household generators.....

[RUTGERS95 890]

I remember a thread where one of our board members said he installs these in people's homes.  Does anyone remember who that was?  I'm thinking of buying a generac 20kw whole house generator and would rather give the business to one of our own......

[jrfly3006 42]

Was it NJKen?

[TR20 47]

I remember a thread where one of our board members said he installs these in people's homes.  Does anyone remember who that was?  I'm thinking of buying a generac 20kw whole house generator and would rather give the business to one of our own......

 

 

Rutgers

Sorry I don't recall but wt look around and try to find it.

Btw  don't commit to a genrac until you see and compare a kohler. Higher quality.

[Celraysoda 7]

If you can't find the guy your looking for, I can refer you to my guy. He's been servicing my work for over 20 years, Veteran, easy going and reasonable. He installed my transfer switch last year. He is based out of Vernon and goes to Cherry Ridge. Let me know. Thanks!

[njpilot 671]

Yes, it is NJKen

[Shawnmoore81 623]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Champion-Watt-Generator-Weekender-Package/909433.uts

 

Anyone know how much of a house this will power. I might run and grab it.

 

 

Back Champion 3500 Watt Generator Weekender Package

$469.99

Sale! $329.99 (126)

 

[Sota 1,191]

3500w is getting pretty weak. that's less than 15A 240V. you'll get basic things running like lights and stuff like fridges and freezers, but forget about a central HVAC blower powered up, or running a microwave, or dishwasher, at least not without a high probability of tripping a breaker.

 

minimum you should look for is about 5000W. that's what I have here still and get away with it nicely, with some judicious management of devices. you can get a 7500W for well under a grand and I can recommend the one Harbor Freight sells.

[Respect2A 0]

I got a 9000 starting 7500 running champion generator a few weeks ago. I got it at a hell of a deal because it was a display and missing the gas cap. It was being replaced with a new model that runs on propane or gas. I got it for 399.97 and couldn't pass it up with the Costco warranty.

 

Anyone here install their own manual transfer switch?

[Vlad G 345]

That 4000 champion has been excellent for me. It kept me and 2 neighbors in some form of sane during Sandy. It isn't the quietest or most efficient but it has worked when I needed it.

 

 

However, it lacks a 220 output, so you can't really hook it up the house, invest I'm good long extension cables

[T Bill 649]

I would go with a 5000-5500 running and additional 2000 starting watts portable as the low end. Refrigerators, Pumps, furnace motors have high starting current requirements.
 
Installing your own transfer switch is no more difficult than building you own AR, provided you know what you are doing and understand the electrical requirements of your house and how to keep your generator power from backing up onto the grid.  Easiest way is with the generator interlock kit, powers your whole panel.  You have to remember to turn off the circuits you will not need to maximize your available power to critical functions.  One downside to this setup is, because your main is off, you will have to rely on other sources for knowing when the power is back on as your main is off.  There are other transfer switches that are available that use individual circuits that you decide to power and only those would work during an outage.  When the power comes back on then other circuits in your house will let you know when the electric is back on.  You then switch these circuits back over to regular power. Gen-Tran is one maker of these individual circuit transfer switches.  Your choice.  The link below is for the whole panel type.

http://www.interlockkit.com/

[siderman 1,137]

I installed my own Interlock. Not hard at all just need take your time and be precise. And you'll most likely need to move some breakers/wiring around, my gen breaker needed to have the 2 upper right spaces. So of course you need to be comfortable working inside the breaker panel box and being safe.

[Malsua 1,422]

Big storms were always "interesting" and got me into storm mode until I got my 14kw whole house generator with the automatic transfer switch.  Now it's 15 seconds of "hmm, the power went off" until vrroom...oh, there it is, back to watching the tube and listening to the wind howl.

 

I have A UPS that weathers the outages for the electronic stuff.

 

If you're the slightest bit handy, you can build your own pad and get the gas plumbing done yourself.  The gas company will do the final hookup whether it's propane or natural gas and have an electrician do the transfer switch.  I bought my 14kw generac from Amazon and did my gas trenches, concrete pad and piping myself.

[djg0770 481]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Champion-Watt-Generator-Weekender-Package/909433.uts

 

Anyone know how much of a house this will power. I might run and grab it.

 

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405859273.697994.jpg

 

Back Champion 3500 Watt Generator Weekender Package

$469.99

Sale! $329.99 (126)

 

Depends on what you have.  I have natural gas heat and a hot water boiler, city water, city sewer.  I have that generator (bought it from Tractor Supply) and I am able to run two refrigerators, a freezer, and the lights in my house.  The generator and microwave did not like each other, and the wash machine didn't get along with it either.  It's not big enough to run the A/C.  It ran the rest of the house however without issue.

[M1152 713]

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Champion-Watt-Generator-Weekender-Package/909433.uts

 

Anyone know how much of a house this will power. I might run and grab it.

 

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405859273.697994.jpg

 

Back Champion 3500 Watt Generator Weekender Package

$469.99

Sale! $329.99 (126)

probably want to go a little bigger, say 7K or better just to stay on the safe side. I have a 5500 running watts and does everything except my electric dryer and AC. if we have a winter outage I'll have heat. Here's a basic work sheet to ballpark what you need. I posted my setup here before,,I did a DIY install as well. I have a 8 Circuit Transfer switch and B&S portable gen I converted to natural gas. I have an older home with a 100amp service so my system will run my entire home minus AC and clothes dryer.

[Respect2A 0]

I wouldn't even have to worry about heating my house with mine either. I have a garage converted into an extra room off the kitchen. I've got a wood burning stove in there and a door between the kitchen. I think I can run most of the house with 7500 but I haven't gotten to that job yet. I only got the house 2 weeks ago haha. I'm going to tackle it within a month though. I'm about 2 miles from the ocean and I wanna be ready for hurricane season. Of course since I bought a generator the power wont go out for 10 years.

[CMJeepster 2,777]

http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php/topic/62933-the-generator-thread/

[Shawnmoore81 623]

I'm not looking to power my house. Just a few hours at a time running my fridge and a light or 2

[Tack Tickle 0]

Thats what I thought, then someone took my pole down in front of the house. We were without power for almost 2 days... What a pain in the arse.

 

I wouldn't even have to worry about heating my house with mine either. I have a garage converted into an extra room off the kitchen. I've got a wood burning stove in there and a door between the kitchen. I think I can run most of the house with 7500 but I haven't gotten to that job yet. I only got the house 2 weeks ago haha. I'm going to tackle it within a month though. I'm about 2 miles from the ocean and I wanna be ready for hurricane season. Of course since I bought a generator the power wont go out for 10 years.

3,500 is plenty for storm preparation. If you have a high wattage microwave unplug your fridge and any other high wattage appliances until your done with the microwave. You will be able to do a tv, fridge, a bunch of lights and charge your phones and batteries, etc. If you are running your heating system depending on gas or electric you might need to pull the tv or another item you are running. You can play around with the generator when you get it to see what you can run.

The less the wattage the less gas you will burn through. It will also be more quite then the higher wattage units.

 

 

I'm not looking to power my house. Just a few hours at a time running my fridge and a light or 2

[Respect2A 0]

How much of a concern is there running Tvs and electronics? I know a few people who had to replace Tvs, Xboxes and other stuff after the storm due to the generator messing them up.

[bry@n 195]

I have a 5k and it powers about half the house with tv's etc and my well pumps/ hot water heater.

 

That includes fridge and freezer. Can also use the washer and dryer.

 

It actually runs around 1000k when in use. Generally all of these things aren't going at the same time. Even at the start ups, it's never peaked past 3000

[Vlad G 345]

How much of a concern is there running Tvs and electronics? I know a few people who had to replace Tvs, Xboxes and other stuff after the storm due to the generator messing them up.

 

There is always a risk, just not as high as the internet will have you believe.  I got in an argument with people here about this before, yes a non-inverter generator wiill add stress to your motors (fridge etc) but for the durations we are talking about I'm not sure it matters, I wouldn't run it that way for ever, it will reduce the life span, but for emergencies I'll bet food in your fridge will be worth more then the lifespan you lose.

 

I think with electronics the issue is surge more then then the square wave form. You probably don't want your fridge kicking in while you are watching TV without passing it through a surge protector.

 

The only thing that fried in my house for 9 days after Sandy, with a Champion non-inverter generator was a power tool battery charger and it was something like 7 years old.

[M1152 713]

How much of a concern is there running Tvs and electronics? I know a few people who had to replace Tvs, Xboxes and other stuff after the storm due to the generator messing them up.

For the original poster looking for a whole house, probably a non issue. However for the basic $500 - $600 portable gen look at the specs to see which sine wave is produced. For cleaner power you want “True” wave and not Square wave. I was on another forum during the Sandy storm one of the guys was complaining his portable generator couldn’t properly run CFL's\Compact fluorescent lamps (aka light bulbs). It wasn't that is was overloaded it just wasn't making clean power. Keep in my power from US Utility Companies is always going to be 60 Hz (frequency). I metered out my B&S gen which is “True” sine generator and it runs between 58 – 59 Hz so if you are getting something other than that then yes you could ruin your sensitive electronics like a high-end TV or even the circuit board in your furnace. 

[Worn_Holster 2]

I also installed my own Interlock lockout panel on my circuit board. It is fairly trivial but you do need to be comfortable working inside your breaker panel while it is hot unless you are going to shut your service down and use your generator to provide lighting and power for tools when you are installing the lockout panel and the back-up power breaker, and also while you move around some breakers to accomodate the back-up power circuit breaker into the upper right position. Be sure to consult with a knowledable source to get the correct gauge wire to run to your outside generator outlet, and get a decent quality outdoor outlet that matches your generator extension cord and is suitably waterproof. Also you may have to modify the generator wiring so that the only place that your commomn and neutral connect together is in the breaker panel.

[Tack Tickle 0]

Your best bet is to NOT WORK while the panel is hot. Use a head lamp, power off the main. Have a multimeter handy and make sure you are not getting power to any circuit breakers you are working with...

 

YES. I KNOW you can turn off the breaker pull it off the panel, move it down while it is off, reconnect it and power it back up. BUT, you never know what condition a breaker is in. You could have it off, pop it back on the panel and have 400 volts rock your arm while your popping it back in. Don't be estupido... Electricity is not a think to make a mistake with.

 

Get a good Klein 11-1 screwdriver if you are going to do the work yourself and yes, make sure you know what gauge wiring you should be using.

 

DO NOT modify the generator wiring. You can make your own wire with 10/3 soow or 10/4 soow if you are 240 volts. You match your plug to the

generator, not the generator to the plug.

 

My personal opinion is to get the interlock kit over the transfer. The transfer limits you to how many circuits you can run, cost a lot more for the switch and rerunning of the wires.

 

I also installed my own Interlock lockout panel on my circuit board. It is fairly trivial but you do need to be comfortable working inside your breaker panel while it is hot unless you are going to shut your service down and use your generator to provide lighting and power for tools when you are installing the lockout panel and the back-up power breaker, and also while you move around some breakers to accomodate the back-up power circuit breaker into the upper right position. Be sure to consult with a knowledable source to get the correct gauge wire to run to your outside generator outlet, and get a decent quality outdoor outlet that matches your generator extension cord and is suitably waterproof. Also you may have to modify the generator wiring so that the only place that your commomn and neutral connect together is in the breaker panel.

[RUTGERS95 890]

Thanks everyone. I will reach out to njken

[liquidskin 3]

Can anyone recommend someone to install an interlock kit? This is something I want to get within the next few months

[Newtonian 453]

Generators are ok if you're offline for a week or so and you've stockpiled gasoline. But I've read that they're extremely inefficient, especially for long-term use. If we're out for a month you won't be able to score gasoline for any reasonable price. 

[T Bill 649]

If your out of electricity for a month, you won't have to worry about gasoline, food, medicine, or anything else because you will be in a state mandated shelter or relocated to another state. 

 

Even in NY state when they had that terrible ice storm years ago that brought down transmission towers, people were evicted from their homes.  No options.  Front doors where marked with spray paint emblems and signs condemning the house.  You were relocated for you own good.  Hello FEMA camps! 

 

Generators are only good for providing more time to make better decisions on how to handle emergencies.

[Zeke 5,504]

Can anyone recommend someone to install an interlock kit? This is something I want to get within the next few months

Where are you located?

[liquidskin 3]

Where are you located?

Hunterdon county