Whole House Generator

[ronwhit]

Planning to have a whole house generator installed in the next couple of months.  The installer, a local electrician, lives on our street and has a Kohler at his house.  His son, also on our street, has a Generac that the father installed.  He (the electrician) installed his Kohler so as to have a comparison with the son's Generac.  (Both were installed at the same time and are basically the same rating.)  Thus, he feels that one brand is not that much better than the other and is in effect evaluating both at the same time under the same conditions. They have not been in use long enough to draw any conclusions as to reliability, maintenance costs, etc., so I can't decide which I should have installed. My question to you fine folks is this: do you have any personal experience with either brand, good or bad, that you can share to help in this decision?  Thanks, ronwhit

[jteneyck]

I have a Generac 17 KW natural gas unit with a whole house transfer switch, about 8 years now.  Whichever brand you get, I recommend you get an automatic transfer switch.  Preferably, buy a unit large enough to power everything in your house.  Then, when the power goes out, life goes on like normal.  One of the great benefits of a backup generator is the peace of mind that comes from knowing critical appliances will remain functional even if the power goes out and you are away from home.  

I've only had one issue with my Generac.  An actuator motor in the carburetor choke died and the entire unit had to be replaced.  I think it was around $400 to do that, for a motor that likely would cost less than $25.  Other than that, it's been flawless.  Oil, air filter, and spark plug changes are easy, so I do them myself, as needed.  I had a technician come out to reset the valve clearance when the maintenance log said it should be done.  I think that was about $200.  

Generac has a feature that allows you to check its status from your phone.  I didn't opt for that, but it's available, and probably does a whole lot more now.  I imaging Kohler has something similar, too.  

I haven't had any long power outages since I bought the unit, maybe 4 hours max.  But I'm not complaining, because I know all will be well if it goes out when I'm away.

[ronwhit]

Thanks for the reply.  Mine will be propane powered as NG is not available here.  There will be an auto transfer switch, and it will be large enough to power the whole house, heat pump included.  It will replace a portable Honda unit which has served me well, but is no longer sufficient for my needs.  Thanks.

[blackhat]

I was a Generac factory trained tech but I’ve let it lapse. Both are good product. I would avoid the California compliant whiz bang variable speed fuel efficient version. That technology is not mature enough for my comfort.

[frule]

Thanks for the reply.  Mine will be propane powered as NG is not available here.  There will be an auto transfer switch, and it will be large enough to power the whole house, heat pump included.  It will replace a portable Honda unit which has served me well, but is no longer sufficient for my needs.  Thanks.

Propane vs natural gas really doesn't matter much. Get a large tank as these burn a lot of fuel if you have a long outage.
I've had 2 different Generacs for a total of 12 years with no issues.

Consider doing your own maintenance. It is minimal and easy. Factory requires an oil/filter every 2 years (200 hours run-time) and an air filter every 4 years. That and a few easy checks. Dealer maintenance is costly.

Generac has offered a free extended warranty for years. It varies from 5-7-10 years. Some dealer do 10 years. Just Google it.
Some dealers fail to mention it!

[jteneyck]

Propane vs natural gas really doesn't matter much. Get a large tank as these burn a lot of fuel if you have a long outage.
I've had 2 different Generacs for a total of 12 years with no issues.

Consider doing your own maintenance. It is minimal and easy. Factory requires an oil/filter every 2 years (200 hours run-time) and an air filter every 4 years. That and a few easy checks. Dealer maintenance is costly.

Generac has offered a free extended warranty for years. It varies from 5-7-10 years. Some dealer do 10 years. Just Google it.
Some dealers fail to mention it!

Hmmm, apparently.  

John

[GaryMc]

Propane vs natural gas really doesn't matter much. Get a large tank as these burn a lot of fuel if you have a long outage.
I've had 2 different Generacs for a total of 12 years with no issues.

Consider doing your own maintenance. It is minimal and easy. Factory requires an oil/filter every 2 years (200 hours run-time) and an air filter every 4 years. That and a few easy checks. Dealer maintenance is costly.

Generac has offered a free extended warranty for years. It varies from 5-7-10 years. Some dealer do 10 years. Just Google it.
Some dealers fail to mention it!

Generac natural gas 20KW for a year and a half now - no problems thru several outages, mostly less than an hour.  Dealer included 5 years of annual maintenance, after which I may just do it.  But free extended warranty?  We have received three offerings from Honeywell for ext. warranty, not free but at a cost of $100 per year, and of course does not include any maintenance.

[Cabinet Monkey]

which is better :

Ford / Chevy
Milwaukee / Dewalt
Husqvarna / Stihl
BMW / Benz



What you're really buying is not the box but the co. (or guy) doing the work.  Are they any good ?   The box doesn't matter so much and neither does the warranty.  Both brand generators are very good.

How is your guy with the design/engineering of the system , or placing the equipment so it doesn't need miles of cable and gas lines ($$$) to get up and running.  Will he be around to service the unit in 5yrs ?  10 ?  20 ?   Does he do the maintenance  ?  Is the cost reasonable  ?  I'd hate to have to pay my electrician's usual and customary hourly rate for him to just change the oil and swap out a battery.  

Have you made a frank and detailed assessment of what your needs (wants) really are, in terms of use ?   Meaning:  are you just gonna run some lites and fridge and freezer ?   Or are you going to want to run your HVAC ?  Is it a heat pump or gas , or straight electric baseboard resistance heat ?  Want to run a water heater ?  Is it electric or gas ?  What else ?

It's nice to have all the lites on and keep your expensive frozen steaks frozen during an outage, but if YOU are freezing (or your pipes) -or- you can't take a hot shower................ seeing your frozen food is not going to be very satisfying. Especially for the spend.   Are your outages typically in the summer or winter ?

And, despite what frule says, propane vs. NG absolutely matters.   In the winter time the size of your propane tank will have a tremendous impact on the amount of time a generator will run.  Not only will a smaller tank hold less propane, what propane is in there may have trouble getting to the generator the temps get colder and the propane depletes.  Or it may not run at all. Or it may run, but not at full capacity.   This goes back to my comment on design.

[R Clark]

I have a Generac 22KW unit.  Auto transfer switch.  I do not have the auto devices that shed load when stressing the generator.  It's just my wife and I here, so there's little risk of overload while the generator is in operation.

It works well.  It was installed in January 2019. 

My generator is propane fueled.  There is no natural gas service at our rural acreage.  I have a 1000 gallon tank, but it in addition to the generator, it provides fuel for shop heat, auxiliary heat, fireplaces, and patio grill.

I do not have the extended warranty.  Generac keeps approaching to sell me an extended warranty; I ignore it.  I do my own maintenance.  There's something about Generac's business practice on this stuff that just rubs me the wrong way.  This last time on the extended warranty offer, they had a banner with "new pricing".  They offered a "10 year warranty" for a couple hundred dollars less than the previous offer.  However, when I read the fine print, I found that the "10 year warranty period" in the offer went back to the original installation date.

I think the Kohler unit is probably very similar with similar quality.  I have a Kohler engine in my zero turn mower; it has been absolutely stellar for 10 years now.

I agree with the previous comments that the installer's quality work is paramount.

[frule]

Generac natural gas 20KW for a year and a half now - no problems thru several outages, mostly less than an hour.  Dealer included 5 years of annual maintenance, after which I may just do it.  But free extended warranty?  We have received three offerings from Honeywell for ext. warranty, not free but at a cost of $100 per year, and of course does not include any maintenance.

I got a FREE extended warranty straight from Generac. It is 7 years, parts and labor. They constantly offer them. Why pay extra for one? Google it.