What size home standby generator?

[ralph atl]

I'm looking at getting a home standby generator, but I have no clue what size.

the hvac is on tow 35 amp breakers. Gas heat, One AC (contractor installed).
plus the blower fan is on a 20.

I would probably want 7, 20 amp & 2, 15's.

I'm just looking at Kitchen, frig, hvac, tank, and a couple of wants...

I was thinking 12k to 16k.

there are a few brands, but Generac seems to have the best selection & price.

Thanks!

 

[rbredding]

depends on whether you think you'll be running it all at the same time or not..

if you do... you'll have to straight add up all the wattage you'll be pulling and add at least 20% (for motor startups and initial draw current surges)

if you'll have it setup so that you will turn one piece of equipment on at a time, then you're probably good with total wattage X .80

call the generator companies and talk to their technical service departments and see if they can help you...

 

[eric b]

I believe that Generac will send someone to your house to actually go through to see what it will be powering and then recommend certain models from there. I also believe that once set up they come out either once or twice a year to service the system. If I was putting in a back up generator it is probably the system I would choose they are very quiet.

 

[enderg60]

look into natural gas genterators with automatic switching. They will be a bit more expensive, but you will never have to worry about bad gas or turning it on if youre not home.

 

[rbredding]

X2

natural gas all the way

 

[ralph atl]

ok, cool. Yeah, natural gas, & auto switching for sure. I'm wanting this just for power outages only. Thanks!