Today I decided to do some testing on my DIY diesel generator that I installed last summer. As soon as I get the generator started and stable, I switch the house over. Everything is good.

My wife then says she wants to bake a cake. I say "OK, that will be fine. I was going to run it an hour anyway." It has now been three hours. I walked in the house two hours ago, and she said she was getting hot. Even though my soft start kit hasn't arrived, I thought I'd give the AC a try anyway, since it hadn't been running all day, and the pressures should be equalized.

The AC starts up. Yeah!! I walk in and say that the AC is running, and pulling a nice sustainable 22 amps on one leg, and 27 on the other. I say that's about 50%, so we will be good. I say no more baking.

"But I wanted to use both ovens to cook fries and hamburgers!!" Also still hot, so I can't shut down the AC. Now my son just walked upstairs and stuffed a bunch of laundry in my washer.

When you guys are thinking of buying a whole-house system, be advised that your family will not change their lifestyle one bit during an emergency. Better plan to run the whole show all the time.

Other than that, the generator is working great.

quote:

When you guys are thinking of buying a whole-house system, be advised that your family will not change their lifestyle one bit during an emergency. Better plan to run the whole show all the time.

You may choose to go that way.

In my house, we adapt to the situation as needed. We lived most of two weeks using a 4000 watt portable during the Great Ice Storm of '98.

Nobody died, or even smelled any worse than usual.

I will say my 14KW auto-start/auto-transfer is a HUGE improvement, but it still means some functions will be curtailed. Our electric stove, for example.

The problem with generators is the sizing. Size it too big and don't use the power and the unit will drown in fuel and oil, if its undersized you can burn it up while pulling too much load. Personally, I think there are better alternatives out there than traditional backup generators, but unless you are considering it when building new it would be a royal PITA and probably hard to justify the investment. There is a company testing a microturbine/whole house water heater unit that honestly I think looks promising. The Japanese have been using something similar to a combined heat and power plant on a much smaller scales for decades, but they are not so popular here in the US.

In 1978 my family lived in my grandparents basement for over a week by melting snow and cooking on the wood burning fire place during the blizzard. Everything had to be done manually as in pre electric days. Most people are just too whimpey now to have to tough it out.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
You may choose to go that way.

In my house, we adapt to the situation as needed.

This ^^^^^

And we count ourselves lucky. Many around us have to leave their homes and, in wintertime, pray their pipes don't freeze.

No offense toward the OP but my wife actually listens to me. If I had told her (or my daughter who visits frequently but does not live with us) to not use those things they would do what I told them. Especially if I had explained why.

I don't have a generator problem, but a wife problem. My wife is a spendthrift to the point of never spending a dime, so I caught hell when I put in a 14.5KW set last year. Spent a bit less than $4,000. To her, I spent an enormous amount, so it should do everything. She has no clue about what construction and equipment costs. It is more about her perception than anything.

If I tried to take her on a vacation to, say, Europe, and I found round trip tickets for $750, she'd wonder why we weren't in first-class for the crazy amount we had spent.

The generator test is over. I ran it hard for four hours, simultaneously running my five ton AC, two ovens, one stove burner, two refrigerators, a chest freezer, the washing machine, my IT/entertainment infrastructure (Synology x 2, UPS, routers, a couple of computers, a couple TV sets and an xbox), and any lighting, as needed. When I attempted to run the electric dryer too, the generator couldn't hold it and my voltage became erratic and unacceptable.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the results. After four hours of fairly heavy load, I cannot visually notice any drop in the fuel level of my 70 gallon tank. I wish I had taken a before/after dip measurement. Kubota makes a fantastic diesel engine.

Everybody's needs and preferences are different, as are their experiences. Live in Florida summer heat without power for several weeks after a hurricane and it will give you a certain perspective on whole house generator units.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
No offense toward the OP but my wife actually listens to me. If I had told her (or my daughter who visits frequently but does not live with us) to not use those things they would do what I told them. Especially if I had explained why.

And the consequences!

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
When I attempted to run the electric dryer too, the generator couldn't hold it and my voltage became erratic and unacceptable.

That is why I have load shedding on my automatic transfer switch. It drops the dryer first, double oven 2nd, and second AC 3rd.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
Everybody's needs and preferences are different, as are their experiences. Live in Florida summer heat without power for several weeks after a hurricane and it will give you a certain perspective on whole house generator units.

Houston or anywhere on the Gulf Coast too. I can't sleep when I'm sweating and when it's this darn humid it doesn't feel any better when the sun goes down.

Although, I think Winter Storm Uri (worst winter storm in Texas in 70 years) will probably push more people over the whole house generator edge as this is the most backed up I've ever heard generator companies. People with portable generators still had pipes burst.

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Great Ice Storm of '98.

I had just moved to the St. Lawrence River area in New York six months before that. We didn’t have a generator, but thankfully we did have a wood stove that kept us warm and fed and in hot water for baths (we filled pots with ice and snow and put them on the stove). The roof also didn’t collapse, which was nice. You would think the first thing my old man would’ve done after that was buy a generator, but nope.

My house came with a built-in whole home generator hardwired and running on natural gas. It fires up every Thursday for a self-test. The few times we’ve had blackouts, the only reason we knew was we eventually heard it running. No routines were changed. It’s a convenience to be sure. If we were equipped with one that was only for necessity, routines would be changed to conform to it, not the other way around.

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simultaneously running my five ton AC, two ovens, one stove burner, two refrigerators, a chest freezer,.... as needed.

I have no clue how that is possible on 14.5KW. You have 60 amps. 5T AC is like 20-30 (and maybe a bit more), an electric oven (double) is like 30-40 (assuming you have electric ovens), a burner is 10, the rest is surely 5-10 amps.
But if it ran, it ran. but I'm amazed.

Ummm: I spotted your problem in the first 3 words of your post.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:
The problem with generators is the sizing. Size it too big and don't use the power and the unit will drown in fuel and oil, if its undersized you can burn it up while pulling too much load. Personally, I think there are better alternatives out there than traditional backup generators, but unless you are considering it when building new it would be a royal PITA and probably hard to justify the investment. There is a company testing a microturbine/whole house water heater unit that honestly I think looks promising. The Japanese have been using something similar to a combined heat and power plant on a much smaller scales for decades, but they are not so popular here in the US.

In 1978 my family lived in my grandparents basement for over a week by melting snow and cooking on the wood burning fire place during the blizzard. Everything had to be done manually as in pre electric days. Most people are just too whimpey now to have to tough it out.

With the modern electronically controlled diesel generators, so long as you run a 30% load or better you're fine and not washing cylinder walls......they'll do almost 100% load, but 80% is advisable.

It also depends on the generator and engine. Some manufacturers use one engine for both a 20 or 27kw generator sometimes, so a 20 kw putting out 20 kw, isn't really stressing the engine as it'll run a 27kw generator also. But the electrical windings on the generator end might wear out a little earlier.

In all the yachts I've run, we run a generator all of the time (off of the dock), I've never wore a generator out from use, or overloading.....they generally just run and run.......in/as a standby house generator, it's doubtful anyone would wear one out. A lack of use is the bigger problem and creates more wear and fuel growing algae.

Shutting breakers off is an easy fix so that wives and others can't use items the generator won't carry.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x,

If I had the money I would have a diesel generator!
1. Sometimes after major hurricanes guess what the gas company does? That’s right, they shut off the gas.
2. Diesel generators are at least 20% more efficient than gas.
3. I can get in my truck and go find diesel and bring it back to keep things operating. Try that with natural gas.
4. Like Jimmy, I know how to maintain a diesel generator.
5. Regarding #3 and #4 above, I would be depending on no one else to keep me in operation.

That having been said, be sure to have a way to run your fuel through a filtering system and back into the tank periodically, like every 4 months, to keep it clean and to keep the fuel viable. It’s not hard to do. Also, be prepared to shut down and service the unit after about 100 hours of running. Oil, filter and fuel filter. Also, run the generator, under load, at least every 2 weeks.

quote:

My wife is a spendthrift to the point of never spending a dime

I think you've got it backwards

spend·thrift
/ˈspen(d)ˌTHrift/

noun
a person who spends money in an extravagant, irresponsible way.
"Putt was a spendthrift and a heavy gambler"

quote:

Originally posted by doublesharp:

quote:

My wife is a spendthrift to the point of never spending a dime

I think you've got it backwards

spend·thrift
/ˈspen(d)ˌTHrift/

noun
a person who spends money in an extravagant, irresponsible way.
"Putt was a spendthrift and a heavy gambler"

Yep, I did. Thanks for the correction.

How about she's miserly, which is a good thing, most of the time. However, if I ever put all of my Sigs in one place so she could see them all at once, I'd be screwed, figuratively, not literally. She's also unhappy that I've bought four motorcycles in the last two months.

If we could get a Texas sized winter storm, I'd be a hero for installing the standby generator. I'd be like Noah when it started to rain. Bet his wife suddenly thought ark building was a good idea.

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She's also unhappy that I've bought four motorcycles in the last two months.

Hmmmm....

I've been considering building a nuclear reactor so we can be off grid and live life as normal. It is remarkable how much power we use daily without giving it a second thought. When we have to make energy choices, life gets focused quickly.

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
I've been considering building a nuclear reactor...

Trust me, go Cold Fusion. Higher upfront costs but will payoff in the long run.

I had a whole house system put in years ago and never looked back!

It is supplied by a 500 gallon propane tank since we are way out and kicks on after twenty seconds of lost power.

You never miss a beat nor lose anything in the refridgerators...