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Monday, September 2, 2013
Generac 27KW Natural Gas Home Generator
Overview of my Generac QuietSource series 27KW Natural Gas Liquid Cooled Generator. This is the liquid cooled, inline 4 automotive style engine. A little out...
For here (suburb outside of Houston), it's an HOA restriction. In reality, I could probably bring in some larger portable tanks and keep them "out of sight" for really backing up the gas system.
Unfortunately, in this residential installation, we can't have a supplemental propane tank (above or below ground). But that would be the best of both worlds. The benchmark I have is when Ike hit us, and much of the area was without power for the better part of two weeks. During that time, the nat gas system never went down, mostly because their backup generators run on......natural gas. ;) For the system we have out iin the country, it's all on propane. Thanks!
I am an IT director that worked through Katrina. After the power is out for a day or 2 the natural gas is not far behind. The distribution and metering equipment needs power too. You might want to look at getting a propane tank to supplement. Then you have the best of both. Natural gas until the power outage affects its distribution and then propane. My Docs have underground 250 gallon running tanks fed off out 1k gallon holding tanks at their homes. FFIW You have a nice generator! Enjoy it.
If it floods here, we won't be needing a generator!! LOL! Seriously though, we're not even close to a 100 Year floodplain area. 24" of rain in 24 hours back when Tropical Storm Allison came through, and all it did was make a few ponds on the golf course. ;)
I wish I could do that but I am a Klutz and not mechanical at all. Might get to use my generator for the 1st time. Connecticut and the Northeast are getting slammed by a Blizzard now, We are supposed to have very high winds.
For those with a setup similar to nyyankfan (portable, gasoline powered generator), and have natural gas to your home, a GREAT option is to add a tri-fuel conversion kit, which allows you to connect your home's natural gas to your portable gasoline generator, or propane tanks as well. They run about $200-$250.
Yeah, I have a Natural Gas line so a NG Standby would have made more sense but I didn't want to spend the money for a liquid cooled one and I read way too many horror stories about the Generac air cooled ones. There is an Electrician website ElectricianTalk dotcom where a bunch of a electricians ramble on for 100's of posts about poor reliability of Generac and poor customer service but I have read some positive reviews like yours too. Generac is the #1 Brand so how bad can they be?
Your setup is very similar to my dad's, where he opted to power selected circuits. It's a 10K diesel unit, and we keep a couple of 55 gallon drums at his house, which will keep him running for many days. That's probably the big advantage of NG: you don't have to keep fuel on hand, or keep refueling it. But your setup is great!
I think the reliability factor lies in the fact that the air cooled just need to be serviced more often, and probably aren't. For short term outages, they're not bad, but if you are down for several days, the liquid cooled units (and lower RPMs) are the way to go. Customer service is a toss up. It's really not Generac, it's the local vendors, so it varies, just like anything you buy.
I was thinking about buying a NG Generator but I have read a lot of horror stories on the web about their reliability, particularly the Air Cooled 3600 RPM ones, & Generac's Terrible Customer Service. I live in Connecticut & after Irene & Sandy in consecutive years I had to do something so I opted for a Briggs and Stratton 8000 Watt (10,000 Watts Starting) Generator & a 10 Circuit Reliance Transfer Switch Kit. Total cost for the Generator, Transfer Switch, & electrician's labor was $2,000.
From the manual, here are the consumption rates per hour for natural gas and propane (NG given in cubic foot per hour, propane given in both gallons per hour and cubic foot per hour):
Exercise cycle - 42cuft/hr on NG, .44gal/hr or 16cuft/hr on propane 25% of rated load - 108cf, 1.2g or 44cf 50% of rated load - 197cf, 2.1g or 78cf 75% of rated load - 287cf, 3.1g or 114cf 100% of rated load - 359cf, 3.9g or 143cf
Not nearly. On average, it costs me about $10 - $15 per day (depending on season, etc) to run my house on power from the utility company. Roughly speaking, it costs about $50 a day to run this generator. So, order of magnitude more expensive, but in perspective, cheaper to run this than the cost of a hotel room that you might have to go to after a storm like a hurricane has the utility company power down.
I believe the specs call for 11-14" to supply the gen, but I'll have to check. Also, it's been a while, but I think that little "regulator" attached just before the line goes into the gen housing is a cut off solenoid valve. Again, this is from memory, I'll have to pull the manual when I get home.
Ps. Q: as per video, how many inches of water column between primary regulator and meter? And what is water column after secondary regulator (freeze frame segment 1:50) to appliance? I'm I inadvertently viewing secondary regulator as gas cut off solenoid valve?
There's a couple of them. One is a "Cold Weather Kit", and is just basically a battery wrap that plugs into house power to keep the battery warm. Mostly for mildly freezing areas. The other is an "Extreme Cold Weather Kit", and it's an engine block heater ( heats and pumps the oil through block) that plugs into house power. For the Extreme kit, they recommend the battery warmer as well.
Discovered internet site (On Site Power) though can't open full spec sheet/PDF), can you tell me, if known, some detail about the optional cold weather kit for unit? Is kit an engine block/oil pan heater directly connected to house power? Or is kit an electric element heater maintaining inside cabinet ambient temp?
For here (suburb outside of Houston), it's an HOA restriction. In reality, I could probably bring in some larger portable tanks and keep them "out of sight" for really backing up the gas system.
ReplyDeleteIt that a city ordinance or HOA-rules? Very nice system btw...
ReplyDeleteI was out of power for over a week with Sandy and I never lost my natural gas.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, in this residential installation, we can't have a supplemental propane tank (above or below ground). But that would be the best of both worlds. The benchmark I have is when Ike hit us, and much of the area was without power for the better part of two weeks. During that time, the nat gas system never went down, mostly because their backup generators run on......natural gas. ;) For the system we have out iin the country, it's all on propane. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am an IT director that worked through Katrina. After the power is out for a day or 2 the natural gas is not far behind. The distribution and metering equipment needs power too. You might want to look at getting a propane tank to supplement. Then you have the best of both. Natural gas until the power outage affects its distribution and then propane. My Docs have underground 250 gallon running tanks fed off out 1k gallon holding tanks at their homes. FFIW You have a nice generator! Enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteIf it floods here, we won't be needing a generator!! LOL! Seriously though, we're not even close to a 100 Year floodplain area. 24" of rain in 24 hours back when Tropical Storm Allison came through, and all it did was make a few ponds on the golf course. ;)
ReplyDeletewhat will happen when there is a FLOOD? ....shouldn't u consider raising it off the ground at least 10 feet
ReplyDeleteI wish I could do that but I am a Klutz and not mechanical at all. Might get to use my generator for the 1st time. Connecticut and the Northeast are getting slammed by a Blizzard now, We are supposed to have very high winds.
ReplyDeleteFor those with a setup similar to nyyankfan (portable, gasoline powered generator), and have natural gas to your home, a GREAT option is to add a tri-fuel conversion kit, which allows you to connect your home's natural gas to your portable gasoline generator, or propane tanks as well. They run about $200-$250.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have a Natural Gas line so a NG Standby would have made more sense but I didn't want to spend the money for a liquid cooled one and I read way too many horror stories about the Generac air cooled ones. There is an Electrician website ElectricianTalk dotcom where a bunch of a electricians ramble on for 100's of posts about poor reliability of Generac and poor customer service but I have read some positive reviews like yours too. Generac is the #1 Brand so how bad can they be?
ReplyDeleteYour setup is very similar to my dad's, where he opted to power selected circuits. It's a 10K diesel unit, and we keep a couple of 55 gallon drums at his house, which will keep him running for many days. That's probably the big advantage of NG: you don't have to keep fuel on hand, or keep refueling it. But your setup is great!
ReplyDeleteI think the reliability factor lies in the fact that the air cooled just need to be serviced more often, and probably aren't. For short term outages, they're not bad, but if you are down for several days, the liquid cooled units (and lower RPMs) are the way to go. Customer service is a toss up. It's really not Generac, it's the local vendors, so it varies, just like anything you buy.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that the 8000 Watt Briggs and Stratton Generator which I bought is a Portable one.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about buying a NG Generator but I have read a lot of horror stories on the web about their reliability, particularly the Air Cooled 3600 RPM ones, & Generac's Terrible Customer Service. I live in Connecticut & after Irene & Sandy in consecutive years I had to do something so I opted for a Briggs and Stratton 8000 Watt (10,000 Watts Starting) Generator & a 10 Circuit Reliance Transfer Switch Kit. Total cost for the Generator, Transfer Switch, & electrician's labor was $2,000.
ReplyDeleteFor my house, with the AC's running, normal use, etc, I'm seeing consumption rates in that 50-75% load range.
ReplyDeleteFrom the manual, here are the consumption rates per hour for natural gas and propane (NG given in cubic foot per hour, propane given in both gallons per hour and cubic foot per hour):
ReplyDeleteExercise cycle - 42cuft/hr on NG, .44gal/hr or 16cuft/hr on propane
25% of rated load - 108cf, 1.2g or 44cf
50% of rated load - 197cf, 2.1g or 78cf
75% of rated load - 287cf, 3.1g or 114cf
100% of rated load - 359cf, 3.9g or 143cf
Do you know what the gas consumption rate is?
ReplyDeleteNot nearly. On average, it costs me about $10 - $15 per day (depending on season, etc) to run my house on power from the utility company. Roughly speaking, it costs about $50 a day to run this generator. So, order of magnitude more expensive, but in perspective, cheaper to run this than the cost of a hotel room that you might have to go to after a storm like a hurricane has the utility company power down.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if its cheaper to run than electricity from the supplier
ReplyDeleteI believe the specs call for 11-14" to supply the gen, but I'll have to check. Also, it's been a while, but I think that little "regulator" attached just before the line goes into the gen housing is a cut off solenoid valve. Again, this is from memory, I'll have to pull the manual when I get home.
ReplyDeletePs. Q: as per video, how many inches of water column between primary regulator and meter? And what is water column after secondary regulator (freeze frame segment 1:50) to appliance? I'm I inadvertently viewing secondary regulator as gas cut off solenoid valve?
ReplyDeleteThere's a couple of them. One is a "Cold Weather Kit", and is just basically a battery wrap that plugs into house power to keep the battery warm. Mostly for mildly freezing areas. The other is an "Extreme Cold Weather Kit", and it's an engine block heater ( heats and pumps the oil through block) that plugs into house power. For the Extreme kit, they recommend the battery warmer as well.
ReplyDeleteDiscovered internet site (On Site Power) though can't open full spec sheet/PDF), can you tell me, if known, some detail about the optional cold weather kit for unit? Is kit an engine block/oil pan heater directly connected to house power? Or is kit an electric element heater maintaining inside cabinet ambient temp?
ReplyDelete