just completed a generator installation last January, and have
completely eliminated power outage for my whole neighborhoo. Well,
nearly.
I put in a 8kw natural gas powered unit with a manual cutover switch.
The automatic switches were just too expensive and I still had to
start the generator anyway. The auto standby units in this size are
around $8,000. I've got about $3k in mine. I did my own wiring and
plumbing. The cutover switch was around $240.00 for a 200 amp unit.
I can run any circuit in my house except the air conditioning ( after
a 5 hour outage last week in 95 degree weather, I wish I had a larger
generator)..
I would highly recommend nat gas powered. You can just turn on the gas
valve...start the gen...and walk away. The old generator was a small
tank gas unit that kept me up nights filling the tank to keep the heat
on.
The newer units seem to be fairly voltage constant but I wouldn't run
my computer on one. and as long as the engine rpm stays steady the
frequency is close to 60hzs. But your clocks will run a little funky
most of the time.
I try to start it at least once a month to charge the batteries and
run the critters out of it. Run it under load to dry out the
generator wiring.
Hope this helps
john
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