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Whole home generator verse portable generator...pros and cons?
Posted on 7/13/24 at 10:32 am
Posted on 7/13/24 at 10:32 am
I have some friends that are thinking about putting in generators for their house here in Houston… Obviously the whole home generator is a nice to have But comes at a hefty price tag. and for something you don't have to use that often, Not sure it makes sense. Not to mention, you have to have the space for it.
Meanwhile, you can get a 13kw tri-fuel portable generator that At least can power one AC unit and your fridges/freezers. But comes with the added headache of dealing with refueling if you don't have a direct natural gas hook up.
has anyone gone through this research and have any lessons learned to offer?
Meanwhile, you can get a 13kw tri-fuel portable generator that At least can power one AC unit and your fridges/freezers. But comes with the added headache of dealing with refueling if you don't have a direct natural gas hook up.
has anyone gone through this research and have any lessons learned to offer?
This post was edited on 7/13/24 at 10:34 am
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Posted on 7/13/24 at 11:03 am to Chicken
Portables do give you multiple fuel options, say there's a problem with natural gas supply for whatever reason (gas supply compressors sometimes rely on grid power) you can run propane or gas
Standby will give you immediate power during the storm rather than having to wait until it's safe
Standby will allow you to run multiple large appliances at once
With a standby if the power goes out and you aren't home, but your wife is, she wouldn't have to lug out the heavy generator and cords and fool around with the panel interlock
Standby generators are much quieter than open frame portables
Portables main selling point is that they are much much cheaper, but at a cost of convenience
Standby will give you immediate power during the storm rather than having to wait until it's safe
Standby will allow you to run multiple large appliances at once
With a standby if the power goes out and you aren't home, but your wife is, she wouldn't have to lug out the heavy generator and cords and fool around with the panel interlock
Standby generators are much quieter than open frame portables
Portables main selling point is that they are much much cheaper, but at a cost of convenience
This post was edited on 7/13/24 at 11:05 am
Posted on 7/13/24 at 11:13 am to Chicken
quote:
But comes with the added headache of dealing with refueling if you don't have a direct natural gas hook up.
If you get a NG-capable generator, this is not a problem if comparing to a standby. Assuming they either have a NG hookup, or spend a fraction of the cost (for a standby) for a plumber to provide one.
The pros for the standby are its immediate and always available. You don’t have to drag it out, hook it up, etc. Cons would be installation cost and possibly maintenance. It will run a weekly test cycle as well.
The pros for a portable are significantly lower cost and portability. You can bring it with you to a new home, use it camping/tailgating/away from the house. Cons would be that it’s not always available and it’s much louder and inefficient. When the power goes out, you have to drag it out, hook it up, and start it up. When it’s storming, or the power is only out for a couple hours, it’s not really worth setting it up. Also, may not be something a wife is capable of doing if they’re home alone.
For what’s it worth, I have a portable with a NG hook up at my house. It can run pretty much the entire house minus one of the ACs. It runs everything including one 4T AC and a 2T mini split. It just can’t run both 4T ACs simultaneously. Of course couldn’t run an electric heating element (oven, stove, water heater), but I have mostly gas.
Posted on 7/13/24 at 11:15 am to LSUtigerME
How long have you had your portable? What type of maintenance is involved?
This post was edited on 7/13/24 at 11:16 am
Posted on 7/13/24 at 11:35 am to Chicken
quote:
How long have you had your portable? What type of maintenance is involved?
I bought it during/after Ida in 2021. It gets used pretty rarely since we don’t have frequent extended outages. I maybe have run it for <20 hours since then. I also have a small inverter that I use occasionally for tailgating/parade type scenarios.
Only maintenance is oil change and battery charging. I keep it stored indoors along with the NG hose and Generator Cord.
I have previously ran gasoline through it, but always non-ethanol (if possible, wasn’t available post-hurricane). If I do use gasoline, I make sure to run it dry and drain the carb bowl. Otherwise, I try to only use it in NG mode.
Prior to Ida in 2021, I had a 5500w portable that I bought after Isaac in 2012 that still ran fine. I don’t think I had ever even changed the oil in that one. I replaced the carb for $20 in preparation to sell it.
This post was edited on 7/13/24 at 11:37 am
Posted on 7/13/24 at 11:48 am to Chicken
Last month when we were getting those weekly T Storms we lost power for 4 hours. I have a Generac and never skipped a beat. If I relied on a Portable I'm not sure if I would have even hooked it up. Do I really want to drag this thing out? Don't think just hurricanes.
Posted on 7/13/24 at 4:07 pm to Chicken
The new generators are mostly extremely easy to operate and maintain. Many of them have push button starts. Very easy access for oil changes. Most of them have wheels or have the ability to add wheels or place them on a cart.
The vast majority of people could build out a small station like on a small concrete pad for their generator either off their driveway or shed or whatever, and have their gas line ran to that place where you simply wheel the generator out to the station, plug in the gas, and plug in the plug for electricity to your house. 3 Steps basically and you are all set. Extremely easy.
ETA: 4 steps, big onei forgot is to disconnect off the electrical grid but again that is usually just one switch basically.
You can also do things like soft starts on a single AC of your house and get somewhat streamlined in what household items you use so that your Watt demand is greatly reduced. For example, if you have 2 AC's you can close off some rooms in your home and just have one AC. You don't need to run your fridge and multiple appliances at the same time, turn your fridge off and keep the doors shut for 2 hours while you run the dishwasher. Or goodness, do dishes by hand for 4 days.
Most of these items, for just a couple days at a time is extremely easy to do.
The vast majority of people could build out a small station like on a small concrete pad for their generator either off their driveway or shed or whatever, and have their gas line ran to that place where you simply wheel the generator out to the station, plug in the gas, and plug in the plug for electricity to your house. 3 Steps basically and you are all set. Extremely easy.
ETA: 4 steps, big onei forgot is to disconnect off the electrical grid but again that is usually just one switch basically.
You can also do things like soft starts on a single AC of your house and get somewhat streamlined in what household items you use so that your Watt demand is greatly reduced. For example, if you have 2 AC's you can close off some rooms in your home and just have one AC. You don't need to run your fridge and multiple appliances at the same time, turn your fridge off and keep the doors shut for 2 hours while you run the dishwasher. Or goodness, do dishes by hand for 4 days.
Most of these items, for just a couple days at a time is extremely easy to do.
This post was edited on 7/13/24 at 4:11 pm
Posted on 7/13/24 at 4:39 pm to Chicken
quote:
I have some friends that are thinking about putting in generators for their house here in Houston… Obviously the whole home generator is a nice to have But comes at a hefty price tag. and for something you don't have to use that often, Not sure it makes sense. Not to mention, you have to have the space for it. Meanwhile, you can get a 13kw tri-fuel portable generator that At least can power one AC unit and your fridges/freezers. But comes with the added headache of dealing with refueling if you don't have a direct natural gas hook up. has anyone gone through this research and have any lessons learned to offer?
I will always have a whole home generator on a house I own. Getting fuel is a giant pain in the arse. I do have a couple gas backup generators with a portable AC if there are gas problems for the whole one generator.
Posted on 7/13/24 at 9:02 pm to Rize
I’ll never have another home in Louisiana without standby. My time is valuable, no time to frick with bullshite. Work from home etc.
Posted on 7/14/24 at 5:23 am to Chicken
quote:
a 13kw tri-fuel portable generator
Have NG or you will never be able to keep enough gasoline around to keep it running for an extended period.
At 50% load you will be burning more than 1 gallon per hour...5 5 gallon cans to run for 24 hours. I was driving almost 1 hour away to get gas after Ida.
Posted on 7/14/24 at 7:34 am to Chicken
For me, a main consideration is how often the power goes out and for how long. I rarely lose power and the longest it has been is for 12 hours. I have a Black Max 8500 starting, 7000 running portable. It runs two refrigerators, an upright freezer, portable air conditioner and various other smaller things. I fill my 4 6-gallon gas cans at the beginning of storm season and I'm ready for about three days of no power. As a backup, my daughter has a whole house system, so we can always go there.
Posted on 7/14/24 at 7:38 am to DMAN1968
quote:
Have NG or you will never be able to keep enough gasoline around to keep it running for an extended period.
The best generator without fuel is worthless without fuel.
Do you want to spend your day post storm searching for fuel, burning gas in your car to do so btw, or using the generator to fix any damage to your home?
Posted on 7/14/24 at 12:10 pm to Chicken
I bought a used 30kw from an AT&T cell tower, $8000, has 200 gallons of diesel. It’s very quiet. I went this route because I’ve seen a lot of generac types fail when you really need them. And it was cheaper
This post was edited on 7/14/24 at 5:22 pm
Posted on 7/14/24 at 12:44 pm to tide06
quote:
Have NG
Seems like I heard of issues with when everyone in a neighborhood gets a NG standby that the system just cant supply that much gas??? Or more specifically it drops the pressure to an unusable amount.
So something maybe to look in to especially if living in an old neighborhood.
This post was edited on 7/14/24 at 12:44 pm
Posted on 7/14/24 at 12:45 pm to Chicken
I dont have NG at my home, so I just keep a portable generator for storm season. I have 4 gas cans in the garage plus I'll fill my boat up and have 100 gallons to siphon from.
Posted on 7/14/24 at 2:43 pm to Turnblad85
quote:
Seems like I heard of issues with when everyone in a neighborhood gets a NG standby that the system just cant supply that much gas??? Or more specifically it drops the pressure to an unusable amount.
NG isn't a problem, if it would be, you'd have a problem. Every day, a normal home has Gas Water Heater, Gas Furnace, Gas Stoves and Oven. NG, is easier during a storm than Gasoline or Propane.
This post was edited on 7/14/24 at 2:47 pm
Posted on 7/14/24 at 7:14 pm to Chicken
I’ve got a portable with an inlet plug to power the house. I also got the soft start kit to run my AC on my small generator I currently have.
Next storm we get, I’ll get a large inverter portable generator. The added fuel efficiency will be nice to have and I shouldn’t have to worry too much about what appliances I run.
For me personally, it just isn’t worth the cost to get a standby. I’d much rather have something that is easily replaceable, I can maintain/repair myself, and that I can bring with me when I move.
Next storm we get, I’ll get a large inverter portable generator. The added fuel efficiency will be nice to have and I shouldn’t have to worry too much about what appliances I run.
For me personally, it just isn’t worth the cost to get a standby. I’d much rather have something that is easily replaceable, I can maintain/repair myself, and that I can bring with me when I move.
Posted on 7/14/24 at 7:43 pm to ApisMellifera
For those that have a standby generator running on propane, have you had to have your propane tank filled during an outage. If so, was it even possible?
I’m thinking about getting one but I do not have NG available at the house. I have a 500 gallon propane tank that runs our indoor fireplace (rarely used) 2 tankless water heaters, gas cooktop, and outdoor grill. I think I’d be fine but just curious.
I’m thinking about getting one but I do not have NG available at the house. I have a 500 gallon propane tank that runs our indoor fireplace (rarely used) 2 tankless water heaters, gas cooktop, and outdoor grill. I think I’d be fine but just curious.
Posted on 7/15/24 at 7:58 am to Chicken
i'm getting a whole house gen. frick that portable shite.
Posted on 7/15/24 at 8:27 am to Chicken
If your fuel tank gets below 20%, the whole home generators run into issues and won't work.
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