The question, "How big of a generator do I need to run my house?" is one we get every day.
There are so many variables that come into play here that there is no "typical" response. It all boils down to what you consider critical loads. What usually happens when someone asks us this is we give them a number for a generator that would literally run everything in the house, which for the typical suburban home might be a 30kW or 40kW unit. When they find out how much it's going to cost, it's suddenly not so important to be able to run the stove or clothes dryer during a power outage (those two combined could easily be 10kW of load.) Generac (one of our suppliers) has done a good job marketing to the home standby market, and makes a pretty decent product. They start out at 8kW and go up to 17kW in size with their home standby product. These are sold through big box home improvement stores under a number of different brand names, all being the same product but called something different to differentiate between the retailer selling it. Guardian (Home Depot) is one, WatchDog (Menards) another, etc., etc. We sell a fair number of 12kW units, which seem to be more than adequate for most homes around here. That will easily run a sump pump, air handler for a gas furnace, and leave some additional capacity for lighting and maybe a microwave or other small appliances. They run on natural gas or propane, and come with a very basic automatic transfer switch. Don't quote me, but I think you're looking at around $3k for one of these systems, not including installation. I have a 25kW natural gas unit that will pretty much run everything in the house with the exception of the dryer and major kitchen appliances (oven/cooktop.) I don't have my AC on it (5 ton unit) but there's a good possibility that it would carry that as well if I put a "boost" capacitor on the compressor motor. I'm not worried about AC at this point. I've prattled on enough for now. If anyone has specific questions about generators, drop me a note off-list. Dan --- On Sat, 12/5/09, Dieselhead <126die...@gmail.com> wrote: From: Dieselhead <126die...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [MBZ] OT: Generators To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009, 12:15 AM It is 3 phase I always planned to get a generator to match up to an OM621. Looks like this one would be about the right size as the engine is rated at 66 hp. Way too pricey for that project. I never really had a need, because the REC always kept the power on, except for brief times when a squirrel did hari-kiri by electro-frying. >>How many houses with one refrig and one 5000 BTU air cond would >>that thing run? > >I think the usual estimation is circa 10-12 kW per home, >without particular care on the parts of the inhabitants. > >So 3-4. If it was a 3-phase, then 3 is a natural division! > >-- Jim > > > >_______________________________________ >http://www.okiebenz.com >For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > >To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
