Posted by blue_tractor_man on June 04, 2011 at 12:38:51 from (75.252.243.201):
I am considering a backup generator for my home here in West TN. We have somewhat frequent ice storms, tornadoes, and we are waiting for the New Madrid fault to break loose with the 9.0 earthquake.
All of the units I am looking at are propane or natural gas.
I have two AC units, one is a 5 ton that draws 21 amps 220V, another a 3 ton that draws 13 amps 220V. I have two electric water heaters that draw 17 amps 220V each. We heat with natural gas. Our stove and dryer are natural gas too.
Onan and others make an air cooled, 3600 RPM 20KW,unit that has the ability to shuffle two loads to prevent the unit from overloading. I think others make similar units. I worry about using one of those because it has basically a lawn mower engine driving it.
Nearly every knowledgeable person I have asked about generators has told me to stick with 1800 RPM liquid cooled units, and lean toward the Onan or Kohler units and avoid Generac and other Home Depot type units.
I went and looked at the Onan-Cummins 30 KW, liquid cooled, 1800 RPM unit. It looked to be sturdily built and heavy duty. I have not yet inspected the Kohler 25 KW, liquid cooled 1800 RPM unit. I am sure that it is a good unit. Both of these units utilize a GM 3.0 liter industrial engine. It is a modern Vortec type with hardened valve seats.
Although money is some consideration, I would rather spend more money and get what I need that will last me the rest of my life rather than skimping and getting a lesser unit. That being said, If I need to run the unit for any length of time the fuel efficiency will be a consideration. None of the units seem to get good economy at a 25-50% load. So that means I don't want to oversize the unit.
I am positive that a 30KW unit will easily run everything in my house at once, I am also sure that the 15 KW unit would be too small.
I think I will be using the automatic transfer switch because it costs no more than a manual switch and it will take away the worries of being away from home for a day or two.
I am told that Kohler makes a dual fuel nat. gas and propane unit. I like that because the nat gas is cheaper, but if we have the big earthquake we could be out of nat. gas for weeks or months. And electricity, for that matter.
I read on the forum where people are getting by with much smaller units, but they seem to be up north where AC is an option, not nearly a necessity like it is here.
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