The X72 is the predecessor to the flex right?

TJaggie14 said:

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If you don't mind me asking, how much did that run you?
Also why Kohler over Generac?

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I wanna say it was between 25-30 installed.


Kohler had slightly better warranty benefits when I closed and I have experience with their products on the commercial side. You frequently see commercial properties/businesses with Kohlers when installing full service Gen sets.

Generac is by no means a bad product, just personal preference. I will say again, liquid cooled is the way to go and both the aforementioned manufacturers make them. Whisper quiet and longer run times without needing oil/service, but increased cost.

If you want to minimize cost get an air cooled Generac.


HTH

TJaggie14 said:

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If you don't mind me asking, how much did that run you?
Also why Kohler over Generac?

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It was 1/2 down

Second 1/2 after completion

Had about 4-5 months back long, but I'm sure most places are 6-10 months out now, you can thank Beryl for that.

My dad has an older generac. 5-6 years old. But he wants a larger liquid cooled one. I don't have specs on it but it runs their 4ksq ft house.

Is there much of a used market for these? He's never had it fail.

drumboy said:

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94chem said:

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drumboy said:

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If anyone is looking for a portable generator solution, the 5k watt dual fuel Predator is on sale this weekend. I was going to get two of these to daisy chain before I got a bigger gas Champion inverter.

https://go.harborfreight.com/email/2024/08/e182966-70143/

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If you buy a Honda instead of the Predator or Champion, you're throwing money away.

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I have a champion and a smaller Honda that's 20 years old I got used. IMO Hondas are more dependable, parts accessible and more shops will work on them. Not sure the Honda 7K is worth $4k.

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That's higher than the blue book value on my Honda pilot, and that V6 engine comes with the rest of the car.

In Houston?
Is it 22kw?

I have a ridiculous 48w generac the previous owners installed in 2014. I'd consider doing a full swap with him if he pays for all those costs.

Sazerac said:

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In Houston?
Is it 22kw?

I have a ridiculous 48w generac the previous owners installed in 2014. I'd consider doing a full swap with him if he pays for all those costs.

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Let me get some details. Dp you know if yours is water cooled and has had maintenance contract the entire time? My old man has, and let me find out how many hours are on his machine. He's a retired petroleum engineer, so he's kept a sharp eye on his. It's in Katy.

Sazerac said:

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In Houston?
Is it 22kw?

I have a ridiculous 48w generac the previous owners installed in 2014. I'd consider doing a full swap with him if he pays for all those costs.

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Let me get some details. Dp you know if yours is water cooled and has had maintenance contract the entire time? My old man has, and let me find out how many hours are on his machine. He's a retired petroleum engineer, so he's kept a sharp eye on his. It's in Katy.

Yes it's got a radiator.
I've had service on it yearly since 2019.
I assume it was serviced regularly in the 5 years before that.

terradactylexpress said:

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The X72 is the predecessor to the flex right?

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I think so...essentially if you have to know the size of your AC unit, that's the old soft start.

The new one is the Flex and seems they didn't do the right kind of testing on it, or at minimum didn't insure good product quality.

Good deal, I have one I need to install soon

Thanks to all who have shared their experiences on this thread. It's been helpful to learn about the options others have considered and the reliability and maintenance challenges some brands come with.

I am leaning toward a Cummins whole home generator as I think its liquid-cooled, slower-speed engine will be more dependable than the smaller, higher-speed, air-cooled engines with almost all the other brands. I also like the way it is laid out for maintenance access.

For those who have a Cummins whole home, any recommendations for an installer and maintenance provider in The Woodlands? Any other recommendations before diving in?

Sazerac said:

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Yes it's got a radiator.
I've had service on it yearly since 2019.
I assume it was serviced regularly in the 5 years before that.

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Spoke to him tonight. He has decided he's going to stick with what he has.

We'd be fine with just keeping the downstairs going, would this be enough on NG to run a 3-ton unit, pool pump, 2 fridges and some lights? We already have the NG line plumbed for the broken pool heater along with a pad in place, right next to our meter.

https://www.cummins.com/generators/rs20a?v=6001

texsn95 said:

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We'd be fine with just keeping the downstairs going, would this be enough on NG to run a 3-ton unit, pool pump, 2 fridges and some lights? We already have the NG line plumbed for the broken pool heater along with a pad in place, right next to our meter.

https://www.cummins.com/generators/rs20a?v=6001

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I'd think it could absolutely handle that, probably overkill if that's all you really need/want to run.

I'm not familiar with pool pumps but could probably get by with 5kw or less for the rest (assuming soft start on AC).

Westinghouse Tri-Fuel in stock at Home Depot (for now)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Westinghouse-13-000-10-500-Watt-Tri-Fuel-Gas-Propane-Natural-Gas-Powered-Portable-Generator-with-Remote-Electric-Start-50A-Outlet-WGen10500TFc/325925753

Thank you just ordered mine! Mine had been sitting in Amazon cart for a few weeks now with no update on delivery.

I'm still waiting for the Wgen11500 to come available. If I'm upgrading from my 12kW Duromax to run my house on NG, then I'm going to upgrade upgrade.

I'm waiting on the Wgen20000Tfc. Wish I had only one AC unit.

Breggy Popup said:

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I'm waiting on the Wgen20000Tfc. Wish I had only one AC unit.

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How much more is the 20kw? And what size are you ac units?y neighbor did both ACs (3 ton and 2 ton) with his 9500 W generator

Worst case scenario and you can only power 1 ac, I'd personally just have the kids sleep in the living room or we'd sleep upstairs and just run 1 ac to save $2k. I mean we are talking about emergency situations. Not normal everyday living.

I converted my 12kW Duromax to NG and it didn't have enough ass to start my 4-ton AC with soft start with everything else running (2 fridges, lights, etc). I estimate converted output somewhere around 9000/7000W on NG.

I could probably selectively isolate breakers, start and run the AC with nothing else on, and then turn it off, etc, but I would prefer to have a whole home capacity. My Duromax gave me that capability running on Propane and Gasoline without a soft start, but I want to connect to NG.

Flaith said:

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I converted my 12kW Duromax to NG and it didn't have enough ass to start my 4-ton AC with soft start with everything else running (2 fridges, lights, etc). I estimate converted output somewhere around 9000/7000W on NG.

I could probably selectively isolate breakers, start and run the AC with nothing else on, and then turn it off, etc, but I would prefer to have a whole home capacity. My Duromax gave me that capability running on Propane and Gasoline without a soft start, but I want to connect to NG.

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Get a hard start (cheap) or soft start (more expensive but better) and you won't have issues.

My brother has the 12kw and runs 2 AC's + everything else.

I have a soft start installed and average 27-32 startup amps.

Generator still bogged down when the condenser tried to kick on until the AC timed out. Generator then returned to normal operation. I have not yet tried to start up AC on NG gen power with everything else turned off.

30ft 3/4" NG line from the 7"WC meter.

Running all that on NG seems like a lot for that generator.

Those AC's must be pretty efficient.

htxag09 said:

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Breggy Popup said:

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I'm waiting on the Wgen20000Tfc. Wish I had only one AC unit.

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How much more is the 20kw? And what size are you ac units?y neighbor did both ACs (3 ton and 2 ton) with his 9500 W generator

Worst case scenario and you can only power 1 ac, I'd personally just have the kids sleep in the living room or we'd sleep upstairs and just run 1 ac to save $2k. I mean we are talking about emergency situations. Not normal everyday living.

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AC is 2.5 and either 4 or 5, can't remember off the top of my head. After the last few outages cost me $400-$600 in propane each just to run a window unit, fridge and other small electronics, I decided that's not happening anymore. I'll be all in about $5k with a setup that will run the entire house plus pool equipment.

Diggity said:

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Running all that on NG seems like a lot for that generator.

Those AC's must be pretty efficient.

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Once you get past the start up, the AC isn't a huge load on the generator.

I have a 4 ton AC with a hard start and while I have a 13kw...on nat gas it has no issues at all.

Honestly, I had a gasoline generator that was like 8250 peak and it could get my AC up and running with other stuff on.

With a soft start, Flaith shouldn't be having issues.

yeah, I guess it goes back to how much load you want to put on the generator.

I know the folks on the Facebook pages can be conservative, but I would be hesitant to be running those generators at nearly full load long term.

byfLuger41 said:

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TJaggie14 said:

---

If you don't mind me asking, how much did that run you?
Also why Kohler over Generac?

---

I wanna say it was between 25-30 installed.


Kohler had slightly better warranty benefits when I closed and I have experience with their products on the commercial side. You frequently see commercial properties/businesses with Kohlers when installing full service Gen sets.

Generac is by no means a bad product, just personal preference. I will say again, liquid cooled is the way to go and both the aforementioned manufacturers make them. Whisper quiet and longer run times without needing oil/service, but increased cost.

If you want to minimize cost get an air cooled Generac.


HTH

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Father in law getting a 30kw Kohler liquid cooled with a 10 year warranty for $36k.

Diggity said:

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yeah, I guess it goes back to how much load you want to put on the generator.

I know the folks on the Facebook pages can be conservative, but I would be hesitant to be running those generators at nearly full load long term.

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If you've got over 5 tons of A/C I would not recommend a portable. And to keep it to 5 tons or less just run your downstairs and turn off everything upstairs. The most wattage you can pull through a 50amp cord into your panel is 12,500 which puts you in a 15kw tri fuel.

Yeah, I have a 2 ton and a 4 ton.

My plan has always been to run the 2 ton only in a power outage scenario. That keeps the bedrooms cool, so should work well enough for me.

Diggity said:

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Yeah, I have a 2 ton and a 4 ton.

My plan has always been to run the 2 ton only in a power outage scenario. That keeps the bedrooms cool, so should work well enough for me.

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Can likely get that 4ton/downstairs unit going with a soft start and shut off the upstairs/2ton. Agree that maxing out these portables is a good way to greatly reduce power quality/increase thd.

Diggity said:

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Yeah, I have a 2 ton and a 4 ton.

My plan has always been to run the 2 ton only in a power outage scenario. That keeps the bedrooms cool, so should work well enough for me.

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This is exactly what I'm doing. Will only bump 4-ton with soft start at night to cool living areas back down, as needed.

Diggity said:

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yeah, I guess it goes back to how much load you want to put on the generator.

I know the folks on the Facebook pages can be conservative, but I would be hesitant to be running those generators at nearly full load long term.

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I get that, but you aren't running them full time. It only really revs when the AC kicks on. Your starting amps aren't near your running amps.

I returned my Micro-air and will probably get another soft start, but even with the hard start, I ran my whole house during Beryl for days without any issues. I know your house is a bit bigger, but you could easily run your house on nat gas with both AC's.

The only thing I didn't feel comfortable running was my dryer, but everything else ran just fine and didn't really strain the generator.

My Westinghouse is supposed to arrive on Monday. Anyone have any advice on converting the fittings from the generator from 1/2" to 3/4"? Connection is 3/4" and also plan on getting short 3/4" hose for it.

Would make more sense to reduce the gas line to 1/2"