Considering a Home Generator?

A member asks…

I’m considering getting a home generator since my neighborhood is older and it seems like the power goes out all too often. I know I could get a portable emergency generator, but I need something more… Can you give me some advice on what to consider, options and all that? Thanks!

Buying a home generator can be a lot like buying insurance – you can pay a little and get bare-bones coverage, or pay a ton and get way more than you need. Finding that sweet spot can take a lot of research on your part. That’s because most any company who’s going to sell and install the generator is going to sell you what works best for their company’s bottom line, not necessarily the best answer to your needs. So here’s some research points to look into:

1. You need to consider the fuel source for your generator. If you get natural gas or propane piped directly to your property there’s little or no problem. But if you don’t, you’ll need to look at your property to see how a propane tank would be placed somewhere. The size of that tank will be a big consideration for figuring out how long the generator will be able to run.
2. You need to decide on whether you want to cover all your home’s electrical needs, or just some emergency circuits. For the latter, that does NOT include your heating and air conditioning needs unless you live most of the year without the need for either. Or if you are heating and cooling without the use of ‘compressor’ technology (like a heat pump).
3. You need to consider the proximity of your neighbors, especially those closest to where your generator would be located on your property. Noise is going to be an issue, and your neighbors might not appreciate a generator running all night long during extended power outages. There may even be local noise ordinances!
4. You need to consider your expected needs – if you experience a lot of intermittent, short-duration power outages, a home generator might not be worth the expense – they can take up to a minute before they can take over power in your house. And extended power outages may require a generator that can run for extended time – some can only run for a dozen hours or so before having to be shut down for maintenance. Even the biggest need to be shut down for maintenance after 50 hours or so of constant use.
5. You need to consider your budget. The cheapest generator can run you $5,000US installed, although $15,000 is a common all-in price for smaller homes, and $25-80k is common for larger homes. That’s a lot of chips! And not only do you have a hefty up-front cost, but home generators require routine maintenance that can run you hundreds of dollars a year (and you don’t want to skimp on this!).

The cost of a generator installation is made up of these four factors:

1. The cost of the generator itself. This can vary widely.
2. The cost of the automatic transfer switch, plus any electrical work – the latter can vary widely, and often be higher for smaller generators.
3. Gas piping to get the fuel to the generator – this can be quite high because many homes have their gas service fed to one side of the house and the electrical service to the other side. You need to get your gas feed to where the electricity comes into your home.
4. The labor to install the generator – this varies much less than any of the others. It’s a big job no matter if you get a small or large generator.

Read on for a breakdown of these considerations and factors, and some specific recommendations.

When searching for a company to sell you a generator, install it and maintain it, you can easily get what you pay for – if you look for rock-bottom prices. Going cheap can get you a low-quality, noisy and unreliable unit, shoddily installed and prone to never working when you need it most.

By the same token, the average homeowner isn’t going to use the same company that provides high-end generator systems to palatial mansions in the most expensive neighborhoods. For those of us in the middle, we need to find a reliable and well-regarded company who services higher-quality brands (like Kohler generators in our considered opinion), has existing installations in your neighborhood, and stands by their products and service. A generator is basically an automobile without wheels, and requires ongoing maintenance to remain trouble-free – especially when you need it most. So the company you choose needs to be there for you year-round to do ongoing maintenance. You might want to check with your neighbors, local consumer ratings of companies (like Angie’s List)

Once you find a reputable company, they can help you figure out the right answer to the considerations we outlined above. But here’s a few tips to help you:

Fuel Supply:

• If you have city-supplied natural gas or propane, then you need to include in your budget the cost of getting that gas line over near the point where your electricity is brought into your home. You’re going to pay this cost no matter what size generator you choose, and it may not be trivial.
• If you already have propane delivered to a tank on your property, that tank may not be large enough to handle both heating, cooking and your home generator’s needs. So you may need to budget in the cost of buying or renting a larger tank.

Whole-house or Emergency Electricity:

• Whole-house means a generator big enough so you can run anything and everything without worrying about electrical power. A normal house is set up with 100kw electrical service (some larger homes have 200kw), but your normal useage may be a small fraction of that (like 10kw or even less). Except for ‘surge use’, such as when a heat pump or air conditioner compressor starts up. When that happens, you may see 25-35kw of peak use, so make sure your generator can handle that. If you have a single heating/air-conditioning compressor system, you may be able to get by with a 20kw generator, but if you have more than one system, you’ll need a larger generator. Oh, and a larger generator is not only measured in kilowatts (kw), but also in physical size!
• Most generators under 30kw are air-cooled. This means they are noisier than liquid-cooled generators. This can be partially offset by sound baffles (the enclosure around your generator), but not completely since the generator needs a lot of air circulation for cooling and burning. The engine inside your generator is a lot like a car’s engine, except that it burns natural gas (LNG) or propane (LPG). This means noise!
• For emergency use, you can get by with a much smaller generator, since it won’t be handling those high-surge units (your heat pump or air-conditioner). It will cover your refrigerator, probably your washer and dryer, maybe your electric hot water heater, and some lights in your house.
• If you live in the desert and use a ‘swamp-cooler’ for air conditioning, those have much lower electrical power needs than compressor-driven air conditioning. So you may be able to get by with a smaller generator. Same for if you live in a cold climate and use a traditional gas or oil-fired furnace (or wood or pellet-burning stove) in winter and have mild enough summers to get away without air conditioning.

The Neighborhood and ‘NIMBY’:

• Your city may have a noise ordinance that you need to consider. If you live on a large lot or in a less-congested area, this may not be a big factor. Be sure to check this out before you sign contracts and start laying out large sums.
• NIMBY: Not in My Backyard – your neighbors may object to your generator for any number of reasons or rationalizations. Some simply like the silence and cessation of hub-bub whenever the power goes out, while others are secretly jealous of your ‘extravagance’. Be prepared for resistance, but you shouldn’t offer to let your neighbors string extension cords so they can power their own ‘essentials’.

Power Outage Situations:

• A home generator takes some time (from 10 seconds to a few minutes) before it can take on the load of supplying electricity to your home. If your neighborhood experiences a lot of short-duration power outages, this can cause a lot of wear and tear on your generator, yet give you little or no backup, since the power comes back on too quickly.
• Critical electric needs in your home that need uninterrupted power may be better served by a battery backup. These include computers, home networking equipment, TVs and cable boxes, and other sensitive electronics. Even if you do have a home generator you may still need battery backups on these devices to keep them running during the switchover and/or to prevent damage. And a whole-house surge protector (have your electrician install one) can go a long way towards giving you full peace of mind in power outage situations – one strong surge can fry your expensive electronic gear!
• Home generators require maintenance – usually an oil check or change every xx hours of generator run-time. This is much more critical than for your car – think if your car engine was to run at a constant and high rate for hours and hours with no variance. Engine oil and coolant levels become much more important, and overlooking this can have disastrous and expensive results.

 Budget Prudently:

• The four factors that make up your installation cost should be calculated separately, and then the result added together to get to your initial cost total.
  • The generator cost can possibly double or triple for larger units over smaller units
  • The transfer switch will vary only slightly for larger units, but electrical work can actually be higher for smaller generators because the electrician needs to split your power panel and create a new sub-panel for your emergency circuits that are backed up by the generator. This cost factor can easily double or triple for smaller units.
  • Gas piping is the pretty much the same for smaller or larger generators, so no cost differential there. That cost is driven primarily by how far away your electrical service is from your gas service. If you have tank-supplied propane, then this cost can double easily, if you need a larger tank. Check to see if your propane supplier can rent you the tank.
  • The cost to install the generator won’t vary by much for smaller or larger generators. They all require a sturdy pad – a small concrete patio on which to mount the generator. And they all require labor to get the generator from the manufacturer to your pad, plus the labor to hook everything up.
• And don’t forget to budget the ongoing maintenance costs, these can run you hundreds of dollars a year. You may think you can save money by doing this yourself, but most who do end up neglecting this routine task. That risks your substantial investment in the generator. First off, you run the risk of the generator not working when the power goes out. Second, to get the generator running, you may have high costs for someone to come out and fix the darn thing, and you’ll probably have to wait. Third, lack of maintenance can run the risk of destroying the engine and end up costing you a ton of money to replace.

Lastly, because a home generator is a sizable investment, you need to balance your actual need for one against the cost and hassle. Only you can decide if reliable electricity is a need or a desire. And just like an insurance policy, a home generator is an investment in ‘not needing’ to use it. You may spend thousands to install a generator, and then go years without really needing it, if ever. And technology and infrastructure are constantly changing – your power company may offer subsidized alternative energy solutions (like solar power cell installation on your roof). They may improve the reliability of electricity delivery (like burying power lines so they aren’t subject to tree, wind or snow damage). Or some genius may figure out an alternative power source that resolves all the issues of long-distance power transmission we have now.