Gas AND Propane generator!?!

[metz12]

So my dad has decided to be extra cautious this year and he wants to get another generator. he has a 4000watt but it doesnt power the whole house like he wants. he is talking about getting a generac propane and gas one. i was just curious if any of you guys have worked on/owned/used one of these things. it seems too good to be true. thanks in advance.

 

[possum]

Be more specific. I have been around several different Generac generators the last few years. But what ones? They sell many different ones. You say gas and propane. Natural gas? Or gasoline? What size? Portable? Whole house in a box type? The giant portable ones? GP? XP? You going to have a double throw switch or cords? A fully functional Generac automatic switch and safety box set up by a tech? Are you going to put up a thousand gallon propane tank? Or grill bottle? Real Generac engine power or a China made Honda with a Generac sticker on it? A service tech to install and service or a home do it your self deal? How much money is available? How deep are the fuel pockets. Is it very cold in winter? What type of heating? Very hot in the summer? What kind of cooling? Does the guy have ten thousand electronic gadgets? Or just a tv? does he have medical equipment that is sensitive to less than perfect power and cost 20 grand to replace? How about his water and drainage system? A well? A sewage discharge pump? A sump pump? Can he drive off and live somewhere else if the gas bill gets higher than his head? Can he walk? Have a drivers license? A car? Your help? Is he old? Not so old? Is he handy? Are you handy? Does he know someone who is handy? There is about a thousand questions to answer before an investment that you can depend on can be made and work like it should. Most of the whole house systems are very good. Very nice. Very expensive. Have a horrible resale value. Are expensive to have worked on. Require someone to maintain them. Often times have to set for awhile for parts to be ordered. Are not foolproof. Attract every person in the neighborhood when the lights go out and the engine comes on. Are very prone to be scrapped out by meth heads. Can run up very high gas bills. Often times cost more money to run than the power is worth. Are kind of fun to think about having. Are a lot of fun for other people to think about having yours. Are sometimes hard to insure for or against. If this is serious then serious thought is needed. If this is just something kind of fun. Then just get one that is kind of fun or at least kind of funner than the last kind of fun one.

 

[mullins87]

Possum, you wore me out just reading that post!!!! :laughing: However, lots of good questions in there that need good, honest answers. All I have is a portable model that I use to power items on the farm when I'm too far out to get to an outlet and to power the freezers when the electricity goes out. I have seen the portable Generac models that will run on either gasoline, natural gas or LP. For 99% of my use, a plain ole' gasoline model works just fine. However, just like Possum noted, a tri-fuel model would be nice to have for an extended power outage.

 

[Kodie's Lawn Service]

So my dad has decided to be extra cautious this year and he wants to get another generator. he has a 4000watt but it doesnt power the whole house like he wants. he is talking about getting a generac propane and gas one. i was just curious if any of you guys have worked on/owned/used one of these things. it seems too good to be true. thanks in advance.

My grandfather has a generac 12000 watt that runs on natural gas it is great it sarts it self once a week every friday on his an it used almost little to know oil an it has about 10 hours or so on it an it is just great :thumbsup::thumbsup::laughing::laughing:

 

[KennyV]

My brother in Topeka has a 20KW Generac plumbed in to his natural gas... works perfectly. And with 20 KW available he can run his complete house as if he were still hooked up to the grid... it automatically starts then switches over. Works great. You will not regret going with Generac. :smile:KennyV