School me on portable generators

[Five Seasons]

i don't see burning houses?

[chas0218]

16 hours ago, Belo said:

 

I’m handy, but a little concerned with tapping into city gas...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You should have a shut off right at the meter or just inside the house. Hardest part would be getting the pipes apart. Lighting your pilots would be the next hardest thing unless you have solid state ignition on the appliances then no lighting required.

[chas0218]

11 hours ago, Adkhunter1590 said:

 

 

We used Monolith for our solar install. https://monolithsolar.com

Have zero complaints about them. I think we only had to put $250 down and the rest was financed through a company they deal with that does NYSERDA solar loans. I’m paying about $40-50 less per month than the average electric bill was for this house over the last 5 years. They will have you get your electric bill records from the electric company, see how many Kw you used and how much you paid per month and base your system size off of that information. The other advantage to ground mount systems is that they can usually get away with using a few less panels, thus reducing the cost a tad because they can position the panels at just the right angles to provide the best performance vs being limited to how your roof is setup.

If you did decide to go with solar and monolith at some point, PM me. If you use my info as a referral, I would get $500 and you’d also get the same amount off if I remember correctly. Same goes for you after your install, any friends or family members that decide to install with them, you’d get a check for $500. Not a bad deal for everyone involved!

 

 

@Belo I would look into them and make sure if you go the roof mount type you own the panels. I have heard of situations where people "rent" the panels and have had them installed on their roof and the ownership of the roof is then through the company you "rented" the panels through. Read everything and make sure you own the panels. 

Not sure what your guys problem is with wind but other than the maintenance it is clean energy. Also not sure why they are an eye sore I think they are neat. I have heard complaints of the noise they make but when the wind is blowing you can't hear it unless you are right under them. I'll have to see if I can find the video I took when we were snowmobiling on Tug hill. All you can hear is the wind blowing no rotor noise like everyone likes to claim.

[Hunter007]

1 hour ago, chas0218 said:

@Belo I would look into them and make sure if you go the roof mount type you own the panels. I have heard of situations where people "rent" the panels and have had them installed on their roof and the ownership of the roof is then through the company you "rented" the panels through. Read everything and make sure you own the panels. 

Not sure what your guys problem is with wind but other than the maintenance it is clean energy. Also not sure why they are an eye sore I think they are neat. I have heard complaints of the noise they make but when the wind is blowing you can't hear it unless you are right under them. I'll have to see if I can find the video I took when we were snowmobiling on Tug hill. All you can hear is the wind blowing no rotor noise like everyone likes to claim.

Windmills Well they kill birds and destroy the panorama of areas  a lot of places make laws to keep them out .

Solar is the way to go 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Storm914

[dbHunterNY]

On 4/10/2018 at 6:51 AM, Adkhunter1590 said:

 

Ground mount units don’t take up that much space. My system is grid tied and doesn’t do anything for me in a power outage but if I wanted to install a battery bank then I’d be able to power the house during outages. I didn’t see the point of spending the extra many thousands on battery bank when we already have the propane standby generac installed.


I can’t remember the exact dimensions but the panels take up about 20ft by 30ft roughly. I only have a acre lot so like you I was concerned about how much space they would take up but once they showed me how little space it was, I was much happier. Haven’t paid a electric bill since being installed.

 

probably (6) 10'x10' panels.

[fasteddie]

10 minutes ago, Storm914 said:

Windmills Well they kill birds and destroy the panorama of areas  a lot of places make laws to keep them out .

Salor is the way to go 

What exactly is Salor ?  I know you meant Solar ..... 

[Hunter007]

9 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

What exactly is Salor ?  I know you meant Solar ..... 

Solar  I type faster then I can spell check lol  happens 

 

 

[Jeremy K]

This is the model i recommend to everyone. 

[52 farmer]

16 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

This is the model i recommend to everyone. 

I will take one for home and one to go.

[dbHunterNY]

38 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

This is the model i recommend to everyone. 

doesn't come with a service plan and the maintenance is ridiculous. no thanks. i don't need two of them. one i already have is enough.

[Jeremy K]

4 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

doesn't come with a service plan and the maintenance is ridiculous. no thanks. i don't need two of them. one i already have is enough.

It comes with an extra quiet muffler 

[dbHunterNY]

2 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

It comes with an extra quiet muffler 

yea but that model that's a little newer than mine is prone to blowing a head gasket. if that issue gets fixed i can see it serving a dude well and gettin a job done.

[Five Seasons]

26 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

It comes with an extra quiet muffler 

i prefer no muff. is that an option?

[Jeremy K]

13 minutes ago, Belo said:

i prefer no muff. is that an option?

Ya ,it voids the warranty though,not a big deal though .

[Steuben Jerry]

4 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

This is the model i recommend to everyone. 

Cost of ownership is very high on that model, not a lot of resale value down the road 10 years or so. I'd prefer to lease. Short term of course.

[fasteddie]

I figured since I have the whole house Generator I would give my portable to my oldest son . It's a GENERAC rated at 5000 watts . I hadn't started it in over a year and tried to start it last month . Couldn't get it to start and put it back as it was crappy weather . Bought a spark plug but hadn't put it in yet > Briggs and Stratton engine . I had drained all the gas out and put in fresh non ethanol and still no go . I moved the snow blower out of the garage . I put the wheels and handle back on the GENERAC and brought it around to the front of the garage ready to do battle . I checked the shut-off , flipped the on switch and gave the cord a pull . That sucker started right up and I let it run for at least 20 - 25 minutes . I lucked out ! 

[Lawdwaz]

On 4/12/2018 at 11:17 AM, Jeremy K said:

This is the model i recommend to everyone. 

So the lights go out and I just plug in?  Cool.......

[Bowshotmuzzleloader]

One thing to consider is noise Honda for example is much more quiet vs cheaper brands and also better on gas as well,, 5000 watt will most things very common on construction job sites ..

[Five Seasons]

Some closure for yall. I was quoted $6k cash to install a generac 8.5k NG system. While I didn't exactly go shopping all around, I imagine it wouldn't be plus or minus all that much if I did. While that solution still appeals to me for all the reasons we discussed, I just couldn't bight the bullet there. So I did ended up with a 7.5k portable, a small little shed to store it in, a 14 gallon gas tank and an interlok kit that will allow me to selectively load feed my house. Anyone interested in an interlok needs a brain and some sense or you can damage your generator and appliance through overloading. At 7.5k however, I am setup to run everything but luxuries like washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, a/c and pool pump. The pool pump can be run if I turn the freezer off. So electric range is out, but gas hot water and gas furnace are in. Plus venison grills nice

Anyhow some careful online purchasing to avoid taxes and shipping and I'm all out $1.6k and this includes some extras like the shed, alarm, extra fuel storage and stuff that isn't mandatory. Happy to assist anyone interested in this setup. Kind of funny to say that I'm excited for the first outage lol.

parts list below. 

generator    $849.00   http://apelectric.com/westinghouse-wgen7500-7500w-electric-start-portable-generator/
interlock    $69.00   https://www.ebay.com/itm/ITE-200A-Murray-Siemens-ITE-Generator-interlock-kit-150-or-200-Amp-Panel-Listed/290991018931?hash=item43c06a93b3:g:8AEAAOxyUrZSvv5n:sc:USPSFirstClass!14580!US!-1
shed    $248.39   https://www.target.com/p/small-horizontal-storage-shed---vanilla---suncast/-/A-52276235
inlet box    $48.99   https://www.ebay.com/itm/Reliance-Controls-30-Amp-Power-Inlet-Box-PB30-Free-Shipping/173570073405?hash=item286995233d:g:Yt8AAOSwLXtambg2
cord    $59.39   https://www.homedepot.com/p/Reliance-Controls-10-ft-30-Amp-Generator-Power-Cord-PC3010/202216498
gas tank    $106.92   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MT94QA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3V7LDN4P7B47B&psc=1
breaker    $10.56   https://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-30-Amp-Double-Pole-Type-QP-Circuit-Breaker-Q230U/100002289
electrician    $80.00    
wire    $104.73   https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-50-ft-10-3-Solid-Romex-SIMpull-CU-NM-B-W-G-Wire-63948422/202316239
shed security    $46.38   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YP5FE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
                                           https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017M5TCHW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1               
powerback alarm    $42.00   https://www.ebay.com/itm/Utility-Power-Back-Alarm-for-Portable-Generator-THP108-Reliance-Controls/292443523406?hash=item4416fe094e:g:qmwAAOSw-ddapFh4:sc:USPSFirstClass!14580!US!-1:rk:2:pf:0

total    $1,665.36    
 

[Core]

I got one that runs on propane tanks as well as gas. Propane is nice because carb won't ever gum up and propane has an infinite shelf life so I keep a couple of spare tanks at all time and need not worry about cycling gas.