out of storage when the power goes out isn’t getting any easier. And my wife wouldn’t want to deal with that once I’ve passed. Buy once, cry once. If I had another $20,000 to throw on it, I would’ve gotten a higher-quality liquid-cooled version…but I was pushing the budget as it was. And we could not have used the increased capacity, as the 26 kW version supplies more power than we ever could use, even with everything turned on. We tried it… the most we could get running and on time was about 16 kW. As is, we could easily run a 50 amp cable over to my neighbor and never notice the loss. After I’m gone I just want things to work for my wife. I guess it’s an investment of sorts.

I bet it would have been cheaper then!

?

Agreed with the elderly for sure. What other bran of generators would yall recommend?

@@MooGary1 Anything brand is better than Gererac.

@@Asidebar I have a Generac and know others who have had them for years and have never had problems with them starting in an outage or any other issues.

I have natural gas already so it was quoted for that connection. If you were going with the propane route you'd need to add the tank!

Always like renting machinery myself... Wish those prices had hung around...

Can feel like that

Yeah we ultimately got turned off due to the cost of something you hope you never use...

I have one there is no monthly maintenance only yearly maint of changing oil and filter.

Feels overpriced for sure!

Yup, it's a hard pill to swallow.

Yeah it's a little different across the country. Also depends on the size of your load.

Yup. Tough

I know... I don't know that they would have taken anything off at the end...

Wow!

@@REVNUMANEWBERN any hondas

@@rudbeckia885 Honda does NOT make an automatic standby unit.

@@rupe53 there are kits that enable the electric start models to remote start

@@rudbeckia885 remote start from 100 feet away is not the same as AutoStart on a power failure, nor does that make it a standby set.

You never know

Wow!

I thought it was a tough pill to swallow

It felt like a lot to me.

👍

I think the dBs are listened in the quote 😅

The guys coming out to do the install will look at the size of your gas meter. I believe in the quote it spells out the flow rate required. With a 150 amp circuit, your generator is going to be smaller than the one I had quoted. Yes they have propane versions and those are very popular. You'll need a tank, but if you are not using natural now (or don't have that available in the first place) then many folks go propane. Diseal is usually used in industrial applications.

@@MooGary1 Thanks for the good information. The Texas winter storm, Uri, put a kink in my generator plans. You see my electric heater is on a 100 amp breaker and can pull 82 or 42 amps (high or low speed). Every thing was good to go with my new 5 ton variable speed ac that draws only 16 amps on high. Then I found out I had to compensate for heating too. Plus 4500 w electric water heater, I think I may need a bigger generator. I also need to upgrade my breaker box because of age and the obsolete brand of breakers. The whole thing is in a permanent dilemma over the propane tank. How big, rent or buy, and how to get it refilled especially during a natural disaster. The propane companies are picky on refilling anything but their own tanks. And when you have very low usage during a typical year, things get awkward on refills. Now the unknown question, will propane work in the 20’s F? It is looking like a dual fuel generator, propane and gasoline is the best option. Propane for long term storage and gasoline for refill-ability during an outage. Does Generac come in dual fuel?

Yeah thats right. Are you saying gasoline would have spent $151 on gasoline per day max or for that 4 day duration?

Only catch is gasoline availability if SHTF. NG usually isn't affected, although the recent Texas freeze did. However, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

Prolly so. Thanks! I figured others would be curious to get some ball parks.

Who would you say has the best system?

@@MooGary1 Cummings or Kohler. General is junk

Yeah that's a good point. If/when I buy another portable generator it will have trifuel capability so that I can use natural gas (which we have at the house) in scenarios where you can't get gasoline or propane.

Just clarification: the only politicians to run out of Texas were democrats. Don’t make a single case the norm on the rest of those who did not.

if you don't have propane or nat gas i would only buy a portable gen. gas or diesel setting in tank for long periods probably not good.

@@j.mccarthy3008 propane doesn't go bad like gas...get it delivered

No idea there.

Yes the entire job can be financed. Texas electrician here

They were

Yup, very sweet.

Good thoughts. Mine did have 2 ATSs due to having 2 panels home run fed from the meter.

how bout labor cost?

Just paid $6400 for my 26KW with the 200 AMP ATS. 10% Military discount from Lowes.

I paid $9,300 with install for a 18k in NY Sate in April 2024

Man I know it.

Nice! This was last week.

Not in the generator

@@MooGary1 why two transfer switches ?

My panels are separated on two different feeds from the meter.

Wow! For what size load?

32kw, actually needed a bit more but that was the smallest that they said they could install due to our loads. That or rewire house with backup circuits separated.

How long do the solar panels last? My experience with solar landscape lighting has not been very impressive.

@@6-Ironthey come with a warranty that has them at 92% of new output at 25 years, at my age I won’t know when they fail.

Price is outrageous? You must not have a clue what labor and materials, not to mention training to get these generators up and running.

Sounds like a perfect use case for a system like this for sure.

@@ronpecinajrThere is no doubt about it, Price is outrageous. General is junk.

Nice! What part of the country are you in?

I should have gotten a quote from them as well to compare.

@@MooGary1 it’s more light commercial, has better through put and provides cleaner power. The remote monitoring features by the dealer and auto shut off on low oil are worth the extra for the 26kw.

Anything is MUCH BETTER than Generac

That's a really good suggestion to help take the edge off the cost.