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its funny when people try to tell others what is and isn't a waste of money. what if they have plenty of money? a standby generator with 17kw power may be overkill, but if im loaded then who cares if I have tons of power? I know that when the power went out for sandy and Irene; people with standbys were very happy. so I would say that someone shouldn't break the bank but if you have plenty of money then go for it.
Actually "IF" I had plenty of money at the first sign of a power failure I would jump on my private jet which happens to be on the private runway in my development and head over to Aruba.
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[SIZE=3]Almost impossible to tell. You have to calculate the total wattage that willbe used. Remember, everything isn't used at once. Heating or AC, not both. Wellor city water? [/SIZE][SIZE=3] [/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3]Then fuel type. Unless you have nat gas, the fuel requirements will be huge.Then heat type, how many ac units, washer/dryer, etc. r? You're going to findthat running everything will require a very large system possibly into thecommercial area. Even the largest 20kw unit transfer case has 16 circuitbreakers and some of those are required for heavy draw items such as ac.refrigerator,. Your best bet is to let a COMPITENT generatorinstaller spec it out. [/SIZE]
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Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
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I used to be a service tech on this sort of equipment... from 3 kw to 2000 kw.
Unless you have a really big house with more than normal appliances, at your low elevation (engines "derate" the higher in elevation you go), 14-15 KW is probably a bit more than you need.
In any case, if you want it and can afford it, get a Kohler, 120/240 volt genset, about 10 kw, natural gas fueled unit. Transfer switch can be automatic or manual, the latter meaning you have to start the generator set yourself, and throw the switch manually, and of course that will be cheaper than the fully automatic system.
Generac is much better than they were at one time, but I would still go with Kohler. I have seen things with Generac units in the past, as well as trouble getting parts, etc., that I just still don't trust them like Kohler.
I admit to some bias against Generac just based on my experiences 15 years ago.
I misread a quote and thought it was a 6500sf home and they wanted to run "everything". My house is 2550 and I have a 7.5kw Generac system that more than once ran for six days straight. It powers the hot water heat, well, refring, microwave, and several electrical circuits plus two garage door openers. None runs all at once and I rarely go over 50 percent load. The unit has been flawless. Service techs are all over the place up here and parts (only needed one) were not an issue. My unit is about 7 years old. It's also serviced yearly by a competent tech. It's a propane unit
Total cost was almost $4000.00.
But right now isn't the best time to get one installed. You probably will be better off waiting until spring. The base for mine was poured and they waited a few weeks for it to settle.
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