Question for those who own whole house generators

[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.