don't forget to check local codes re LP

some cities prohibit anything larger than a 30-lb tank on-premise due to
explosion hazard in a fire

several years (let's see.....2005-1978...OK, a long time ago) I installed
some 5 kW Onan's for the city and county PD's as part of their comm system
upgrades, the two in-town had to be NG, the one out at the cable tower for
the county's base stations were LP

oh, one more thing..........the 5 kW unit for the city PD tended to surge
badly with just a pair of 60-watt solid state bases plugged in, but when we
added the old 100-W tube-type fire dept base to the load, it settled down

it took about 300 watts minimum load to get it to run on-speed

Doggone Langerhans you been looking at my resume? I'm fcc-licensed MW guy
myself (Farinon DVM6/45) and Mitel-certified on phone systems. Small
world, huh?  We run 7.5 KW natural gas Onans along our natural gas
pipeline ROW for obvious reasons, the gas is there. These are overkill for
the 6-gig M/W repeaters but there's a small window A/C and an occasional
100W VHF base station and SCADA RTU. In those few tower sites -not- on the
ROW we keep a 200# propane tank because unlike gasoline propane doesn't go
bad in long term storage or gum up the lines plus I can call a guy to go
deliver/fillup and never have to leave the office.

But for HOME... well, that's a whole other matter. I've convinced myself
that gasoline will generally be easier to deal with and I can always drop
a siphon hose in one of the vehicle tanks if/when supply runs short. That
might also cost-justify my thoughts about adding an aux tank on the RAM.  

Size-wise I'd love to have a 7.5KW but something that size might need to
be trailer-mounted and I don't have room to store a trailer. 7.5KW also
sucks down a lot more fuel and STILL won't pull the central air. 5KW
-will- meet our needs as long as I can keep the wife supplied with her
hormone pills ;-) and keep the fridge doors closed.

No Xfr panel, even manual pull not really in the budget, plus I'm in an
unincorporated area of the county. Not rural, but we can get by w/sh.t out
here they might lock you up for in town, like pulling the meter and
clamping straight in w/suicide lugs (obviously no little guys around) or
more elegant, putting a 30A twist-lok on a short pigtail out the bottom of
the service panel and reverse-feeding through a separate dual breaker
(Mains OPEN of course). Po' folk got po' ways...  Anyone asks, man that's
the -welder- hookup. ;-)

Alas, I digress. I was mainly looking for recommended brands or what to
avoid if someone's gotten a dud somewhere along the way.

TBone, how has the Generac been working out for you?
I work for a Generac dealer and have installed a bunch of them. Zero
troubles except for the starter motors were poor on the first year or so of
production. The later models have a Delco starter and they have been good.
If your starter is gold colored you have a newer one, the early ones were
black and it will fail sooner than later.
Greg

-------------------------------------------------------------
I'm on the Florida Gulf Coast -- bought a DeVilbiss genset just after
Opal in '95, and finally used it after Ivan this past year.  It was the
brand that Lowe's was selling at the time, but I expect that it (or
similar) is probably on the market with other badges as well.

It's a gas unit -- 10hp Briggs engine that puts out 5.5kw -- probably
in the 7.5 yo 8.5 kw peak range.  It's got a BIG gas tank that will let
it run continuously for 10 - 12 hours.  When you stop it to add gas, it
will almost always need some (less than a half quart) oil.

I ran the thing non-stop 24hrs per day for 5 days, and powered nearly
everything in the house (two different legs).  The only things I didn't
run were washer/dryer, and central air.  It happily powered the fridge
and freezer as well as all of the lights and ceiling fans.  I had
pulled the main breakers so as not to fry the local lineman, and a
neighbor had to come over and tell me when the power was back on.

I'm a happy camper -- but it's time to go check the thing and make sure
it's ready to run if needed.

Mark

Thanks Paul, but yours is probably a bit small for what I'm trying to
accomplish. 5HP does not equate to 5KW, more like 2.2 or perhaps 2.5 KW,
which won't meet my needs.  

In calculating my load I anticipate somewhere around 2.5~3.5 KW will be my
sustained/static load for 2 refrigerators, 1 deep freeze, 27" TV and
satellite rcvr and a couple lamps and 2~3 fans. The refrigeration/freezer
load is of course cyclical so as long as we can all stay focused on the
need to keep them -CLOSED- and not stand there with the door open deciding
what to have will minimize compressor time and leave us some headroom for
an electric skillet/fry pan and an occasional load of clothes through the
washer. Running the AC is completely out of the question; we'll just have
to suffer. Running the central air would require minimum 10~12½ KW to get
it to start (locked rotor amps) and I really don't feel like this is
something I need to spend $4~5 grand on. Besides, a genset that big will
be a fuel pig. Refrigeration load, TV/Sat and some lights & fans will get
us by.

When planning the size and calculating load, you want to base your figures
on 50% of the capacity of the genset. Running a 2.5 kw load on a 2.5kw
genset is a recipe for disappointment and disaster. Been there & done
that.

Also as I'm reading I've learned that propane fueled units develope more
output than otherwise equally sized natural-gas units. If I understand
this correctly propane has a higher BTU rating per cubic foot than natural
gas.

Forgot....9.0 HP recoil start...bought at home depot.

Henry

If you do not need electricity quick, or when you are gone, a portable is
fine. I have installed NG power generators for many people with basements
that would be flooded without backup power. A portable sucks if it is
raining hard, or nobody is home. Also in here in tropical North Dakota, a
few hours without heat and broken water pipes are a big problem. That
portable genny will not save you if you are not home!
Many times I hear comments of the cost to remodel the flooded lower level of
a home. The ~$6000 to install a NG generator is small to these people. Eight
years ago we had a nasty spring ice storm, then it got cold. Many areas were
without electricity for 2-3 weeks. I know of some people that were not home,
went south for a few weeks. The standby genny started and ran for the week
or so the power was out! A portable would have done them no good.

Myself, I have a portable. 15 years in this home and never any water  in the
finished basement. For me it is more of a convenience thing. Living in the
city we are rarely without power for more than an hour or so, and that has
been rare. The last time we ran the genny we had just returned from a day at
the lake. We were hungry and tired, and a storm had just come through and
wiped out the power. so I drug out the portable so we could fire up the
microwave!
Greg