Generator Connection, Powers Generator etc.

[dt5150]

looking to get some quotes for a whole home standby generator. these 2 places are the only 2 i know of. i need a place that does maintenance, emergency service, and also offers financing. anyone have any feedback on either of these places or any other shops in the lakes region to recommend? thanks!

[RLW]

Give this thread a try it may have something that will help you out.

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ad.php?t=14849

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by dt5150

looking to get some quotes for a whole home standby generator. these 2 places are the only 2 i know of. i need a place that does maintenance, emergency service, and also offers financing. anyone have any feedback on either of these places or any other shops in the lakes region to recommend? thanks!

Generator Connection installed our 20 KW whole house Kholer generator. I have the normal household items plus a Geothermal system and outside hot tub that runs 24x7x180. The system runs great now.
Kholer had several problems initially with this unit three years ago. They made errors in judgement trying to price their units to compete with the inferior GenRac generators sold by the HD and Lowes.
Generator Connections were fantastic serving this generator and our needs. I would highly recommend them.

PM me if you want more information.

[dt5150]

thanks guys. any others?

[jmen24]

Contact any reputable electrician in the area. Our electrician (likely not in your area) has been installing these for our customers for years! The plus side is you get to choose the exact model and brand that fits your needs, not just what the dealer works with.

[dt5150]

i'm not opposed to that, but odds are a local electrician is going to de maint. agreements on the thing or emergency service. or financing.

[Major]

Try Powr Point out of Maine -- 207-864-2787. We've had other service providers, and they have performed the best. The problem with having an electrician install it is that they will not maintain it, especially if the model of the generator you buy is discontinued. Powr Point may be a little more expensive, but they are reliable.

[RLW]

Major, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

Thanks for joining in and helping out with the request.

[dt5150]

welcome major!

i have an appt with the generator connection next wed for a survey/quote.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by dt5150

i'm not opposed to that, but odds are a local electrician is going to de maint. agreements on the thing or emergency service. or financing.

Financing, probably not. The other two items are more than possible. When looking at electricians, this is where reputable comes in.

Good luck with whichever option you choose, these are worth the investment, IMO!

[dt5150]

got another appt with powers generators on tuesday.

[winlessinnh]

Generator Connection installed my whole house generator. They did a great job and the service afterwards has been nothing but spectacular. Highly recommend them.

[T.H.E. Binz]

K&M Generators in Wakefield sell, install, and maintain Generac brand generators. Half of the electricians you talk to think Kohlers are inferior while the other half think Generacs are inferior -go figure (it probably depends on which brand they sell!).

[Smokienorm]

Try Joe Morin of Morin Electric in Bridgewater. He installed a whole house GE propane generator for us last year in Gilford and one for our cousin in Alton. Both of us are very satisfied and Joe is a very pleasant person with whom to deal. A licensed electrician as well but mostly does generators.

[dt5150]

quote from powers, $8936. 14k watt kohler standby installed (minus propane installation costs)

generator connection came out yesterday. should have their #s today or tomorrow. same unit.

[RLW]

That price really surprises me. I paid just about 6K for my 14KW Generac and I purchased my own 2-250 gallon propane tanks. that price includes unit, electrician, excavating for wiring from unit to the house and the gas hook up and tested. Another words soup to nuts. I purchased the unit, hired the electrician and excavator. I have made contact with a dealer for service when needed.

[winlessinnh]

Be careful about what you buy. I have heard many horror stories about Generac. Make sure you are happy with the quality of the generator, the motor, the accessories (auto start, batter charger, transfer switch, etc.). I found after much comparative shopping that you get what you pay for. You can have up to a 2X swing in pricing depending on the quality and accessories chosen.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by dt5150

quote from powers, $8936. 14k watt kohler standby installed (minus propane installation costs)

generator connection came out yesterday. should have their #s today or tomorrow. same unit.

Sounds ridiculous to me....

We have a 12kw GE generator that was purchased through Home Depot. With the whole house transfer switch I paid $3k delivered. This was a few years ago. My electrician was $1400, and that was with my generator being a long distance from the home, so there was a lot of wire involved.

Home Depot sells a 13kw now for $3299 with the switch, shipped.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-13-000...0#.UqEKk8KA270

They have 2 options for Kohlers as well, $3600-3700. Here is one of them:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/KOHLER-14...N#.UqELV8KA270

My GE has been great. No issues whatsoever. I use Philbricks Generator Service to do my annual with protection plan for $295.

[RLW]

Originally Posted by winlessinnh

Be careful about what you buy. I have heard many horror stories about Generac. Make sure you are happy with the quality of the generator, the motor, the accessories (auto start, batter charger, transfer switch, etc.). I found after much comparative shopping that you get what you pay for. You can have up to a 2X swing in pricing depending on the quality and accessories chosen.

I would love to see a true and honest horror story. Were they corrected by the company?? I did 1-1/2 years worth of on and off checking out the Generac and the only thing that I came up with is the electric line was a tad bit more noisy than a couple others. This has not even shown it's head in my system in the past 3 years. It doesn't even give my touchiest equipment a problem. One needs to perform the proper maintenance on the equipment just like ones lawn mower to keep the mechanical parts running like a clock..

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by winlessinnh

Be careful about what you buy. I have heard many horror stories about Generac. Make sure you are happy with the quality of the generator, the motor, the accessories (auto start, batter charger, transfer switch, etc.). I found after much comparative shopping that you get what you pay for. You can have up to a 2X swing in pricing depending on the quality and accessories chosen.

Agreed, though the Generac "fill the oil, check the gas" horror stories were more from the older units 10 years ago. It depends on how and when you will intend to use it. One of my gensets is a Generac, but it's at a location where we hardly ever lose power and for $600 it's a good standby. If I use it twice, I will be both surprised, and satisfied that I got my monies worth.

[Winnisquamguy]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

Agreed, though the Generac "fill the oil, check the gas" horror stories were more from the older units 10 years ago. It depends on how and when you will intend to use it. One of my gensets is a Generac, but it's at a location where we hardly ever lose power and for $600 it's a good standby. If I use it twice, I will be both surprised, and satisfied that I got my monies worth.

You're talking about a 6500 watt generator and RLW has a whole house generator. One runs on gas the other runs on propane. Two totally different units.

[capt123]

I Highly recommend Philbricks Mobile Service in Stratham.

http://www.philbrickspower.com/


He services all models ans sells Briggs and Stratton. I've be very satisfied with my 10K unit. Prices are reasonable and service is the best.

Give Rick a call. He does work all over the lakes region

[Diver Vince]

Just had a 6300 watt Yamaha portable inverter generator installed. We wanted the inverter technology because of our computers, Hi Def TVs etc. Nice and quiet compared to our old gas Coleman generator.

Generators putting out raw wattage can seriously damage the electronic items. I know from past experience so I was sold on the inverter technology. We also wanted to have the ability for it to run on propane, natural gas as well as gasoline since gasoline has storage problems with the ethanol component.
We used a 10 circuit Reliance Protrane transfer case. So although it's not a whole house generator we've got all the important circuits covered.

Previously we explored the whole house generators but really the unsightly large propane tank would have destroyed our beautiful view so we decided against it. Just another option to consider.

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by Diver Vince

Just had a 6300 watt Yamaha portable inverter generator installed. We wanted the inverter technology because of our computers, Hi Def TVs etc. Nice and quiet compared to our old gas Coleman generator.

Generators putting out raw wattage can seriously damage the electronic items. I know from past experience so I was sold on the inverter technology. We also wanted to have the ability for it to run on propane, natural gas as well as gasoline since gasoline has storage problems with the ethanol component.
We used a 10 circuit Reliance Protrane transfer case. So although it's not a whole house generator we've got all the important circuits covered.

Previously we explored the whole house generators but really the unsightly large propane tank would have destroyed our beautiful view so we decided against it. Just another option to consider.

The propane tanks can be buried to alleviate the view problem. An added benefit of putting them 4 feet underground is more propane can be stored in them (90% filled versus 80%) since there is less temperature variation.

[Kamper]

Originally Posted by Diver Vince

Just had a 6300 watt Yamaha portable inverter generator installed. We wanted the inverter technology because of our computers, Hi Def TVs etc. ...

That's something many people forget about. For those who already have a non-inverter genny, you can get inverter devices but a battery back-up costs about the same and your processor won't crash while you bring the hamster online. This is more critical for home-at-homes but if you ever bring home something important to finish, you will appreciate this equipment the first time your house lights flicker!

[RLW]

I have been using a standard full house generator and the smaller 6.5K portable generator for many, many years and never had a single problem with any of my HI Tech systems and my noise level is a bit high. I'm not sure that an inverter is really needed. Is there extra cost for having the inverter as I have never checked into them as like I said I've never had a problem.

[HellRaZoR004]

You need the inverter technology if you're using it to power a Lennox furnace. I have a coworker that fried the control panel on it b/c of the 'dirty power' the honda generator created.

That being said, I rather pay a little extra to make sure I'm okay.

[Diver Vince]

Originally Posted by RLW

I have been using a standard full house generator and the smaller 6.5K portable generator for many, many years and never had a single problem with any of my HI Tech systems and my noise level is a bit high. I'm not sure that an inverter is really needed. Is there extra cost for having the inverter as I have never checked into them as like I said I've never had a problem.

Count yourself as one of the lucky ones. I've had problems with boilers, relays on pumps, flickering lights etc. The cost of damaged sensitive circuit equipment and the ensuing frustration caused by the dirty power of the regular generators more than makes up for the additional cost of the inverter technology IMHO. The power put out by inverter is (from what I've read) as clean as the power you receive from the electric company. Apparently first it's converted to DC and then back to AC before kicking it out. Additionally, it is much quieter when running.

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by RLW

I have been using a standard full house generator and the smaller 6.5K portable generator for many, many years and never had a single problem with any of my HI Tech systems and my noise level is a bit high. I'm not sure that an inverter is really needed. Is there extra cost for having the inverter as I have never checked into them as like I said I've never had a problem.

I've never had a problem either. Is the problem related to the smaller gas fueled generators?

[Happy Gourmand]

We had a "regular" 7500W Honda generator back during the extended outage in October 2008. Lennox heating system, HD TV, Multiple computers, all the necessary appliances, etc. We were even able to do laundry, (gas dryer) cook, (gas stove) and never had a problem. It is wired through our main panel, so everything in the house has power, as long as I don't try to run everything at once. Never had a problem!

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by HellRaZoR004

You need the inverter technology if you're using it to power a Lennox furnace. I have a coworker that fried the control panel on it b/c of the 'dirty power' the honda generator created.

That being said, I rather pay a little extra to make sure I'm okay.

This isn't exactly true. You can buy generators that put out a more clean/regulated power. My house in Michigan had a Gillette Sentry Pro (http://www.gillettegenerators.com/products/3/SPP-180) which put out a very clean and regulated power feed.

[HellRaZoR004]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

This isn't exactly true. You can buy generators that put out a more clean/regulated power. My house in Michigan had a Gillette Sentry Pro (http://www.gillettegenerators.com/products/3/SPP-180) which put out a very clean and regulated power feed.

You are correct - unfortunately this thread keeps bouncing between standby generators and portable generators. My post was more aimed towards the gas filled portable generators that you get at Home Depot, etc.

Take the Generac XP and the Generac XG series generators. Using a standard oscilloscope measure the output; you will find the XP is far cleaner (sinusoidal output) than the XG which has more of a stepped output (square-wave output). This makes a big difference when powering sensitive electronics.

Another thing to consider is loading/demand. Generators provide a much cleaner output when they aren't cycling (revving) the engine to match the demand. Most portable generators lower the RPM of the engine when the demand isn't there (reduces noise and saves gas), but that comes at a cost. When a fridge/freezer kicks on the demand increases and it takes time for the generator to come back up to full operating speed.

Update: for those interested this provides plenty of information...
http://support.fluke.com/find-sales/...12_ENG_A_W.PDF

[uschisk]

We got estimates from Powers, Generator Connection and a local electrician for our whole-house generator. We ended up going with Generator Connection and couldn't be happier. I went online to try to sort out the quality of generators, and found a lot of contractors who install Generac frustrated with how often they had to repair the units.

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by uschisk

We got estimates from Powers, Generator Connection and a local electrician for our whole-house generator. We ended up going with Generator Connection and couldn't be happier. I went online to try to sort out the quality of generators, and found a lot of contractors who install Generac frustrated with how often they had to repair the units.

Congratulations Uschisk. IMO you made the right choice.

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by uschisk

We got estimates from Powers, Generator Connection and a local electrician for our whole-house generator. We ended up going with Generator Connection and couldn't be happier. I went online to try to sort out the quality of generators, and found a lot of contractors who install Generac frustrated with how often they had to repair the units.

You get what you pay for. I went with a local generator company. My electrician quoted a price that was significantly cheaper but I decided to pay for a better quality unit sold by an expert capable of providing follow-on service.

[dt5150]

$8195 from the generator connection.

i have no doubt that i could accomplish the same task with the same components for less money, but as stated above, i want to buy from a business that can provide follow-up and emergency service as well as financing. we're likely to go with the generator connection after the checking account rebounds from xmas...

[Newcomers]

I am looking to put in a propane whole house generator and see there are ultiple brands available. Can anyone tell me if they have seen any independent research on how the models compare to the amount of noise they make?
My neighbors are fairly close.

Thanks!

[SIKSUKR]

Enclosures can make a big difference. If you have a nearby shed it can be utilized but some are made from plastic Home Depot sheds. Look on Youtube and you can find many home made exhaust mufflers to really reduce noise.

[ishoot308]

I also recently hired the "Generator Connection" to install a 20KW whole house generator. So far they have been nothing but extremely professional.

Dan