Generator advice

[04FXSTS]

My new home is total electric which is fine but now and then the power will go out for a while, not good. I would like to have a generator to use for these times but don't really want to spend a lot of money on something that should not get a lot of use. I have been looking at different "calculate how big generator do I need." But I do not get all the watts vs. amps descriptions so here I am asking the best people in the world.
I have a 60 amp furnace so that should be the biggest draw I must contend with. Yes, I have well pump and electric water heater and all the normal appliances but most concerned with the furnace. I can always shut off the water heater and well pump except when I need water/hot water. Would any of the portable generators work or would I have to go with something like a Generac stand by? I do know I will have to have things wired correctly with a transfer switch to prevent any feedback to the power lines.
Well that is pretty much what I am looking for, prefer a portable because they seem cheaper or maybe they are cheaper because they have less capacity. Jim.

 

[churchmouse]

OK.
You will need a monster. I seriously doubt you will find a portable to even carry your furnace. 60A is a serious load and add in the well pump you are looking at a whole house stationary Genny.

We have a 12HP portable for our house and a 10HP for the terrorists place next door. The 10 is rated 30A and the 12 is rated at 40A. Thats not full load.
A total electric house is usually on a 200A panel.

Is the heating system a heat Pump...???? If so you have a 60A draw on the furnace/Air handler and another possibly 30A breaker to run that unit. That will take a huge portable that is not so portable.

I would look into a Generac and have "Select" circuits wired in.

 

[shift74]

Your 60 amp furnace circuit is usually feeding 10 kw of heat strips and a blower motor. Are you positive there is not second furrace circuit? Is your AC a Heat pump?

 

[04FXSTS]

Well I now know more than I did so I know I came to the right place to ask. It is not a heat pump, I knew it was a 60 amp furnace so had not looked any more into it. It has two 30 amp breakers tied together but I just looked and there are two 25 amp breakers also tied together and also labeled "furnace." So that puts things in a different perspective, lots of power I assume the two 25's are the air handler. Looks like I will have to look into the stand by Generac or whatever brand that will do the job. Then also do some size of propane tanks, I would want to be able to run for a couple days in an emergency. Jim.

 

[KLB]

You will not regret the whole house generator. Get one with an automatic transfer switch.

We are in the country, plus we have horses and other animals. Without power, we have no heat/AC, no water, our septic pump won't run, our sump pump won't run, our freezers won't run, no lights in the barn, etc etc. With the whole house generator, all of that is no longer a worry. The power is out for less than 30 seconds.

 

[nra4ever]

You will not regret the whole house generator. Get one with an automatic transfer switch.

We are in the country, plus we have horses and other animals. Without power, we have no heat/AC, no water, our septic pump won't run, our sump pump won't run, our freezers won't run, no lights in the barn, etc etc. With the whole house generator, all of that is no longer a worry. The power is out for less than 30 seconds.

100% agree with this. You will also need at least a 500 lb propane tank to go with it. I have a whole house as well with automatic transfer but I also have natural gas so I didn’t need the propane. I have a generac system. The generac is easy to Self maintain with the help of the forum. I have diagnosed and replace the Charger, some part by the carburetor and the board saving me a lot of money in repairs.

 

[mmpsteve]

Peace of mind. That's what you get with the whole house generator. I went with the portable for 30 years, but always worried that I wouldn't be there when I needed to be to get it running. Or, if I was out of town, I worried about the wife's ability to get it running. We have a basement and I have a lot to lose if it floods.

So last year I took the plunge on a Kohler unit on the advice of a smart neighbor that I respect. It wasn't cheap, but the piece of mind is worth every penny. I wish I had done it earlier.

Takes eight seconds for the power to kick on. I know this because I was shaving the first time it went dark so I started counting.

.

 

[Super Bee]

We have an older 8500W Generac and it basically powers our entire house. My uncle who is an journeyman electrician came over and wired in a transfer switch. If power goes out, I hit the switch, plug in the cord and fire up the generator. A few years back we lost power due to an ice storm for nearly a week, I was so thankful we had this set up.

Generacs are noisy, we put ours in the detached garage and crack open the door when running. Lately I have been looking at used Hondas on FB as they are very quiet.

 

[jaymark6655]

As others already pointed out, those electric heat setups draw a lot. Trying to power it almost always means a stationary stand-by type generator. Other thing to be aware of is there is usually a surge in watts on startup, where the appliance will need more than what it is rated at. Generators should be sized to take this into account. I have always wanted one with propane that I could fill while its cheap. I will say it seems to be less of a problem here then were I used to live, lost power there for three weeks one winter. Luckily I had a fireplace and some propane heaters.

 

[jkaetz]

My new home is total electric which is fine but now and then the power will go out for a while, not good. I would like to have a generator to use for these times but don't really want to spend a lot of money on something that should not get a lot of use. I have been looking at different "calculate how big generator do I need." But I do not get all the watts vs. amps descriptions so here I am asking the best people in the world.
I have a 60 amp furnace so that should be the biggest draw I must contend with. Yes, I have well pump and electric water heater and all the normal appliances but most concerned with the furnace. I can always shut off the water heater and well pump except when I need water/hot water. Would any of the portable generators work or would I have to go with something like a Generac stand by? I do know I will have to have things wired correctly with a transfer switch to prevent any feedback to the power lines.
Well that is pretty much what I am looking for, prefer a portable because they seem cheaper or maybe they are cheaper because they have less capacity. Jim.

Watts = Voltage * Amp draw
Examples:
1500 watt space heater on a 120 volt outlet = 12.5 Amps
Clothes dryer ~30A on a 240v circuit = 7200 watts
A house with a 200A service at 240 volts can potentially draw 48 kilowatts (48000 Watts)

Keep in mind that the breakers are also a protective measure for your wires and most will be significantly higher than the actual amp draw of the equipment on the circuit. You will need to check the equipment itself to see what it is supposed to draw. You also have peak vs continuous draw. Most motors and some other things will need a lot of amperage to get started and then use quite a bit less once they are going.

As CM noted for electric heat you'll need a lot of wattage. Generac it's a week known brand for a standby system.

 

[Jaybird1980]

You will be hard pressed to find a portable generator to run your setup, and if you did it would likely be an industrial unit costing more than a stand alone natural gas/propane unit. A 7500w Genny on a single 240v circuit is only 30a, but you also have to understand start-up amperage vs running.

Please seek out a professional to help and do a load calculation if you don't understand. If you were closer I would help

 

[woowoo2]

Depending on the age of your furnace, it may be wise to replace it with a propane fired unit.
It will cost less in the long run to operate, and greatly reduce the size of the generator that you are considering.

 

[Butch627]

I would look into a ventless wall mounted propane heater to give some heat in the house and then a portable generator to run appliances. A standby gen powering you electric furnace will use an enormous amount of propane and you may need a giant propane tank to avoid freeze up of the lines. Living up in the NW corner of the state I didn't know that people used electric furnaces in Indiana, my long term plan would be to get NG or propane for home heating, hot water, and clothes drying

 

[churchmouse]

I would look into a ventless wall mounted propane heater to give some heat in the house and then a portable generator to run appliances. A standby gen powering you electric furnace will use an enormous amount of propane and you may need a giant propane tank to avoid freeze up of the lines. Living up in the NW corner of the state I didn't know that people used electric furnaces in Indiana, my long term plan would be to get NG or propane for home heating, hot water, and clothes drying

This.
a 92% eff propane furnace is a bit to buy/install but will pay for itself over the long haul over the electric money pit.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I am unfamiliar with your layout, but if you're just looking for heat in the rare event of outages, something like this may benefit you and be substantially cheaper.

We opted for this in the basement of my parents, instead of a large generator.

 

[MontereyC6]

I have a 20k Generac standby by generator. It's great peace of mind on the occasions we have needed it. In the 3 years we've had it, we've had maybe 6 or 7 outages, the longest only lasting 6 or 7 hours. Not too bad. Having done a week in July when living in Indianapolis, when we moved to Greenwood, I said to myself, never again.

 

[smokingman]

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200777333_200777333

[h=1]Cummins QuietConnect Home Standby Generator — 13 kW, LP/NG, 120/240 Volts, Single Phase, Model# RS13A Warm[/h]

Those are some serious power demands. Few portables could even come close.
I posted the smallest unit you could probably get away with. Generac has units up to 50kw(mostly diesel units) in the 17k price range.
The one I posted is $3200.00.

 

[Jaybird1980]

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200777333_200777333

[h=1]Cummins QuietConnect Home Standby Generator — 13 kW, LP/NG, 120/240 Volts, Single Phase, Model# RS13A Warm[/h]

Those are some serious power demands. Few portables could even come close.
I posted the smallest unit you could probably get away with. Generac has units up to 50kw(mostly diesel units) in the 17k price range.
The one I posted is $3200.00.

Once again I am unfamiliar with your layout, but please don't consider recommendations like this. A 13,000/13kw generator like this will be substantially undersized for just your furnace alone. Without doing a load calculation of my own, I could only say to look at 30,000/30kw units to start getting an idea of price, this isn't a recommendation on size only to help you understand the price range

 

[04FXSTS]

Well I will probably get someone from generac to come in and see what they say I will need for my house. Getting a propane heater is another possibility since I am just looking to not freeze during a winter power outage. Either way I will be looking at having a propane tank set up in the back yard and I did not want that. On the other hand I plan to put up a small building for a work shop so the propane tank could feed both. The "shop" will be outside the back privacy fence so the tank could go out there and not be visible from the house.
I do have another option so I am not going to be in a big hurry to put in whatever I decide. We also have a motorhome and I always keep the gas and propane full in the winter so we can always stay warm in that for a few days. Worst case we can always drive south. Jim.

 

[Butch627]

That would probably be great to power everything in the house except his furnace, air conditioning, water heater, and dryer.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200777333_200777333

Cummins QuietConnect Home Standby Generator — 13 kW, LP/NG, 120/240 Volts, Single Phase, Model# RS13A Warm



Those are some serious power demands. Few portables could even come close.
I posted the smallest unit you could probably get away with. Generac has units up to 50kw(mostly diesel units) in the 17k price range.
The one I posted is $3200.00.