Whole house generator from the electric co-op

To give you a price comparison - our 8kw whole house generator cost $3000. We installed it ourselves.

When we bought our place we had plans to install a 20K whole house generator in case of a power outage. Before we could get it installed though we were hit with an Ice storm and were without power for six days. This ice storm made us realize that we didn't need a generator that big; in fact during the winter we wouldn't need a generator at all if we had a power outage. We went with a Generac 8k, and that would more than meet our needs.

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Will there be a outside service shut off when generator is run? We have a small tornado hit downtown Waverly and I lost electric for about two hours. In the paper they included a notice people with generators should not have them hooked to up their box as it can backfeed electric, potential dangerous for the repair crews.

sounds to me like they need to build a really smart grid before pushing stoopid smart meters. like if a tree falls on a line the pole or even a surge occurs on either side should disconnect and phone home. on either side should be fed from the other direction. crew appears does a manual disconnect, repairs and reconnects resetting the 'smart' disconnect. they can atleast map remotely what is working if a ice storm says takes out alot of lines. and can map multiple failures on the same line .. ie the line fails on pole 80 and then pole 70 fails knocking out 70 to 80. they shall know to fix both. heck hook a battery op small strobe light as well.

All this puts up so many red flag questions that I would need to know before even considering.

1. When the genny runs are you disconnected from the grid or is the PoCo setting them up to also back feed the grid? If the are backfeeding you could easily get stuck with the fuel bill for supplying your nieghbors power and the PoCo would get the payment for it. Even if they aren't doing that now what stops them from doing it in the future?

2. Only ran "46 hours" last year. I'd have to say since they are pushing these gennies you could expect them to run at least 2 to 3 times as much this next year and increasing every year. They wouldn't be pushing them if they weren't expecting problems. One could easily tie themselfs into extremely high power costs if the make you run them more and more.

Those 2 reason alone I'd look into a solar setup over this. A small grid tied system like Solar Gary did at http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...htm#Grid%20Tie should create about the same benifit if you kept you usage down and keep the PoCo happy.

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If the grass looks greener it is probably over the septic tank. - troy n sarah tx

Our existance here is soley for the expoitation of CMG

If it is a Generac generator,,,, I would PASS ! Do a search why , online.
Propane around here is over $5/gal, so no thanks !!
I use a smaller well built old genset that will just operate the absolute necessary items I need to run. Uses little fuel & is pretty quiet.

Very smart advice.

A lot of red flags...

You will have a ridiculous propane bill and you can solve winter outage with a cheaper gas generator and transfer switch. In the winter the main electric most families need is the blower motor on their furnace.

Once you get a propane generator you can't fill it up with diesel or gas. People don't want propane generators and your Co-Op is probably getting a discount on them because the math doesn't add up.

Of course I like the electric discount but something doesn't add up.

I'm not positive about this, but recall reading if you sell your excess electricity to the power company they will only give you their cost of production rate, but will still bill you at retail prices for what you use from them. Our local electric co-op buys their power from TVA, so that would likely be their production rate/cost.

The CO-OP is going to be the one saving money, IMHO. When you become an "interruptable" service they can drop you about any time they want. Whe n electricity starts costing them more than you are paying (and with prices like they are, who knows) you will be on your own. If you install it yourself, or with a contractor, you shouldn't be susceptible to that. This deal could cost you far more than you could ever save.....so be careful.

A back-up generator is very nice to have when you have power failures . If I was in your shoes I think I would install a back-up generator without going through the electric company . For around 5 k you could install your own without being at the mercy of the power co. Since you already have the propane , a propane generator makes sense & if you do your own it will only run when the power is out . Is the power company offering any kind of maintenance & repair agreement ? I seriously doubt that propane is $2.00 a gallon now & who knows what it might be later . I would do some serious figuring & unless I was convinced there was a real benefit to me I wouldn't agree to install one on their terms .

A 22000 watt propane generator uses about 1 gph at ½ load and 2.7 gph at full load

See link: http://www.generatorsales.com/order/...sp?page=F01710

You can check statewide prices here,
http://www.checkpropaneprices.com/propane-survey

Many people want whole house generators to use in an emergency. When they see how much it costs to " make " your own electricity, they are in for a shock. I have seen some units burn 4 gallons of gas per HOUR !

Depending on what your "whole house" wants, it doesn't have to be bad. 20kw is obscene for an emergency backup!

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The garden's getting bigger this year. Again.

here we pay dearly for for such luxuries as propane and natural gas, dang elitist fuels :smiley-laughing013: . only think listed (next state over) is 4.44 +15$ delivery or 4.94 0$ delivery with your tank . natural gas is 3-4 times say oklahoma prices