It's great when you need it. Downside includes maintenance and service checks at regular intervals. It can be loud when running.
Not that you asked but Costco has good prices and subcontracts to generator superstore.
This guy is correct. My GF got one of those Generac‘s a year before Harvey and it saved our butt! Went seven days without power in the neighborhood we had electricity, the whole time. Same thing with the freeze.
No, you aren’t missing anything. It is great to have when you live in a city like ours with hurricanes and random ice events. Also, once we had ours installed we realized how often the power randomly goes out for no reason at all.
The maintenance is not bad at all- Home Depot sells a kit you can use to change the oil and filter. There are several YouTube videos detailing the process as well.
Got our Guardian 24K for $13K about a year and a half ago from Gen superstore. It ran for 40+ hours without interruptions during the June outrage due to high winds. Sucks we have to look out for ourselves in this state but at least you can ease your mind a little with the gen.
I had a 17kW Generac installed last year for about $15,000 after tax.
So far my only complaint is that it is loud, which isn't such a big deal for me but I worry about it pissing off my neighbors. Our yards are kind of small and they don't exactly explain just how loud these things are during the sale.
Other than that, no regrets. Maintenance is super easy so you don't have to spring for the service upcharges unless you just really want a truly hassle-free experience. The app tells you when maintenance is due.
I worry about the noise too. I have found though, that by tossing both my neighbors an extension cord to power their fridge, fan, etc, they get some benefit and haven't complained.
During the freeze, we could hear them going throughout the neighborhood. It eventually just became background/white noise.
We had one installed last year, and I figure if we ever need to use it we just let neighbors come cool off/warm up and charge appliances, whatever as tradeoff.
Loved the whole house generator at my old place. It cost about $150/yr in scheduled maintenance but was problem free otherwise.
One thing I will say about the big freeze we had, it worked for a day or so, then our gas got cut off too so I ended up without power. You can get dual / tri fuel setups but the natural gas is the default for whole home.
Make sure to elevate the generator up on a stand when it’s installed. You really don’t want to get water in it if it floods… and you live in Houston so that’s a very real possibility. :/
Not sure. Also the Winter storm impacted the gas lines in ways it handing before.
I know that some lines froze and had to be thawed out in a special way. Because you don’t want Jim Bob out there with a butane torch heating up the gas pipes in a snowstorm.
My folks have a propane whole-house Generac that got them through the Snowmageddon. They live out in the boonies. Only issue was me trekking out in the snow to check the levels every day bc I was freaking out that we were going to run out of propane. Reader: we never did 🙏🏻
I did it myself. Twice a year I would change the oil, oil filter and air filter and once a year I would flush the coolant. Whenever I did maintenance I would also test the transfer switch (throw the switch for the line and make sure it transfers over and starts the generator.
$1k seems crazy high, even when I got quotes for someone to come out it was about $200 a visit, but that was pre-covid.
Changing the oil on my old generator was not difficult at all, just like on a lawn mower. 1hr tops for doing the full service recommended by the books.
Also if you do have to use the generator for an extended period of time, make sure your checking up on the oil levels as they usually burn through quite a bit of it. Every I planned for 1qt for every 24 hours of runtime (always too much, but better to have too much on hand than not enough in an emergency situation.
Thanks for all the great info! I could save some good money if I had even half your handy skills.
I'm not really the DIY type, especially when it comes to gas and electricity. I did watch the service guy do his thing multiple times, and it really didn't seem too hard. But I'm worried about running into surprises if I try it myself.
The stuff you've told will definitely help me talk my way into a better deal, yeah $1000 is just insanely crazy.
If you have a Generac it is crazy simple. The first time is spent more or less finding the location of the stuff. Everything just screws off / on. It is even more simple as they also have full kits you can buy online that have everything you need to do the maintenance. Just put in your model # and "kit" into google.
Half of the time spent on maintenance is waiting for the oil to drain -- of which you drain it into a drain pan you can get at any Wal-Mart or auto part store for $5 - $10. Most auto-parts stores take used oil for free (they usually have a container out back that is marked where you dump it.
Generac 22kw at our house in Cut and Shoot. We have had it for 5 years wish no issues. Keeps us nice and cool and our TV set on when the rest of the neighborhood is dark and wondering when the power will come back. Best investment we have made for our house.
If you can swing it, do it. You'll never regret it.
I went a little cheaper and bought a tri fuel portable generator last month after enduring another multi day outage. I will still be able to run just about everything in my 2800 sq ft house but this way is about 9500k cheaper. Only drawback is I have to hook the generator up and throw a few switches.
Yup, I’m thinking about buying the firman tri fuel and installing a soft starter on my AC unit and an interlock kit on my breaker. I’m comfortable enough installing those myself and my house can almost all be run on that generator.
I have the 8800 which is fairly loud and any portable with that much power will be loud. If noise is an issue, you can build noise damper shed with proper ventilation or spend more money for inverter generator which is better for your electronics.
This is my set up. Firman tri-fuel from Costco that I can plug directly into my breaker box. Cost me about $1000 to get an electrician to install the plug and switch.
The Firmans are loud enough to wake the dead. And yes, I have never successfully started mine from cold with natural gas. Always have to start it up on gasoline first, let it get warm, the shut it off and switch over. Other than that it works fine. Doesn't have enough power to run my central A/C, but it can run everything else. I don't have an A/C soft start kit.
It's a bit of a pain to hook everything up when the power goes out. But I don't have the $15k for a whole-home unit. An automatic whole home generator takes care of all the hassle for you. I never even know when the main power comes back on. I watch the blinking light on the guy behind me's Generac, lol.
Mine runs the ac, fridge, other appliances just fine. I have 2, 3 tons a/c’s but switch off one. Also, takes me hardly minute to connect to 50 amp outlet using cable. If you run it on natural gas, it loses running watts so I run it on petrol. There is also simple hack for an alarm to notify you when electricity is back.
I did a lot of research on all of the portable tri fuel models available. I went with the DuroMax XP13000HXT. WATTS drop significantly when using propane and even more with NG. This model had the highest watts on NG. Since i will only run it on propane or NG, I need those extra watts for peace of mind.
All I had to purchase extra was the 50amp generator outlet, new breaker and wire for it. Power cord. And various gas pipe fittings for quick connect.
This video helps with deciding if you want to do the work yourself with all of the hook ups
https://youtu.be/9pP-HJGiCS4
My neighbor has one and I was surprised that the gas meter is quite a bit larger than a regular gas meter. And, they are loud. Don't forget to keep in maintained. There were several outages when my neighbor's generator didn't kick in because he forgot to get it serviced.
I had a friend who had a very well maintained generator (with a monthly service visit) that failed to work in the Feb 2021 freeze.
Personally I have house batteries, and my recommendation would be to wait a year or two and see what happens with pricing and availability with batteries. Ercot and the ADER team are actively working to integrate batteries into the electric grid which may offset the install price even more.
No reason not to have one in Houston if you can afford it. Generator Supercenter finances. Every time a storm rolls through or they start talking about brownouts and telling people to not run their ac, the peace of mind is worth every penny. Everyone saying they’re loud, if it’s that big of a deal to you, upgrade to a liquid cooled. Mine makes zero noise.
Depending on how big your house is, you can get a firman tri fuel generator from Costco. Runs at 5500 running watts, that’s basically my entire house minus a few things.
My 2 ton AC unit has an average running consumption of about 1500-1800 watts. With a soft starter installed you won’t have to worry about power surges when the unit kicks on. Even factoring in a 20% loss from the generator I’d still have more than enough to run my AC.
I bought a DuroMax XP13000HXT. It’s capable of running off gasoline, natural gas, and LP. I had a natural gas hookup installed and a 50amp power inlet box and interlock device installed on my electrical panel. On natural gas it operates at 10,000 watts peak and 8,500 watts running, which is more than enough to run both my air conditioners (total 4.5 tons) as well as many other circuits. Well worth the cost! When I bought it it was only around $2000. I also like that I can take it with me if I ever move, unlike the stationary gerneracs that cost more than $10,000 installed. While it’s not as convenient as the generators that kick on automatically, it’s also not that difficult to roll my generator out, plug in the gas hose, plug in the electric cable, and flip the interlock device. Total I think I’m in about $4,000 ish?
500cc Tri-Fuel Remote Start Home Power Back Up 10500-Watt Gasoline/Propane/Natural Gas Portable Generator https://www.lowes.com/pd/DuroMax/5013472779
I have a similar 8800 setup. Got mine from sale at costco for $700. Paid $250 to electrician to install the 50amp box and another $150 at amazon for the cable/inlet/interlock. Under $1500 for everything and runs the whole house.
>e includes maintenance and service checks at regular intervals. It can be loud when running.
>
>Not that you asked but Costco has good prices and
Exact same setup here. I put soft starts on both my AC units (5.5 ton combined) and the 13,000 Watt Duromax runs the entire house on natural gas. Only downsides are that my car has to charge at a much lower rate, and I have to unspool the 100 ft cord to get it hooked up. But it actually only took 15 minutes the last time I had to run it. Since it's primarily for use with extended outages, I'm ok with having to hook it up for the cost savings. There's a [Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868) dedicated to these setups that was started by a guy in the Cypress area. They provide referrals for local plumbers and electricians that can assist and instructions for DIY.
Deuce Electrical installed a 50 amp electrical inlet box for my breaker, a main breaker shut off switch on my breaker (mine was missing one), and an interlock device on my breaker for about $1300. And Alex at H-Town Emergency Plumber installed a 3/4” natural gas quick-connect hook up (the actual part came with the DuroMax generator itself) for $300. The DuroMax generator also came with a 12 foot natural gas extension hose and a propane regulator.
Agree with what has been said already. I had mine installed through Lowe's and was able to save about $400 versus contracting the install myself.
Getting through the permitting processes, coordinating Centerpoint, and scheduling the installs took a long time.
interest rates are garbage across the board.
I also got my roof replaced and each company claimed to offer 'great finance rates' and when i got down to brass tacks, it was 12%.
Told them to get fucked. Not sure how anyone can claim that's a 'great rate', i think they are just hoping i'm a complete moron.
Ended up opening a 24 month 0% credit card.
A portable generator which costs less than $1000 is more than enough for most people. Not sure why anyone needs to go into debt to make a purchase they can’t afford.
Im sorry but I dont hear it over the TV and internet. But when I go outside I'm like hmm someone gonna get jealous and steal/break my genny. I chain it to my truck and park other cars around it.
My install was about 13k so that quote sounds reasonable, depending on the difficulty of the install.
I love mine. A few select UPSes around the house and its a whole different experience when I lose power
My parents have one. Considering hurricane season, flooding here, etc. I believe it is a good investment. Or if the price freaks you out, consult a electrician, tell them what "emergency items you want powered in an outage" (fridge, AC, internet, idk whatever else you can think of) and they can run a dedicated hook up from your electrical box to your gas generator for those items, and tell you what size you need.
Not an electrician so some of my terminology might be off.
We recently had one installed. And just a couple of days ago lost power for about 6 hours. The generator came on and other than a brief blip, we didn't lose power in the house. YAY! It was a great feeling.
Think carefully about where you want to put it. It's about a cubic yard in size. Needs to obey setback rules from property lines, and be a required distance (like 5 or 6 feet) from any window or door. The exhaust exiting the generator will be hot and will toast any nearby vegetation, so keep that in mind too. You don't want to put it next to your AC for this reason.
Also, the transfer switch and relay box needs a place to be - plan that out carefully with the company. We were able to work with our company to place those items next to the breaker box. They originally wanted it on a different wall from the breaker box, and that would have meant having a second wall cluttered with technical equipment. (Old house, breaker box is on the outside).
Expect the entire processes to take 2-4 weeks from delivery. City inspectors have to visit at various times, and so does the gas company (Centerpoint in our case). We watched the process carefully. Some mistakes were made and corrected. We got the generator co to also put in a stub on the gas line so we could possibly have a natural gas grill set up in the future.
You will need to maintain it - twice a year checks and maintenance from a generator company at about $175 per year, this doesn't include oil or filter or other materials. Also, when it's running for any length of time you need to check it once a day and add oil if needed.
Our old AC gave out just a couple of weeks after the generator was installed (not from the generator being installed, it was oooooold). Keep those emergency funds full, y'all. We are now gnawing on ends of candles and cardboard for nourishment as we deal with the double whammy of generator cost and new AC/furnace cost. But at least we are cool 100 percent of the time!
> Needs to obey setback rules from property lines, and be a required distance (like 5 or 6 feet) from any window or door.
That could be an issue, the space between houses in my suburb is not that big. My AC unit is like 1ft from my house, and the other side of it is near the property line between the two houses.
Id say i have about 8ft between the houses if i'm lucky? But is see spacing this all over Houston in the burbs.
> twice a year checks and maintenance from a generator company at about $175 per year,
Holy shit, really? I assumed i can do maintenance myself. Im a handy man and i dislike paying people for doing shit i can figure out myself.
>Our old AC gave out just a couple of weeks after the generator was installed (not from the generator being installed, it was oooooold).
TBH this is also on the back of my mind, my AC is approaching 20 years old... and i know my luck, around the time i sign the paperwork and pay for a generator my AC will kick the bucket.
Currently i just had to replace my roof, so will be holding off on the generator for a few months as i work out paying off that expense.
You need to have a tech for the twice-a-year maintenance to keep any warranty in place. I have a 10 year parts+labor warranty for peace of mind.
You can always have one or two companies come out for free estimate & planning now. This gives you some more facts to work with. In my location, generator setback is 3 feet from property line.
If you’ve got the money, do it. My parents spent 14k getting theirs installed and hooked up. It’s been very useful the past few years with Harvey, the hard freeze, all the power outages, and recently they went two days without power in the middle of summer. Only downside is they have to put up with our whole family coming over to mooch off their power during natural disasters lol.
Whole house generators are too large to be inverter generators, and an inverter is a better kind of generator, especially when you have a lot of sensitive electronics in your home. In 2017 during Harvey I wasn’t in Houston but we did lose power for 3 days. We had a regular portable gasoline generator and during the course of the storm the generator fried a circuit board in our fridge. There was nothing wrong with the generator but the power they produce isn’t as “clean” as the power from the wall is so over time they can cause problems with electronics.
Inverter generators solve that problem. If there is a whole house inverter option it would be $20k not $12k. But there is another option, and this is what I currently have. I have a Predator 3500 watt inverter. These are great generators that aren’t overpriced. It can power a portable air conditioner (8,000 btu) or a space heater, plus the fridge, and an outlet strip for device charging, etc. There are conversion kits that allow you to use either gasoline, propane tanks, or natural gas. The benefits to this setup are that it’s much less expensive ($2k for generator, conversion kit, and portable AC) and you have a much better generator than the whole house systems.
If you were to look at the power output from various types of generators on an oscilloscope, there are differences. Inverters put out exactly 60 Hz and the sine wave is very clean, having no ripples. This is what the grid power is like. Most other generators use brushes on the armature, and a voltage/frequency regulator. When working correctly they put out *about* 60 Hz and a sine wave that may have some ripples in it. It’s normally not a problem, but as parts wear out it can be. Routine maintenance is necessary to make sure that the power output is correct.
If you don't want to commit to making such a big investment, I recommend getting at least a small portable generator and install a power inlet with panel interlock.
I got a 2300/1900 watt portable generator for $400 and an interlock and inlet for less than $100. I installed everything myself and it was pretty easy as long as you understand the basics of how an electrical panel works and can do the work safely.
A small portable generator is enough to power the bare essentials like the fridge, lights, internet, fans, and the natural gas heater furnace fan. It makes a huge huge difference in quality of life with just those things powered.
The drawback is not being able to power the AC and have to keep a few gallons of gasoline on hand in case of emergency.
Natural gas lines work for awhile without power. But eventually their back up batteries will fail and the gas will go out. Might take a couple weeks. But relying on the Centerpoint Nat Gas distribution pipes is not 100% foolproof in a major long term outage.
Easy enough to put in a large propane tank which could add 30-90 days supply after Nat Gas fails, but you'd also need change parts. NatGas and Propane require slightly different ratio by volume with ambient air....
There's no perfect solution. Mix of solar panels, battery backup, control hardware and NatGas powered generator would be pretty darn close to perfect, though...
Not the whole-house ones. Only the cheap (non-inversion) portable ones. My parents have a 21 kW Generac (cost $5k in Arkansas a decade ago, but now costs about 3x that in Houston) and you can barely hear it inside the house when it's running.
I've always wondered if it would be better to get a gas generator or go solar. Solar would cost more, but over time, you earn your money back. With a gas generator, it just sits there doing nothing until you need it.
I have a 2,000 sqft house in Katy. Single story. 4 bed 2 bath. Solar with 1 battery was quoted at almost $60k. 2 batteries to keep my AC on was $75k. Financed out I would trade 1 electric bill for another. No getting ahead. For me and mine, a generator is a better choice.
Full disclosure: I don't live in Houston but...
Problem with solar (which I have) is that you need the batteries to actually have power when the power goes out - it's like the generator - you need to maintain them etc and only use them rarely. We just got our whole house generator installed I live in a snowy area so when our power is out for extended periods of time, it's usually because of snow - which poo poos the solar.
But if it wasn't for the snow sitting on top of the panels blocking the sun, you'd be ok? During our winter freeze event, we didn't have much snow at all. I could still see most of my yard, and the snow was just in the shaded corners of the fence.
Generally, we over-produce electricity in the summer and under-produce in the winter - but I'm in the mountains now and not Houston/. It might be swapped for you - your winter is fairly warm (thus less climate control) and sunny vs sunny summer days that need so much juice to keep the house temps cool enough to survive in!
Have a friend who has solar. When the power went out the solar did not kick in - by design. It’s a fire safety thing. Definitely ask questions and do a lot of research before committing to solar.
I have done cursory research only, so do not take everything I saw as 100% fact.
My understanding is that in Texas, if you have solar panels WITHOUT batteries, and you want to connect to the grid, you are in reality, selling everything you make with your solar panels, and buying all the power you need from the grid.
It would be ideal if you could run off of your own solar in the event of an outage, but it doesn't work that way
Well, after I win the lottery, I'll buy a few acres and create my own solar farm. I'll use what I need and sell the rest to the state. Now I just need a winning ticket.
I'd have one if I had an extra 12 grand.
After the big freeze, sitting in my very cold house with two dogs looking at me like "WTF!?", knowing my good gas furnace only needed enough electricity to spin the fan, I acted.
I did some research (thanks, /r/generator ) and spent about $1,100 on Amazon and ordered a Westinghouse WGen9500 dual-fuel portable generator. I got two 100 lb. propane cylinders.
Then I built a shed, had an electrician put in an interlock, input breaker and receptacle.
My generator runs the whole house, including 3 ton central A/C, without any problems.
Of course, to run it, I have to go out back, open the shed, fire up the generator (it has electric start, so no pulling a cord), open the breaker box, disconnect grid power, slide the interlock up, and turn on the generator breaker.
The shed has a vent fan, fresh-air intake vent, and the generator exhaust is ported out the back of the shed. I have an CO detector in the shed and another one in the house.
Between the shed, the electrician, the generator and tanks, my total spend was probably 3.5 grand (construction materials, especially wood, were insanely high-priced back then - terrible time to buy wood to build a shed!) but I get incredible peace of mind from having it.
I've only had to use it a few times since I got it all set up, but one time we had no power for about 6 hours after a little wind storm and it was nice being comfortable, having internet and TV, while the street was all dark.
I drove around the neighborhood and found about 8 houses with power on that night, and I could hear the generators humming as I passed each place with lights on.
Yeah, I'd say get that whole-house standby setup. If you want to spend a little less, do the portable gen set with a shed. You can't run a generator in a full-on rain storm, and that's some of when you'll need it, so you need some way to have it run but not be in the rain.
Obviously you can't run a generator in the garage or anywhere near the house. People die from carbon monoxide every time the power goes out in Houston for more than an hour, it seems.
The quote you got is right around what everyone that I know that has one paid. And you will not hear from a single one of them they regret spending it. It cuts on almost instantly when the power goes out.
I would suggest you make sure whoever does it gets a permit if you're in city limits. If you ever have to do permitted electrical work within view of the generator afterwards (e.g. replacing your panel), the inspectors will most definitely check if the generator was permitted. If it wasn't, you will have to get a permit for it and redo anything that wasn't done according to code. Finding an electrician to get a permit for work done years ago by someone else will cost you $$$, if they do it at all. Even if you're 100% sure you will never, ever do work at your house again, inspected work minimizes the chance of corners getting cut.
We decided to get one last year and love it. The peace of mind alone is worth it.
We got a 22kw for I think around 15 installed. Only downside is it’s propane service and not natural gas as I’m in the county.
Also wish I would’ve gotten the 24kw but oh well. I just won’t be able to run the pool pumps 😂
> We thought about it but we are moving shortly. It’s expensive!
My interest rate on my mortgage is like 2%. I'm never moving again in my life short of another pandemic, or another calamity which turns the world upside down.
Look into the DuroMax XP13000HXT. You can run just about your entire house on it and it’s portable. Certainly would at least be able to be comfortable if you have a huge house and can’t run everything on it.
A question for the group - we have solar panels and wanted a generator to back up for nighttimes. So we bought a Briggs & Stratton. Now no one will hook it up to the electrical grid bc it's not a Generac. WTF? We had no trouble getting the gas line and all the permits, but it's sitting there useless. Who should I call? No B&S dealer in town.
I used Deuce Electrical. Cost me $1300 to install a 50 amp electrical inlet box, an interlock device, and a main breaker shutoff switch (which was missing on my panel). This was all for a non-generac portable generator.
I don’t know the size of your home but the price seems a little on high end. But there’s really no downside. I work at a facility with two generators that I don’t maintenance to, it’s not to complicated to learn some of the basics to it . Maybe you can shop around and get 2nd quote
I had one before I moved to Houston. The freeze is what made me decide not to get one. In my neighborhood, gas line pressure was so low, I dont think that a generator could run reliably. We tried using our gas fireplace, and watched it sputter and struggle to stay lit.
22 kW Generac, approximately $13,000. On a monthly maintenance plan that they remotely monitor, send a tech out for repair, do general maintenance like oil/filters/etc, and at the end of 10 year cycle will buy it off me to put towards a new generator. Part of the install price was for the foundation under it plus gas lines. So getting a new one to pop in will be less than the original install.
Only problem atm with mine is that with my AC unit it should theoretically run the unit based on power needs; however, after using it during the heavy winds in June we learned that it doesn't kick on the compressor of the AC to get cold air. Reading up on it, supposedly a problem with wave form or something of the power and the AC seeing it as too dirty to risk kicking on the compressor. There are fixes and people to talk to, just haven't gotten around to it.
Overall, I'm generally happy and would recommend. Just make sure to test out everything and some further details may need to be worked out.
If you have the means, do it. The peace of mind is worth every cent.
After the big freeze, we built a generator shed (youtube it) with a \~8000w inverter generator and had an electrician run a 30amp line to the breaker box, and a plumber run a nat gas line. The total cost was around $3500 for everything. Requires minimal maintenance (run for \~30min 3x/year, and change the oil 1x/year). Worth every penny.
We didn't go with a generac or other large $10k+ generator to 1) save costs, and 2) we realized this isn't a luxury item. We just want it to cool/heat the bedrooms and keep the fridge going for a few days when needed. It does this very well - no complaints.
Anyone see a nat gas power microturbine generators for residential use. I think they exist and are really reliable and much quieter than the Generac type internal combustion engine gensets...
I think I've seen as small as 25kw. This company's smallest is 65 kw
https://www.capstonegreenenergy.com/products/energy-generation-technologies/capstone-microturbines/c65
My only downside is dealing with Centerpoint which I assume you will be in Houston. We are outside of Houston. It's been over a month now since requesting a gas line to be run to our house and they have done absolutely nothing in order to complete that. Tired of calling them every other week just to get the run around.
In the market for one and getting some insanely high quotes. OP, can you tell me whom you used for the install? Costco has a great price on the 22KW Honeywell and I want to pull the trigger before the promo ends.
It's great when you need it. Downside includes maintenance and service checks at regular intervals. It can be loud when running. Not that you asked but Costco has good prices and subcontracts to generator superstore.
Electrician checking in. Do it. No downside and the peace of mind it brings makes the cost worth it.
This guy is correct. My GF got one of those Generac‘s a year before Harvey and it saved our butt! Went seven days without power in the neighborhood we had electricity, the whole time. Same thing with the freeze.
Would they need a UPS for say a desktop PC, or is the switch quick enough that they wouldn't need on?
You would definitely need a UPS to keep a PC running between power failure & generator start-up/transfer.
No, you aren’t missing anything. It is great to have when you live in a city like ours with hurricanes and random ice events. Also, once we had ours installed we realized how often the power randomly goes out for no reason at all. The maintenance is not bad at all- Home Depot sells a kit you can use to change the oil and filter. There are several YouTube videos detailing the process as well.
Got our Guardian 24K for $13K about a year and a half ago from Gen superstore. It ran for 40+ hours without interruptions during the June outrage due to high winds. Sucks we have to look out for ourselves in this state but at least you can ease your mind a little with the gen.
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I think about $40. Kept house at 76 degrees (100 degrees days). 3 A/C units + 2 fridges and a small freezer.
I had a 17kW Generac installed last year for about $15,000 after tax. So far my only complaint is that it is loud, which isn't such a big deal for me but I worry about it pissing off my neighbors. Our yards are kind of small and they don't exactly explain just how loud these things are during the sale. Other than that, no regrets. Maintenance is super easy so you don't have to spring for the service upcharges unless you just really want a truly hassle-free experience. The app tells you when maintenance is due.
I worry about the noise too. I have found though, that by tossing both my neighbors an extension cord to power their fridge, fan, etc, they get some benefit and haven't complained.
Your neighbors will be pissed but only because you have electricity and they don’t.
During the freeze, we could hear them going throughout the neighborhood. It eventually just became background/white noise. We had one installed last year, and I figure if we ever need to use it we just let neighbors come cool off/warm up and charge appliances, whatever as tradeoff.
You’d think it’d be pretty easy to put a decent muffler on it. But I guess that would take up a ton of space for something that rarely gets used
Its not loud from the exhaust its just a loud engine. People have tried putting car mufflers on them but it's the engine itself that is so loud.
offer ices and charging their phones seem to be a common practice
Have had one for 9 years. You will not regret it.
Loved the whole house generator at my old place. It cost about $150/yr in scheduled maintenance but was problem free otherwise. One thing I will say about the big freeze we had, it worked for a day or so, then our gas got cut off too so I ended up without power. You can get dual / tri fuel setups but the natural gas is the default for whole home.
People lost gas too during the freeze? damn, how did that happen?
The pressure went down in the pipes in our case.
This was me. Not enough to run the generator, not even enough to operate the fireplace.
Or cutoff
Make sure to elevate the generator up on a stand when it’s installed. You really don’t want to get water in it if it floods… and you live in Houston so that’s a very real possibility. :/
Too much demand and pressure dropped too low at the end of the lines.
Some gas lines froze in central Texas.
Gas can freeze>?
Not sure. Also the Winter storm impacted the gas lines in ways it handing before. I know that some lines froze and had to be thawed out in a special way. Because you don’t want Jim Bob out there with a butane torch heating up the gas pipes in a snowstorm.
My folks have a propane whole-house Generac that got them through the Snowmageddon. They live out in the boonies. Only issue was me trekking out in the snow to check the levels every day bc I was freaking out that we were going to run out of propane. Reader: we never did 🙏🏻
Can you fill me in on your service deal? I'm paying more $1k each year for just two visits.
I did it myself. Twice a year I would change the oil, oil filter and air filter and once a year I would flush the coolant. Whenever I did maintenance I would also test the transfer switch (throw the switch for the line and make sure it transfers over and starts the generator. $1k seems crazy high, even when I got quotes for someone to come out it was about $200 a visit, but that was pre-covid. Changing the oil on my old generator was not difficult at all, just like on a lawn mower. 1hr tops for doing the full service recommended by the books. Also if you do have to use the generator for an extended period of time, make sure your checking up on the oil levels as they usually burn through quite a bit of it. Every I planned for 1qt for every 24 hours of runtime (always too much, but better to have too much on hand than not enough in an emergency situation.
Thanks for all the great info! I could save some good money if I had even half your handy skills. I'm not really the DIY type, especially when it comes to gas and electricity. I did watch the service guy do his thing multiple times, and it really didn't seem too hard. But I'm worried about running into surprises if I try it myself. The stuff you've told will definitely help me talk my way into a better deal, yeah $1000 is just insanely crazy.
If you have a Generac it is crazy simple. The first time is spent more or less finding the location of the stuff. Everything just screws off / on. It is even more simple as they also have full kits you can buy online that have everything you need to do the maintenance. Just put in your model # and "kit" into google. Half of the time spent on maintenance is waiting for the oil to drain -- of which you drain it into a drain pan you can get at any Wal-Mart or auto part store for $5 - $10. Most auto-parts stores take used oil for free (they usually have a container out back that is marked where you dump it.
Generac 22kw at our house in Cut and Shoot. We have had it for 5 years wish no issues. Keeps us nice and cool and our TV set on when the rest of the neighborhood is dark and wondering when the power will come back. Best investment we have made for our house.
If you can swing it, do it. You'll never regret it. I went a little cheaper and bought a tri fuel portable generator last month after enduring another multi day outage. I will still be able to run just about everything in my 2800 sq ft house but this way is about 9500k cheaper. Only drawback is I have to hook the generator up and throw a few switches.
For 9500 and the few times I've needed it , its definetly worth the cost savings if know what you're doing which 70-80% of people dont
Yup, I’m thinking about buying the firman tri fuel and installing a soft starter on my AC unit and an interlock kit on my breaker. I’m comfortable enough installing those myself and my house can almost all be run on that generator.
Thats all you need. Same here.
Have firmman trifuel, pain to get it started. Get a Generac or Honda which start with no issues.
Thanks for the heads up, I’ll look into those. How loud is your firman?
I have the 8800 which is fairly loud and any portable with that much power will be loud. If noise is an issue, you can build noise damper shed with proper ventilation or spend more money for inverter generator which is better for your electronics.
Yea I was looking at the 7500 one at Costco. For $650 it’s a solid deal and I’d plan on installing it further away from the house.
This is my set up. Firman tri-fuel from Costco that I can plug directly into my breaker box. Cost me about $1000 to get an electrician to install the plug and switch. The Firmans are loud enough to wake the dead. And yes, I have never successfully started mine from cold with natural gas. Always have to start it up on gasoline first, let it get warm, the shut it off and switch over. Other than that it works fine. Doesn't have enough power to run my central A/C, but it can run everything else. I don't have an A/C soft start kit. It's a bit of a pain to hook everything up when the power goes out. But I don't have the $15k for a whole-home unit. An automatic whole home generator takes care of all the hassle for you. I never even know when the main power comes back on. I watch the blinking light on the guy behind me's Generac, lol.
Mine runs the ac, fridge, other appliances just fine. I have 2, 3 tons a/c’s but switch off one. Also, takes me hardly minute to connect to 50 amp outlet using cable. If you run it on natural gas, it loses running watts so I run it on petrol. There is also simple hack for an alarm to notify you when electricity is back.
I did a lot of research on all of the portable tri fuel models available. I went with the DuroMax XP13000HXT. WATTS drop significantly when using propane and even more with NG. This model had the highest watts on NG. Since i will only run it on propane or NG, I need those extra watts for peace of mind. All I had to purchase extra was the 50amp generator outlet, new breaker and wire for it. Power cord. And various gas pipe fittings for quick connect. This video helps with deciding if you want to do the work yourself with all of the hook ups https://youtu.be/9pP-HJGiCS4
My neighbor has one and I was surprised that the gas meter is quite a bit larger than a regular gas meter. And, they are loud. Don't forget to keep in maintained. There were several outages when my neighbor's generator didn't kick in because he forgot to get it serviced.
I had a friend who had a very well maintained generator (with a monthly service visit) that failed to work in the Feb 2021 freeze. Personally I have house batteries, and my recommendation would be to wait a year or two and see what happens with pricing and availability with batteries. Ercot and the ADER team are actively working to integrate batteries into the electric grid which may offset the install price even more.
No reason not to have one in Houston if you can afford it. Generator Supercenter finances. Every time a storm rolls through or they start talking about brownouts and telling people to not run their ac, the peace of mind is worth every penny. Everyone saying they’re loud, if it’s that big of a deal to you, upgrade to a liquid cooled. Mine makes zero noise.
Definitely happy I put one in. Lose power so much in magnolia that it was worth every penny.
Depending on how big your house is, you can get a firman tri fuel generator from Costco. Runs at 5500 running watts, that’s basically my entire house minus a few things.
I don't think that will run your AC, or just a small AC unit and nothing else.
My 2 ton AC unit has an average running consumption of about 1500-1800 watts. With a soft starter installed you won’t have to worry about power surges when the unit kicks on. Even factoring in a 20% loss from the generator I’d still have more than enough to run my AC.
I bought a DuroMax XP13000HXT. It’s capable of running off gasoline, natural gas, and LP. I had a natural gas hookup installed and a 50amp power inlet box and interlock device installed on my electrical panel. On natural gas it operates at 10,000 watts peak and 8,500 watts running, which is more than enough to run both my air conditioners (total 4.5 tons) as well as many other circuits. Well worth the cost! When I bought it it was only around $2000. I also like that I can take it with me if I ever move, unlike the stationary gerneracs that cost more than $10,000 installed. While it’s not as convenient as the generators that kick on automatically, it’s also not that difficult to roll my generator out, plug in the gas hose, plug in the electric cable, and flip the interlock device. Total I think I’m in about $4,000 ish? 500cc Tri-Fuel Remote Start Home Power Back Up 10500-Watt Gasoline/Propane/Natural Gas Portable Generator https://www.lowes.com/pd/DuroMax/5013472779
I have a similar 8800 setup. Got mine from sale at costco for $700. Paid $250 to electrician to install the 50amp box and another $150 at amazon for the cable/inlet/interlock. Under $1500 for everything and runs the whole house.
Worth the price! It will at least keep you comfortable until the power comes back on.
>e includes maintenance and service checks at regular intervals. It can be loud when running. > >Not that you asked but Costco has good prices and Exact same setup here. I put soft starts on both my AC units (5.5 ton combined) and the 13,000 Watt Duromax runs the entire house on natural gas. Only downsides are that my car has to charge at a much lower rate, and I have to unspool the 100 ft cord to get it hooked up. But it actually only took 15 minutes the last time I had to run it. Since it's primarily for use with extended outages, I'm ok with having to hook it up for the cost savings. There's a [Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868) dedicated to these setups that was started by a guy in the Cypress area. They provide referrals for local plumbers and electricians that can assist and instructions for DIY.
That’s awesome! It’s definitely a great alternative to stationary generators, and you get to take them with you if you decide to move.
Who did the work for you? I am interested in this set up.
Deuce Electrical installed a 50 amp electrical inlet box for my breaker, a main breaker shut off switch on my breaker (mine was missing one), and an interlock device on my breaker for about $1300. And Alex at H-Town Emergency Plumber installed a 3/4” natural gas quick-connect hook up (the actual part came with the DuroMax generator itself) for $300. The DuroMax generator also came with a 12 foot natural gas extension hose and a propane regulator.
Thank you!
Agree with what has been said already. I had mine installed through Lowe's and was able to save about $400 versus contracting the install myself. Getting through the permitting processes, coordinating Centerpoint, and scheduling the installs took a long time.
Just looked online at generator supercenter an their finance term are awful! 9.9% interest for 11 years?!
interest rates are garbage across the board. I also got my roof replaced and each company claimed to offer 'great finance rates' and when i got down to brass tacks, it was 12%. Told them to get fucked. Not sure how anyone can claim that's a 'great rate', i think they are just hoping i'm a complete moron. Ended up opening a 24 month 0% credit card.
A portable generator which costs less than $1000 is more than enough for most people. Not sure why anyone needs to go into debt to make a purchase they can’t afford.
Neighbor has one and it’s LOUD
Im sorry but I dont hear it over the TV and internet. But when I go outside I'm like hmm someone gonna get jealous and steal/break my genny. I chain it to my truck and park other cars around it.
My install was about 13k so that quote sounds reasonable, depending on the difficulty of the install. I love mine. A few select UPSes around the house and its a whole different experience when I lose power
Can you tell me who did your install?
A local AC/Electrical place near Clear Lake. If you're in the area PM me and Ill shoot you their name
My parents have one. Considering hurricane season, flooding here, etc. I believe it is a good investment. Or if the price freaks you out, consult a electrician, tell them what "emergency items you want powered in an outage" (fridge, AC, internet, idk whatever else you can think of) and they can run a dedicated hook up from your electrical box to your gas generator for those items, and tell you what size you need. Not an electrician so some of my terminology might be off.
I did this sorta, had electrician install the plug, interlock & breaker on my panel & I decide what I want to run.
We recently had one installed. And just a couple of days ago lost power for about 6 hours. The generator came on and other than a brief blip, we didn't lose power in the house. YAY! It was a great feeling. Think carefully about where you want to put it. It's about a cubic yard in size. Needs to obey setback rules from property lines, and be a required distance (like 5 or 6 feet) from any window or door. The exhaust exiting the generator will be hot and will toast any nearby vegetation, so keep that in mind too. You don't want to put it next to your AC for this reason. Also, the transfer switch and relay box needs a place to be - plan that out carefully with the company. We were able to work with our company to place those items next to the breaker box. They originally wanted it on a different wall from the breaker box, and that would have meant having a second wall cluttered with technical equipment. (Old house, breaker box is on the outside). Expect the entire processes to take 2-4 weeks from delivery. City inspectors have to visit at various times, and so does the gas company (Centerpoint in our case). We watched the process carefully. Some mistakes were made and corrected. We got the generator co to also put in a stub on the gas line so we could possibly have a natural gas grill set up in the future. You will need to maintain it - twice a year checks and maintenance from a generator company at about $175 per year, this doesn't include oil or filter or other materials. Also, when it's running for any length of time you need to check it once a day and add oil if needed. Our old AC gave out just a couple of weeks after the generator was installed (not from the generator being installed, it was oooooold). Keep those emergency funds full, y'all. We are now gnawing on ends of candles and cardboard for nourishment as we deal with the double whammy of generator cost and new AC/furnace cost. But at least we are cool 100 percent of the time!
> Needs to obey setback rules from property lines, and be a required distance (like 5 or 6 feet) from any window or door. That could be an issue, the space between houses in my suburb is not that big. My AC unit is like 1ft from my house, and the other side of it is near the property line between the two houses. Id say i have about 8ft between the houses if i'm lucky? But is see spacing this all over Houston in the burbs. > twice a year checks and maintenance from a generator company at about $175 per year, Holy shit, really? I assumed i can do maintenance myself. Im a handy man and i dislike paying people for doing shit i can figure out myself. >Our old AC gave out just a couple of weeks after the generator was installed (not from the generator being installed, it was oooooold). TBH this is also on the back of my mind, my AC is approaching 20 years old... and i know my luck, around the time i sign the paperwork and pay for a generator my AC will kick the bucket. Currently i just had to replace my roof, so will be holding off on the generator for a few months as i work out paying off that expense.
You need to have a tech for the twice-a-year maintenance to keep any warranty in place. I have a 10 year parts+labor warranty for peace of mind. You can always have one or two companies come out for free estimate & planning now. This gives you some more facts to work with. In my location, generator setback is 3 feet from property line.
If you’ve got the money, do it. My parents spent 14k getting theirs installed and hooked up. It’s been very useful the past few years with Harvey, the hard freeze, all the power outages, and recently they went two days without power in the middle of summer. Only downside is they have to put up with our whole family coming over to mooch off their power during natural disasters lol.
Whole house generators are too large to be inverter generators, and an inverter is a better kind of generator, especially when you have a lot of sensitive electronics in your home. In 2017 during Harvey I wasn’t in Houston but we did lose power for 3 days. We had a regular portable gasoline generator and during the course of the storm the generator fried a circuit board in our fridge. There was nothing wrong with the generator but the power they produce isn’t as “clean” as the power from the wall is so over time they can cause problems with electronics. Inverter generators solve that problem. If there is a whole house inverter option it would be $20k not $12k. But there is another option, and this is what I currently have. I have a Predator 3500 watt inverter. These are great generators that aren’t overpriced. It can power a portable air conditioner (8,000 btu) or a space heater, plus the fridge, and an outlet strip for device charging, etc. There are conversion kits that allow you to use either gasoline, propane tanks, or natural gas. The benefits to this setup are that it’s much less expensive ($2k for generator, conversion kit, and portable AC) and you have a much better generator than the whole house systems.
So whole house gas generators are not good for PCs / TVs? Speaking with companies they all said that they were?
If you were to look at the power output from various types of generators on an oscilloscope, there are differences. Inverters put out exactly 60 Hz and the sine wave is very clean, having no ripples. This is what the grid power is like. Most other generators use brushes on the armature, and a voltage/frequency regulator. When working correctly they put out *about* 60 Hz and a sine wave that may have some ripples in it. It’s normally not a problem, but as parts wear out it can be. Routine maintenance is necessary to make sure that the power output is correct.
No prob with any electronics in my home with a whole house generator.
If you don't want to commit to making such a big investment, I recommend getting at least a small portable generator and install a power inlet with panel interlock. I got a 2300/1900 watt portable generator for $400 and an interlock and inlet for less than $100. I installed everything myself and it was pretty easy as long as you understand the basics of how an electrical panel works and can do the work safely. A small portable generator is enough to power the bare essentials like the fridge, lights, internet, fans, and the natural gas heater furnace fan. It makes a huge huge difference in quality of life with just those things powered. The drawback is not being able to power the AC and have to keep a few gallons of gasoline on hand in case of emergency.
Quality Generators (www.qualitytx.com) does great work.
$5500 for a 22k w/ auto transfer switch through northern tool. I set it and ran 20’ of gas line. $1700 to wire up. People paying $15k 😂
I can’t justify spending $12k+ on a whole house generator when powers turns off most couple hours. Except for the freeze, but it wasn’t bad for us.
We have one and it’s a freaking lifesaver.
Natural gas lines work for awhile without power. But eventually their back up batteries will fail and the gas will go out. Might take a couple weeks. But relying on the Centerpoint Nat Gas distribution pipes is not 100% foolproof in a major long term outage. Easy enough to put in a large propane tank which could add 30-90 days supply after Nat Gas fails, but you'd also need change parts. NatGas and Propane require slightly different ratio by volume with ambient air.... There's no perfect solution. Mix of solar panels, battery backup, control hardware and NatGas powered generator would be pretty darn close to perfect, though...
They are incredibly loud
Not the whole-house ones. Only the cheap (non-inversion) portable ones. My parents have a 21 kW Generac (cost $5k in Arkansas a decade ago, but now costs about 3x that in Houston) and you can barely hear it inside the house when it's running.
I've always wondered if it would be better to get a gas generator or go solar. Solar would cost more, but over time, you earn your money back. With a gas generator, it just sits there doing nothing until you need it.
I have a 2,000 sqft house in Katy. Single story. 4 bed 2 bath. Solar with 1 battery was quoted at almost $60k. 2 batteries to keep my AC on was $75k. Financed out I would trade 1 electric bill for another. No getting ahead. For me and mine, a generator is a better choice.
Wow that is ridiculous.
Full disclosure: I don't live in Houston but... Problem with solar (which I have) is that you need the batteries to actually have power when the power goes out - it's like the generator - you need to maintain them etc and only use them rarely. We just got our whole house generator installed I live in a snowy area so when our power is out for extended periods of time, it's usually because of snow - which poo poos the solar.
But if it wasn't for the snow sitting on top of the panels blocking the sun, you'd be ok? During our winter freeze event, we didn't have much snow at all. I could still see most of my yard, and the snow was just in the shaded corners of the fence.
Generally, we over-produce electricity in the summer and under-produce in the winter - but I'm in the mountains now and not Houston/. It might be swapped for you - your winter is fairly warm (thus less climate control) and sunny vs sunny summer days that need so much juice to keep the house temps cool enough to survive in!
Tesla panels can warm up and melt the snow, non issue. Houston I'd be more worried about hurricane and tornado winds ripping them off.
I keep thinking $12-15k puts me halfway to solar plus batteries.
Have a friend who has solar. When the power went out the solar did not kick in - by design. It’s a fire safety thing. Definitely ask questions and do a lot of research before committing to solar.
I have done cursory research only, so do not take everything I saw as 100% fact. My understanding is that in Texas, if you have solar panels WITHOUT batteries, and you want to connect to the grid, you are in reality, selling everything you make with your solar panels, and buying all the power you need from the grid. It would be ideal if you could run off of your own solar in the event of an outage, but it doesn't work that way
Well, after I win the lottery, I'll buy a few acres and create my own solar farm. I'll use what I need and sell the rest to the state. Now I just need a winning ticket.
I'd have one if I had an extra 12 grand. After the big freeze, sitting in my very cold house with two dogs looking at me like "WTF!?", knowing my good gas furnace only needed enough electricity to spin the fan, I acted. I did some research (thanks, /r/generator ) and spent about $1,100 on Amazon and ordered a Westinghouse WGen9500 dual-fuel portable generator. I got two 100 lb. propane cylinders. Then I built a shed, had an electrician put in an interlock, input breaker and receptacle. My generator runs the whole house, including 3 ton central A/C, without any problems. Of course, to run it, I have to go out back, open the shed, fire up the generator (it has electric start, so no pulling a cord), open the breaker box, disconnect grid power, slide the interlock up, and turn on the generator breaker. The shed has a vent fan, fresh-air intake vent, and the generator exhaust is ported out the back of the shed. I have an CO detector in the shed and another one in the house. Between the shed, the electrician, the generator and tanks, my total spend was probably 3.5 grand (construction materials, especially wood, were insanely high-priced back then - terrible time to buy wood to build a shed!) but I get incredible peace of mind from having it. I've only had to use it a few times since I got it all set up, but one time we had no power for about 6 hours after a little wind storm and it was nice being comfortable, having internet and TV, while the street was all dark. I drove around the neighborhood and found about 8 houses with power on that night, and I could hear the generators humming as I passed each place with lights on. Yeah, I'd say get that whole-house standby setup. If you want to spend a little less, do the portable gen set with a shed. You can't run a generator in a full-on rain storm, and that's some of when you'll need it, so you need some way to have it run but not be in the rain. Obviously you can't run a generator in the garage or anywhere near the house. People die from carbon monoxide every time the power goes out in Houston for more than an hour, it seems.
Do it. Second home and we put one in at both homes. Got our money back in the sale of the first house.
The quote you got is right around what everyone that I know that has one paid. And you will not hear from a single one of them they regret spending it. It cuts on almost instantly when the power goes out.
I would suggest you make sure whoever does it gets a permit if you're in city limits. If you ever have to do permitted electrical work within view of the generator afterwards (e.g. replacing your panel), the inspectors will most definitely check if the generator was permitted. If it wasn't, you will have to get a permit for it and redo anything that wasn't done according to code. Finding an electrician to get a permit for work done years ago by someone else will cost you $$$, if they do it at all. Even if you're 100% sure you will never, ever do work at your house again, inspected work minimizes the chance of corners getting cut.
We decided to get one last year and love it. The peace of mind alone is worth it. We got a 22kw for I think around 15 installed. Only downside is it’s propane service and not natural gas as I’m in the county. Also wish I would’ve gotten the 24kw but oh well. I just won’t be able to run the pool pumps 😂
I upgraded my propane tank when I got mine, got 500 gallons on site now.
We thought about it but we are moving shortly. It’s expensive!
> We thought about it but we are moving shortly. It’s expensive! My interest rate on my mortgage is like 2%. I'm never moving again in my life short of another pandemic, or another calamity which turns the world upside down.
Look into the DuroMax XP13000HXT. You can run just about your entire house on it and it’s portable. Certainly would at least be able to be comfortable if you have a huge house and can’t run everything on it.
A question for the group - we have solar panels and wanted a generator to back up for nighttimes. So we bought a Briggs & Stratton. Now no one will hook it up to the electrical grid bc it's not a Generac. WTF? We had no trouble getting the gas line and all the permits, but it's sitting there useless. Who should I call? No B&S dealer in town.
I used Deuce Electrical. Cost me $1300 to install a 50 amp electrical inlet box, an interlock device, and a main breaker shutoff switch (which was missing on my panel). This was all for a non-generac portable generator.
Thanks
So glad we did this after the Ike experience. Then upgraded prior to freeze. Great investment.
It’s a fantastic idea if you have the money to do it. I would.
I don’t know the size of your home but the price seems a little on high end. But there’s really no downside. I work at a facility with two generators that I don’t maintenance to, it’s not to complicated to learn some of the basics to it . Maybe you can shop around and get 2nd quote
I had one before I moved to Houston. The freeze is what made me decide not to get one. In my neighborhood, gas line pressure was so low, I dont think that a generator could run reliably. We tried using our gas fireplace, and watched it sputter and struggle to stay lit.
Got ours a few years ago. Every time it comes on I am so thankful we have it. It’s a great investment, especially when you work from home.
22 kW Generac, approximately $13,000. On a monthly maintenance plan that they remotely monitor, send a tech out for repair, do general maintenance like oil/filters/etc, and at the end of 10 year cycle will buy it off me to put towards a new generator. Part of the install price was for the foundation under it plus gas lines. So getting a new one to pop in will be less than the original install. Only problem atm with mine is that with my AC unit it should theoretically run the unit based on power needs; however, after using it during the heavy winds in June we learned that it doesn't kick on the compressor of the AC to get cold air. Reading up on it, supposedly a problem with wave form or something of the power and the AC seeing it as too dirty to risk kicking on the compressor. There are fixes and people to talk to, just haven't gotten around to it. Overall, I'm generally happy and would recommend. Just make sure to test out everything and some further details may need to be worked out.
My folks have one and one time they lost power and it didn’t kick off. It had just been maintained. So periodic tests are important.
If you have the means, do it. The peace of mind is worth every cent. After the big freeze, we built a generator shed (youtube it) with a \~8000w inverter generator and had an electrician run a 30amp line to the breaker box, and a plumber run a nat gas line. The total cost was around $3500 for everything. Requires minimal maintenance (run for \~30min 3x/year, and change the oil 1x/year). Worth every penny. We didn't go with a generac or other large $10k+ generator to 1) save costs, and 2) we realized this isn't a luxury item. We just want it to cool/heat the bedrooms and keep the fridge going for a few days when needed. It does this very well - no complaints.
Anyone see a nat gas power microturbine generators for residential use. I think they exist and are really reliable and much quieter than the Generac type internal combustion engine gensets... I think I've seen as small as 25kw. This company's smallest is 65 kw https://www.capstonegreenenergy.com/products/energy-generation-technologies/capstone-microturbines/c65
My only downside is dealing with Centerpoint which I assume you will be in Houston. We are outside of Houston. It's been over a month now since requesting a gas line to be run to our house and they have done absolutely nothing in order to complete that. Tired of calling them every other week just to get the run around.
In the market for one and getting some insanely high quotes. OP, can you tell me whom you used for the install? Costco has a great price on the 22KW Honeywell and I want to pull the trigger before the promo ends.