Generators

[Logan44551]

What's up everyone, so the power company is starting to shut off power during 'red flag' weather events where I live. If this is going or be the new normal I feel I may need to get me a generator. Anyone knowledgeable on them? Looking to power my fridge and my traeger mostly. Not sure how many watts to get? Also wondering if the hybrid propane fuel ones are any good. Thanks guys!

 

[johntt44]

I bought one last year. 3000w and up should handle most fridges.

 

[mp46]

First, if you didn’t know, generators are advertised based on their surge rating so the smoker won’t really surge but the fridge compressor surely will. A Honda 2000 is actually only 1600 running watts so just pay attention to the label.

If all you want are the fridge and treager then you’ll do well with a 3500ish generator, you’d be pushing a 2000 since the treager probably pulls 1000-1500w and the surge on the fridge can be upwards of 10A so if the heating element is on the smoker when the fridge kicks on you’ll likely trip it.

As far as what to get I’m a fan of the harbor freight generators. I run the absolute shit out of them in my hobbies and they run for 72+ hrs none stop 2-3 times a month and I usually forget about oil changes. They have a 3500 inverter model and I’ve rigged two of them up to run in parallel before.

If you plan on losing power for more than 2ish days at a time or more than say, 3-4 times a month I’d get a propane kit since filling up gas is annoying, unless you get an extended tank. Some companies make generators with propane from the factory or you can install a “motor snorkel” US Carburetion Makes some simple diy kits. The beauty of propane is they can run nonstop until the fuel runs out but they also make less power on propane. My big 8500w generator will run for 2 days straight on a 100lb tank. You’ll get 8-10 hours on a bbq size tank.

 

[Sparkyp]

Get a electronic start generac. Running watts 7500w. Put on an interlock kit and run your entire house (minus central ac, electric range/dryer)

Provided you have a 100-200a service

 

[johntt44]

That's why I recommended 3000w plus. Just in case of a surge.

 

[mp46]

Get a electronic start generac. Running watts 7500w. Put on an interlock kit and run your entire house (minus central ac, electric range/dryer)

Provided you have a 100-200a service

Or go the ghetto route and shut off the main then back feed.

 

[Sparkyp]

Or go the ghetto route and shut off the main then back feed.

haha.

i own an electrical company up here and the shit we see is scary. people go online and watch other people back feed their house through their dryer outlet or whatever. linesmen were getting killed because of these idiots.

i've been in the trades my entire life and touched on many trades before settling into electrical. never have i seen more homeowners want to be an electrician until i got into the trade. not sure what the fascination is with it but everyone wants to fucking run their little 14-2 wire and splice fucking lights and plugs together and then claim they know what their doing.

 

[Logan44551]

haha.

i own an electrical company up here and the shit we see is scary. people go online and watch other people back feed their house through their dryer outlet or whatever. linesmen were getting killed because of these idiots.

i've been in the trades my entire life and touched on many trades before settling into electrical. never have i seen more homeowners want to be an electrician until i got into the trade. not sure what the fascination is with it but everyone wants to fucking run their little 14-2 wire and splice fucking lights and plugs together and then claim they know what their doing.

Dude my neighbors are doing a remodel. I went to insulate the addition. They had part of the existing ceiling that needed Batts laid on, this is what I saw when I went to do the lay on. I told them they need to have this stuff fixed ASAP.

 

[Sparkyp]

Dude my neighbors are doing a remodel. I went to insulate the addition. They had part of the existing ceiling that needed Batts laid on, this is what I saw when I went to do the lay on. I told them they need to have this stuff fixed ASAP. View attachment 120159

It’s disgusting what people get away with. Shit like that was done by a handyman or whatever. this is why the electric code is getting tougher and tougher. Our code books are getting close to the thickness of a bible. We have to refer to about 3 different books.

Regulations keep getting harder on the guys that play by the rules. The hacks can careless.

 

[mp46]

haha.

i own an electrical company up here and the shit we see is scary. people go online and watch other people back feed their house through their dryer outlet or whatever. linesmen were getting killed because of these idiots.

i've been in the trades my entire life and touched on many trades before settling into electrical. never have i seen more homeowners want to be an electrician until i got into the trade. not sure what the fascination is with it but everyone wants to fucking run their little 14-2 wire and splice fucking lights and plugs together and then claim they know what their doing.

Yea I don’t ever really recommend it cause people are stupid. For me I have the generator plug wired directly into a breaker, or I could probably set it up with a suicide cord to the new sub panel or 14-50 I installed for the RV. But either way I know to flip one before the other. The next house I have I want the main and a sub panel breaker oriented the same way so I can just make a simple connector that forces one open when the other is closed

It also scared me when I got into this house and found rats nests in the attic like, where the fuck are all the junction boxes?!? Spent quite a bit of time going through all the wiring just to find out that a lot of the stuff wire nutted into those nests simply ran to a cut off end, like someone just cut the damn wire to whatever it used to be and left the live end there

I also don’t ever run 14ga anywhere. 12 is the smallest I use so that way I can upgrade the outlets to 20amp if ever needed. I also usually run -3 instead of -2 so I can run each of the two outlets on a different branch so something like a space heater won’t max out the branch circuit.

 

[MindlessWork]

Get a electronic start generac. Running watts 7500w. Put on an interlock kit and run your entire house (minus central ac, electric range/dryer)

Provided you have a 100-200a service

A larger house may need 15kw Generac. The propane fired ones are good to get. My brother bought one and it set him back 15k and was attached to a 2 story colonial style house. 15kw pretty much let him use just about all the lights and appliances as well as driving the boiler for heat and hot water.

You can get away with 7.5kw if you only need a few lights and to power fridge and tv.

 

[mp46]

A larger house may need 15kw Generac. The propane fired ones are good to get. My brother bought one and it set him back 15k and was attached to a 2 story colonial style house. 15kw pretty much let him use just about all the lights and appliances as well as driving the boiler for heat and hot water.

That’s the problem with the whole home systems. Expensive as fuck. I realize they have auto transfer switches and power nearly the whole home but how often do you really use it? I couldn’t see spending the money unless I was constantly losing power. At least in my area I’ve lost power for maybe a handful of times and the longest was for 4-6 hours, usually it’s 30min or less.

 

[mp46]

Dude my neighbors are doing a remodel. I went to insulate the addition. They had part of the existing ceiling that needed Batts laid on, this is what I saw when I went to do the lay on. I told them they need to have this stuff fixed ASAP. View attachment 120159

Did they use like 6” of wire as an extension there in the middle

 

[MindlessWork]

That’s the problem with the whole home systems. Expensive as fuck. I realize they have auto transfer switches and power nearly the whole home but how often do you really use it? I couldn’t see spending the money unless I was constantly losing power. At least in my area I’ve lost power for maybe a handful of times and the longest was for 4-6 hours, usually it’s 30min or less.

Yes agree on that but power outages were common in his area so he just gone out and bought the Generac. Out west these systems may be all but practically required.

 

[johntt44]

Or go the ghetto route and shut off the main then back feed.

Speaking of ghetto. About 20yrs ago my wife calls me at work and asked if I paid the electric bill because power was out. I go home at lunch to find out some scumbag stole my fucking meter! Haha! Power company brought out a new one. This was before smart meters obviously.

 

[Logan44551]

Did they use like 6” of wire as an extension there in the middle

Yes! I'm more than one spot. I didn't cover it and told them to get an electrician to fix that shit ASAP

 

[Xragexx]

Get a minimum of 5500 starting watts. if you can afford diesel, that’s the route I would go.

I have a gas Troy built 3300 watt I run on the daily for work.

 

[HIGHRISK]

Go to the generac website. Look around there. They also have a calculator that helps you choose what you need. I’m building a house and had the transfer switch pre wired for the generator. It will be installed when the house is complete. I believe it’s the 22k one. When the power goes off nothing changes at my house. Everything is still on a you can go about life as usual. The only thing I can’t run would be the pool at the same time as everything else. My guess is if I lose power it’s because of a bad storm or hurricane so probably won’t be swimming anyway lol. They have portable ones also. Not sure what your budget is but a home one starts about $2,200.

 

[johntt44]

Go to the generac website. Look around there. They also have a calculator that helps you choose what you need. I’m building a house and had the transfer switch pre wired for the generator. It will be installed when the house is complete. I believe it’s the 22k one. When the power goes off nothing changes at my house. Everything is still on a you can go about life as usual. The only thing I can’t run would be the pool at the same time as everything else. My guess is if I lose power it’s because of a bad storm or hurricane so probably won’t be swimming anyway lol. They have portable ones also. Not sure what your budget is but a home one starts about $2,200.

Last year we got a new roof, windows, and flooring. I looked at one of those Generacs that come on automatically when the power trips and runs everything inside including ac. My wife didnt want to spend the money, oh well.... I haven't lost power for more than 10min in 15yrs.

 

[Uglyrichie]

I take it your in the bullshit state are they going to raise your bill after this. Also don't they buy there power from other states. Just seems odd lets shut everyone down instead of making the power companies upgrade their sht