need some help/imput on backup power supply

G,day people. have looked at solar and a bat. backup system.
had another power black out last week.
needed to buy ice for the esky to keep the friggin beer cold
now a solar setup with back up battery is way too expensive at $25,000 plus
why. i need to buy a v8 falcon ute. cos i just do.
but an ad for an American company making mains gas generators that back up
your mains electricity supply popped up.
they sound like they may be the go.
the gen set is called generac and would prob cost me between
$4000 and $6000 Aust dollars.
have yet to work out my pull power need. figured that would depend
on you blokes and sheila's imput
it is a self testing auto switch in gen set
Big Ques. can anyone give me a heads up on the quality/reliability of
this kind of unit.
TKS people

Generac is the go-to for house wide stand by power in the north east USA.
There's maintenance with any unit, they are no different.
They cost a bit more because they force the people doing maintenance to take classes and get certifications.
If you pay others to do your upkeep and want a warranty, they're a great bet.

I personally would like to get my hands on one that's out of warranty and maintain it myself, but I'm not big on LP fuel.

a reply to: pronto

Generac makes good generators. I've used the same one since 2005 and it never fails. The biggest thing would be how to fuel it. Around here gasoline goes bad no matter if you use treatment or not. I would suggest getting one that uses natural gas, propane. I'm in Florida so the gasoline might sit for a year before I need the gen to work. That might not be a concern for you.

Edit to add: Hell yes you do need a Falcon Ute. Since the 80s y'all get cooler cars than us.

originally posted by: pronto
G,day people. have looked at solar and a bat. backup system.
had another power black out last week.
needed to buy ice for the esky to keep the friggin beer cold
now a solar setup with back up battery is way too expensive at $25,000 plus
why. i need to buy a v8 falcon ute. cos i just do.
but an ad for an American company making mains gas generators that back up
your mains electricity supply popped up.
they sound like they may be the go.
the gen set is called generac and would prob cost me between
$4000 and $6000 Aust dollars.
have yet to work out my pull power need. figured that would depend
on you blokes and sheila's imput
it is a self testing auto switch in gen set
Big Ques. can anyone give me a heads up on the quality/reliability of
this kind of unit.
TKS people

I’m a dealer for Generac products and have been selling them for 15 years. The air cooled unites are good middle of the road products. Of course the water cooed units are better. In the US Typical install in my area is a 18 to 24 kw unit with a whole house transfer switch. Power modules are available to help with load management.

It’s a reliable, realistic system with a typical life expectancy of more than ten years. The air cooled units run on either natural gas or propane and the conversion process is very simple.

I have a Generac 20 KW unit on my home and another 22 KW unit on my office at work.

Like any other motor, annual maintenance is the key to reliability. The most common problems are poor installations and not servicing the battery.

We currently install about 20 systems a month and service more than 1000 units annually in the East Tennessee area.

a reply to: pronto

Generac is considered high quality and they last a long time if properly maintained, but they aren't cheap.

I live in the redwood forest in Northern California. I can count on the power going out maybe 10 times per year from winter storms and summer fires. For the last 15 years or so I have been using a portable generator to supply power during those outages. Initially, I used a gasoline powered unit, but switched to propane about five years ago. Propane is much easier to store for long periods of time and burns cleaner, in my experience. Plus, I use it to heat the house, so I always have plenty of it on hand. The total run time on a generator used like this is probably less than 150 hours per year. At that rate, a 400 USD propane or dual fuel generator will probably last at least 10 years. However, with a portable generator you have to manually start it and EITHER have a set of parallel circuits in your house that only work off the generator OR have a switch to disconnect the house from the mains and switch the load to the generator.

If you want a full standby generator to automatically take over when the mains power goes out, you have to have a control panel that senses when the power goes out, starts the generator and switches the load over to the generator. Obviously, the generator will have to have an auto-start capability. The control panel will also sense when the mains power comes back on, turn the generator off, and switch the power back over to the mains. Generac sells that control unit with their generators, as a package. However, in my neck of the woods, you have to get a permit to install this kind of stuff, because it is a major alteration to the electrical system of the house and a potential fire danger if done incorrectly. It also has to be inspected after the installation. A couple of months ago I got a bid from a licensed contractor to install a fully automatic Generac system for 25,000 USD.

So that's the comparison. Use a 400 USD generator that you have to go out in the rain and start yourself and run your house off of an extension cord OR install a 25,000 USD fully automatic system that needs no attention except for annual maintenance.

As an intermediate option, you could probably install a manual switch to disconnect your house from the mains and switch the load to the generator and that would add another 500 USD or so to the cost of the setup and would avoid the extension cord part. You would still have to start and stop the generator yourself and figure out when the mains power came back on, so it wouldn't be fully automatic.

a reply to: pronto

To be honest Pronto, that's a bit heavy. I've got an AEG 5.5kva and does the house and sheds. I can't turn on any of the 15amp gear, no biggie. Cost me $1800.

a reply to: lordcomac

G,day bloke and thank you for the info.
i have mains gas for central controlled ducted gas heating in winter.
love natural gas.. also run instant gas hot water/bbq and hot plates

a reply to: REDMORGAN

G,day bloke. rgr for your input and i find it interesting that your gen set is now
15 plus years old and still going strong. i have a camping gen set 4.5kva petrol and i have the same
fuel issue. the damn stuff goes off even with fuel stab. in the mix
yep would like to get a model bf series 2 xr8 ute. it tows far better than the holden ute
and one can pack a heavier load in the back and goes like a friggin rocket
up and down the highway all day every day
the only thing in this house that comes in 2 litre/liter size is
bottles of milk lol

a reply to: Nickn3

G,day bloke. strewth talk about falling onto ones feet.
a. your the go to bloke for purchase and service and
b. you personally use that which you sell at both your place of work and at home.
hard to find a better tick of approval. tks.
it can get rather cold here north of adelaide/ south aust. but nothing like the states.
the heat though is an entirely diff. kettle of fish.
it was only 38 french outside today, but one could not
walk on the cement or the pavers in bare feet
is it best to set up one of these units under shade.
as the sun uv level down here is a shocker and destroys plastics and paint jobs
on vehicles in a matter of years.
so, looks like i will be making the call tomorrow.
a bloke has to keep his beer cold. it was a laugh i went to the pub drive through
picked a carton of beer and drove home to a house with no power
drove straight back to the pub drive through the bloke said
that was quick. i replied yep i used two straws. then informed him of the
power outage and the need for ice the bugga cracked up. er laughed.
oh well. esky and ice saved the day
once again thank you.

a reply to: 1947boomer

G,day boomer. tks for the heads up.
i am glad that we dont get as many power outages as you do. the
wankers down here shut down the coal fired power station and then proceeded
to electrify the suburban rail network. dickheads and use the inter state
power hook ups to victoria and new south wales to meet the local
requirements and now the tree huggers are moving to shut down those coal fired
power stations and the move is on to ban construction of new gas fired
power stations as well. they are not friggin green enough. bloody wankers
so. a lot of people are going solar
i figure i'll make the call and suss out the generac
take it easy and keep yer powder dry

originally posted by: myselfaswell
a reply to: pronto

To be honest Pronto, that's a bit heavy. I've got an AEG 5.5kva and does the house and sheds. I can't turn on any of the 15amp gear, no biggie. Cost me $1800.

G,day bloke. if i remember your out in the scrub/bush/country
grew up on the land and we ran a big generator for power with a large batt. system
bloody thing seemed to always need powering up late at night.guess who's job that was
yep down to the shed stomping feet to make sure the brown snakes buggered off.
come to think of it son killed a young one here by the back door the other night
i have a 4.5kva gen set with, can you believe it a remote control
start device. now yer gotta admit that is rather cool
but running a power cord through an open door here is as you can understand
from the above is a nono
back on track. yes my options are rather costly, but as i mentioned early in the thread
the fuel goes off all the flamin time, and i am jack of having to keep
cleaning out the gen set. the fuel does rather smell when it is off. yuk.
take it easy and stay safe bloke