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Whole house generator: whose had one installed


mrs.cos

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If you can do it yourself or get an friend electrician to install it you will save a ton. Home depot has them for $2500 and up plus install. Depends on khow many kw you need. if you call a installer to do the whole thing it will be $6-10k easily.
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Are permits needed? I will have to have a gas line run to my house from vectron too(it's available at my house but wasn't installed when it was built in the 70s)

 

I know we have electricians on here, as well as plumbers.. Maybe work out a side job deal?

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Good luck with the venture.

 

As I read through the AEP and now this thread, I couldn't help but laugh and wonder if/when at some point we'll have a CR Memeber who's generator is an LSx with a cam in it running on the side of their house :gabe:

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Can you just buy a 8.5kw portable generator at Sam's and connect it to your braker panel?

 

You can...... but you need a throw switch disconnect to make sure you dont blow the panel up when the elec comes back on. It can be done easily but obviously is not automatic.

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Can you just buy a 8.5kw portable generator at Sam's and connect it to your braker panel?

 

this is how I wired my house, my sisters and my neighbors house. just get a transfer switch kit from lowes, true value or home depot.

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I looked at having a transfer switch for a generator installed when I upgraded electric in my house. My electrician suggested this instead:

http://www.generlink.com/about_generlink.cfm

Not automatic, but allows you to power anything in your panel as opposed to a transfer switch where you have to select what you want to power whan it is wired in.

 

AEP also like these as it takes their power "offline" and does not backfeed the lines when it's used. Northern Tool lists the 30a version for $699 and a 50a for $849 - I have not priced them direct from Generlink yet.

 

I already have the 5800W generator....about $800. I'm figuring just under $2K for everything installed (including tax & shipping)

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I don't currently but it is available to me, we plan to install it so I can have a gas stove as well.

 

If you plan on adding gas in the future you should look into a whole house generator that is fueled by natural gas. After this last power outage I noticed several of the people on my street had these and it seemed like a good way to go after discussing price with them. Cost is pretty much the same for the equipment and labor.

 

Gas furnace and gas dryer could be an idea as well. If you can become less dependent on electricity you're better off in case power is out for a long time.

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If you plan on adding gas in the future you should look into a whole house generator that is fueled by natural gas. After this last power outage I noticed several of the people on my street had these and it seemed like a good way to go after discussing price with them. Cost is pretty much the same for the equipment and labor.

 

Gas furnace and gas dryer could be an idea as well. If you can become less dependent on electricity you're better off in case power is out for a long time.

 

The goal/plan is the use nat/gas for the generator. the only other thing i would consider replacing is my furnace but since we JUSt replaced that like 3 years ago, we are stuck with it for a while

 

hanks for all the input everyone.

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My man!! How much for something like that?

 

my generator was about $800 and the switch was about $300. the only thing that sucks is it only powers 6 circuits.

 

thinking about adding another one in as i only pull 2200w and i have a 7500w generator. :dumb:

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I bought a 6500 (I think) from CR last year, 6 panel switch for $180, and it has been great. Used it / needed it 3 or 4 times now.

 

It powers 2 fridges, 1 deep freeze, the well pump, the sump, an entire family room to keep the wife and kiddos happy, and the house fan. If we're out for any length of time, I run a cord from the outlet running the garage fridge up to the garage door opener.

 

Once this basement is done, I'll switch from powering the upstairs family room to the new family room downstairs and the shitter pit, so we can stay in a nice cool basement if we lose power again when it is 98 degrees.

 

Super simple to install. Beats running a 150' cord over to my neighbor's exterior outlet and running a ridiculous amount of crap off of a spaghetti mess of cords.

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