I’m thinking of getting one. Do y’all expect them to price gouge due to increased demand? For those who got one, can you break down the price by unit cost and install cost? I looked let night and saw whole house units for like 5K, but the install price was variable (plus taxes and permits). Did they have to pull a permit? Do they have to make another connection to your gas line or do they just tap into the meter? My gas meter, electric meter and breaker box are all on the same side of the house, so I’m hoping install won’t be so high.
Unfortunately I don't have the original receipt readily available with cost breakdown between generator and installation but I'll look for it later. I wouldn't recommend buying one now as the demand would be very high and they'll definitely price the generators and installation work higher than usual. We waited at least 6 months after Hurricane Ike before we seriously started shopping. Storm Guardian Generators is the local Generac dealer that sold and installed ours. They had to get a permit and HOA permission before the work could get started. They were able to tap into our existing gas line as it was large enough, and provided the amount of natural gas flow needed, to feed the generator. This is dependent on your gas line and meter and could require you to buy a larger one from Centerpoint (assuming they're your gas company). Our gas meter, electric meter and breaker box are also on the same side of the house.
Do your homework too. Some family friends had a Generac that didn’t work too well. Ended up with another brand that was much less expensive and did a much better job.
Kohler also makes these. Co-worker signed for $10,500 installed yesterday. He expects it to be functional by early June.
Wasn't super impressed with the Kohler small engine stuff I've bought. But this is a higher ticket item so I might be better.
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OK, here is some generator information. There are two major whole home generator companies: Generac and Kohler. Generac has something like 80% of the market, but both companies make decent generators. There are two types of natural gas generators...both companies make them. Air cooled generators. They run at 3,600 RPM, they are sort of noisy (think lawnmower), but they are much less expensive and much smaller. They have a limit on their output, but for the vast majority of homes, it'll be plenty. Liquid cooled generators. They run at 1,800 RPM, tend to put out more power so large homes often require them. The motor is a higher quality motor, and they are much quieter...think 50% as loud as a lawnmower, maybe even quieter. They also tend to be twice to three times the size as the air cooled ones. They also can be 100% more expensive. When sizing for your home, you can ask for the "good enough" or the "cadillac" sized generator for your home. What I mean is that the main thing that sizes how much power you need is the number of A/C and heating units and the number of 220 outlets (oven, dryer, etc.) The installers can "load manage" your home so that you can have a certain number of A/C units or 220s running at once (your lights, TV, computer, etc. all stay on). If another A/C unit comes on or you try to use your oven and it goes over the output, the load management delay will kill one of the other units but your power stays on. The priorities are set by the installer, but you can update them. A full sized generator will keep everything on plus your pool and your neighbors can plug in too. It's all a cost/benefit thing. Price: Prices vary wildly depending on how big your generator is, how much installation work needs to happen (do you have a 200 amp service or 400 amp, one box or two, do they have to run 100ft of gas line, do they have to run 100ft of copper wire....it all adds up. Different companies will also give wildly different cost estimates. My install: We live in a fairly big, but new house. My house is pretty efficient and my amp requirements aren't that big. That being said, most companies calculation recommended an expensive liquid cooled "cadillac" generator that would basically run everything plus some. We also had them all price a "good enough" air cooled that could keep most stuff running. We went with a "good enough" set up with load management. We have an air cooled 22Kw Generac. It runs 3 A/C units or heaters at once, plus all my lights and appliances. I cannot, however, also turn on our electric oven or run the dryer. It'll kick off one of the A/C units...which actually is not a big deal. Once the oven or dryer is off, the delay resets and that A/C kicks back on. When we got prices we got every where from $11,000 to 18,000 estimated for the air cooled, to $19,000 to 26,000 for the liquid cooled. We of course went with the $11,000 Generac from Generator Supercenter. They were professional and did a good job, be there was a 12 week waiting list last summer. I'm sure it's only gone up. Their biggest delay is that they couldn't source enough generators due to COVID and the demand skyrocketed so they've not been able to catch up. Hopefully this helps. If I lived in a smaller house it would have cost probably 30% less. PS: our "deal" included free monitoring and maintenance for a year. The generator kicks on once a week and send a "health check" to the monitoring company. If it needs any maintenance or is broken, they send someone out automatically. They also come change the oil. After the first year, its something like $30 a month, and I think totally worth it, because the generator is useless if the power goes out and it doesn't start and your scrambling in a freeze or hurricane for a battery, oil, or their emergency maintenance line. According to them, they guarantee repairs in 24 hours, often much sooner like 3-5 hours...but I'd rather not be waiting for a repair on my expensive generator while my power is out.
I saw an interview with the Generac CEO the other day and he said it could take 20 weeks for people to get a generator installed. There's a huge backlog that they're trying to keep up with -- everybody and their mother needs a generator all of a sudden. lol.
I was planning on getting one this spring even before all this cold weather nonsense. Wish I would have pulled the trigger earlier,smh. I was looking at getting 2 4K (or so) inverters and having transfer switch attached to the circuit breaker. I wanted to be able to run my smaller ac unit (1.5) ton, fridge, lights, fans and Tv/ internet. Maybe I need more kw but I haven’t put a pencil to it yet. I was curious on the inverter vs regular generator. I read the inverter is better for electronics so that’s why I was leaning that way since I’d like to run internet, tv and charge devises without concern. But my neighbor was running his generator to his house and presumable watching tv and charging devices. I’m not totally clear in the risk factor there
Its part of the work from home plus stimulus economy. Everybody is sitting at home wondering what they can do to upgrade it. Generac Supercenter told me when I got mine that a typical year will install 150-180 generators a month, but this last summer, they were installing 450 a month.
OK, so I went back and looked at my original estimate, and its kind of wonky because of course they have a "list" price on everything and then a bunch of discounts...sort of like buying a car. It basically broke down to $6,000 for generator and parts (I had to have extra service boxes because I had two 200 Amp services instead of 1 400 amp box, so there was something like an extra $650 for the additional box). The labor and install was like $5,000. I was basically looking at bottom line cost though, since I got wildly different estimates from 4 different places. Some places had "special offers" for the generator $4,000 special! but then wanted $10,000 for labor and $4,000 for parts. Your best bet is to get estimates from 3 or 4 places for the "good enough" and "cadillac' version for your home and then just look at the contracted bottom line.
If you live in the city limits of Houston you have to have a permit. In some HOAs you have to get approval. They tap directly into the meter (required) and cannot use gas lines from your house. Depending on the size of generator and their calculations, the gas company may require an upgraded meter (similar when you get a pool heater or something like that). I think its $400 for an upgraded meter from Centerpoint. We were lucky and we upgraded the meter when we built the house, so we didn't have an extra fee and they could use our current meter.
Yea I looked into that and it's a crazy situation. I already ordered a Champion Power Equipment 7500W/9375W Dual Fuel with a Nat Gas converter. I'll get my electrician to install a 30 amp inlet with the breaker and my plumber to run the natural gas line to where I want it. All in all it shouldn't run me over $2,000. There's no way I'm paying $10,000 for something that'll be used once a year at best.
