This is my weak link I have not calculated yet, tapping 3/4" (need to get BTU consumption) to the wgen1000df, against the 1-1/4" main line, and using water heater, stove/oven, etc.

Sasappis said:

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NRD09 said:

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When you replace that fpe box, hold onto the stab-lock breakers and sell them on ebay. They brought good money last time i replaced one

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You do you, but reselling anything from federal pacific seems like a bad bad idea in my book.

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My understanding was that the problem with the stab locks was that they get sparky when they loosen up, so as long as your breakers fit tight in the panel they are fine. Also, I mean, if someone's paying $50 for a stab lock breaker on eBay they must have considered that there's a reason they are not available for $15 on the shelf next to the eaton, ge, and square d ones

Southpaw 07 said:

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That's probably correct but dramatically over simplified by Centerpoint. You can look at the btu draw for appliances and calculate when you get to meter capacity. Assuming you have gas furnaces and we're code compliant before, you can almost certainly use the gen+WH+stove at the same time.

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Agreed. There was a lot more to the conversation. That was the shortened version. I was talking to him earlier about it and they didn't have to change his meter, but they did come change something on or in his meter at no cost.

RCR06 said:

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Southpaw 07 said:

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That's probably correct but dramatically over simplified by Centerpoint. You can look at the btu draw for appliances and calculate when you get to meter capacity. Assuming you have gas furnaces and we're code compliant before, you can almost certainly use the gen+WH+stove at the same time.

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Agreed. There was a lot more to the conversation. That was the shortened version. I was talking to him earlier about it and they didn't have to change his meter, but they did come change something on or in his meter at no cost.

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At no cost?? That's incredible. Good for him.

sawemoffshort07 said:

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This is my weak link I have not calculated yet, tapping 3/4" (need to get BTU consumption) to the wgen1000df, against the 1-1/4" main line, and using water heater, stove/oven, etc.

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Assuming that's a 10k gen and not a 1k, you'll be pulling close to nameplate on a standard residential gas meter with it running a full load.

I've done some research and am working on getting a tap for a generator at my house. A 10k gen pulls about 200k btu/hr at full load against a standard meter rated for 250k btu/hr. That doesn't leave much for appliances. A tank water heater alone is ~40k btu/hr when running.

If I can find a plumber who will call me back I'm going to get a gas line installed for the generator and then have Centerpoint adjust the meter for higher capacity.

Maybe that's it, adjust the meter/plate. I'll be breaking it in in about 10 days and will have a better idea

Centerpoint said they would be upgrading my service from 4oz to 2lb pressure through the meter and for the generator line and regulating the house pressure down to 4oz where the line enters the house.

Did they charge you for that?

Did they do the work or did you have to have a plumber t off the line?

Based on Centerpoint and an initial discussion with a plumber who has since gone radio silent.

I have to find a plumber for:
- Houston permit
- Gas line install to generator location (~10')
- Pressure test gas line
- 2lb to 4oz regulator at the generator site

Centerpoint will:
- Adjust the regulator up to 2lbs
- Install a second regulator to reduce 2lbs to 4oz where the gas line enters the house

Cost from Centerpoint is $350. Plumber is TBD.

Tried to get more info from my coworker, but he was off today. He was initially told he needed to change his meter from ounces to pounds by a plumber and centerpoint person over the phone. Paid for a new meter. Centerpoint technician comes out and says you don't need a new meter just need to do something to your current one. He was then refunded his $350. I will ask him on Monday and report back.

I would really appreciate more of that story if possible. I'll pay the $350 if I have to but it would be great to avoid it.

Very much watching this. Thanks to my brothers in this journey. I already DIY'ed my tee to the generator (no permit pulled), just downstream of the meter and just upstream of it going to the house.

My generator (wgen12000df) delivery got bumped up a week to tomorrow. If I need to bump up the pressure to the tee, then down for the house, this would be good to know. I am currently assembling my NG regulator/adapter.

Agreed. Lists of helpful posts here.

Would like to see your setup once you you get it going.

I live in Conroe/the woodlands outside city limits and just outside the woodlands proper so I won't need the permit, but will be looking for a plumber for the natural gas line.

Here is the gas line. I'll post more soon, 1 month old is slowing things down

Edit to show the natgas regulator, interlock and inlet, and cord

Interlock kit arrived today.

My problem with NG is my meter and panel are on damn near opposite sides of the property. I'm going to stick with it as gas driven and plan for 2 weeks. If nothing happens, then it fills the trucks.

I got my micro-air soft start for my a/c today. Tested inrush before and it pulled 138 amps! Will update with the after.

It's a 60,000 btu, 5 ton, 16 seer

Interested to see how your natural gas kit hooks up.

It looks like it will bypass both regulators?

Looks like it would be easier than the png tec to install and reset back to factory, unless the mount is difficult or requires drilling.

I'll keep everyone posted. I may need to lean on the all knowing OB to get it goiing. I do kno the natgas adapter wants 6oz at the inlet. So I guess I need to figure that out as well as max btu/scf troughput via centerpoint

This is also relevant to my setup. I've been looking for a real world before/after comparison. Please let us know how much it helps.

Where is everyone getting there power cords? I will need a 50amp at least 35 ft long if not more. Thx

I got mine (30amp) from Amazon.

Lots of options on Amazon.

I've used this site for information: https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/power/generator-power-cords.html

Long term plan is to construct a carport type of covering over the area where I will be running my generator, but for now I built a "gen tent" so I can run it in mild to moderate weather events.

Doing some maths now. Apparently the natgas pressures for appliances is in inches of water column (wc). At first glance, it looks like the min inlet for natgas adapter for the gen (10.4 wc) is the top end for my appliances (10.5 wc). Stay tuned.

Pete, thanks for the link. We're still waiting to hear back from our electrician on when they can get the parts in to schedule the installation. It's going to be about $700 for them to install the inlet and isolator.

Nobody, the cover looks great. I've been wrestling with how to protect it also. I'm probably going to build a carport type structure as well. For your temporary cover, do you anticipate any heat issues with the cover so close to the generator?

And thanks again to everyone that has posted on the thread. It has been a great help.

On a side note, yesterday my wife and I were on the phone with her brothers that live in Rockport. Their rebuild after Harvey was finished in mid-2019. Sometime last year prior to hurricane season, they installed a built-in Generac generator with a 250 gallon propane tank. The last time they had to have yearly maintenance, the representative said Generac has a 7 month backlog on equipment right now. They were very happy to have had it during the freeze.

Standard residential delivery pressures are either 7" or 11" of water column. Most appliances will regulate either pressure.

In Houston, Centerpoint delivers 7" W.C. which is 4oz of pressure or they will regulate up to 2psi service.

As a thought, we know pressure determines max volume of gas delivered in a given pipe diameter. I wonder if you could use 7" service for the generator if you up-sized your delivery line a bit to provide sufficient volume. Might be dependent on the regulator on the conversion kit being able to provide sufficient volume at 7".

Let us know how it goes.

Southpaw, thanks. And ag_pete09 this pertains to you.

So yes, the natgas adapter bypasses both propane regulators. The natgas adapter looks to be an exact replica of the current (second) propane one, where you can mount in its place and use the outlet hose.

I am about to contact Century (natgas adapter vendor) in regards to 7" wc/4 oz pressure going into theirs calling for 10.4" wc/6 oz.

I have a 1-1/4" main line with tee/ball valve, then a 3/4" reducer and quick connect into a ~15' 3/4" hose to feed into the natgas adapter on the generator.

Edit: emails out to Century and Centerpoint

Century does offer to recalibrate their adapter to accept the gas line (4 oz), you just have to pay shipping. This is very much the easier option, IMO.
My concern is would I be better off stepping up pressure to the regulator (6 oz) and step back down (4 oz) going to the house, as to not "starve" the line when the generator is running? Will the generator (and natgas regulator) be "competing" if all at the same pressure?

Edit: Century has had no problems with other set-ups similar to mine with re-calibrated and starving other appliances. So top-tip, if going this way, tell Century what pressure your service is so they can calibrate it before they send it out.

Second edit: confirmed 1/4 psi with Centerpoint, sending natgas regulator back for re-calibration at Century

Southpaw 07 said:

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I would really appreciate more of that story if possible. I'll pay the $350 if I have to but it would be great to avoid it.

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So I talked to my coworker and got some more information. He was originally wanting to run a gas line to his shop which is separate from his house. At that point he needed to go from ounces to pounds. That way it would be covered in his shop, but it just made the whole thing more complicated and expensive. When he told the centerpoint technician that came out his new plan to hook up the generator to natural gas by the meter th technician said we need to swap your meter, but it won't cost you anything. He couldn't remember what the meter difference was between his old one and new one.

Thanks for the info. I'll update with Centerpoint's solution at my house in a couple (or more) weeks when I get it all set up.

Good info. I'm looking at motor snorkel for my generator, will have to be sure to ask about input pressure.

Very much welcome. As far as I'm concerned we are al working towards a common goal.
I think I may go get anoth propane tank to get started on break in tomorrow to get a jump start towards the 25 and 50 hours
I haven't combed through the manual too hard, but are there any tables for time vs load, durations, etc. Also, I put.in the 10w-30 it came with but swapping to 5w-30 synthetic going forward after first oil change

Used the 10w30 provided to run for the first hour. Lots of small pieces of metal and the oil got pretty dirty. Put in 5w30 synthetic for the next four hours with load. Changed oil again, much cleaner this time. Not sure it was complately necessary to do it like that, but I'm kind of glad I did. Oils not that expensive and like I said it was pretty dirty after the first hour. No need to keep running all the metal shavings through the engine.

I installed the micro-air soft start myself in less than an hour today. I have a single Carrier 5 ton (60,000 btu). Testing inrush amps before was 139 amps (33,000 watts). After install it's at 45 in rush amps (11,000 watts). I mounted it right on the outside of the unit.

https://www.microair.net/products/easystart-368-6-ton-soft-start-motor-starter-for-115-and-230v-ac-motors?variant=29181662283