Question for those who own whole house generators

[dennis thompson]

I had a whole house generator installed last summer . I just got a letter from the installer suggesting I sign a contract to have a once a year tune up and another once a year checkup. The cost would be $400/year which seems reasonable to me. Do those of you who have whole house generators have maintenance contracts?
Thanks

[James Cheever]

I do. I like the piece of mind. However, mine is $200 per year.

[Chuck Wintle]

I had a whole house generator installed last summer . I just got a letter from the installer suggesting I sign a contract to have a once a year tune up and another once a year checkup. The cost would be $400/year which seems reasonable to me. Do those of you who have whole house generators have maintenance contracts?
Thanks
Seems expensive for what might take a tech 5-10 minutes to perform.

[Martin Siebert]

I have had a whole house generator for 19 years and also have one at my cabin. I have never had/needed any "service" or "maintenance contract"....especially for no $400 per year!!! What exactly does $400 a year get you??? I have to ask...what kinds of chronic, continuous problems are you having to cause $400 a year to "seem reasonable"????? When you say whole house generator you mean one that will power the entire house when you need it, such as during a power outage??? Or do you mean to say you are off grid and the gen set is your constant source of power???

[Mike Cutler]

Hmmm,,,, I'm sorry, but the sounds like "pure profit" to me.
If the installer is a certified technician and rep for the generator you installed, I might see some benefit.Might.
I would also like to know how warranty claims are handled. Besides that, your generator should be testing itself once per month, and is still under warranty.
In the end though, if it brings you peace of mind, that has a value also.

[Jim Becker]

I don't have a contract but the a la carté annual service for my Generac whole house unit runs about $250...I'm actually due for that now. My unit keeps telling me that via email. :) Yes, you should do the maintenance to insure that the unit is ready to go when you need it. Even the weekly exercise will get the oil dirty and a new filter and spark plug annually isn't a terrible thing. You can also do the service yourself if you want to which lowers the cost to just oil, filter and spark plug. I choose to have the installer company do it simply because I don't enjoy doing that kind of work and have other time commitments.

That said...$400 is WAY out of line. $200-250 is reasonable from a parts and labor perspective when you account for about an hour to do the work plus travel time, etc.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

You can change oil and spark plugs and filter once per year for $50-70. Even I am not really mechanically incline, can do this.
I would say $400 per year to keep your hands free of oil - it's too much money.
Ed.

[Bill Orbine]

One other option for you is to SHOP AROUND if you don't want to save $$$ DIY!

[Art Mann]

I think $400 is ridiculous. I can't imagine what a technician would do that would justify anywhere near that fee. Perhaps he is having to drive 100 miles to get there. Neither spark plugs nor oil spontaneously degrade with time. Over long periods of time, condensate will gradually degrade oil if the engine isn't run. However, every generator should be run often enough and long enough to drive off the crankcase moisture. A lot of those engines have service intervals of 100 hours. Due to numerous starting cycles from monthly testing, that number ought to be shorter. Still, 50 hours is a lot of run time if the unit isn't actually being used.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, it depends upon the scope of maintenance.

On an annual basis I would expect the following

Check safeties such as over speed, overcrank, low oil pressure, over temp

Replace engine oil and filter, send sample to lab

Rad inspection/cleaning, coolant level check, replacement at 3 or 5 years, belts/hoses, jacket water heater check if fitted.

Exhaust inspection

Load test with a load bank

Transfer switch test and inspection.

There will be other requirements depending upon whether it’s a gas or Diesel engine......Rod

[Wade Lippman]

I get mine serviced every 2 years; assuming it hasn't been seriously used, that is all that is called for.

Three years ago I paid $300; can't find the charge for last year. It includes adjusting the valves; which I am told is not for the amateur.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Although $400 sounds a little steep, certainly get your generator serviced regularly, and fire it up once a month. This is the voice of a man who spent 4 months without power after Irma and Maria hit my island. One thing that happened right after the storms is generators either didn't work at all, or they quickly failed. Power outages are very common here, so most generators had been run periodically during our many brief outages, but they had not been run for extended amounts of time. Many people had found their generator was damaged during the storm, but many also failed from lack of preventative maintenance. Keep your generator regularly maintained. Not running an engine can cause problems just as much as running it can- primarily dry rot of belts, water infiltration of fuel and oil, and corrosion of electronics. Keep on hand extra air filters, oil filters, and belts. I saw a lot of broken belts and you could not find a belt for a generator after the storms. You might even keep a spare injector pump if you really depend on the generator for power.

Either pay for the service contract, or find a cheaper way to do it, but keep it serviced. Without knowing what your contract specifically covers, I can't say whether or not it's a good deal. If it covers anything that needs replacing, and all preventative maintenance parts and oil changes, it may be a fair price. If it's labor only, maybe not.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I get mine serviced every 2 years; It includes adjusting the valves; which I am told is not for the amateur.Ever hear of You tube? Adjusting valves is so simple, even I can do it. But I can also rebuild the engine. You didn't say if generator was gasoline, natural gas, diesel, or propane fueled. Is it a single cylinder, or multiple cylinder, air cooled or water cooled. Too much information was left out to give a correct answer. But my gut feeling is you are being ripped off. An oil change and a couple spark plugs has a material cost of less than $25, so that leaves $375 on the table. PS after the first oil change, opt for synthetic oil. Easier cranking, and longer life

[Art Mann]

If you run your generator under load every month or two like you are supposed to, you will already know whether it is working properly. As far as I know. all these generators are air cooled, which means there is no belts, hoses, coolant etc. to check. I can check oil level myself. Most will have a low oil/pressure automatic shutdown. If I thought all that stuff was really necessary to hire someone to check every year, I would buy a different brand.


Hi, it depends upon the scope of maintenance.

On an annual basis I would expect the following

Check safeties such as over speed, overcrank, low oil pressure, over temp

Replace engine oil and filter, send sample to lab

Rad inspection/cleaning, coolant level check, replacement at 3 or 5 years, belts/hoses, jacket water heater check if fitted.

Exhaust inspection

Load test with a load bank

Transfer switch test and inspection.

There will be other requirements depending upon whether it’s a gas or Diesel engine......Rod

[Kevin Beitz]

My service charge for factory generators was $100.00 plus parts and oil.
This was huge generators. $400.00 ... i wish... Home systems maybe $50.00
plus parts and oil.

[Tom Bender]

Hi Dennis
I have a Generac 16 kw that runs on natural gas. It was installed in 2014. It runs 15 minutes every Wednesday afternoon and has run during power outages a dozen times, the longest was a few hours so total hours on it are about 80. Last year I changed the oil and sent a sample in for analysis. Came back fine, oil change was unnecessary. It is installed in a favorable location, sunny side of the house, no dirt roads or plant fluff nearby etc.

Lawn mower maintenance is much more involved. Your generator may need more but you should get to know this friendly machine better. Bank the $400 in case you have to buy a new one when you are older. Then you'll have a new one, rather than a collection of receipts.

I did have to order oil filters on line.

[Art Mann]

It seems to me that the first place to look if someone wants to know the service schedule for a generator is the owner's manual. Service people are highly motivated to sell you unnecessary work. Oil change places thrive on such tactics. People on woodworking forums are not necessarily subject matter experts, especially if they don't even know the brand and model number.

[Jim Becker]

One other factor, related to Art's mention of the service manual, is warranty provisions. I have a 10 year warranty from the manufacturer on my unit and it requires provable annual maintenance. Fortunately, the cost is about half of what the OP was quoted or a lot less if I (wanted to) do it myself.