Battery backup or generator?

In reply to Robbie :

No guarantees. She has really long hours at at the moment.  But I'll ask.

Ive heard generac is junk. thats all i know

In reply to old_ : Please define junk..... We install 20-25 new Generac whole house generators each year, service over 350 per year and typically perform repairs on less than 10% of that total. The biggest issue we see is lack of maintenance (regardless of brand) and/or poor installations. 

Can you install one yourself? Sure, just follow the installation manual.... It's not a suggestion manual it's an installation manual. 

 less than 10% of that total. Biggest issues we see on a daily basis is lack of maintenance (regardless of brand) 

Type Q said:

In reply to Robbie :

No guarantees. She has really long hours at at the moment.  But I'll ask.

That would be awesome.   We're seriously going to be in the market for home battery backup to run our well pump and the freezer & fridge if we ever lose power.  I've already got 11.5 Kw of solar, just need somewhere to store it, preferably something that would auto-switch in the event of a grid failure.

Well, I went ahead and bit the bullet.

I talked to an electrician, who quoted me $5000 for a machine that is listed on the home Depot website for $3700, and then he told me "probably about a day of labor". Um, no thanks.

So I went all grm on the problem and hit Craigslist. Found a guy who is a generator serviceman. He takes all the old machines his customers give him, refurbs them, and sells them on CL. When I came out to his house, he had the whole thing setup for demonstration so I could see the transfer switch and generator function and apply a load. It was actually really neat, he had an extension cord from his house hooked up as the "utility" signal, a propane tank hooked to the generator, and he had a giant heating element in a bucket to apply a 7kw load. Unplug the cord, and watch the generator start itself, switch the transfer switch, and start boiling water. Plug the cord back in, and the transfer goes back, generator runs about a minute to cool off, and then shuts it self off. Tl;Dr, I got a sweet used generac 8kw machine with matching automatic 100amp transfer switch for $700. And I got to watch the thing work before I took it home.

It took about another $500 in supplies (only six trips to Menards....) To get everything to install it. And it took me probably 4 full work days to get it done; but I realistically stretched that over a few weeks of evenings and weekends.

But yesterday I got to shut off my utility power at the meter and watch as this bad boy fired up automatically and turned all the lights back on.

For those interested I really lucked out and had about the easiest possible install. You can see my gas meter is right by the unit so plumbing was as simple as a T from the meter before the house and a few connections right to the unit. The house panel is right inside that door you can see in the pic, and I have a utility access space in the basement so I could run my conduit inside without harming any walls. I also had just enough space to sneak my new transfer switch in right next to my main panel.

All said, I'm extremely happy and feel like it was $1200 + 30 hrs well spent, even if it only saves the basement from flooding once. And I learned a ton. I had to pull a permit for this, so I'm calling for inspection today. Hope it goes well, and now I'm pumped that I can get back to car/garage projects!!!

If we went with the original quote of about 6k, that means I saved $4800 with 30 hrs of work. $160/hr is not a bad rate for me, hehe.

Sweet! This reminds me. I need to install the new carb for my generator.

Good work! That is quite a savings over new. 

That's a screaming deal on a generator like that.

The0retical said:

That's a screaming deal on a generator like that.

The dude had 3 or 4 in his garage and I got the impression he has a steady stream of them. He had multiple machines I could pick from. I still have his number if anyone is interested I can connect you. Mine has 178 hours on it, which as I understand the current Generac machines have warrantee to 300 hrs. Not that this older second hand machine has any sort of warrantee left, but it just seems to me like it still likely has lots of life.

Damn... that price might justify a drive out to Chicago... 

We just went through a 4 day power outage due to a wind storm. We live rural and there are only 3 homes on our power line that runs through about 3 miles of national forest. We are not the power company’s priority. In light of this I installed a 1kw diesel genset that picks up most of our household load. We had hot showers, internet, ice cubes and satellite tv while our neighbours where living by candlelight. 

I bought the generator used and did all the work myself. We have a transfer switch and small pony panel that picks up the critical, and not so critical loads. Under $1,000 all in. There are deals out there if you keep your eyes open.