Maintenance free whole house generators?

Here in Brooklyn the wires are underground. But where my elderly mom lives in NJ there are frequent power outages. She got her power back for about a day, and it is out again.

Of course she would put in a natural gas generator. But what I learned tonight is they require checking the oil level twice a day with a dipstick. And adding oil. This would be beyond what she can do. Are all generators like this? Are there ones that can run for two weeks with no maintenance?

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss
Loading thread data ...

Twice a day seems a lot but I guess 12 hours on a small engine can use it up. Is there a neighbor than can do the checks? I'd think most any teenager can handle ir.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

She can't count on a neighbor. I would think that the person telling me this bought a cheap generator*. I can't believe there aren't ones that can run with no maintenance for two weeks.

But going to a website, like Generac's, they don't tell you things like this.

  • She did say hers is only partial house, and she did not have to replace her plastic lined gas main. My mom's main also has a plastic insert, and will have to be replaced if we want her to have a serious generator.

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

A quick search turned up this one:

It has a low oil shutdown/alert. Murphy Switchgage makes all sorts of engine gauges/shutdowns.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Yes there are systems for generatos that automaticlly pump oil into the crankcase when required, just like the system used on the old Toyota Previa.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

All of them shut down when the oil is low. They don't self destruct. But that doesn't solve the problem of a 96 year old woman having to add oil.

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

Well, Murphy has this: I spotted at least one more brand with a quick search.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Interesting. I didn't know such a thing existed. I looked through a couple of the installation manuals. I was unable to find whether it could, or could not, be used outside.

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

That may the right answer. It makes sense. I can't believe if one buys a high-end generator one has to manually monitor and keep the oil filled.

Next time I talk to the woman I can ask what generator she has. I have already spoken with her twice tonight.

She's the junior warden at my mom's church. She's more concerned that my mom gets a generator than we kids are. Apparently my mom is the only very old person in the church living alone, with no live in help or children living nearby. But she drives every day and likes her independence. Though with the tree that fell on the car's windshield, she can't drive until the mobile unit comes to replace it.

Thanks, Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

I see their stuff on power units on irrigation wells. This stuff sits outside year 'round. It's only actually used in the summer though. I've never seen that oil level maintainer though.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

Is there some sort of some self starting mechanism just for test purposes? I understand some self start at loss of power but what about just a test?

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

From what I've seen Generac residential generators are crap. I wound up with one that was only a few years old from a neighbor. It failed and the service people told him it wasn't worth fixing and they didn't even want it for parts. He bought a new one. I got the old one, diagnosed it down to a bad rotor and possibly a bad stator. I was going to fix it, until I looked at reviews of Generac on Amazon. This was about 5 years ago. The reviews were really, really bad. All kinds of complaints from ones that failed in just a few years, to ones that were leaking oil when brand new. And people complaining that Generac customer service was non-existent, that they wouldn't resolve problems, etc. I'd definitely do research before buying any generator. I came to the conclusion it wasn't worth fixing.

Reply to
trader_4

what about a fuel cell?

Reply to
ZZyXX

I think most of those run at 3600 rpm. We had a generator at work that ran at half that. It was much quieter, of course. The generator was only big enough to run impact wrenches and stuff like that.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

The GOOD generators run at 1800 RPM. Not many of them being sold today.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

On Sun, 11 Mar 2018 09:09:53 -0700 (PDT), trader_4

+1
Reply to
CRNG

Or maybe put a small nuclear plant in her back yard?

Reply to
Bob

I went to C Kohler?s stationary generator was top-notch at delivering ample, especially smooth power, claimed to offer 12,000 watts using natural gas and another

2,000 if you use propane. This saves you the hassle of storing gasoline. As with other standby generators, it starts automatically and can run indefinitely unless running off an external propane tank. It was among the quietest of the models we tested and includes a low-oil shutoff with a warning indicator. It also comes with a transfer switch. An add-on module, $475, lets you monitor your generator?s status from anywhere using a Windows PC.

On the Kohler site I find two 20kW generators. Those would be a better size.

Thanks all!

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

Why would you think you need 20KW? That's 80 amps at 240V or

160 amps at 120V. But then I guess it also depends on how much more the larger one costs and a lot of the cost is the install, which would be the same anyway.
Reply to
trader_4

She has two refrigerators, plus a freezer. None new. One ancient. Two central air units. Not top-of-the-line. Plus the usual in a mostly gas powered house.

The price difference is $844. The other costs overwhelm this. Especially the $5,000 (or more) to run a new gas main. If she doesn't run a new main, she could only have a partial house one (like the neighbors that didn't install a new gas main) and there is the complication of load management. With the whole house, life goes on as before.

Plus the house is going to be sold after she dies. Maybe in five years? It is a tear down candidate (ceilings are only 7' 10"). The extra size should be a plus.

Don.

formatting link
(e-mail link at home page bottom).

Reply to
Don Wiss

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.