[PA318Guy]

Yeah, on the noise. We have multiple neighbors with Generac back up generators. They run an automatic weekly test cycle for 15-20 minutes, which is bad enough. We are dreading listening to those things running 24-7 in a lengthy power outage.

My neighbor put one in last year, every Monday morning it does the weekly test and then when power is out that thing is very noisy. Of course he put it on the end of the house where my bedroom is at!

 

[Just Jeff]

"Whole house" to me means a lot more that 12 Kw. It depends on what you have:

I would not get less than a 20 Kw unit, but you may not have everything on that list.

The above is what I've always heard, and makes sense to me! Maybe I filled out their chart incorrectly last night, when I was tired.

Finally, noise is very important. Some whole house generators are very loud. Most run between 60 - 80 dBA, and there's a huge noise difference between 60 dBA and 80 dBA. You want to be able to sleep with this thing running. Cal

Yes, I'll take an arial picture later tonight, or tomorrow morning. But both propane tanks are on the East side of our house. Our bedrooms are all on the West side of the house. And being a log home, it has great R value, and it seems to be pretty well sound deadening as well. And, fortunately, we have zero neighbors to our East. Actually, we only have one neighbor, and they're about directly across the street from us, probably 700-800 feet away from where the generator would be. To me, 80DBs doesn't sound that terrible. I believe most cars' exhaust are about 80DBs from the factory, unless I'm mistaken.

Darn, now I see that I didn't edit and quote the parts of your post that I wanted to correctly.

 

[Bebop]

My 2012 Dixie chopper with a 27Hp Generack runs really strong , my neighbor was a Dixie chopper dealer . He had a bad run of Generack engines . After talking to another dealer he told me that Generack had some good engines in the beginning but let there quality slip . It was a word of mouth exchange between a chopper dealer and me and now its got me jaded . I know all brands can have a bad run its just that a engine maker should take in consideration there reputation . Mine is a Industrial and has oil coolers and runs wide open during use and has been a outstanding engine . But if I ever see my old neighbor who was a dealer I will get the full scoop .

 

[Bebop]

This one is mine and it has been a good engine . It is a Industrial and runs full throttle when in use . After talking to a different chopper dealer he told me that Generack cheapen there engines and had a bad run . My one buddy went out of business im sure there could have been other reasons . But I know that others had told me he had a lot of trouble with Generack . I think they got out of the lawn mower engine business .

 

[Bebop]

It may have only been a few engines for i have not done a deep study its just a few bits of fragmented words between dealers and friends .

 

[UrbanTractor]

My neighbor put one in last year, every Monday morning it does the weekly test and then when power is out that thing is very noisy. Of course he put it on the end of the house where my bedroom is at!

Yup. Around here they seem to get installed as close to the neighbors as possible!!

 

[Just Jeff]

This one is mine and it has been a good engine . It is a Industrial and runs full throttle when in use . After talking to a different chopper dealer he told me that Generack cheapen there engines and had a bad run . My one buddy went out of business im sure there could have been other reasons . But I know that others had told me he had a lot of trouble with Generack . I think they got out of the lawn mower engine business . View attachment 2555164

Well there you go. You learn something everyday. Well actually, I learn seven or eight things everyday, because I'm not the brightest bulb in the world LOL! I never knew Generac made engines for Dixie Chopper.

 

[RoyM]

@3 Legged Dog I don't know where you are getting your numbers from, most older homes only have a 100A service so according to your figures the stove with a Sunday roast in the oven and four burners on would use all the available power.

 

[fasterblaster02]

As a former Generac installer/tech, I have a few thoughts. I would consider Generac to be at the bottom of the list for quality(with the caveat I have never touched a Briggs). I've installed and repaired quite a few of the units. The few Kohler units I worked on impressed me, and the few WinCo units impressed me even more, in comparison to the Generac units I was familiar with. Now, I haven't been in that business for about 3 years, so things
may have changed a bit.
As far as sizing, consult your installer and they should be able to get that right for you.

 

[Dave55]

I put in a 14 KW unit in for a customer, but they had natural gas for furnace, hot water and cook stove.
They also had two AC/furnace systems, one in house for her, one in garage for him.
They have had no trouble from it at all, full house automatic transfer switch, the only way they know the power was out is all the digital clocks flashing.

The only Kohler I was ever around was just a small thing, had a 350 Chevy engine running it, so not really a good comparison. 48 KW if I remember right.

I am kinda shopping for one myself, it will be a Generac.

 

[Just Jeff]

As a former Generac installer/tech, I have a few thoughts. I would consider Generac to be at the bottom of the list for quality(with the caveat I have never touched a Briggs). I've installed and repaired quite a few of the units. The few Kohler units I worked on impressed me, and the few WinCo units impressed me even more, in comparison to the Generac units I was familiar with. Now, I haven't been in that business for about 3 years, so things
may have changed a bit.
As far as sizing, consult your installer and they should be able to get that right for you.

I'm curious now. Would you care to elaborate? What impressed you with the Kohlers and WinCo's more than the Generacs specifically? And since you've only been "out of the loop" for 3 years, I would consider your information to be relatively up to date.

 

[Dave55]

I forgot a detail or two.
If you have vinyl siding the minimum clearance to the house is not enough.
I was by a house that had vinyl siding and after an extended outage during a hot spell, the siding was all sagging behind the generator.
Not sure of the brand name, my brother in law has one for his poultry houses, it has a 300 six cylinder Ford engine in it, probably 85 or 100 KW.

 

[JD1982]

I just had a natural gas 20KW Kohler installed this past February after waiting 9 months for it to come in. My dealer/installer handled both Generac and Kohler and he recommended Kohler so that is what I chose. I decided on the whole house and 20KW because it was only little money more than a smaller 12-15kw. Also, had my !961 service upgraded from 100A to 200A at the same time. We live in an area where our sump pumps get a work out during the thunderstorm season and it has always been a challenge to keep them running during severe storms. It has always been worrisome to leave home (vacations) during this time...not anymore. The generator operation is easily monitored via Kohler's mobile app. Power has went out twice since February, once for 2-3 hours due to a storm and another when a squirrel committed suicide at the transformer. It is really nice not having to sit in the dark trying to decide if you should pull out the portable generator and run extension cords throughout the house.

Same requirements as Whitey019. Sump pump, water well/pump, swimming pool pump, functioning furnace in 6 month winter season prevents frozen/burst pipes, freezer, laundry functioning eliminates need to find a laundromat that has power for extended power outages. We've had 17KW Generac for past 8 yrs; dealer selection is very impt. We have an excellent Generac dealer. Natural gas is our primary fuel. Other than having emergency heat available in winter, other main advantage of the generator is maintaining our well to provide water, bathroom, and our sump pump to keep functioning preventing basement flooding during storms that may cause prolonged power interuption that have occurred from severe summer storms, as well as winter blizzards.

 

[JD1982]

Yeah, on the noise. We have multiple neighbors with Generac back up generators. They run an automatic weekly test cycle for 15-20 minutes, which is bad enough. We are dreading listening to those things running 24-7 in a lengthy power outage.

We live in the country so the noise of our Generac on its weekly testing is not a concern to me or the neighbours. It's quieter than mowing the lawn with the 1025R which I'm sure some neighbors don't appreciate. In summer months as one is outside more, the noise may be a nuisance. In the freezing winter months, your windows are closed and you ignore it, if you could actually hear it. Life is full of inconveniences, and choices. You have an option to turn your generator off or freeze in the dark for a week or longer without power. Which appeals to you more?

 

[UrbanTractor]

We live in the country so the noise of our Generac on its weekly testing is not a concern to me or the neighbours. It's quieter than mowing the lawn with the 1025R which I'm sure some neighbors don't appreciate. In summer months as one is outside more, the noise may be a nuisance. In the freezing winter months, your windows are closed and you ignore it, if you could actually hear it. Life is full of inconveniences, and choices. You have an option to turn your generator off or freeze in the dark for a week or longer without power. Which appeals to you more?

My comment was in response to another that encouraged the op to pay attention to noise ratings. Even if I lived in the country with no neighbors, I’d follow that advice. The “db” rating is a logarithmic scale, not linear, so even an increase of a few db is a huge increase in noise/volume. Why endure the disruption needlessly when there are manufacturers who pay attention to noise attenuation?

 

[3 Legged Dog]

@3 Legged Dog I don't know where you are getting your numbers from, most older homes only have a 100A service so according to your figures the stove with a Sunday roast in the oven and four burners on would use all the available power.

The figures came off the circuit breakers in my electrical panel.

I understand that people can run their clothes dryer on low heat. Or that they can just use one burner on their stove. Or just use one appliance at a time. That's how folks get by with a smaller generator. Cal

 

[JD1982]

My comment was in response to another that encouraged the op to pay attention to noise ratings. Even if I lived in the country with no neighbors, I’d follow that advice. The “db” rating is a logarithmic scale, not linear, so even an increase of a few db is a huge increase in noise/volume. Why endure the disruption needlessly when there are manufacturers who pay attention to noise attenuation?

Urban tractor. No offence meant. We live on a few acres; I have neighbours to the east, and across the street to the north.- each on 2-3 acres on a corner -no house to the west (roadway. I lucked out, because my natural gas inlet to house is on the west side, so my Generac was located there. The neighbours can't hear it. I don't know why someone would set the 10 minute test run weekly (to charge the battery & identify faults of operation for readiness), in the early morning which may interfere with someone's sleep; mine is set for 3:00 pm weekday. Common courtesy would hope that some consideration would come into play- just as I wouldn't start mowing my lawn at 8:00 AM, as the commercial landscapers do. As I type this, a commercial guy is cutting a lawn next door from 7:15 Sunday morning on Father's Day. All my neighbours down the road have a lawnmower, leaf blowers, tractor or a lawn service. I assure you exhaust noise from the tractor runs louder for this maintenance for a far greater time frame than the Generac test period. In the winter months snow plowing from both commercial & private good neighbours are plowing driveways as early as 4:00 am in subdivisions so their clients/neighbours can get to work. I'm just trying to point out,some courtesy & common sense goes a long way to being a good neighbour. But I realize on properties in higher density subdivisions would have greater issues with a generator adjacent & close to the house by design requirements with noise reverberating off the bricks/ siding, or an AC unit in between houses that are close together. I suppose that would be a more common issue as it could be running daily for many hrs in summer months, Next to that comparison, the generator is a far lesser nuisannce for emergency power generation. Anyway to all the good folks on this site, have a great father's Day. Cheers

 

[UrbanTractor]

Yeah, I hear you - - no worries. In an urban environment we get all that various noise you describe, but from about three or four dozen properties that either directly border ours or are so close they may as well.

Leaf blowers are by far the worst nuisance noise we have to deal with on a daily basis, almost year round. The generator test runs are probably the second or third worst offenders. We have had tremendous infill re-development, and every builder now includes a builder-grade whole-house generator with the new house. “Builder-grade” is not top of the line stuff and I doubt they study the db ratings when choosing. Pretty sure it is just the low-cost option.

So there are loads of them in the neighborhood. One neighbor’s is as far away as the builder could possibly get it from the house, which puts it about 15 feet from our bedroom windows and 20 feet from our front porch. It’s a real treat to listen to.

Happy Father’s Day! I think I’ll go fire up the Yanmar diesel and do some tractoring! If you ask my neighbors, I’m probably the second biggest noise offender! 😂

 

[JD1982]

Yeah, I hear you - - no worries. In an urban environment we get all that various noise you describe, but from about three or four dozen properties that either directly border ours or are so close they may as well.

Leaf blowers are by far the worst nuisance noise we have to deal with on a daily basis, almost year round. The generator test runs are probably the second or third worst offenders. We have had tremendous infill re-development, and every builder now includes a builder-grade whole-house generator with the new house. “Builder-grade” is not top of the line stuff and I doubt they study the db ratings when choosing. Pretty sure it is just the low-cost option.

So there are loads of them in the neighborhood. One neighbor’s is as far away as the builder could possibly get it from the house, which puts it about 15 feet from our bedroom windows and 20 feet from our front porch. It’s a real treat to listen to.

Happy Father’s Day! I think I’ll go fire up the Yanmar diesel and do some tractoring! If you ask my neighbors, I’m probably the second biggest noise offender! 😂

Generators with new homes is a nice feature, but all of them in "Surround Sound" in high density neighbourhood, I must admit, is a problem I hadn't considered. Yikes!. I had forgotten to mention that I was sold the optional insulation pkg with the generac; I'm unsure it has much (maybe some) effect on noise abatement;- I thought it was extra protection for the battery for powering up the unit in cold winter starts. My trimming small lawn mower, weed trimmer, leaf blower etc are Stihl residential battery units-fairly quiet. But my Cyclone Rake (with its own Itek 6.5 HP motor impeller), plus the 1025R is not a quiet combo without a doubt

 

[UrbanTractor]

“Surround sound” is a good way of putting it.

But much of this is irrelevant to Jeff, who has 40+ acres! Apologies for sidetracking your thread, Jeff.