What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Whole house generator (1 Viewer)

PinkydaPimp

PinkydaPimp

Footballguy
I couldn’t find a thread.

looking for a whole home generator.  It seems that generac is the way to go but solar that could store energy(Tesla with power bank?) and power the home as well as save on energy bills also seems intriguing.  
 

what say the experts here?  What do these cost roughly.  
 

thanks.

 
PinkydaPimp said:
I couldn’t find a thread.

looking for a whole home generator.  It seems that generac is the way to go but solar that could store energy(Tesla with power bank?) and power the home as well as save on energy bills also seems intriguing.  
 

what say the experts here?  What do these cost roughly.  
 

thanks.
Click to expand...
It depends on how much you want to run with one.  If you just want a few lights, the fridge, and a few other small items, you can get away with one for a couple grand or a little more.  If you're wanting to run HVAC, appliances, etc., then you're looking at a larger unit and can get close to 10 grand if you have it built in, natural gas line, automatic switch, etc. 

Local electricians can help price these out for you and give you options.

 
gianmarco said:
It depends on how much you want to run with one.  If you just want a few lights, the fridge, and a few other small items, you can get away with one for a couple grand or a little more.  If you're wanting to run HVAC, appliances, etc., then you're looking at a larger unit and can get close to 10 grand if you have it built in, natural gas line, automatic switch, etc. 

Local electricians can help price these out for you and give you options.
Click to expand...
Yea I’m looking at powering most of the house.  Natural gas if generac.  The solar seems interesting but I’ve heard people say it’s not the best.

 
PinkydaPimp said:
Yea I’m looking at powering most of the house.  Natural gas if generac.  The solar seems interesting but I’ve heard people say it’s not the best.
Click to expand...
I put in a Generac 17KW 9 or 10 years ago. I do not have NG, so had to get a couple of propane tanks (which I rent). All-in, with permits, I think it was around $9k.

Mine runs the whole house, but you can't run every appliance all of the time. In fact, code in my area changed shortly after my installation that you had to have a "shedder" (basically, a rotating brownout device so you don't blow everything up when it all tries to run at once). I added the shedder a few years later - I think it was around $500 - just so I was up to code if I ever sold the place. For most, this shouldn't be an issue - if you're in a weather related emergency, running the dishwasher or laundry ain't exactly a vital task.

 
This is why I am getting the ford lightning, we wanted a whole house generator but could not justify the cost.

However, between the tax credit and the fact that the ford pulls double duty as a house generator it makes alot of sense. I just wish it would come out soon.

 
MTskibum said:
This is why I am getting the ford lightning, we wanted a whole house generator but could not justify the cost.

However, between the tax credit and the fact that the ford pulls double duty as a house generator it makes alot of sense. I just wish it would come out soon.
Click to expand...
Saw the commercials for that and it looked awesome.

We do not have a whole home generator…just a big ### gas one I can run our refrigerators and power up a few other things and wifi in the house.  Got it last year after the Nashville tornadoes and then subsequent derecho had us without power for a few days at a time.  Good to have to keep some stuff running a but at a time and not lose food.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
I put in a Generac 17KW 9 or 10 years ago. I do not have NG, so had to get a couple of propane tanks (which I rent). All-in, with permits, I think it was around $9k.

Mine runs the whole house, but you can't run every appliance all of the time. In fact, code in my area changed shortly after my installation that you had to have a "shedder" (basically, a rotating brownout device so you don't blow everything up when it all tries to run at once). I added the shedder a few years later - I think it was around $500 - just so I was up to code if I ever sold the place. For most, this shouldn't be an issue - if you're in a weather related emergency, running the dishwasher or laundry ain't exactly a vital task.
Click to expand...
This is good to know.  How loud is it?  ive heard these things can be really loud.  Are my neighbors going to hate me?

 
PinkydaPimp said:
This is good to know.  How loud is it?  ive heard these things can be really loud.  Are my neighbors going to hate me?
Click to expand...
Not when I roll my generator o er to their house so they can run their fridge for awhile ;)

I looked into whole house but opted for a nice portable

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Most of the people that have them down here in Florida, the sunshine state, have a propane tank on their property to power it. I haven’t heard much about solar panels being used for them.

 
Have had a few quotes in the past 3 years (and even had a deposit down once and the company went bankrupt).

They were all about $10K for a whole house generator. I have natural gas already. House is a colonial with central air.

Two companies would have installed Generac. The other does Briggs and Stratton. 

 
PinkydaPimp said:
I couldn’t find a thread.

looking for a whole home generator.  It seems that generac is the way to go but solar that could store energy(Tesla with power bank?) and power the home as well as save on energy bills also seems intriguing.  
 

what say the experts here?  What do these cost roughly.  
 

thanks.
Click to expand...
I’m adding solar to my new home (had it on my home I just sold but with no battery backup).  The system I just purchased was without a battery though I looked very hard at it (also got bids from Tesla).  Ultimately I choose not too for 2 reasons.  1- right now the battery backup large enough to basically run the home is super expensive- 14k and at this point that doesn’t make sense as a equivalent generator was 10k.  Which leads to point 2- my solar guy basically talked me out of it. His rational, 3 yrs from now it will be half the cost if not better.  As production increases and the technology becomes more commonplace the price will drop.  So with the system I’m getting it can be added later.  

 
PinkydaPimp said:
I couldn’t find a thread.

looking for a whole home generator.  It seems that generac is the way to go but solar that could store energy(Tesla with power bank?) and power the home as well as save on energy bills also seems intriguing.  
 

what say the experts here?  What do these cost roughly.  
 

thanks.
Click to expand...
How big is your house?  Ours is 1900 sq ft.  We were going to go with Generac, but the solar option proved better for us.  We really don't have the quality of gas line needed for whole house stuff.  We went with Tesla.  We have 12 kW of generation which is the Tesla large array (36 panels).  We also got three power walls.  We are running the entire house with this.  During this summer in Houston, we averaged around 38 kWh/day usage.  The three panels have 41 kWh of storage. 

We paid 50 thousand for that setup.  But wait, there's another consideration.  There's a 26% tax credit from the Feds.  since we were going to be hit with some capital gains taxes, we can balance that stuff out.  (Mr R has tax prep skills.)  We do also have the benefit that Texas does not add the value of the solar stuff to the house valuation for tax purposes.

It is silent, except for the gently thrumming flux capacitor in our garage.

PS-  The power was off for six minutes not long after we hooked it all up.  The only reason we knew about it was that the app said so.  Sweet!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mrs. Rannous said:
How big is your house?  Ours is 1900 sq ft.  We were going to go with Generac, but the solar option proved better for us.  We really don't have the quality of gas line needed for whole house stuff.  We went with Tesla.  We have 12 kW of generation which is the Tesla large array (36 panels).  We also got three power walls.  We are running the entire house with this.  During this summer in Houston, we averaged around 38 kWh/day usage.  The three panels have 41 kWh of storage. 

We paid 50 thousand for that setup.  But wait, there's another consideration.  There's a 26% tax credit from the Feds.  since we were going to be hit with some capital gains taxes, we can balance that stuff out.  (Mr R has tax prep skills.)  We do also have the benefit that Texas does not add the value of the solar stuff to the house valuation for tax purposes.

It is silent, except for the gently thrumming flux capacitor in our garage.
Click to expand...
How was the Tesla service?  I was really close to going with them but heard lots of horror stories and had a friend who’s in the middle of getting the run around from them.  

 
PinkydaPimp said:
This is good to know.  How loud is it?  ive heard these things can be really loud.  Are my neighbors going to hate me?
Click to expand...
It's fairly loud, but not deafening. You can baffle the sound with plants or some type of wall/fence if you have neighbors right on top of you.

Mine is set to run a self-test once a week. It comes on early afternoon every Wednesday (you can change this to whenever you want it to run) for about 15 minutes. It doesn't contact my panel during the test ( i.e. doesn't shut the power off in the house). To me, it sounds quieter during the tests than when it's actually powering the house - but that may just me being wrong.

I had an option to get a "smart" version, but passed on that. The cost wasn't worth it then. Keep in mind that this was almost a decade ago when a lot of smart tech was just getting rolling, so the cost difference now may be negligible. Same with the genny itself - they may be cheaper than when I bought since they have gotten so popular.

It was only like $1,500 more for me to go whole-house so I did that instead of the pick-a-couple-of-breakers version. I pay around $300 per year to have it maintained and serviced. 

I got mine because we had a terrible wind storm here in 2012 when I was out of town. I threw out everything in my fridge and freezer. That pissed me off and I said "never again". To be honest, the generator will probably never pay for itself in real dollars but I'll be damned if I'll have to throw away hundreds of $$ worth of food ever again. Plus, and probably more important, it's a nice peace-of-mind. I don't care if it never has the opportunity to run again.

 
SayChowda said:
Have had a few quotes in the past 3 years (and even had a deposit down once and the company went bankrupt).

They were all about $10K for a whole house generator. I have natural gas already. House is a colonial with central air.

Two companies would have installed Generac. The other does Briggs and Stratton. 
Click to expand...
My Generac has a Briggs & Stratton motor in it. I don't know if that's still the case nowadays, though.

 
dkp993 said:
How was the Tesla service?  I was really close to going with them but heard lots of horror stories and had a friend who’s in the middle of getting the run around from them.  
Click to expand...
I mentioned we were going to buy anyway, but The Big Chill back in February was the push we needed.  it was also the incentive for every other Texan who could afford it to do the same.  Tesla got slammed.  They were importing installers from everywhere to meet the demand.  Still, they showed up when they said they would.  Overall, they did a good job.  The major problem we had was not related to them at all.  Somehow, Reliant Energy merged our account with someone else's.  We (and they) have no idea how that happened.  But it all got worked out.  Last week, we even got the rebate that was offered when we bought the system.  So no horror story here.  Bear in mind that the squeaky wheel is generally what you hear.  The happy people just aren't as loud.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
My Generac has a Briggs & Stratton motor in it. I don't know if that's still the case nowadays, though.
Click to expand...
Mine too.

Won't comment on install $$ since I've had mine for quite a few years. Did it thru an electrician. 

Natural gas. Have it serviced annually ($300, maybe less) and it runs weekly. I can't hear it but my neighbor on that side of the house can. Been pretty reliable but did have some problems about 10 years ago and I switched servicers as it became apparent the one I had was not competent.

16kw standby generator powers the main house & in-law apartment but not the 2 central AC's. In NH I'm more concerned about winter than summer and, if needed, I can open windows and run the WH fan in the summer.

It's nice being confident that I'll always have heat. Especially for an extended outage.

At 1st I might have been the only home on my street with one but probably half have them now.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
How big is your house?  Ours is 1900 sq ft.  We were going to go with Generac, but the solar option proved better for us.  We really don't have the quality of gas line needed for whole house stuff.  We went with Tesla.  We have 12 kW of generation which is the Tesla large array (36 panels).  We also got three power walls.  We are running the entire house with this.  During this summer in Houston, we averaged around 38 kWh/day usage.  The three panels have 41 kWh of storage. 

We paid 50 thousand for that setup.  But wait, there's another consideration.  There's a 26% tax credit from the Feds.  since we were going to be hit with some capital gains taxes, we can balance that stuff out.  (Mr R has tax prep skills.)  We do also have the benefit that Texas does not add the value of the solar stuff to the house valuation for tax purposes.

It is silent, except for the gently thrumming flux capacitor in our garage.

PS-  The power was off for six minutes not long after we hooked it all up.  The only reason we knew about it was that the app said so.  Sweet!
Click to expand...
The tesla setup sounds very cool.  Pricey though. Our house is around 2500 sq ft.   I like the ideal of the tesla helping with the electric bill as well. I would be curious to see how much value it adds to the house and im not sure if my state has the same tax advantages but i will be checking for sure.

dkp993 said:
I’m adding solar to my new home (had it on my home I just sold but with no battery backup).  The system I just purchased was without a battery though I looked very hard at it (also got bids from Tesla).  Ultimately I choose not too for 2 reasons.  1- right now the battery backup large enough to basically run the home is super expensive- 14k and at this point that doesn’t make sense as a equivalent generator was 10k.  Which leads to point 2- my solar guy basically talked me out of it. His rational, 3 yrs from now it will be half the cost if not better.  As production increases and the technology becomes more commonplace the price will drop.  So with the system I’m getting it can be added later.  
Click to expand...


This is good to know.

 
Here's another thing to consider:  Our current car is a hybrid.  In a few years, our next car will probably be electric.  Putting in a charging station should be a breeze.

 
Got a whole house (2925 sq feet) generator (Kohler). Live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Unit uses propane.

Guy who installed it said Kohler was superior to Generac.

Cost was @ $7,500

 
Moonlight said:
Got a whole house (2925 sq feet) generator (Kohler). Live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Unit uses propane.

Guy who installed it said Kohler was superior to Generac.

Cost was @ $7,500
Click to expand...
I have also heard great things about Kohler, however I believe General has better warranty's.  General kind of forces the hands of the electricians to sell their product, so most people are going to tell you them no matter what.

 
Moonlight said:
Got a whole house (2925 sq feet) generator (Kohler). Live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Unit uses propane.

Guy who installed it said Kohler was superior to Generac.

Cost was @ $7,500
Click to expand...
was there a benefit to using propane vs natural gas?  Or did you not have natural gas?  Also why kohler over Generac?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
For the solar tax credit, is there an income cap to claiming it?  Any catches?  Any things to know about tesla + Battery?  The more i think about it, the solar option that also does whole home coverage via battery is idea because it can also pay for my electricity year round and is quieter and better for the environment.  But what are the catches?  It sounds like prices will go down in the near future.  Also is tesla the only game in town or are there other options?  Thnx

 
PinkydaPimp said:
For the solar tax credit, is there an income cap to claiming it?  Any catches?  Any things to know about tesla + Battery?  The more i think about it, the solar option that also does whole home coverage via battery is idea because it can also pay for my electricity year round and is quieter and better for the environment.  But what are the catches?  It sounds like prices will go down in the near future.  Also is tesla the only game in town or are there other options?  Thnx
Click to expand...
Lots and lots of other options.  Tesla will be the cheapest, every single time, as that ‘s the business model for them but they are often using cheap stuff across the board (panels, inverters, contractors, etc etc) so it’s hit and miss.  They also have atrocious customer service, from what I’ve heard both third hand experience and some first hand, in large part because it’s all done online and it’s extremely hard to actually speak to someone.

For the tax credit there are no restrictions but it’s not a rebate.  It’s a 26% tax (not income) credit as of now but drops to 22% in ‘23 and 10% in ‘24.  So for example if the system you design is just over 30k your tax credit will be 10k (rounding up for ease). To get that full credit (full 10k refund) you’d need to pay 10k+ in federal taxes.  So if you paid 8k in taxes you’d only get an 8k tax credit (and thus 8k refund).  What happens to the remaining 2k?  I’ve heard different answers so I’m not completely sure.  I’ve heard you just lose that and I’ve also heard it can roll over to the next tax year.    But I honestly haven’t dug to deep on that angle as I pay more taxes then the credit I’m getting for my system.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
PinkydaPimp said:
For the solar tax credit, is there an income cap to claiming it?  Any catches?  Any things to know about tesla + Battery?  The more i think about it, the solar option that also does whole home coverage via battery is idea because it can also pay for my electricity year round and is quieter and better for the environment.  But what are the catches?  It sounds like prices will go down in the near future.  Also is tesla the only game in town or are there other options?  Thnx
Click to expand...
The link answers the credit eligibility questions, but I don't see any income restrictions.

I'm not sure what kind of catch there would be for the Tesla thing.  They not longer are selling the power walls separately due to demand.  There are other solar companies.  Mr R did the research, so I have no idea how they compare for you.  Tesla worked for us.

 
dkp993 said:
For the tax credit there are no restrictions but it’s not a rebate.  It’s a 26% tax (not income) credit as of now but drops to 22% in ‘23 and 10% in ‘24.  So for example if the system you design is just over 30k your tax credit will be 10k (rounding up for ease). To get that full credit (full 10k refund) you’d need to pay 10k+ in federal taxes.  So if you paid 8k in taxes you’d only get an 8k tax credit (and thus 8k refund).  What happens to the remaining 2k?  I’ve heard different answers so I’m not completely sure.  I’ve heard you just lose that and I’ve also heard it can roll over to the next tax year.    But I honestly haven’t dug to deep on that angle as I pay more taxes then the credit I’m getting for my system.  
Click to expand...
This is part of why we bought solar now.  We were going to be paying capitol gains taxes.  The credit will offset that.  Very handy.

 
PinkydaPimp said:
was there a benefit to using propane vs natural gas?  Or did you not have natural gas?  Also why kohler over Generac?
Click to expand...
Generac was unavailable would have been on backorder. Kohler was @ 7% more expensive. 

Natural gas not available we are in the woods but have electricity need a propane tank.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
This is part of why we bought solar now.  We were going to be paying capitol gains taxes.  The credit will offset that.  Very handy.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.  Such an advantage.  I live in a sunny hot area of the country and have had solar for over a decade.  The ability to run AC without a care in the world or heat my pool whenever and not have an electricity bill (once the system is paid for, and even at that the payment is far less then my bill would be) is SOOOO nice.   I’m such a solar fan I’ve talked 3 of my friends into getting it for their homes.  They love it.  

 
We are just getting to test one of the features.  When the tropical weather warnings went up here, Tesla automatically changed the power walls to charge up and go to the grid to keep them charged in case of power loss.  (You can opt out of this.)  We didn't have to do anything.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
We are just getting to test one of the features.  When the tropical weather warnings went up here, Tesla automatically changed the power walls to charge up and go to the grid to keep them charged in case of power loss.  (You can opt out of this.)  We didn't have to do anything.
Click to expand...
Should be going south of us though, probably will hit Rockport to matagorda area, although I would keep the batteries topped off if I had a system.

 
MTskibum said:
Should be going south of us though, probably will hit Rockport to matagorda area, although I would keep the batteries topped off if I had a system.
Click to expand...
Landfall only really matters in a wind event.  We are on the rainy side.  This could go several different ways.  

Stay dry.

 
MTskibum said:
This is why I am getting the ford lightning, we wanted a whole house generator but could not justify the cost.

However, between the tax credit and the fact that the ford pulls double duty as a house generator it makes alot of sense. I just wish it would come out soon.
Click to expand...
Any idea of how large a house one can run?

 
PinkydaPimp said:
I couldn’t find a thread.

looking for a whole home generator.  It seems that generac is the way to go but solar that could store energy(Tesla with power bank?) and power the home as well as save on energy bills also seems intriguing.  

what say the experts here?  What do these cost roughly.  
thanks.
Click to expand...
As the resident representative of BIG ELECTRICITY on FBG, something you should know is that if you do go ahead and have one installed, you'll have to call your electric company.  Depending on your situation, if your utility has to upgrade the transformer, they'll change it out and bill you.  The cost for that can be about $2500. 

And if you go solar, you will have to call them as that would require a bidirectional meter - one that runs forward and backwards. That's a separate process from getting service to a new house.  For the utility that I work for, someone from our company as well as electrical inspector will have to review the installation before it can be hooked up.  If you live in a sunny state, you may end up sending power back into the system and as such they would need to know that.

 
Tom Servo said:
As the resident representative of BIG ELECTRICITY on FBG, something you should know is that if you do go ahead and have one installed, you'll have to call your electric company.  Depending on your situation, if your utility has to upgrade the transformer, they'll change it out and bill you.  The cost for that can be about $2500. 

And if you go solar, you will have to call them as that would require a bidirectional meter - one that runs forward and backwards. That's a separate process from getting service to a new house.  For the utility that I work for, someone from our company as well as electrical inspector will have to review the installation before it can be hooked up.  If you live in a sunny state, you may end up sending power back into the system and as such they would need to know that.
Click to expand...
Tesla took care of that stuff.  You also might need approval from an HOA or your local municipality.

We do send power to the grid.  Our house is only five years old, so no upgrades were needed.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
Here's another thing to consider:  Our current car is a hybrid.  In a few years, our next car will probably be electric.  Putting in a charging station should be a breeze.
Click to expand...
Haha, I'm getting a quote tomorrow for an EV outlet and generac.  You managed to get them both into the same thread before I got here.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
How big is your house?  Ours is 1900 sq ft.  We were going to go with Generac, but the solar option proved better for us.  We really don't have the quality of gas line needed for whole house stuff.  We went with Tesla.  We have 12 kW of generation which is the Tesla large array (36 panels).  We also got three power walls.  We are running the entire house with this.  During this summer in Houston, we averaged around 38 kWh/day usage.  The three panels have 41 kWh of storage. 

We paid 50 thousand for that setup.  But wait, there's another consideration.  There's a 26% tax credit from the Feds.  since we were going to be hit with some capital gains taxes, we can balance that stuff out.  (Mr R has tax prep skills.)  We do also have the benefit that Texas does not add the value of the solar stuff to the house valuation for tax purposes.

It is silent, except for the gently thrumming flux capacitor in our garage.

PS-  The power was off for six minutes not long after we hooked it all up.  The only reason we knew about it was that the app said so.  Sweet!
Click to expand...
So im starting to get quotes.  for Tesla, will they not come out to the house?  Is everything conducted online?

 
It's been a struggle with Tesla due to the huge demand after the ice storm.  Schedule is super backed up and they locked out people not doing walls with panels, but I started my process so early I am not held back by that and it's still slow.

 
You should try buying a swim spa.  Those are impossibly behind.  We got one from a cancelled order;  otherwise' we'd be SOL.

 
Got a quote from sun power today.  Sheesh they were pricey.  Apparently Tesla is crazy backed up.  Their system can use the Tesla battery but even that is backed up. 
 

anyone familiar with them?  They seem to be pretty solid but priced higher than most competitors.  
 

i can wait on Tesla if needed.  Could also go with a portable until then.  

 
I think Tesla is still not selling the batteries without the solar panels.  They really are backed up.

Where are you located?

 
Like everything else, these costs have skyrocketed. Got two new quotes in the past month, and they all-in are between 40%-50% higher than when I started looking and tried getting this done. Very frustrating. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
SayChowda said:
Like everything else, these costs have skyrocketed. Got two new quotes in the past month, and they all-in are between 40%-50% higher than when ia started looking and tries getting this done. Very frustrating. 
Click to expand...
Generators or solar?

 
SayChowda said:
Like everything else, these costs have skyrocketed. Got two new quotes in the past month, and they all-in are between 40%-50% higher than when ia started looking and tries getting this done. Very frustrating. 
Click to expand...
😮

i ended up going natural gas generator.  I’ll look at solar later.  

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GordonGekko
Energy Crisis: Has Your Electricity/Gas Bill Gone Completely Out Of Control Recently? (16/30)
Replies
6
Views
441
STEADYMOBBIN 22
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Statorama
Philly Travel Guys
Replies
18
Views
364
Statorama
Statorama
gianmarco
Haircut dilemma
2 3 4
Replies
189
Views
5K
Beef Ravioli Part 2
B

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top