Re: Whole house generators (slightly OT)

[sacstinkytiger@xxxxxxxxx]

Hi,

I live in New York state. ABout 40 mins North of Manhattan, New York
City. We had a 5 days outage last year in the winter and had burst
pipes. So this year we installed a system. I bought a Onan RS20000 from
Costco via the internet + Onan Transfer Switch. $US 9000. Installed a
LP gas tank 500 galons, 400 gallons usable capacity. $US 2000.
Installation and wiring + concrete pad $US 11,000.

Onan is part of the Cummins group. The RS20000 is very heavy, and
requires a small Back-hoe type machine to move it. 4 men cannot lift
it. It will give you about 20KW peak (more on a transinet start surge).
We chose LP gas because it does not freeze in Winter. I guess in Hawaii
you don't have this issue :)!!!! We do not have town gas where I live.

We have two breaker panels. Both are 200 amps. Total 400 amps. One
breaker panel is backed up by the generator, the other is not. When the
power fails, the generator starts automatically in 20 seconds. The
generator has a built in battery charger, heating element for coolant,
and automatic exerciser.

The Generator can power and start a Compressor with 26 ampacity HVAC
unit (Carrier).

Things to put on backup are:

1) SUmp pupmp
2) Well
3) Fridge
4) Furnace
5) Lights
6) Washing machine

in rough order of priority.

The unit is quite nice based on a Ford Ranger engine 425G. It turns at
1,800 rpm. Many neighbours have other units at about the 12-15kw range.
These cost about 1/2 the price to install and buy. They are noisier and
run at 3,600 rpm.

Hope this has been useful.

Warmest regards, Mike.