Home generators Houston

[BearSchlong 8000]

I've got a Generac whole-house natural gas generator in Beaumont, even though I’m on the very well-managed, reliable, and affordable Entergy grid.

There will be another Ike/Rita/Laura?

[SydneyCarton 47294]

On 6/7/2024 at 10:51 AM, tokamak said:

Anyone done the math on batteries instead (Tesla, etc)? I know they are insanely expensive, but with all these nights and weekends electricity plans, you could use them to shift your usage and potentially save some serious bucks. My provider just offered me a plan that bent you over between 6-10 pm every day and was really cheap otherwise. Add in the fact that you could squeeze out a couple days of backup when the grid is out and it’s an interesting proposition. 

I dont anticipate this will last long, the cheaper Nights thing. The rise in popularity of electric vehicles and the lack of solar generation on the grid at night, well, companies are getting wise and this isn't the profit maker it once was for them, so...

[Macanudo 12743]

Question about "regular" generators. 

Background:  I have a gas generator with enough power to keep our fridge running and some smaller stuff like fans.  One tank (3 gallons) runs for about 8-10 hours depending on load.  Our power goes out a half dozen times a year under normal Houston area circumstances.  I had 15 gallons of gas on hand Tuesday morning. 

This time, due to Beryl, we knew by Tuesday that we weren't going to try and outlast the outage.  We've been in Austin since Tuesday and plan on staying until we get power back.  We were supposed to have power by last night and still don't.

I doubt we'll decide on a NG generac style upgrade so I'm looking at getting another gas or hybrid power one.  

My question: Is a hybrid gas/propane one worth it from a quality perspective?  The ability to run on more than one kind of fuel is a plus but are those units more finicky or susceptible to breakdown than a gas only one?

A new generator doesn't do anything for my current problem.  A built-in NG one is appealing but along with the price to buy and install, long term use like this week would be result in a fairly hefty gas bill too.  My neighbor has a Gernerac and he's thinking that the gas bill will be between $700-800 and probably higher.  Granted, I've spent twice that on housing in Austin since Tuesday.

So, hybrid generator.... Worth it or stick with gas?

 

 

[luke duke 6361]

It’s worth it if you have a NG supply. Propane doesn’t do much for you unless you have a huge buried tank. Get an inverter style. Harbor Freight has some great options. A 3kW generator will run every 120V load in your house (maybe not at the same time).

[SizzleChest 8092]

1 hour ago, luke duke said:

It’s worth it if you have a NG supply. Propane doesn’t do much for you unless you have a huge buried tank. Get an inverter style. Harbor Freight has some great options. A 3kW generator will run every 120V load in your house (maybe not at the same time).

Propane's the worst option.  You burn through it really quickly.

Predator makes some nice inverters across a range of capacity.  Bought a Predator 9500W recently that will run a lot concurrently.

[HouTex 1838]

So Monday morning with winds still around 45+ mph I headed west on I-10 to find a portable generator.  Someone on 740 AM said there were generators at the Lowe’s in Rosenberg.  So I stopped at the first Lowe’s I came to on I-10 and they had portable generators and window units.  I bought a 6.7 kW Firman and a 10,000 btu window unit.  The generator was powered up a few hours later and we could sleep in comfort and save our food in our garage fridge.  I borrowed a friend’s window unit and I was able to cool another bedroom for my daughter and son-in-law.  Everything worked perfectly for two days until my power came back on.  The next thing is to get a transfer switch, assuming it’s up to code, so I can just connect it to my electrical panel and run the selected circuits I need.  It is a pain to keep feeding the generator gasoline and you have to change the oil quite often.  Still, best $1,400 I’ve spent in a while. 

Edited July 14 by HouTex

[Okie State 3696]

I'm looking at dual fuel inverters and then converting to run on natural gas. Looks pretty straight forward from what I have seen. Having three fuel options is also nice.

[msbesq 384]

I live in East College Station(Katy) and we bought a portable generator after the freeze in 2021 when ERCOT screwed up. We have a dual fuel 9500 watt Westinghouse and had a transfer switch installed. It’s enough to run everything downstairs including A/C or heat. 5 gallons of gas will last around 16 hours and a bbq tank of propane will last around 12 hours. You do not need to run it continuously. It can be shut off for awhile and turned back on if the temperature gets too hot(or cold) for you inside. The generator is also remote start and stop. 

[Okie State 3696]

Just now, msbesq said:

I live in East College Station(Katy) and we bought a portable generator after the freeze in 2021 when ERCOT screwed up. We have a dual fuel 9500 watt Westinghouse and had a transfer switch installed. It’s enough to run everything downstairs including A/C or heat. 5 gallons of gas will last around 16 hours and a bbq tank of propane will last around 12 hours. You do not need to run it continuously. It can be shut off for awhile and turned back on if the temperature gets too hot(or cold) for you inside. The generator is also remote start and stop. 

Who installed your transfer switch and how much did it cost? I'm looking to do the same.

[msbesq 384]

7 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Who installed your transfer switch and how much did it cost? I'm looking to do the same.

An electrician we have used before who installed outside up lighting for us. He charged $500 and it took him 4-5 hours. Jeyson Carrasco of Houston Northpoint Electric. Because it’s mounted next to and made a part of your electric panel make sure you use a master electrician.

[Bevo&Pevo 4923]

Pro Tip for you guys who use gasoline and worry about running out of gas in the middle of the night.  There isn't no rule that states you can't add a bigger fuel tank to your unit.  It may take a little homework or fab work, but it can be done. 

[Jkwellborn 6577]

Pro Tip for you guys who use gasoline and worry about running out of gas in the middle of the night.  There isn't no rule that states you can't add a bigger fuel tank to your unit.  It may take a little homework or fab work, but it can be done. 

You can get a transfer tank from tractor supply and plumb it to it.

[Macanudo 12743]

6 hours ago, SizzleChest said:

Propane's the worst option.  You burn through it really quickly.

Predator makes some nice inverters across a range of capacity.  Bought a Predator 9500W recently that will run a lot concurrently.

One person says propane burns fast and another says a tank last 12 hours.   

Seems like duel fuel would be worth it because having a tank or two of propane around would be fairly easy to keep as a reserve for regular gas.   Right?

[SizzleChest 8092]

20 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

One person says propane burns fast and another says a tank last 12 hours.   

Seems like duel fuel would be worth it because having a tank or two of propane around would be fairly easy to keep as a reserve for regular gas.   Right?

It all depends on what you are energizing with your inverter.  Gas - Most efficient for everything except home A/C.  Propane - OK, unless you are just keeping lamps and outlets for Wifi and charging devices going, then it's as good as gas.

[Jkwellborn 6577]

One person says propane burns fast and another says a tank last 12 hours.   
Seems like duel fuel would be worth it because having a tank or two of propane around would be fairly easy to keep as a reserve for regular gas.   Right?

Propane sales people will tell you it will last like everything else. Trust me, that’s horseshit. We get 6 hrs tops out of the forklift tanks we run at work, the propane company claimed it would be at least 8. We just laughed when she said that.

[Catpfish 618]

Also, don't forget to consider that the power ratings on the generators are for operation using gas.  Propane has a 10% dropoff in output and natural gas has a 20% decrease.  Make sure you plan ahead for the actual output for the fuel you are using.

 

[luke duke 6361]

The problem with propane is that it’s expensive to store a meaningful amount. There are also far fewer places that you can get more.

[Jkwellborn 6577]

The problem with propane is that it’s expensive to store a meaningful amount. There are also far fewer places that you can get more.

We are paying more for propane than we are diesel at work.

[Gil Bang 25551]

On 1/25/2023 at 10:00 AM, Catpfish said:

I'm just east of Pflugerville.  I just checked, my quote was $13,840 and they delivered the unit within a couple of days of signing (Joe told me that they had units in stock) the bid so that I could have the propane tank installed.  The quote is turnkey on the generator side, so it includes all electrical and startup.  The total time from signing to fully functioning will be about 3.5 weeks.

The bid was from Capital Power Systems.  The owner is Joe Rizzo and he's been a great guy to work with.  He did want half up front, but with that quick of a turnaround, I was fine with that.  I think he wants half up front because the unit is dropped off early in the process so that the gas can be plumbed in as quickly as possible.  After that, the electrician comes and does his thing with the transfer switch/wiring.

THAT'S RIZZO R-I-Z-Z-O

You buy this fucking generator or I'll break your fuckin' head

[Updawg 2245]

Joe fuckin Rizzo is the best in the bidness. You got a fuckin problem with that. How about we show you around out back in the warehouse

[tx 3 putt 75221]

On 7/14/2024 at 10:51 PM, Jkwellborn said:

Propane sales people will tell you it will last like everything else. Trust me, that’s horseshit. We get 6 hrs tops out of the forklift tanks we run at work, the propane company claimed it would be at least 8. We just laughed when she said that.

 

[immamac 41615]

Whole whole generators also are better cleaner power than an open chassis generator unless you have an inverter generator. 

The best solution is to have a portable or permanent solar array, a whole home grid tie inverter, and a battery bank equivalent to 2 whole days of normal consumption and an open chassis generator with a plug you can use to charge the battery if there is no sun for an extended period of time. 

You would be good for weeks with 100 gallons of gas on hand with that setup most likely. 

You can get whole home batteries for around $275/KWh assembled nowadays vs spending the close to $500 or $600 on a Powerwall. There's also complete DIY systems you can put together that are better than any ATS generator system by itself that can pass through 200A 240V or run it with 20ms cutover on live loads. You can scale up from there but it starts getting a bit more price prohibitive. 

 

[HouTex 1838]

I recently priced the solar/battery option with the 2 day battery reserve at my average consumption for August/September.  I need 120 kWh per day on average in those months.  I was quoted $60k and they couldn’t convince me that I had room for the number of solar panels needed to run my house and recharge the batteries after 2 days of using battery power alone.  I estimated that I need 50 panels and I have nowhere near that roof space.  After I buy another window unit and install a transfer switch, I’ll be in for about $2,500 (including the portable generator and another window unit I bought the day of the hurricane) and that will allow me to cool two bedrooms for sleeping and keep a fridge going and run the internet and some TVs.  The downside for me is having to keep feeding gasoline to the generator every 12 hours.  It’s still worth it.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13295]

I'm tempted to get a portable NG generator to run certain parts of my house, including the refrigerator along with a method to connect it to the breaker box.

With my gasoline generator I keep it far from my house because of the carbon monoxide danger. I understand that a malfunctioning NG generator could also produce CO, and in my experience NG generators are close to the house. Is that a realistic danger?

[Dahobbs 17180]

20 minutes ago, HouTex said:

I recently priced the solar/battery option with the 2 day battery reserve at my average consumption for August/September.  I need 120 kWh per day on average in those months.  I was quoted $60k and they couldn’t convince me that I had room for the number of solar panels needed to run my house and recharge the batteries after 2 days of using battery power alone.  I estimated that I need 50 panels and I have nowhere near that roof space.  After I buy another window unit and install a transfer switch, I’ll be in for about $2,500 (including the portable generator and another window unit I bought the day of the hurricane) and that will allow me to cool two bedrooms for sleeping and keep a fridge going and run the internet and some TVs.  The downside for me is having to keep feeding gasoline to the generator every 12 hours.  It’s still worth it.  

120 kwh per day has to be with things like laundry, dishwasher, pool pump, and other non-critical things running. During the storm, we kept the house at 78 and only ran laundry or cooked with oven (electric) when we had excess solar energy (i.e., once the battery was near full). You do just some minimal conservation like that and you no longer need such a huge reserve or a set of panels. Also, 2 full days of batteries is excessive. You need enough so that the combined solar and stored energy last you through the day. That's it. And keep in mind while cloudy days mean less energy, it also means you'll be using less to cool the home. 

[tokamak 6323]

53 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I'm tempted to get a portable NG generator to run certain parts of my house, including the refrigerator along with a method to connect it to the breaker box.

With my gasoline generator I keep it far from my house because of the carbon monoxide danger. I understand that a malfunctioning NG generator could also produce CO, and in my experience NG generators are close to the house. Is that a realistic danger?

Ours sits pretty close to our house, but we don't have any windows that open on that side and we minimize the use of the door on that side of the house when it's running. My feeling has always been that as long as you're being somewhat sensible and not running the generator in a closed area (e.g., garage), you'll be fine.

[Dutchrudder 10976]

If you're interested in setting up a whole-home portable generator for your house, there's a Facebook group called "Generators: portable generators to power entire house" that I used to help get my house setup. This was one of the first things I did when we bought a new home in summer of 2021.  Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868/

The owner of the group built a guide to all the parts and pieces needed, has a list of electricians and plumbers for install, and he's always willing to help answer questions if you have any. He helped me pick the right interlock kit, breakers, etc. Nice guy, and there are plenty of other people in there willing to help answer any questions you may have.  

To do the setup, here's a quick run down of the items and estimated costs of each I used:
 1. Generator - Duromax 13000 Tri Fuel: $2000 https://www.duromaxpower.com/collections/hxt-series/products/duromax-xp13000hxt-13000-watt-500cc-tri-fuel-gas-propane-natural-gas-portable-generator-with-co-alert

2. 50 amp power cord from gen to house outlet: $150  

3. 50 amp power inlet box to connect to breaker box: $75

4. Breaker for generator inlet: $60

5. 3/4 inch natural gas hose quick connect: $75

6. Optional: Whole house surge protector Siemens FS140: $250

7. Generator manual interlock kit for breaker box: $50

8. HVAC MicroAir Soft Start: $280 per HVAC

Services:
1. Master Electrician to install inlet box, breaker, interlock, soft starts: $600

2. Plumber to install gas hose quick connect and valve: $300

Total cost roughly around $4000 to get everything setup with a portable that I keep in the garage. I wheel it out when needed, which has been twice in the last 2 years, and it does the job of powering everything in the house. The main drawback is that my wife would never set it up on her own without me, but we have neighbors and friends that would be willing to help in the event that I'm out of town during a major storm. 

[Rip76 4880]

On 7/14/2024 at 2:31 PM, msbesq said:

5 gallons of gas will last around 16 hours 

That seems pretty f'ing good.

[LoyalHorn 21]

Would anyone happen to have any recommendations for a service provider that can install a new Kohler generator for my home in Houston? 

[immamac 41615]

3 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

If you're interested in setting up a whole-home portable generator for your house, there's a Facebook group called "Generators: portable generators to power entire house" that I used to help get my house setup. This was one of the first things I did when we bought a new home in summer of 2021.  Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868/

The owner of the group built a guide to all the parts and pieces needed, has a list of electricians and plumbers for install, and he's always willing to help answer questions if you have any. He helped me pick the right interlock kit, breakers, etc. Nice guy, and there are plenty of other people in there willing to help answer any questions you may have.  

To do the setup, here's a quick run down of the items and estimated costs of each I used:
 1. Generator - Duromax 13000 Tri Fuel: $2000 https://www.duromaxpower.com/collections/hxt-series/products/duromax-xp13000hxt-13000-watt-500cc-tri-fuel-gas-propane-natural-gas-portable-generator-with-co-alert

2. 50 amp power cord from gen to house outlet: $150  

3. 50 amp power inlet box to connect to breaker box: $75

4. Breaker for generator inlet: $60

5. 3/4 inch natural gas hose quick connect: $75

6. Optional: Whole house surge protector Siemens FS140: $250

7. Generator manual interlock kit for breaker box: $50

8. HVAC MicroAir Soft Start: $280 per HVAC

Services:
1. Master Electrician to install inlet box, breaker, interlock, soft starts: $600

2. Plumber to install gas hose quick connect and valve: $300

Total cost roughly around $4000 to get everything setup with a portable that I keep in the garage. I wheel it out when needed, which has been twice in the last 2 years, and it does the job of powering everything in the house. The main drawback is that my wife would never set it up on her own without me, but we have neighbors and friends that would be willing to help in the event that I'm out of town during a major storm. 

I have this exact setup at my house and got this done for about the same price but I redid my entire main panel because it was the original one and wasn't compatible with an interlock system because there was no main breaker. I wanted a main breaker anyway so I didn't mind. I use Gasoline and fall back to propane tanks instead of natgas.

4 hours ago, HouTex said:

I recently priced the solar/battery option with the 2 day battery reserve at my average consumption for August/September.  I need 120 kWh per day on average in those months.  I was quoted $60k and they couldn’t convince me that I had room for the number of solar panels needed to run my house and recharge the batteries after 2 days of using battery power alone.  I estimated that I need 50 panels and I have nowhere near that roof space.  After I buy another window unit and install a transfer switch, I’ll be in for about $2,500 (including the portable generator and another window unit I bought the day of the hurricane) and that will allow me to cool two bedrooms for sleeping and keep a fridge going and run the internet and some TVs.  The downside for me is having to keep feeding gasoline to the generator every 12 hours.  It’s still worth it.  

With 2 days of battery you don't need solar for anything but consumption during the day and if you conserve you charge the battery. Thats why it's important to have the generator to charge the batteries when there isn't enough solar generation, with the setup you can get an open chassis generator like the one above and it charges the batteries extremely efficiently and quickly because it can draw optimally to charge the batteries and not waste any electricity or gas by constantly overgenerating etc. 

You are also comparing apples to baseballs. Having a shitty generator and a window unit isn't the same as literally not knowing when the grid is on or off, which is what that battery system setup would do for you. 

 

4 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

120 kwh per day has to be with things like laundry, dishwasher, pool pump, and other non-critical things running. During the storm, we kept the house at 78 and only ran laundry or cooked with oven (electric) when we had excess solar energy (i.e., once the battery was near full). You do just some minimal conservation like that and you no longer need such a huge reserve or a set of panels. Also, 2 full days of batteries is excessive. You need enough so that the combined solar and stored energy last you through the day. That's it. And keep in mind while cloudy days mean less energy, it also means you'll be using less to cool the home. 

Yeah dude, keep the AC at 69, swim with your kids, use an electric chainsaw, power tools, whatever the fuck you want for 2 days with the sun completely blacked out and be able to charge at 80A continuous by generator straight to the batteries. This is an alternative to a whole home generac type thing, but without putting all your eggs in one basket and having arguably cleaner power and advantages throughout the year like peak shaving + your depth of discharge on the battery bank would rarely be beyond 50-60% DoD so you could cycle the batteries like 6000+ times and have them work for you for 10+ years easily with the chemistry of today. 

[Dahobbs 17180]

5 minutes ago, immamac said:

Yeah dude, keep the AC at 69, swim with your kids, use an electric chainsaw, power tools, whatever the fuck you want for 2 days with the sun completely blacked out and be able to charge at 80A continuous by generator straight to the batteries. This is an alternative to a whole home generac type thing, but without putting all your eggs in one basket and having arguably cleaner power and advantages throughout the year like peak shaving + your depth of discharge on the battery bank would rarely be beyond 50-60% DoD so you could cycle the batteries like 6000+ times and have them work for you for 10+ years easily with the chemistry of today. 

I get it that you're talking about gold-plated primo option, but he is balking at the price. You can get 90% of what you're talking about for a fraction of the cost with fairly minimal conservation. 2 days of batteries is A LOT of batteries (especially if he is using 120 kwh daily). The other issue is that you if oversize the solar system you end up wasting a lot of power when the batteries are full (panels shut down). On sunny days we could pretty much do whatever we wanted. In order to not waste solar energy, we timed things like laundry and charging the car around when the battery started getting full. 

[Hate 20046]

3 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

If you're interested in setting up a whole-home portable generator for your house, there's a Facebook group called "Generators: portable generators to power entire house" that I used to help get my house setup. This was one of the first things I did when we bought a new home in summer of 2021.  Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868/

The owner of the group built a guide to all the parts and pieces needed, has a list of electricians and plumbers for install, and he's always willing to help answer questions if you have any. He helped me pick the right interlock kit, breakers, etc. Nice guy, and there are plenty of other people in there willing to help answer any questions you may have.  

To do the setup, here's a quick run down of the items and estimated costs of each I used:
 1. Generator - Duromax 13000 Tri Fuel: $2000 https://www.duromaxpower.com/collections/hxt-series/products/duromax-xp13000hxt-13000-watt-500cc-tri-fuel-gas-propane-natural-gas-portable-generator-with-co-alert

2. 50 amp power cord from gen to house outlet: $150  

3. 50 amp power inlet box to connect to breaker box: $75

4. Breaker for generator inlet: $60

5. 3/4 inch natural gas hose quick connect: $75

6. Optional: Whole house surge protector Siemens FS140: $250

7. Generator manual interlock kit for breaker box: $50

8. HVAC MicroAir Soft Start: $280 per HVAC

Services:
1. Master Electrician to install inlet box, breaker, interlock, soft starts: $600

2. Plumber to install gas hose quick connect and valve: $300

Total cost roughly around $4000 to get everything setup with a portable that I keep in the garage. I wheel it out when needed, which has been twice in the last 2 years, and it does the job of powering everything in the house. The main drawback is that my wife would never set it up on her own without me, but we have neighbors and friends that would be willing to help in the event that I'm out of town during a major storm. 

This is exactly what I have planned for my house. I’ll have it set up in a few weeks. The generator is out of stock and I need to arrange the soft start installation.

[Rip76 4880]

2 hours ago, LoyalHorn said:

Would anyone happen to have any recommendations for a service provider that can install a new Kohler generator for my home in Houston? 

Just saw this on the gram.

Houston.  He provides the number in the video.

 

[davidg 4015]

This is another guy from the Houston are who installed his generator in a plastic yard shed complete with exhaust fan, battery charger and extended exhaust.   He has several videos on his channel with this one being an update after Beryl.  Might be an option to consider if DIYing a quasi permanent generator install.

 

[HouTex 1838]

2 hours ago, immamac said:

I have this exact setup at my house and got this done for about the same price but I redid my entire main panel because it was the original one and wasn't compatible with an interlock system because there was no main breaker. I wanted a main breaker anyway so I didn't mind. I use Gasoline and fall back to propane tanks instead of natgas.

With 2 days of battery you don't need solar for anything but consumption during the day and if you conserve you charge the battery. Thats why it's important to have the generator to charge the batteries when there isn't enough solar generation, with the setup you can get an open chassis generator like the one above and it charges the batteries extremely efficiently and quickly because it can draw optimally to charge the batteries and not waste any electricity or gas by constantly overgenerating etc. 

You are also comparing apples to baseballs. Having a shitty generator and a window unit isn't the same as literally not knowing when the grid is on or off, which is what that battery system setup would do for you. 

 

Yeah dude, keep the AC at 69, swim with your kids, use an electric chainsaw, power tools, whatever the fuck you want for 2 days with the sun completely blacked out and be able to charge at 80A continuous by generator straight to the batteries. This is an alternative to a whole home generac type thing, but without putting all your eggs in one basket and having arguably cleaner power and advantages throughout the year like peak shaving + your depth of discharge on the battery bank would rarely be beyond 50-60% DoD so you could cycle the batteries like 6000+ times and have them work for you for 10+ years easily with the chemistry of today. 

Not sure of the respectful response here.  But there’s no fucking way I can make battery/solar work with any outrageously conservative power use.  Not even close.  

[immamac 41615]

3 minutes ago, HouTex said:

Not sure of the respectful response here.  But there’s no fucking way I can make battery/solar work with any outrageously conservative power use.  Not even close.  

Yeah that's why you get battery + open chassis cheap(er) generator and supplement with some solar, not a lot. I was agreeing with your post and saying that the solar was bogus and not needed. The batteries with multiple ways to charge is what makes it awesome. 

[Updawg 2245]

Yeah that's why you get battery + open chassis cheap(er) generator and supplement with some solar, not a lot. I was agreeing with your post and saying that the solar was bogus and not needed. The batteries with multiple ways to charge is what makes it awesome. 

What kind of battery setup do you have. Kind of interested in this approach. Any links would be appreciated

[Dutchrudder 10976]

One other word of caution is to look up the credentials of your electrician. Do not allow an "Apprentice" to do the work, they have zero credibility and are not legally allowed to do it without supervision from a higher level electrician. Lots of scammy people are out there right now looking to make a quick buck off desperate people.  You can ask for their license number to check. 

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch/

 

[tokamak 6323]

So I had the bright idea of buying enough batteries (Tesla or otherwise) to last me through a full day at a time, and signing up for a "free nights" electricity plan and basically never paying for electricity. Added bonus would be the ability to strictly ration and make it through a few days in the event of an outage, or longer with the help of a small generator.

I can't get the math to work out, though. At the peak of the summer, my house uses something in the range of 50-60 kWh per 24 hour period. So I'd need at least 3, probably 4 Tesla batteries. At roughly $9k a pop, it's way too expensive.

I guess the batteries only make any sort of sense if you also have solar? Does anyone here have batteries without solar?

[HouTex 1838]

2 hours ago, tokamak said:

So I had the bright idea of buying enough batteries (Tesla or otherwise) to last me through a full day at a time, and signing up for a "free nights" electricity plan and basically never paying for electricity. Added bonus would be the ability to strictly ration and make it through a few days in the event of an outage, or longer with the help of a small generator.

I can't get the math to work out, though. At the peak of the summer, my house uses something in the range of 50-60 kWh per 24 hour period. So I'd need at least 3, probably 4 Tesla batteries. At roughly $9k a pop, it's way too expensive.

I guess the batteries only make any sort of sense if you also have solar? Does anyone here have batteries without solar?

I researched this and I couldn’t make it work.  During the derecho I had no sun for 48 hours after the power went out.  So I need batteries that would last that long.  The batteries alone would cost me around $40k.  Then there’s the solar panels.  I don’t have near the roof space for the number of panels I would need.  My portable generator with a couple window units is a good solution for around $2,800 all in.  

[Clackles 276]

On 7/17/2024 at 8:38 PM, Updawg said:

What kind of battery setup do you have. Kind of interested in this approach. Any links would be appreciated

Wondering the same.  Was researching a solar system w Powerwall, and one salesman said it was possible to charge the Powerwall with portable generator, but the website fairly clearly refutes that.  I agree, a little solar and batteries that can recharge in a pinch w portable gen is enticing.

[tokamak 6323]

26 minutes ago, Clackles said:

Wondering the same.  Was researching a solar system w Powerwall, and one salesman said it was possible to charge the Powerwall with portable generator, but the website fairly clearly refutes that.  I agree, a little solar and batteries that can recharge in a pinch w portable gen is enticing.

Enphase's batteries specifically can be charged with a generator, according to their website. That would be a pretty nice setup if you could use a quiet little inverter generator to keep them topped up.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13295]

3 hours ago, tokamak said:

So I had the bright idea of buying enough batteries (Tesla or otherwise) to last me through a full day at a time, and signing up for a "free nights" electricity plan and basically never paying for electricity. Added bonus would be the ability to strictly ration and make it through a few days in the event of an outage, or longer with the help of a small generator.

I can't get the math to work out, though. At the peak of the summer, my house uses something in the range of 50-60 kWh per 24 hour period. So I'd need at least 3, probably 4 Tesla batteries. At roughly $9k a pop, it's way too expensive.

I guess the batteries only make any sort of sense if you also have solar? Does anyone here have batteries without solar?

Battery tech/costs doesn't seem feasible for many yet. If you have a gas connection, the whole home generator looks to be the best bang for your buck if you want the entire (most) of the house running. I assume that even with the whole home generator you have to ration usage by not running too much at the same time.

I'm Team portable generator but I'm tempted to move up.

 

[MonkeyDoughnut 9974]

Any recomendations for an installer / service company in south Houston - Sugar Land/Missouri City/Pearland area?  Looking to get a whole home setup. Thanks

[Beer Drinker 592]

On 7/17/2024 at 2:26 PM, Dutchrudder said:

If you're interested in setting up a whole-home portable generator for your house, there's a Facebook group called "Generators: portable generators to power entire house" that I used to help get my house setup. This was one of the first things I did when we bought a new home in summer of 2021.  Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868/

The owner of the group built a guide to all the parts and pieces needed, has a list of electricians and plumbers for install, and he's always willing to help answer questions if you have any. He helped me pick the right interlock kit, breakers, etc. Nice guy, and there are plenty of other people in there willing to help answer any questions you may have.  

To do the setup, here's a quick run down of the items and estimated costs of each I used:
 1. Generator - Duromax 13000 Tri Fuel: $2000 https://www.duromaxpower.com/collections/hxt-series/products/duromax-xp13000hxt-13000-watt-500cc-tri-fuel-gas-propane-natural-gas-portable-generator-with-co-alert

2. 50 amp power cord from gen to house outlet: $150  

3. 50 amp power inlet box to connect to breaker box: $75

4. Breaker for generator inlet: $60

5. 3/4 inch natural gas hose quick connect: $75

6. Optional: Whole house surge protector Siemens FS140: $250

7. Generator manual interlock kit for breaker box: $50

8. HVAC MicroAir Soft Start: $280 per HVAC

Services:
1. Master Electrician to install inlet box, breaker, interlock, soft starts: $600

2. Plumber to install gas hose quick connect and valve: $300

Total cost roughly around $4000 to get everything setup with a portable that I keep in the garage. I wheel it out when needed, which has been twice in the last 2 years, and it does the job of powering everything in the house. The main drawback is that my wife would never set it up on her own without me, but we have neighbors and friends that would be willing to help in the event that I'm out of town during a major storm. 

I just did this. Works great