Generac installation scheduled for Aug 1. Fingers crossed until then.

How much and how long was the wait?

My buddy has a natural gas setupnthst he can roll out and hook up and it was several thousand less than the generac system. His home was smaller so you probably would only be able to run one AC unit but it would be able to at least keep the home tolerable and the fridges running.

Looking dicey right now..

The phone app shows a different demand/capacity value.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

---

How much and how long was the wait?

---

Cost will depend on what is gas vs. electric in your house, number and size of A/C units, etc. $13-$16K is a good start for planning purposes. Install scheduled 6 weeks after the down payment for scheduling and permits. They already have the generator in stock.

wessimo said:

---

Looking dicey right now..

---

Wind in the state was down to 696 MW earlier in the afternoon...now all the way up to 1,850 MW. Yay wind.

Only thing we can't have happen is a big plant to trip off.

BohunkAg said:

---

wessimo said:

---

Looking dicey right now..

---

Wind in the state was down to 696 MW earlier in the afternoon...now all the way up to 1,850 MW. Yay wind.

Only thing we can't have happen is a big plant to trip off.

---

It's ok! Local news had a great piece on Monday about how solar is saving us right now when wind is down!

Let's just make the state one giant solar panel.

Agasaurus Tex said:

---

Generac installation scheduled for Aug 1. Fingers crossed until then.

---

Got mine in yesterday

I have transfer switch and 7500w generator.

After we lost power for few hours Tuesday I got inspired to get portable ac to at least get one room tolerable.

Next piece is to get natural gas conversion for my generator and hookup added to my natural gas line.

Doing my part to jinx grid into working and Hurricane away.

Who did your installs if you don't mind sharing?

Also interested in recommendations for getting a quote.

I went all in this year on a non-standby option.

Generator: Duromax 13000eh + nat gas conversion to tri-fuel. I've got 120 lbs of propane to use before needing to use the nat gas.

Interlock with 50a connection.

50 foot nat gas line with quick connect to meter and 25 fr 50a cord to connect.

Only thing left is a hard/soft start for my AC and I should be good for an Ike type outage.

Only downside is I have to start the generator but I'm less than 3k all in vs the 15k for a standby.

AgLiving06 said:

---

I went all in this year on a non-standby option.

Generator: Duromax 13000eh + nat gas conversion to tri-fuel. I've got 120 lbs of propane to use before needing to use the nat gas.

Interlock with 50a connection.

50 foot nat gas line with quick connect to meter and 25 fr 50a cord to connect.

Only thing left is a hard/soft start for my AC and I should be good for an Ike type outage.

Only downside is I have to start the generator but I'm less than 3k all in vs the 15k for a standby.

---

I had been looking at doing the whole home system, but have been leaning towards doing what you did and saving a lot of money.

I talked to Generator Supercenter yesterday and they said it's about a 7 month wait. I guess they're just backed up as it looks like generators are available. I've reached out to some others so waiting on them to respond.

The guy who built my house put in a 50A transfer switch. I figured it out and it's basically just two 110 lines running three circuits each so six total circuits. It's basically the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms. He left me one of those old school 6,500 watt generators but it's loud as hell and goes through 5 gallons of gas in 12 hours.

I have two old Honda EU2000s and I found an adapter to plug into the 50A switch. It basically uses each generator to feed one of the two power lines. I can run 12-24 hours on two gallons of fuel in both depending on load. They each burn a gallon in 12-24 hours depending on load.

I bought a 12,000 BTU portable air conditioner to put in a room if we lost power for a while. One of those generators can run it but it puts a serious load on it. It's better than not having it but I don't think I have enough juice to keep it running without tripping from time to time.

We're looking at a whole house generator since my wife works from home quite a bit. I can show her how to get the current set up all going but it'll be somewhat limited. We've got a decent size house and two AC units. We want the peace of mind the generator will crank on and keep operating as usual.

If you're just looking for something for a severe weather event I think the 50A switch and cheaper generator is the way to go. You'll gain a lot from nothing.

During the freeze I fired up one of the generators and ran extension cords through the dog door. We got the fridge plugged in and then plugged in some lamps and television. Have a gas fireplace and did quite well for a couple of days. That was just off one 12 year old 2000W inverter.

When the mini hurricane hit in September we lost power that morning. I hooked up my two small generators via the transfer switch and had power to most of the house. Temps were cool so we didn't need AC.

So really I think the decision comes down to wanting whole house air conditioning. If you don't you can get away with a pretty cheap set up even without the transfer switch. Just go get a couple 2200W inverters or even just one. They sip fuel and just having lights, fans, and electronics makes a world of difference.

I will say my two Hondas have been bulletproof. They sit in my storage shed and when I get them out they fire up after a few pulls. They need some carb cleaning as I have to get the choke just right but they run fine for mostly being ignored.

Not sure how good the cheaper inverters are but I think the Hondas are worth the extra money for piece of mind.

I did the math and can run my 3-ton with a soft start kit and the rest of my house on about 10kw

I think the only way solar works is for everyone to have a Tesla solar roof and battery generator or equivalent. But there's no way that reasonably happens in a short or medium timeframe. And we would still need nuclear to back it up. I would like to get it myself, but it's probably about $50k to get done.

Chewy said:

---

I talked to Generator Supercenter yesterday and they said it's about a 7 month wait. I guess they're just backed up as it looks like generators are available. I've reached out to some others so waiting on them to respond.

---

I first talked to Collaborative Services the last week in June. Got an estimate, put down 25% and installation is scheduled for 1 August.

Get them gennys ready.

Next 10 days of temperatures per the NBM model for the four major cities of Texas. Not great! pic.twitter.com/DHXHAa0sw0

— Matt Lanza (@mattlanza) July 16, 2022

Are we fussing over ercot noticed warning of blackouts even though we have had no blackouts and have been within capacity for the hottest days of the year so far? Just want to know what size of cloud I'm yelling at here.

AgLiving06 said:

---

I went all in this year on a non-standby option.

Generator: Duromax 13000eh + nat gas conversion to tri-fuel. I've got 120 lbs of propane to use before needing to use the nat gas.

Interlock with 50a connection.

50 foot nat gas line with quick connect to meter and 25 fr 50a cord to connect.

Only thing left is a hard/soft start for my AC and I should be good for an Ike type outage.

Only downside is I have to start the generator but I'm less than 3k all in vs the 15k for a standby.

---

Who did you use to put in the interlock/transfer switch?

This is who I used. Think he's the Texags go to electrician. I have two 1000 watt inverter generators I hook up in parallel. Not sure why, but my neighborhood had a stretch of a few years where we lost power a dozen times. So it's gotten plenty of use. Powers everything but oven, washer dryer, and obviously AC.

Got a 22 f150 and has a 7200 w generator. So should make things a little easier than getting the generators running. Hope I don't have to test it anytime.

Mark Luchak
(281) 450-2673

+1 for mark luchak to do my interlock.

He didn't do mine because was busy with new baby but got a journeyman electrician buddy to do it.

Fixed some other issues in my panel for free.

If your not in hurry for any small electrical jobs, mark should be your only call.

Figured there's better options out there. Appreciate that as I'll reach out to them.

I also reached out to Mark yesterday and he said he'd check his schedule to come by and quote.

Thanks. I'll give mark a call on Monday.

I used Mike Hatch - michael@progressivewiring.com - 713-854-6461

He's located in Humble, but came out to Westbury to do my house. Compared to the local guys in Westbury, he was nearly half the cost (I paid under $700 for interlock + whole house surge protector).

I'm really leaning towards the Duromax or Durostar 13000EH but I don't think I'm going with the natural gas. You lose about 23% of output with NG. I think I'm going to run propane and pick up two 100 pound tantks and run them off a splitter. Propane only gives up around 10% output and after seeing the calamity in southern Louisiana when NG delivery was compromised I like the idea of propane.

I figure 95% of these outages won't last any longer than 2-3 days and that's on a hurricane track with widespread damage.

My thought was it was only a couple hundred bucks to add the tri-fuel conversion. It's my option of last resort, but also almost always guaranteed to be available if I blow through my propane tanks.

My wife's parents are in Mandeville and when Ida hit last year, their area was without power for a week, but their nat gas generator worked just fine and kept their power on.

BrazosDog02 said:

---

Are we fussing over ercot noticed warning of blackouts even though we have had no blackouts and have been within capacity for the hottest days of the year so far? Just want to know what size of cloud I'm yelling at here.

---

I don't even think they warned of blackouts, just asked for energy conservation which is not all that abnormal. It did get a little dicey on Wednesday, but still no blackouts.