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Thread: Quiet backup generator?

  1. #16
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    Sep 2013
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    Wayland, MA
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    Earthquakes are few and far between here in eastern MA. Snowstorms (1 ft due today), windstorms, and falling trees are not. Several towns closed all of their roads in this last nor'easter, so getting to the gas station for fuel would have been problematic there. Nat gas seems to be the best and most reliable fuel source here.

    I have a 5kw Onan "Quiet Diesel" liquid cooled generator on my organ trailer. It's made for RVs and allegedly rated for campground use, but I'd hate like heck to be trying to sleep next to that thing running! Getting it to fire up when it's cold out is a touch-and-go thing--OK if it catches the first time, but the battery doesn't usually give you a second chance. I'd hate to have to be jump starting my backup generator out in the storm!

    I don't do construction that's not to code and with the required permits. In our town that means both a licensed electrician and plumber for this job, an expensive install.

  2. #17
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    Mar 2003
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    Quote Originally Posted by dennis thompson View Post
    Jim
    I have an electrician coming this morning to give me an estimate for a 20-22 kw generator. He does both Generac and Kohler. I assume you did some research before deciding on the Generac. I would appreciate your insight into your choice and any suggestions you might have on what accessories I should have installed. I'm in Monmouth county NJ, not that far from you.
    Thanks
    I actually had my choice of either Generac or Kohler with the fixed price turn-key deal I had for a 20-22Kv unit at $8999 from my vendor. (Colonial Generators) I chose the Generac because of a 10 yr parts and labor warranty promotion that was coincidentally available at the time. Performance wise, they were equivalent units. Kohler might have been "slightly" quieter in dB, but given the nature of these things, the very long warranty coverage was compelling. There's not much in the way of accessories necessary as this class/size of generator generally comes with a 200 amp automatic transfer switch. The farm where we board out horse has a Kohler and they are very pleased with it...'doesn't look much different than the Generac other than the color.

    The single thing I'd really like more control of with this kind of thing is how the exhaust is handled. They all typically send it out the end of the unit and that can play havoc with landscaping. I have a temporary "baffle" setup to redirect it upward until I can move a specimen plant that's a bit to close and is suffering for it. The really big generators have a more directional exhaust setup not unlike a truck or tractor. If I could exhaust "up" it would be a really nice thing and it might even help with noise abatement. Once I move that plant, I may put a short, removable fence around the three exposed sides (the fourth is the 18" thick stone wall of our home) to be more courteous to our neighbor around sound level.

    Last edited by Jim Becker; 03-07-2018 at 9:44 AM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #18
    We have the same backup generator (Generac 22KW). As Jim stated, you need to be mindful of the location of the exhaust. Our landscape architect was concerned how the generator would look from our house, he had three small hollies planted in from of the generator to screen the view from the house, one long power outage cooked the closest of the hollies.

    We we live in a urban neighborhood, many of the home have backup generators.. The generator sounds like a typical large landscaping lawn mower when running. The 22 KW unit is the largest air (oil cooled) Generac unit, any larger you get into water cooled generators.

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    I actually had my choice of either Generac or Kohler with the fixed price turn-key deal I had for a 20-22Kv unit at $8999 from my vendor. (Colonial Generators) I chose the Generac because of a 10 yr parts and labor warranty promotion that was coincidentally available at the time. Performance wise, they were equivalent units. Kohler might have been "slightly" quieter in dB, but given the nature of these things, the very long warranty coverage was compelling. There's not much in the way of accessories necessary as this class/size of generator generally comes with a 200 amp automatic transfer switch. The farm where we board out horse has a Kohler and they are very pleased with it...'doesn't look much different than the Generac other than the color.

    The single thing I'd really like more control of with this kind of thing is how the exhaust is handled. They all typically send it out the end of the unit and that can play havoc with landscaping. I have a temporary "baffle" setup to redirect it upward until I can move a specimen plant that's a bit to close and is suffering for it. The really big generators have a more directional exhaust setup not unlike a truck or tractor. If I could exhaust "up" it would be a really nice thing and it might even help with noise abatement. Once I move that plant, I may put a short, removable fence around the three exposed sides (the fourth is the 18" thick stone wall of our home) to be more courteous to our neighbor around sound level.

    Jim
    Thanks for the information. The electrician came this morning and,while he does both Generac and Kohler, he prefers Kohler. He said he has fewer repairs with the Kohlers. I plan to get two more estimates and see what they say about Generac vs Kohler.
    Dennis

  5. #20
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    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Sounds like a plan, Dennis!

    BTW, "Matilda" is back to work today...12" of heavy wet snow and it apparently caused something else to fall on a line somewhere and cut power to 2000 properties in our immediate area. You would think that after this past weekend, there wouldn't be anything left to fall on the wires. LOL
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #21
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    Feb 2007
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    Idaho Falls, Idaho
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    I really don't know much about generators other than I would like one, and this is a great informational thread. However, the most important thing i have learned is Jim Beckers term

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    "whole schmegeggie"
    I like it. No, I love it! I am going to use it as often as possible. Who knew that I would learn new vocabulary terms on this forum. It is my new favorite term. Whole schmegeggie, Whole schmegeggie,Whole schmegeggie. Now if I could just learn to spell it.
    Brian

    Sawdust Formation Engineer
    in charge of Blade Dulling

  7. #22
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    Oct 2007
    Location
    Cache Valley, Utah
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    We had an 8KW Kohler propane unit at our previous house. It wasn't set up to run the entire house but it would run the furnace, most of the lights, the fridge and freezer via selective transfer breakers without any problems. We were in a rural area in the Pacific Northwest and had frequent power outages due to the abundance of trees and overhead power lines. The generator was in an insulated steel enclosure and very quiet. I never had any trouble with it for the seven or eight years we had it.

    I'll be installing a 12 or 14KW whole house system in our new home currently under construction. All Kohler. Since there are only two of us and the range, heating and water heat is gas it should be more than adequate. It'll be connected to the natural gas mains but I plan to explore a propane backup in the future.

    I also have one of the newer HF Predator 3KW inverter generators for general utility use. It's worked fine so far and is VERY quiet.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Rockville, MD
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    1,269
    We have the whole house 20K Generac. Yes it's noisy when going, but after we went through the Derecho Storm that hit this DC area a few years back and left us without electricity for a week, LOML said "Let's look real close at getting one". The once a week testing only goes on for a few minutes. When the whole neighborhood loses electricity, and all the generators kick in, especially the gas operated ones, yours won't sound so loud. Ask me we know as we had a couple going until they ran out of their own supply of gas and couldn't get gas at the local gas station during the Derecho. The gas station lost electricity too, and couldn't pump gas. Agree with the others that the whole house is worth the extra, for peace of mind. The exhaust we took care of by putting a stone garden there. In the stone garden we placed a small stone buddha in front of some decorative stone I got from a local stone and brick yard. It works reasonably well. Also, I thought that the Natural Gas Generac we got could be converted to Propane by just throwing a lever which changed the size of the burner flame. Similar to Outdoor Grills, they can be changed from NG to Propane with relative ease.

    Additionally, I understand that Real Estate agents are looking at whole house generators much more positively than they did a few years ago. Certainly their presence continues to increase in our neighborhood.
    Real American Heros don't wear Capes, they wear Dogtags.

  9. #24
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    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    11,896
    I did a 17KW Generac at my old house. It was essentially right outside the master bedroom window and we could sleep with it running as long as the windows were closed. My mom has the same generator and there's a foot-thick solid brick wall between it and the living room (1860 house) and I know its running from the monitoring system texts before she does. Here we have an older 16KW that's on the other side of a 2x6 wall from my office. I hear it in here but I've asked a few people how load it is on the phone when it starts and they don't hear it.


  10. #25
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    Oct 2006
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    Minneapolis, MN
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    If you're anywhere near where an earthquake may happen (I am), give serious consideration to NOT getting a natural gas unit. At least with gas or propane, you CAN go get some, even if 100 or more miles away. If the NG stops, your genny is useless...
    I figure if the disaster is big enough to lose both electric and natural gas service that I would probably want to leave the house. My house is heated with natural gas so I wouldn't have heat even with a generator. I have a natural gas generator.

    I also have a diesel generator in my converted bus and 130 gallons of diesel I could use, but it is wired for 120 volt although it wouldn't take much to convert back to 240 volt.

  11. #26
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    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    I had a Kohler backup generator at my last house. (This house too.) One time I was gone for the weekend and I stepped out of the car and noticed a little bit of noise. I investigated and the generator was running as the power was out. It was barely audible. The garage door had opened as normal so I didn't realize the power was out.

    The generator at my current house sticks out like a sore thumb when you pull up to the house. I talked to the realtor who sold me the house and he didn't think it would turn people off if I sold the house. I plan to put up fencing to block the generator if/when I sell. Placing the generator elsewhere would have cost at least $1,000 more to run the gas and electric to it. It was a DIY project that cost me less than $4,000 so another $1,000 was huge.

  12. #27
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    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    Brian, we did that with the heat pump at our old house. They couldn't put the heat pump where the AC was because the darn thing was almost 5' tall including the "snow legs." It had to go at the end of the house where it looked terrible. We had a fence company put in 6' PVC picket fence on two sides leaving about 3' clearance. Since the pickets had space between then airflow was no issue. It turned out so nice my mom did the same. Since the generator is much shorter you could buy materials at a big box store easily if you wanted to DIY in plastic. I did a DIY one around the AC on the shop with some reclaimed cypress, also super easy.


  13. #28
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    Feb 2003
    Location
    Griswold Connecticut
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    Brian

    For reasons I still don't understand, a few years back, during Sandy,we lost power for 8 days. So did the town, and the natural gas plant in town. Without electricity it wasn't capable of distributing gas.
    It may have changed now because all of the businesses were required to only use natural gas, back up generators.
    The town got sued by Home Depot,Walmart, Target , etc. For not being able to supply the gas for their backup power. Hopefully the situation has been resolved. I'm sure a lot of folks were counting on NG to power their backup generators and were stuck.

  14. #29
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    Apr 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    I had a Kohler backup generator at my last house. (This house too.) One time I was gone for the weekend and I stepped out of the car and noticed a little bit of noise. I investigated and the generator was running as the power was out. It was barely audible. The garage door had opened as normal so I didn't realize the power was out.

    The generator at my current house sticks out like a sore thumb when you pull up to the house. I talked to the realtor who sold me the house and he didn't think it would turn people off if I sold the house. I plan to put up fencing to block the generator if/when I sell. Placing the generator elsewhere would have cost at least $1,000 more to run the gas and electric to it. It was a DIY project that cost me less than $4,000 so another $1,000 was huge.
    Brian
    While the realtor who sold you the house said it wouldn't turn people off if you sold the house ,your comment that it sticks out like a sore thumb seems to indicate to me its position could be a pretty big negative to the houses curb appeal.
    I am currently looking getting a generator and plan to place it in our back yard so it does not stick out like a sore thumb. Yes it is an extra $1,000 but I think it's worth it and to be honest your "sore thumb" comment convinces me its the right decision.
    Thanks for your input.
    Dennis

  15. #30
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    Sep 2013
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    Wayland, MA
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    Fortunately I have a place to put one that is at a far corner of the house, reasonably out of sight, and close to both existing gas and the main electric panel.

    I called a couple of places back when I first posted, before our most recent nor'easter. Only one guy called back so far, and he told me he had 360 calls on his desk to return! I'm not too surprised I haven't heard from the others yet.

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