topic Re: Generac generator for whole house in Home

Generac generator for whole house

sarahpanda — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 21:56:13 GMT

I'm pondering as to whether to invest in a whole house generator. It's just me now,in probably an 1800 sq. ft. house. Any pros or cons on a Generac generator? Any other brands that you love instead? TIA

Re: Generac generator for whole house

YanksFan — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 22:06:38 GMT

I have a Briggs & Stratton and love it. It can power everything except for the oven. I had a Generac but didn't like the automatic start. Our power frequently goes off for a few minutes at a time and I didn't want the generator to come on while I wasn't home. I now have a second breaker box next to the main breaker box. When the power goes out I have one button to push to turn the generator on/off.

I don't regret the purchase at all. It was a worthwhile investment.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

SilleeMee — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 22:12:05 GMT

I would love to have a Generac myself. My house is old, build in 1973, so they say I will need a new breaker box so it could work with my house. Houses built before 1998 are more likely to need the upgrade. That will add several thousand dollars to the cost. I cannot afford it right now.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

jannabelle1 — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 22:22:51 GMT

We looked at a Generac last year and had one of their sales people come out to give us an estimate. I don't remember the exact amount but it was expensive - over $10,000. Besides the cost, we couldn't have one installed because the outside unit has to be so many feet away from the home's structure (unlike what you see on the TV ads). For us, that would have put it on common ground since we're in a town home. Putting anything on common ground isn't allowed and our only other option would have been to tear up an entire area around our patio.

I think it would be wonderful to have, but we really don't lose our electricity all that much, and when we do it's usually for a couple of hours or less. Plus, the cost....a lot more than what I thought it would be. Our town home is 1900 sq ft.

ETA: we also would have had to replace our electric box as the other poster mentioned since our town home was built in the late 60s. I had forgotten about that extra expense.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

GenXmuse — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 22:40:00 GMT

We have a generac we've been happy with. We live out in the country and it's come in handy several times in the seven months we've had it. It was expensive ~$10,000 but it will help with resale should we decide to move

Re: Generac generator for whole house

gidgetgh — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 22:58:18 GMT

I toured the Generac plant years ago. They did business with my company. They are a top name, if not the top name.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

smoochy — Tue, 02 Jul 2024 23:03:21 GMT

we scored big when we moved to Florida six years ago. Found a practically new I-Power 12000 watt generator for $800 on fb marketplace. Only had 30 hours on it. In our area we have frequent lightning storms and of course the occasional hurricane. Our generator will power our whole house, 1300 sq ft I feel much more secure knowing we have it

Re: Generac generator for whole house

D Kay — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:07:39 GMT

My neighbors ha a whole house generator and it sounds like a tractor running. I can hear it inside my house with all the windows closed.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

ImABoor — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:48:07 GMT

Best purchase I have made. Had an old gas generator for years. It got too cumbersome & heavy to be filling up gas cans at the gas station and lugging them home. Then filling the generator.

It will cost around $10,000 + for a Generac. That included a separate electrical box and I had propane tanks installed. I own the Generac but lease the 2 propane tanks. I have it right outside my den window and I do not find it to be noisy when it is running.

Wish I had done it years ago. My house was built in 1959.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Tshirtgal — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 01:19:49 GMT

I will share my experience. We have had a Generac Generator whole house generator for the past 3 years. Expensive. Yes. But, it was the best $15,000 we spent. We live in Wisconsin, live off the grid somewhat, and suffered from frequent power outage from dead ash trees from Ash Bore Disease.
Generac workers were professional. The wiring was neat and tidy. Workers were respectful to me personally and to our old farm house. They cleaned up every bit of debris outside and in, We have an app that communicates with the company for malfunction, (we have had no problems). There is a self test every Monday at 10 AM which results are sent to the company. I can't say enough about Generac.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Lilysmom1 — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 09:19:42 GMT

@sarahpanda , we have a Generac whole home generator. It gives us great peace of mind. It is top of the line brand. We have an app also. It exercises once a week and is not noisy. With the weather more and more unpredictable we think it a good investment.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

chvall99 — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 10:01:28 GMT

I have had whole house Generac generators for years and love them. Now that I'm widowed I love having the security of an automatic generator even more. No more getting up in the middle of the night in the freezing cold trying to start a manual generator. Your hour house is not big so you can probably get by with a smaller one. Get quotes for a model that will run everything (inclyding AC, oven, dryer) and one for the essentials (lights, hot water, microwave, flush toilets, heat, freezer and refrigerator). There might be a big difference in price. Of course if there isn't go for the works! The newer generators are quiet. Mine is just a little ways from my bedroom window and I barely hear it.

I have a smaller generator for the essentials and I'm happy with that compromise.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Roscoe the Rascal — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:16:28 GMT

I have a Generac and purchased after a big storm about three years ago that did a lot of damage to the city. It is a little loud but worth the purchase. Most generators are loud but doesn't matter to me if it does the job. My neighbors are more than welcome to benefit if they need some assistance. Several neighbors put one in after that storm.

My husband insisted on this for us at the time because he did not want me to worry down the road about getting gas for our gas generator and all that in case it would happen again or anytime there is a storm.

My husband passed this year and peace of mind for me. My daughter and family live next door so benefit for us both.

Weekly test on Tuesday and also an app on my phone.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Boehm Collector — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:35:33 GMT

@sarahpanda wrote:
I'm pondering as to whether to invest in a whole house generator. It's just me now,in probably an 1800 sq. ft. house. Any pros or cons on a Generac generator? Any other brands that you love instead? TIA

@sarahpanda .. my husband and I had a Generac standby generator installed after Sandy. Best investment we ever made. Our house is small...... less than 1800 sq ft. Ours covers the entire house. But we were told not to go crazy with everything running at the same time (i.e washer, dryer, dishwasher, all lights on). We did notice that, although, our central AC ran... it didn't cool the house. So we don't run it when there is a power outage.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Boehm Collector — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:39:09 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
I would love to have a Generac myself. My house is old, build in 1973, so they say I will need a new breaker box so it could work with my house. Houses built before 1998 are more likely to need the upgrade. That will add several thousand dollars to the cost. I cannot afford it right now.

@SilleeMee We had a Generac standby installed after hurricane Sandy. We are in New Jersey. We had to have PSE&G come to check everything out before we went ahead with the installation to make sure everything was okay to proceed. Our house was built in 1956. We didn't need a new breaker box.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Sakuya — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:43:42 GMT

So are all Generac generators run on propane?

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Sakuya — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:44:29 GMT

Also, did you buy directly from company? I see places like Menards sell them.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

Boehm Collector — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:48:21 GMT

@Sakuya wrote:
So are all Generac generators run on propane?

Mine runs on natural gas. I didn't have to get any propane tanks.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

nwbabs — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 15:49:39 GMT

We have extended power outages due to the elements and love having our Generac. It is natural gas powered and grateful it automatically starts.

First Generac installed almost 20 years ago as we could not be without power for various medical equipment. Replaced the first one last year and continue to appreciate the peace of mind.

Extremely reliable and we do have it serviced yearly.

Re: Generac generator for whole house

We rescue cats — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 16:08:14 GMT

We have 3 power stations, one for each refrigerator/freezer, they have solar panels should we need them. And if push comes to shove we have the motorhome with it's generator-which we once had to use a few years ago, though that was the Winnie, I'm sure that it would be same as this one. I've always thought of a generac but (knock on wood) we've not needed it for years. If we lose power it is restored within a few hours. I know I just jinxed myself.