Houston Area

i am about to put. Kohler 26K. Any experience with that brand?

 

I think either are fine, just remember to think about the monthly maintenance, most people that have Generac were frustrated that it wasn't working when they need them to be, but forgot that those need to be maintained every month or so.
I would say the Kohler is the same thing.
The monthly maintenance package ain't cheap, either.....

 

they are all the same.

just make sure you get a air cooled unit.

the water cooled are a tad more needy.

 

Hey we should race our SC Tundras LOL. They're both faster since they're white

 

i'll add.

maint is easy to do yourself

very easy.

 

absolutely.

I'm sure Peitz Performance (Katy)could drop a tune in your unit.

he has all of mine saved.

 

I am usually religious about maintenance in anything I buy, and I truly believe in that. I can do basic generator things, oil change, spark plugs, etc, etc. I had portables for the past 15 years and they run just fine. I am just tired of dragging this thing out and all that labor shit

 

standby units are the best

I do maint twice a year or every 40 hours

overkill, yes. But I like electricity

 

Yeah I am putting a Kholer in, but man the labor is effing NUTS in Houston. Charge me $10-14K just in labor for a 2 days job? I was like get the fudge outta here. I am doing it myself and get a master electrician to to do the permits and tie into the main power panel when I am done. Is all going to be to code with the right permits and approvals in place, no funny business here. I will be around 2-3K in labor going this route.

 

My tipping point was, a) at the height of COVID, generators are back-ordered with min wait of 10 months, and they want premium+50%, b) my electric panel and gas meter were on the opposite side of the house, so they have to run almost 100ft of gas line up through the attic and down. Total with generator was close to $22K..... I was like hell no, I want a generator but not this bad.

 

LOL I have the same situation. Is easier and quicker and cheaper to run power cable through the attic, with 200 Amps rating of course. Mine was a 170 foot run. I already did that for my portable generator which is next to the gas meter and the power panel is on the other side of the house, just like yours. I paid this guy $500 to run it through my attic and a master electrician to tie it into a secondary panel outside the house. From there I took it into a 50 Amp breaker for now, which is the generator breaker under the 200 Amps main breaker and interlock. All done by code and approved by a master electrician That was the easiest money for him, 30 minutes job.

 

I wanna go the portable route, due to that we might not stay at this house too long, but wife still does not feel the need to do it.....oh well....
I did the math, if I can get the portable on sale, with all the other stuff, bar the LP cans and all that, I am looking at maybe $4K to get it all done to code, which isn't too bad if I am moving, I lose out maybe $5-800 for interlock/50amps outside and softstart. Better than a $25K investment that I can't take with me when I move.

 

When you ready I can help you as I done it for myself. Go the WGen11500TFc route which is less than 5% THD, pretty clean power. You also need the inlet For inlet, interlock and 50 amps and soft start I can help you buy from wholesalers (don't sale private) which 30-40% less than your average Joe and for labor we can do it together or you find someone which is still cheaper. Is very very simple for sure.

 

I must have gotten lucky

all my utilities are on the same side

I think it was ~$5k for the install

our home has the old fashion transfer box.
Lake house has the fancy load shedding transfer box

get the fancy load shedding.

oh, and word of advice

put ups’s on all your electronics. When the genset sees a load, voltage will dip.

and get a desktop antenna. Then you can get tv.

 

If I am ever out of power, I just want AC and fan and some light.
Maybe stove but mine is gas now and I have a lighter for the time when I need to light it.
I don't care for TV or anything else, cause likely internet is out, too.

 

It’s a great idea to get UPS’s also for your internet modems, especially if they are Motorola or Aris type that companies like AT&T use.

These modems are highly susceptible to damage if the power goes out while they are trying to reboot. A UPS will help avoid that when you power is flickering on and off.

I use the APC brand of UPS and they’ve worked well for me.

 

These days, appliances and what not are so efficient that you really don't need much. I have a manual disconnect switch on my house, generator powers the kitchen, master bedroom, septic system, living room and attict (including two natural gas tankless water heaters). My little 2200watt Honda Inverter EU2200i powers all of that with no issues. I've had this generator since Harvey, probably have a few hundred hours on it. Gets around 8hr/1 gallon on ECO mode. So long as the septic pump isn't running a lot, I'm good for a while, as it has the largest draw.

It can be paired with another generator, so I may get one of those. However, I've also been looking at some tri-fuel portable generators that I can connect to our natural gas line. I'm looking at one to power our smaller 1.5-ton unit in the house.

 

I used to have a Champion inverter 100520, very clean power and about 6Kw on NG. Run like a Champion. Sold it right after Beryl when everyone was desperate for the same price I purchased I upgraded to a WGen11500TFc tri-fuel and clean power 5% THD. I still need to fire up this sucker and break it in.

 

see if y'all agree with this...Re: standy gensets.

I hear the Generac's have a better (cleaner) generator

all the others have a better engine.


We have a briggs and a Generac...and notice no difference in the two....albeit, we use UPS's on everything and>>> both units, when the A/C starts, will drop voltage momentarily (UPS beeps at us).


in short...they both work reliably.

 

I ordered a Westinghouse on Amazon a while back, but it was back ordered forever and canceled my order. Was looking at what I can get locally. Lowe’s in Livingston has like 117 tri fuel generators from a brand called Firman. I don’t know anything about that brand, but it has good reviews.

Next time I’m at the lake house I’m thinking about picking one up. It’s about 9300watt.

 

Go for the WGen, is got clean THD, that is what's important

 

Fireman is OK-brand, works well, Costco carries it (not sure if exact same model)
But like @JohnWhicker said, WGen is better if THD matters to you.
Because you mentioned lake house, so I think Fireman should work fine, and cheaper.

 

If you don't have anything to do & you want to watch meat getting cooked.

this is a youtube of the joint in Montgomery I mentioned a few pages back.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yikFjsxYyZM

 

When I retire, 3 things I wanna do and learn. Make my own wine (I already know this one), grow my own weed and start smoking it again, and learn how to smoke / bbq. I am just removing myself from the society and going back as close as I can to the stone age.

 

decent plan.

 

That means rid of the Tundra, you OK with that? Stone age aint got no trucks.

 

Stone age and Tundra

 

CONFLICT!!

 

Well. It looks like it’s hurricane time again

hunker down

late Tuesday?

 

Looks like we will be in it for awhile as it approaches and passes us by right offshore? Good get interesting?? I have already received text messages from CenterPoint!!!