Whole House Generator Sizing Question......Replaceing a Natural Gas 40KW

[Bret Chase]

yes, I own four 25kw diesel generators and I do not even bother to tow one home in an outage.

I've got a gas powered welder that puts out 9500 continuous... I don't bring it home either... What I generally do is just plug my 250w inverter into our Suburban... and use it to power up the modem, router.... and charge the laptops. The rest.... I run the woodstove if we're cold.... use a lighter to light the top burners of my gas stove.. and if I'm hell bent on baking something (like thanksgiving of this year)... drag an extension cord 250ft to my brother's house (who ALWAYS runs a generator).... to power the 300w hot surface ignitor in my oven.

And when it gets dark... light the kerosene lamps we have as backups.

The thought of needing a 22k or 40k genset is just insane to me....

 

[ironpony]

so I am not crazy..........

 

[velvetfoot]

I guess you aren't on a well.

 

[Bret Chase]

I guess you aren't on a well.

I am actually... I keep 100 gals of water as backup.

 

[velvetfoot]

I am actually... I keep 100 gals of water as backup.

That's interesting. I should do that too. Can I ask how you store the water?

 

[ironpony]

I guess you aren't on a well.

I am and a 5000 watt generator will easily run a deep well. 240v 20 amp draw rated actually less.

 

[velvetfoot]

A 5kw generator didn't do it for my well pump. I had to get a bigger generator. Having some stored water would stretch out the time before I'd have to bring that one out.

 

[Bret Chase]

That's interesting. I should do that too. Can I ask how you store the water?

gallon milk jugs and food grade 5 gal buckets... and I rotate and replenish the water... i.e. grab a gallon of water... fill the dog's dishe's... or the pot on the woodstove... refill

 

[Bret Chase]

I am and a 5000 watt generator will easily run a deep well. 240v 20 amp draw rated actually less.

My 1hp jet pump is on a 240v 15a breaker.

 

[velvetfoot]

Thanks. I might give it a whirl.

 

[maple1]

I think I mentioned earlier what I do for water.

I keep a 25 gallon plastic barrell under our Venmar drain. That, and what's in the tanks of our 3 toilets, handles toilet flushes.

Between the water pitcher in the fridge, and what the cushion tank holds - that holds us for drinking water. A bigger cushion tank would pay double dividends here - more water in reserve when the power goes out, and less pump starts/stops the rest of the time (save some on the power bill). Ours is only 6 gallons I think. Would like to have a bigger one or add another, just another one of those things I haven't gotten around to yet. (That's a looonngggg list).

That will get us by a few days.

 

[ironpony]

I manually transfer my generator to my main panel, turn of the heat pump and HW tank, everything else runs fine. the odds of to many things, frig, freezer kicking on at the same time is slim.

 

[pdf27]

Any space for solar? $15k goes a long way to paying for a big solar array with a Sunny Island unit to keep it operating during blackouts. That can also take batteries to provide backup power overnight, and unlike a generator that would give you some payback in reduced electricity bills (which are presumably huge on a 9,000 sq ft house! The downside is that you aren't going to get the full 22kW out of a system like this without much higher outlay, but on the plus side you'll never run out of fuel.

 

[Badfish740]

The owner has gotten a quote for a new install of 11K for a 22KW or 18K for 2 22KW. We are haggling over what kind of credit they are going to give us on this....would I be OK is just going with one 22KW, how should I handle the sizing?

How about looking into a diesel 22kW? It will run slower, quieter, and most importantly, live longer, than a natural gas generator of the same size/output.

 

[razerface]

I am getting ready to remove a 25kw from my house. It will be replaced by a Miller engine fired welder/ generator. I need the welder for portable welding around the 40 acres, and it will generate 8kw when electric goes out.

I won't have auto switch since outage may be short, and my house will hold heat for many hours

 

[fbelec]

spur0701 how are you making out? did you do anything with it?