I built the same setup 4 years ago. Work great without any issues. I then installed the soft start on my home AC 3 weeks ago. After hurricane Beryl My Westinghouse 12500 watt generator ran great for a day and a half. After that it overheated because the extra load (8000 watt balanced over 240v) was generating so much heat that the fan I had could not exhaust the heat fast enough. Lesson learned I have to buy a new generator and set it up outside the storage unit when in use to have proper ventilation. Also only use generator to run the whole house AC for a short period of time. Generators are not designed to kick on and off a whole house AC with a slow start every 20 minutes when it reaches temp inside the house. Too much of a load. Going with an inverter generator and using a midsize window unit for the next storm. I regularly changed the oil with 10w-30 Royal Purple. Compression lobe locked, the surging started, bearings failed, now a dead Westinghouse generator with no power output. Be careful with the loads you put is all i am saying. Make sure you have proper ventilation. I was not using the zombie box but had 2 fans to keep the generator cool and that was not enough in 100+ degree weather in Houston.
The zombie box vents in from the bottom and out up the top. The fan is pretty powerful and very warm coming out which means it's very effective. According to them it's actually more effective in cooling than just leaving it outside in ambient air and I suspect they are right as long as you properly vent the exhaust which I did. Still you make a good point and it's definitely for something for me to consider about the frequency of use of the ac kicking on. Duromax has a 5 year residential parts and labor warranty so I'm willing to risk it.
Yep! Me too. Brand new duro max 13k ruined. I built a really nice set up, however it relied on 2 fans for cooling air. Floor fan drawing from vent pushing through generator. Then shuttered exhaust fan pulling out the heat at opposite end. Both fans quit for some reason, the circuit didn't trip, was just no power coming out. Exhaust tube fell off muffler and super heated the box, overheating the generator to the point of failure. I will no longer depend on fans for cooling air. It's a fatal flaw.
Spot on! Did basically the same thing. Added a propane outdoor hot water shower. Keeps the high draw tankless water heater off the generator. Works great. You can also do things like turn your ac off to run your dryer for 30-40 mins. Ease the gen load. Looks like you have it handled!
Thank you for the detailed walkthrough of your generator setup! It was very informative and certainly helps me to plan my setup better, so thank you for the video.
Your selection of generator setup has so, so many variables and I appreciate the quality setups folks like yourself have put in effort to share. Everything from budget to your equipment requirements to availability of resources, locations, and size constraints, there is NO one size fits all. Educating yourself is the key to a successful and SAFE selection. Thanks for sharing!!
Well, nice setup and good explanation of everything. As we all know there are numerous ways to provide backup power. I did a similar setup but used a Reliance Transfer Switch box. Since I did all my labor my expenditures were under $2000. The Reliance system is much easier for my wife to do if I am away. I also did the same for my daughter's house.
Greatly appreciate your help and explanation of your setup. I’ve been thinking of something exactly like this. But I hadn’t thought about the soft start, excellent idea..thank you so much for your video and explanation. 😊😊
The interlock is not to stop you from getting power from 2 sources. It protects the linemen from getting electrocuted from your generator when your power is out and you are running your generator
Mostly it protects the public & emergency responders. I'm a lineman. We test everything we touch & wear high voltage rubber gloves while doing that. Thanks for thinking of us though.
@@burkeswanson7348 it prevents the main and generator breaker from being on at the same time. So power coming in from the generator doesn’t go out of the house on the main. But you know that already. My post is for others that may not.
@@burkeswanson7348 I run a 10,000W duramax which power comes into the house through a reliance pro / tran2 transfer switch for it to operate the main power is shut off so no harm will come to the workers that are working to restore power , great comments guys and gals thanks for sharing
@@johnclyne6350 Is there a concern that the neutral is not disconnected from the pole for the interlock usage case? Can current flow back to the pole through that neutral which is never disconnected for the interlock use cases. Is that a concern or not? Thanks for responding back
Well done. I am currently waiting on the insurance adjuster so I can start making repairs after that hurricane. Studying up on generators which brought me here.
Get yourself a Westinghouse generator. I would go to the Westinghouse website to see what models/configurations they have available and where to get them. I got one of their top generators offered at lowes. I didn't get the big daddy mack Gen offered at lowes because it was only gasoline and I wanted something that would give me some options on the fuel source. Their next one down was a dual-fuel option and was still high enough to run a whole house. So I pulled the trigger on that one because I also saw I could convert it to take natural gas. Well today I decided to go look at the westinghouse website to see what all they offer and low and behold, they have my same model in a tri-fuel option and they also have the daddy mack in a tri-fuel option! I wish I would have gone to their website first because it would have saved me from buying the dual-fuel option I have and I would have gone with their tri-fuel option and saved myself the headache of a conversion. Now I'm stuck with this generator because lowes won't take it back once the box is opened. But I guess it could be worse!?!
I did the same to my house in California. I hired an electrician to install the generator transfer switch. However, my electrical panel couldn’t accommodate one. So they installed a sub panel and moved all my circuit breakers and the transfer switch in there. I have the same ZombieBox enclosure for a Champion 11,500 watt gasoline only generator. I also put a micro air soft start on my 3 ton AC unit. Everything runs fine off the generator and my immediate neighbors can’t hear my generator from inside their homes. The only issue is the APC battery backups I had on my PCs wouldn’t charge from the generator. It’s not an inverter generator and the battery backups couldn’t tolerate the THD (Total harmonic distortion). No big deal, the computers ran fine without them. After watching your video, I may consult a plumber to run a Natural Gas line to my generator and install the kit from Champion. That seems like a smart idea.
good vid. I am about 45 ish mins north east of H and have a 9k predator harbor freight deal but im off grid on solar. we dont really have CNG gas out here and SJC sux for power outages so if you wanted to do something like that itd be gasoline or LP only. yall city slickers got all the good stuff, LOL thx for the vid, hope it helps some people out.
I have the same setup, Zombie box, MicroAir and generator! However, after doing additional research on generators, the Duromax open frame generators produce very dirty power! The Total Harmonic Distortion is 12 to 20% depending on load. That will damage sensitive electronics, such as, Computers, TV's, Furnace electronics, and any computerized modern appliances. I am selling the Duromax and going with the Westinghouse WGEN 115000 TFC. It produces more power at less than 5% Total Harmonic Distortion. This is considered clean power and safe for electronics. You might want to check it out, it would be a better choice! Great video by the way!!!
I ran several oled tv's, gaming computers and a ps5 for 3 days with no issue. Alternatively you could, if you were concerned, purchase a battery back up box for your entertainment center which takes in dirty power (ac) and converts it to a pure sine wave (dc) before sending it to the electronics. DC sine wave stays charged by the generator AC www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500AVRLCD3-Intelligent-System-Outlets/dp/B0BCMLLSHL?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1
I do one better. I have the Honda EU 7000is. That's an inverter generator with clean 60 cycle power. It's fuel injected so no priming & it sips fuel in economy mode. If you want to really protect your appliances? That's the one to get. Mine delivers 123-123-246 volts all day long no matter the load & I get 18 hours of run time on 5 gallons of gas at half load. I'm a power lineman for a living. That's the one I recommend for back up power.
@@anotherdumbwelder6219 This is just a guess, but much of the dirty AC that people are complaining about can be fixed even on cheaper generators. I had a good industrial generator that only had about 50 hours on it when I started noticing flickering lights. I took some measurements and it was producing about 210v with 105v legs @ about 55hz @ ~3100 rpms. A bad throttle spring with an rpm adjust with an AVR adjustment fixed everything. If you check your RPMs and voltage you can generally get clean AC even from a cheap generator. Generally speaking the price difference with generators comes from engine quality. The generator part is basically the same from one to another. If it's rated for 30 amps or maybe 50 amps it will produce said amount if the engine is running at rated RPMs. Dirty carbs will make the engine "hunt" and change the voltage and HZ produced by the generator. No need for a new generator and more money unless you are asking it to do more than it's rated for.
Very true. That's why I didn't go with the Duromax. Good luck finding the Wgen11500TFc. I guess by now, you've found out they are nearly impossible to get right now.
Great video! I’m in the process of setting a system up for our house and your video showed up at exactly the right time to help me,,, set up in a more affordable and efficient way. Many thanks!
I've ran my house with portable Generac 17500kw with 26k surge once, with selective caution, on a single 50A output. The generator is a POS, don't buy one. But it started my 5T A/C without issue or soft start as the surge is very high. A word of caution if you are generator shopping, know if what you are looking at is continuous watts or surge watts. Both numbers matter but some manufacturers put surge as the top number in their rating, others (like this particular generac model) list continuous as the main number. It matters. You have a misunderstanding of the amp draw for your 5T a/c and what your generator is capable of. Neither fan in the A/C system are 30A draw as you mentioned. They draw a few amps each once running. It's only the compressor that is high draw. If you have an LRA of 90 you have a fairly efficient unit as many 5T still in use are higher, just a note to others. It was good to see you made some clarifications in your write up under the video for others to understand what you meant. I was in Beryl too and out of power for 6 days. I now use a 5500w (surge) Champion propane inverter generator running on a 250g tank to power two emergency inverter window A/C's that actually cycle when set to 74 degrees. They keep 1500sf downstairs - with 19ft ceiling in half of that - quite comfy, plus it powers two inverter refrigerators and a deep freezer. This inverter generator rarely goes over 50% output. I appear to use about 8 gallons of propane a day. I also have strips of radiant barrier I cut and tape over the SW facing windows and one glass door. That makes a huge difference. This year has been crazy with power outages. Best of luck. To anyone reading this: You cannot replace a 200A service with 50A and have "business as normal". You can selectively decide what you want to run and still leave all breakers on, unless you are all electric. Think about your common 120v small stuff. Microwave 8-10A, coffee pot 8-10A, hair dryer 10-12A, small space heaters 12A each ...... Etc. (divide amps by two for apples to apples since these are 120v and you are using 240v@50A capacity) Two hairdryers going while you make morning coffee and run a couple space heaters, now click the microwave to heat your breakfast and use a toaster at the same time. You are consuming 60-80% of that circuit. Trick is for a family to communicate and understand you can use all the lights and fans you want, but need to be selective using high draw small appliances at the same time, especially if the central A/C is running. If you are all electric at your house, only turn on ONE 240v breaker at a time. (licensed electrician)
@@Larry-yb7zl Thanks for the information. I have become wary of having a whole house generator installed because I have a lot of neighbors that have them and every time the power goes out I see a lot of Generac repairs vans around. I think I have decided to just buy a good sized inverter tri fuel generator and wire a multi plug somewhere so I can connect the generator to the back of the plug and plug extension cords into the outlets. That would allow me to plug in the fridge, internet router, tv, etc. I have a portable heat pump a/c that I sometimes use in the garage. I can cool our bedroom with that. In a pinch I could even run a cord up into the attic to the controls of one of my gas tankless water heaters. Or even the blower motor on one of the gas furnaces. It’s a bit of a pain in the butt, however, the reality is that the power doesn’t go out very often. When it does it is usually for a short time. I have tried and tried but I just cannot justify spending $16,000 for something that sets in my yard and is hardly ever used. And if I had one installed and it didn’t work when I needed it!?! Things would get ugly very, very quick!
@@danbgt Inverter technology is fantastic. I've had my 5500 inverter generator three years trouble free 280hrs run time. Still has original battery. Sits on my back porch under a factory soft cover. I start it monthly. It's hard piped to my tank and a quick connect at the porch. I have two shut off valves, one push-to-turn at the source and one at the porch. There are much larger inverter gens on the market now to chose from. Specs on mine is .17/G hour at 25% load and seems almost linear but not rated at higher loads. It was $1100 when I bought it. It is a PITA to not have switched lighting in every room but I can live with it. Inverter window units are cheap and very efficient, probably the most bang for the buck you can get. Honestly don't miss the central A/C but we don't have kids or need to use our upstairs during power outages. I use four reels of extension cord each reel having four built-in 120v connection ability and I use heavy cords. One reel goes to the garage. Other three in the house, then I branch out from there to what I want to operate. I have a lot of milwaukee battery tools including a portable fan and lighting. Eight batteries I rotate to charge. We do fine and it costs about $20-$25 a day for fuel (guessing here). Neighbors with fixed units $100-$150 day. When my gen fails, I'll buy another one but probably one that has 240 capability and I'll install an interlock and outlet at the panel so I have switched lighting. No concern with central A/C inop. Have propane for heat, cooking and piezo ignition tankless water heater that requires no power or batteries to operate. Couple of tips. In January I bought a portable inverter 60pt Hisense dehumidifer from Lowe's. If you crank it to maximum it puts out a lot of heat. Seems to max out at 600W but probably heat equivalent to 4500w of space heaters. On low it draws just over 100w and runs quietly. Been in continuous use since January and it's impressive. Currently $469. This will be a main source for winter heat during a power failure and at 600W it's very complimentary to warming your home with a small generator. Placing radiant barrier between the window and blind was a god send. I had some on hand from atticfoil as I am in the process of installing in my attic. It made a noticable differience in the heat radiating thru windows, and I already have low-e argon glass. You can use cooking foil or reflective bubble wrap. They all do the same thing for radiant heat control.
@@Larry-yb7zl Thanks for the info. During Beryl our power was only out for 13 hours. That is longest it has been out since Ike back in 2008. It was only out for 6 hours after the wind storm in May. I have a small inverter generator from Harbor Freight that I bought three years ago. It was still in the box! I serviced it, started it up and ran our fridge, tv, internet router, a couple of LED lamps and a small fan. It did just fine. We don’t have kids at home or pets. It’s inconvenient to do things that way but it not terrible. I have better things to do with 15 or 16 thousand dollars.
Speaking as an electrical engineer, its critical to keep the generator cool (within operating temp specs) especially when heavily loaded and if outside temp is 95+F. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Shade it under an open air tent that is at least 6ft above the generator to shade it from direct sunlight and use box fans to keep air flowing through the generator engine and electric generator motor. Once you have generator temp under control, it can cycle your AC as often as you like. 20 min duty cycle is no big deal. The active cooling box (zombie) is a perfect cooling system for the generator. It does all the above in one box. Since generator engines are air cooled, the engine will always die first on a poorly air circulated, loaded generator.
I was wondering about enclosed generators. I put mine under a beach canopy. Of course not during the storm but after is passed. As a mechanic I to put a fan on my generator , Kept in the shade. Understanding how important it is to have a lot of fresh air flow around the generator. It seems the only way to enclose a unit is if its liquid cooled.
@@Badwolf6466 The active cooling is extremely essential - in heavy heat you need a LOT of airflow. Regardless of what you plan it's important to test it - we tested out using a basic 6' tall pop-up canopy on an 89-degree day with two separate generators. We took a temperature reading under the shade of the canopy and it was 9 degrees cooler at 80 so we were certain the generators would run better. Somehow though they both consistently ran hotter under the canopy than outside of it, even after the addition of two 20" box fans.
I have the Champion tri fuel 9000w inverter generator. On propane it can start my 3 y/o American Standard 5 ton AC but on NG it can’t. It will start and run my 3.5 to. aC w/o a soft start. Need to install the soft start kit on my 5 ton. My neighbor had a different 4 ton AC but couldn’t start his AC with my generator. All and all, I Love it! Did the electrical myself as I’m an electrical engineer but hired a plumber to install a NG quick connect on my gas meter. Spent $2500 for everything including a 50 ft 3/4 gas line and thick 50 ft, 50 amp extension cord. Oh the plumber said it would cost $8500 to run gas underground 85 feet to where my breaker box is so I run a long gas line and extension cord which cost about $500 for those two items instead of
I have the same generator with an all electric house & after seeing it struggle to start my 5ton ac unit I decided not to run the ac, it sucked because my backup window units were on loan to my daughter. I’m looking at whole house 26kw generac units with 200amp auto transfer switch for $6300, but I need to buy a 500 gal propane tank, new tanks are $3200, so I can do it for around $10,000 but I have quotes for $20,000+ to do a turn key job. I will order everything to install myself, Beryl caused 4 days without AC, it sucked. I’m in Matagorda co so dead center of the eye, not fun.
@@mike-n-texaswoodturning9481 26Kw is roughly 108 AMPS. Most 5 ton AC units have a start up of 145 LRA. You might consider installing a MicroAir soft start kit. It will reduce the LRA by two thirds. My 3.5 ton AC unit has an LRA of 122 amps. After I installed the MicroAir it reduced the start up to an LRA to 32!!! My 13kw generator has no problems running the AC now!!
Great tutorial! Especially for those not otherwise in the know about electricity & generators. Nice set up with the natural gas. I did the same thing with a roll out generator like yours. Instead of the Gen Max I went with the Uber premium Honda EU 7000is. Not the newest one but the earlier model with out the CO minder & the blue tooth. I wanted an inverter to power up my home instead of a regular genny. The inverter delivers clean 60 cycle power just like the power company. Yours may not? I can run sensitive electronics on mine without any issue. Also it sips fuel in economy mode. Mine will run half load on 5 gallons of gas for 18 hours. I have an interlock for my CB panel just like you. However I had a custom fabricated enclosure made for mine that is vented on 2 full sides. It’s made of 306 stainless steel. My genny is set up inside my enclosure like yours. I have the inlet inside the enclosure. My enclosure is on a poured in place concrete pad that is attached by screws to the concrete. I have a ground Rod for my cabinet as well to safe guard anyone touching it. I have the trickle charger hard wired to the battery. I bought the same soft start kit. My genny is ready to go with 3 switches & 1 push button. It is set up for my wife to use. She is not electrically savvy but knows a lot more than me. She has written instructions as well as refresher classes on restoring power to the house in an emergency when I’m not home. I store over a hundred gallons of pre-treated gas at my house. That’s enough fuel to last three weeks. Enough time for services to be restored. I have it stored on a metal rack that is grounded to another ground rod. Like you we did our homework. Hopefully with your audience well educate the TH-cam crowd? I look forward to more videos! I’m a utility lineman for a living. When the power is out at my house I never get any calls on my phone as I’m busy getting everyone else’s lights on. I consider a generator at home a safety item. It’s an insurance policy incase the worse case happens. Our genny is super quiet & my neighbors all think I must have a “special line” at my house because they all know I work for the local power company. Generators are going to become a necessity with global warming & more violent storms. I see it on my end at work.
@@Runamukker Not really. Most have smiles when we show up. Others might not be soo happy. Especially the ones who have been out a while. I warn customers now that a generator should be part of their house emergency plan. If only to run their well pump & provide heat & hot water. That’s huge right there. My wife & I are both heat intolerant. We need our 2-1/2 ton Trane central air. If you would like to see my enclosure & genny running? Go to my home page. I have both on there.
Love this setup. You did it right! I have had a similar setup (without the awesome quick connect NG connection) for many years and it worked great. A 5500-watt portable with an NG conversion ran my entire house, except for central air, but I have a portable AC in the bedroom to sleep at night. Saved me many times. (I live in Houston too) The only issue, although minor, is the power normally goes out when the weather is really nasty or in the middle of the night. I don't want to be out in the blowing rain or at 2 am trying to hook all of this up. In addition to the purchase price of a Generac (10k - 14k range), the natural gas cost is about $100 per day (24 hours). The fuel cost for a portable generator runs about $25 - $40 per day (24 hours). Whichever way you go, or even if you don't have a generator the Micro-Air EasyStart is a compressor saver. Thanks for the show-n-tell, nice work.
2 weeks ago, we here in northern Ohio had 5 confirmed tornados, one of which was only 2 miles away. Which caused 400,000 people here, including my house to lose power for 3 hours short of 5 days. I have 2 Honda inverter generators so we had almost everything except the central air. But my gas meter is at the front of the house and my utility meter is on the back of the house, so I'd probably have to spend some serious money plumbing in a gas line to the back yard. But this was an excellent video! Food for thought!
I have a 6500W genny. Got the disconnect and shoreline to the breaker box. I live by myself. So I had a port-a-cool AC for one room. So I live during a power outage in my ham room. Can run cooler, Ice Box, 100w and 50 watt ham radios, charge laptop, some lights and fans. Enough at least to be able to sleep at night. I got my genny on the $80 garden cart from HFT. As one living in H-Town, flooding is an issue. The cart gets the frame 16-18 inches off the ground. Also improves air flow. Having a neighbor build for me a shed which will protect unit from rain, sun, and heat.
I already have a Honda EB6500, generator inlet on the back porch and multiple 5 gallons gasoline cans. I upgraded to a Kohler 38KW whole house unit powered with natural gas. No problems running everything at the same time in 100+ degree weather. Peace of mind.
Hey, you can get a 22kw generator backup installed for about $10k now i had a block house built around it as Fl. Hurricanes i seen them get damage by debris. Portable generators are not able I think to handle a 5-ton AC unit my AC unit is the brand new inverted AC units which are its whole house like everybody else is but they're electrically designed differently they use a lot less power. The best generators for diesel as far as miles per gallon or they get the best Energy Efficiency out of any of the generators but storing around a thousand gallon tank of fuel is kind of hard plus if you don't use it regularly gets algae in it
Many thanks amigo, good stuff! Live in Harris County as well and am in the market for a generator enclosure. Heard what I needed to hear about zombie box and got some bonus learning material regarding the soft start. I appreciate you sharing this.
The compressor may draw 30 amps, but the fan will only draw maybe 5 at most. It is the inrush current from the compressor thst will be around 100 amps. The "soft start" is a variable frequency drive that ramps it up to its running amps instead of the inrush current being drawn in the first moments that the motor starts.
You should consider getting several ( maybe 6 ) 100 lb propapane tanks and keeping them stored filled in case the natural gas service fails, because if you have a bad enough storm/disaster that the gas fails you will not be able to go out and get any other fuel when it does. Gas stations are either sold out or without power to pump and good luck finding someone open to fill propane tanks then.
Where I live we go for a 4 days sometimes even 2 weeks once without elect . What becomes crucial is Fuel and 30 weight Moter oil - I suggest you get a small generator that will run your refrigerator only. Think about it when you have no fuel for an hour ride away - and everybody and I mean everybody is scrounging for gas. It happened to us a couple of times.
switch over to a big propane tank and also you can add a second one for an emergency use only if you living out in the country. they make converstion kits to switch out you generator. I would buy two or three cases of oil at sam or costco and store them just only for you generator. I have a big fuel storage filled of non ethanol gas just for my Generator and a huge big bottle of propane tank. two cases of oil for the GEN. hope this helps, I have been doing this for about 7 years and I am still using the same generator. mine does propane and gasoline Champion Generator
Have pretty much the same setup. I installed mine about 8 years ago. Lesson learned: Start saving for an inverter generator with high output. Having a clean sine wave protects your vital and sensitive equipment. NOT EVEN Generac Whole House gens have clean since waves. Great video.
I just ordered the Honda 7000 unit. I live in West Texas, thought about converting it to run on gas becuce of the “unlimited” utility. Not sure this will run the 5T AC unit but will look at the soft start option. Nice video, thanks. Time to cut that grass.
I serviced and installed standby gen sets for near 25 years and the one thing nobody talks about is the cost to operate. Yeah, we all toss numbers around about how many gallons per day it might be, but breaking it down to cost of producing Kws, will make your head spin. If you think 25 cents is high from your utility, any smaller set will be 4-6 times more. That's right.... over a buck per Kw to make your own. Oh, and that's not figuring the up-front costs of the installation. We're basically talking about fuel here.
Yes, it might be true and it is true actually but it’s much more costly but it’s only for what 12 hours one day three days. I rather do that and spend the money upfront and have electricity then be completely without try diet three days in 90° weather then you could throw all your refrigerated food out and see how much it cost to restock that. I’m sure we piss away more money than dad on frivolous things during the month that you could cut out and that more than compensate for the extra electricity for three days
I have a 5500 Watt Gasoline powered generator, and she will run about 10-12 hours on 5 Gal of fuel. So we are talking about $15 bucks in fuel costs to get through the heat of the day in central Florida after a storm. That's cheap comfort when you can run all of your internet gear, PC's, TV's, lights, fans, phone chargers, electric stove top burners, Microwave, Coffee Pots, 2 refrigerators, 1 deep freezer, a 40 Gal Electric water heater, and a window AC unit in the Master Bedroom, etc in the heat of the summer. That's pretty cheap comfort for the week or so that it may take you to get commercial power back. And of course, at night when it's cooler you can shut off the Generator after the Bedroom is super cold, and the fridges and freezer have reached max coolness for the night. After a comfortable nights sleep of 6-8 hours, you can fire up the generator, turn on just the water heater and 1 light. When the light gets really bright after being on with the water heater for an 30-45 minutes, you know the water is hot (ready for a nice shower) and you can turn off that breaker and turn on the breakers for the rest of the house, start up the coffee pot, etc. Energy management is the key to using a smaller generator in these grid down conditions. That and a little planning and thinking ahead...
@@optionstraderman and that's how it's done, but you have made my point. We do anything in a pinch. $15 a day is $450 a month (if it lasted that long) for a half day of power where you do all of that footwork. I doubt your electric bill is anywhere near that. Again, thanks for making my point.
@@rupe53 When you look at the alternative's such as packing your family up and moving to a hotel for a week or two at say $150 to $500 bucks per night, having a backup generator is a pretty cheap solution. In my area, we were without power for 5 to 23 days 3 times when we had the 3 back to back hurricanes a few years ago. The Generator definitely paid for itself.
Thanks for sharing great setup you mentioned Generac I bought a used 16k Generac propane very cheap just had it tested tan great but I’m in Florida setting up has been not easy still working out the kinks but I say your setup was my way of connecting mines up with that outside generator plug and the panel switch because the quotes for a electrician just to connect the automatic switch well it’s in the thousands like $2k permits and all I’m still maybe doing it but I’m on a poverty social security they call income hence the reason of connecting it your way and most definitely get that soft start kit I already have a smaller version for just the compressor but I prefer that one we’ll wish me luck on my project oh and for more protection against the weather I’m building a insulated box unit from scratch so I’ll get more life from it thanks for sharing
the fan motor pulls around 3 amps, same with blower motor inside, which is around 3 to 4 amps max. the compressor is the only main part that pulls high amps
When you said you were out of power for 3 days, I was wondering if you were impact by Beryl. And then you confirmed my suspicion. Nice setup! I had a generator, but I ended up having to use extension cords. Not to mention the generator was woefully underpowered. I have a new generator on-order. Had been thinking about getting a Zombiebox. Seeing that setup... now I'm really leaning more towards getting one. Thanks for the video!
I was in Beryl without power for 8 or 9 days, I don't rememeber But 4 of those days we ran my van with a 1500w power inverter for the fridge and Wi-Fi so we could actually see what was going on Middle of the 4th day I decided I want a damn generator because this is ridiculous! I got a 9k Predator from Harborfreight (I wanted the 13k tri-fuel but none were available) And I tapped into the breaker panel using the drier breaker as the power in. It worked to power the entire 2 story 2600sqft home without issue, even with someone accidentily powering both 2.5ton AC systems at the same time Needless to say I won't ever be left without power again, that sucked. I'll at some point do something similar Thank you for the video!
I have a similar setup as well for 2,000 ft² house and 3 ton unit I was averaging around 10,000 running Watts off peak and around 12 to 13,000 on, and decided for a 15,000 max peak tri fuel generator with 10,000 running on the natural gas which will definitely power everything in our house. The inlet cost 500 bucks, the generator was about $2,500 and the plumber is around 3 to 500, depending upon the type of work the plumber has to do. it's a much more efficient way to power your home in an outage for a fraction of the cost
I have a Generac 24kW whole house setup and it runs on both NG and propane. In fact the electricians did some startup testing with a propane tank before the plumber ran and hooked up the gas. But I’ll agree that having a 3rd fuel option isn’t a bad thing. But during a storm event where you might need to go get gas or propane refill, good luck! My generator ran 8.5 days after beryl without a hiccup. But that is a nice setup, and certainly less than the $14k I spent on the Generac whole house that I had installed a few months ago. I initially thought about going with a more DIY setup but then realized my wife would never want to do that on her own and having the piece of mind that the house is taken care of even if I’m away was worth it. Especially with little kids at home.
Had a home setup with an OG Coleman Powermate Vantage 8000. Ran essential circuits only with a manual transfer panel. Ran for a few days after Ivan, but used a lot of gas. Had to keep a stockpile because gas was out for miles all around. Moved and ended up after a serious bout of Tornados running a week on a Briggs Storm Responder 5500, used less gas but really could only run a handful of stuff because I didn't have this one wired into the house. Had to drive a state over to get gas when we ran low. Eventually after having a bunch of random stupid power outages (cool evening, everyone around us with power, went an additional 8 hours without power while the neighborhood across the street had it) increasing in frequency, bit the bullet and got a Generac 24kW myself as well. So much better and I don't have to worry about my family going out in inclement weather to crank the generator/flip breakers/keep it filled up/etc. It's got auto load shedding the whole nine. I don't have to worry when I'm out of town that they can manage while I'm gone. I also watch it on my phone and know when it kicks on and exercises or has any issues. However, I am working a contingency with an additional plug and switch to allow plugging in a gas/diesel gen if the natural gas goes out for any reason. I still got my old gas gens and exercise and maintain them as an insurance policy.
Thanks for your review on your home generator setup. Very nicely done and a good thorough explanation of how the system was put together and the aspects n components of the system that need to be done and which part of it should be done by a certified electrician, etc. BTW, just wondering if the DuroStar Genie you have is a "Inverter" Generator model ? Thank you again Runamukker. Very informative and helpful..
Great video I got a generator about the same size as that and the generator hook up and the breaker and all that for hurricanes here in Florida, it works good I’m itching to get a good hurricane so I can actually use it😆
We even use soft start kits for Tesla batteries for Solar. Now they have a built in cranking power output for AC to start. I think everyone in FL and TX should be watching this. Never saw so many wealthy people without power and looking like a hot mess when hurricane Irma came. They had nice car that was over 50k but never even had a 1,200 decent generator. Everyone should get an inner lock kit generator that doesn’t cost a lot. People willing to pay anything when power is out but not pay to prevent something. Prevent is key
I set my ranch home up with a dual fuel Westinghouse 12KW generator with remote start/ stop, much like you did, then I installed a Honeywell 200 amp automatic throwover between the meter and the breaker box. (And yes, the remote is wired into the Honeywell ATO.) My system runs on propane, so there is definitely a limit to how long I can run my generator. But, since I live in rural country I can source non ethanol fuel in larger quantities. Mostly used for the ranch equipment, but during storm season, I make sure my ranches gas storage tank is as close to full as I can get it. I love my Zombie box, and so do the chickens and goats. I prefer to run the generator on propane, but having a duel fuel will pay off. Plus, I have some solar on the house. Not enough to run the entire home, lighting mostly, but my Motorcoach has enough solar on it that it can add to solar generation should there be an extended national outage. Plus, I can plug my RV with big battery bank into the home as a backup to the generator. For an intown set up you've got it right. And for those of you thinking about doing this to your home, check with your local utility and see what your maximum peak usages have been in the summer and winter so you'll get a handle of how big a generator you really need. Calculate what you have to have running in the house based on those past usages. Some of you may have the ability to see what you've used online. (I'm a retired Power Lineman / Technician! BTY, my home has propane heat, but we also have a fireplace and a cast iron stove for heat, so the 12KW generator is sized to run my ac units easily. Oh, and we have 2 water heaters. One propane and one electric, so hot water from the well isn't an issue. And I should mention our 12K gallons rainwater harvesting storage also makes us a little less dependent on the Utility Companies. Oh, and the reason I wanted to comment. I prefer the portable generators over the permanent installed ones in case we ever have to Bugout. We'll just take this big generator with us to wherever we bugout to! Again, that's a great intown system, and the lockput panel is greatly appreciated by your local power lineman!
@davidc-l9174 Yep, the big 12 kw Westinghouse generator has an auto start standby system built in it. And the ATO functions the same. I just had to create a wiring harness so they would communicate with each other. Westinghouse makes a standby sensor auto start system (about $250.00) that can auto start their generators, but it only has one 20 amp (IIRC) outlet on it. It's great for a few lights and one refrigerator.
Nice video! Just a thing on the soft start, I talked with some electricians and AC guys who actually suggest not using the soft start, but the hard start instead as the soft start over time will cause unit issues. I just wanted to let you know as I was just about to buy the soft start and my AC guy said no, let's do the hard start. Hope that helps. Love the box!
Hard Start: Suitable for units struggling with starting, especially in older systems or those with frequent start-stop cycles. Soft Start: Ideal for reducing inrush current, particularly with generator use, and for systems with electrical limitations or seeking reduced wear and tear.
@@TechnoDad72 yeah and this is exactly what I thought as well that's why I wasn't sure why he recommended the hard start but maybe he meant soft start.
I think microair would disagree with your explanation! 'EasyStart is designed to connect directly to the compressor motor and reduce the power surge that occurs on start. It does this by controlling the power supplied to the windings of the motor on each AC cycle. EasyStart gradually increases this power until the compressor is running. This increases the time it takes the motor to get up to speed and creates a very smooth start that reduces the peak current by 50 to 70%.'
@@Runamukker yes but the fan is 120v low current and the electronics ramp up the current on the compressor with less inrush as quoted by microair. It also does nothing for the furnace blower which is also 120v.
The benefit of the soft start is as @RustyBdTz states. It reduces the in rush when the compressor starts. The load for the cooling fan on the condenser is small - a couple of amps at 120V. The fan for the evaporator is fairly low load - 3-4 amps at 120V and is powered from a different feed than the condenser. Newer AC units contain logic to sequence the start of the three components independent of the soft start. Regardless, kudos to you on your installation. IMHO, you made excellent choices to balance cost, reliability and aesthetics!
hi Runa, could I please request that you record a video of the generator turned on, while inside the zombiebox? I wanted to see how loud this particular generator was inside of the zombiebox, and I cannot find anyone else on youtube that has the duramax 13000 inside of a zombiebox. thank you!
That's a great setup. I was all set to call BS on the 50 amp cable until you showed the cool A/C delay startup system. I never even knew they existed. LOL How's the overall noise level with that Zombie box? thanks for sharing this. I think I could likely get by with this or something even a tiny bit smaller.
The total amps for your ac should be about 40A not 90A but im not looking at the specs for your equipment so you might be 100% correct. the soft start is an incredible upgrade. The only thing i would add to all the information you shared in this video is make sure your generator is the weakest link in the electrical circuit. My electrician wanted to add a 30A inlet box and it would limit my options to 30A instead of 50A. The importance of proper electrical is i would have to do math on all the electric being used and only use 30A to avoid a fire. If the generator is the weakest link you can turn on equipment until the generator cant handle the load and it will shut down or trip its own breaker and nothing serious will happen. I do prefer the inlet box that plugs in from the bottom bc it is easier on the cord but having a generator setup like yours is so valuable when the power goes out. Over all this is one of the best affordable setups i have seen. I honestly dont see the value in buying a generx bc the cost and infrequent usage of a generator. Can you link in the description qhere to find the outdoor generator box.
@@optionstraderman I was hoping he would try and make an affiliate link so he can get a little money from the purchase. I appreciate good information and would love to encourage him to make more videos like this bc he genuinely made a great video
I was just thinking about doing something similar to this and thought I’m sure someone else has done this and came to TH-cam and you was the first video I seen thank you
Before i looked at the description, just based on the look of your house, the street and the weather, I was thinking: *I wonder if this guy is in Houston* and you are. I'm in NW Houston near Cypress and my set-up is virtually identical to yours but I have a pergola in my backyard so I don't have a generator shed. I'm using a Westinghouse 14,500 peak wat tri-fuel generator and I also got a plumber to install a natural gas quick disconnect T-line and an electrician to install the same soft start kit. I ran my generator for almost 2 days straight (had to get gasoline once) and then we got power back. It performed flawlessly. Additional thought: I wholly agree on your sentiment and your strategy against the Generac and Kohler stationary whole-home generators- they are RIDICULOUSLY over-priced and yes, if the natural gas network stops working then you have a $20,000 pile of junk. I saw a comment on TH-cam where a guy bought a Generac and had it installed around 2017 and it only cost him $8,000 and now the same unit is, as mentioned, close to $20,000.
what's your sf and ton size condenser? i was looking at the 14,500 peak tri fuel but I'm seeing if that's a over kill if i have a 4 ton 2500 sf home was built on 2021...
A quick note, please keep all covers on the gas feed ports and lines when not in use. Insects will wreak havoc by building nests in these openings. Try cleaning out spider nests of mud dauber wasp nests in the dark with pouring rain all around during a severe storm. Not safe nor comfortable during a raging storm. As for the Generac systems, I think they are intentionally taking their customers for a hard ride. When I left the states 18 years ago a 6 Kw generator of theirs sold for about $6K at Home Depot. Electrical mods were done by your electrician to your homes system. Now I have heard (do not know if true) that they insist on doing your home electrical mods to "preserve" the warranty on the generator. Another issue I saw in the early specifications of their Gen sets was a 3000 hour lifespan of the generator. That is not much considering that amounts to 125 days of 24 hour run time. Onan and Koehler genders on RV's far exceede that lifespan. I have even seen a Catipilar Gen set running a motel in the middle of nowhere in Illinois non stop. This unit has a oil circulation system with filters that keep the oil free of any contaminants, a cooling system that has a high capacity resivoir to allow for proper cooling. Only once a year does a company come in and change the oil in the system and check on coolant quality. If ther ever found a need to shut down a generator they would bring in a trailer mounted unit hook up and synchronize it to the house generator after fired up and then isolate the house generator and turn it off for repairs. Everything works on diesel sold for off road use only.
Cool set up, but just a fyi they do make lp/ng combo generacs they don't only run on ng. Also you can buy a generac 22kw lp/ng guardian with a 200amp automatic transfer switch for $6k from Sam's club it I don't see why it shouldn't cost a whole lot more for an electrician and plumber to install it prob could do the whole thing installed for $10k or less not no $20k as you claim. And just so you know all generators require routine/annual maintenance not just generacs.
Automatic standby generators also require permitting, inspections, and PTO from your utility. That's a large portion of the install costs, possibly thousands of dollars depending on your area.
Hurricane Beryl had us without power for 9 days. 5 of those days with no generator. It was hell to say the least. This video is perfect for someone new to generators like myself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in this type of purchase. This video made it simple and easy for us to jot down what we need, and you gave accurate estimates so we don’t get messed around. Thank you good sir and God Bless
I solved my electric back up with a 12K diesel generator / 70 gal fuel tank for about $12k. It a fully enclosed unit that I run from inside my garage. I also have 4KW solar and a 6KW inverter with 15KW battery storage. I use the solar / battery for quiet operation and use the diesel for whole house 240v when needed.
What diesel generator did you go with? During power outages in my area (I live between 2 major interstates) it's easier to get diesel than gas. Thanks for any info.
Very interesting setup! I'm in Houston as well, and you have my mind gears turning, haha. Would be interesting to look into creating a setup that essentially turned the enclosure into a refrigerated unit (maybe solar-powered?) to help with dissipating heat. Like retrofitting the coil setup from a window-A/C unit into an enclosure somehow. Hmm...
His Zombie Box has a giant electric exhaust fan on top of it pulling out all the heat and the vents around the bottom allow cool air to enter the cabinet to keep the generator nice and cool while running. Great setup! Exhaust appears to be ported out of the back of the box to a muffler, so very little heat from exhaust inside the box. Great setup!
Thanks for your video. Very helpful information. One question, does that zombi box also quiet down the noise from a generator? Looks like it does. Thanks again for sharing.
Great video, thanks. What breakers did you turn on first after throwing open the 50amp generator breaker? e.g. furnace blowers, AC, followed by smaller amps, or does it matter based on the size of your generator? Thanks!
I turn them all on since I do t really feel overloaded on my gen. I don't run the dryer, air fryer, or microwave on gen power, though. Those seem to strain my system when ac is on.
Unlike your home with the breaker box inside the gargage or home, I have the main breaker located outside the home, where switching to a backup using a mechanical interlock on a panel would leave me exposed to the elements. I'm still trying to find a way to accomplish something similar without the use of a transfer panel. Still thinking about it.
my place was setup like this when i bought it. i ran a 100a main breaker in that box thru a 4ga set of wires to a second box inside then ran all my circuits off that box. my situation was the outside box was real close to the house tho. if you have a higher service 200a or 300a or a longer lun to the house you may need larger breakers or cable.
I have been in the HVAC business for nearly forty years and I have never seen natural gas run with galvanized pipe, but maybe it's a local code thing. Other than that pretty good video
My wife got those, and I just asked, and she doesn't remember. I just googled ac condesor fan decorative cover and a bunch of different ones popped up.
you can do solar real cheap except the batteries. $3k for 10kw panels and inverter. but it only works when the sun is up, for night you need batteries and thats where they get ya. normal house $10k to $15k just in battery
Went through the storm as well. First time with a generator. Looking to run on natural gas like your setup with the soft start. Had not seen the zombie box. That is cool. Nice setup. 😊
Add a Starlink and you really wouldn't know anything happened. I have the gen setup and during the "Big Freeze" in Texas a few years ago, like you , I hardly knew anything was happening, including full high speed internet. FYI, during a power outage most internet goes down because the distribution boxes lose power also. So get Starlink and/or a good antenna for local stations. BTW, nice setup.
@@Runamukker starlink is my only option out here, but its expensive and you will have way faster options in town. also it DOES go down in storms. when its raining i loose signal.
Great Video! I just had my breaker box outfitted with the interlock to use the Generator but now I am ready to do the natural gas hook up was unsure if I wanted to go thru with it but after watching your video it just makes sense. Plus I don't have to worry about running to the gas station for gas etc. Not sure if I am gonna do the Zombie box enclosure a little pricey but its a good option gonna have to continue my research for the enclosure. Thanks again for the info very useful.
Definitely get the NG....it's everything when you need it. Just get a gentent...just as good and nobody cares about noise when everyone that has a generator is running their generators.
Thanks for sharing. Id suggest to have all openings (like gas inlet, hose) covered/plugged with something. If a mud wasp finds its way in it will make a mess thats a pain to clean.
Does Generac run on gas or propane? Another major appeal of the Generac generator is that it can run on either natural gas or propane. If you're using natural gas to power your generator, you'll hook it up directly to your home's gas meter. If you're using propane, you'll hook it up to a line that connects to a propane tank
Nice!I have the Duramax 12000 Dual Fuel,Wondering if there is a natural gas conversion kit available it runs propane/gas will be getting my 50 amp plug soon Thanks!very informative and budget friendly.
Heres some great advice. And I tell you this because I have dealt with so many homes being affected by surge\lightning and utility surging the home. If you look up installation for square d hepd50/80 it will tell you to esnure your surge breaker is closest to your Main breaker and that the wires are twisted as they go to the breaker for best perfomance. Also helps from surge going through all your arc fault breakers before getting to the surge breaker. Im a houston electrician and my specialty is dealing with homes that get affected by surge
Your outdoor condenser fan and furnace blower don't use very much power at all, like a couple amps or so each. You must just be looking at the circuit breaker size that serves them.
One thing missing from your setup is a power back restoration alarm. I got one and it’s nice to get a alert when the powers on and I can shut the generator off.
I have a return alarm just wraps around one of your main feeders. Either side of the hots. Measures electrical radiation to know when power is in the wire. Have a 18kw generator. With the interlock and inlet. Put it all in myself.
This is a cheaper gen set up. But in regards NG, everything is relative. Interruption of NG is extremely unlikely, but to purchase gas or propane when no one has power generates it's own problems.
Good thing about that generator is easy and cheap to replace if it fails where Generac at the mercy of them. I hear Generacs are junk the air cooled ones over heat after long extended runs in high heat when you need the thing.
Definitely part of my thought process but the main consideration was the cost. I also know that I can upgrade it as the tech improves and take it all with me to the next house.
I like your setup and I've been running a portable generator in a similar manner for over 20 years. Here are the details you didn't mention: * Venting - if you're running your generator in a box, you've got two issues: heat build up and carbon monoxide. I guess you can open up the lid when you're running it, but then it's less protected from the elements. Some people create all types of venting solutions. Fans, mufflers. None are perfect, but it's doable. Just something to point out. * THD or total harmonic distortion. Basically, a measurement of how clean the power coming in is. From your utilities, it's usually 5-6%. For a generator like you're running, it can be 20% or more. It's fine for some devices like laptops, that have internal batteries and can clean up the dirty power. But I've had two instances in which a pump burned out while running a portable generator. Again, this is 2 pumps in over 20 years, so that's not terrible. But if you have sensitive equipment, you have to be careful running it on dirty power. * Having to manually do the transfer - This is a big annoyance and there's a lot to talk about here We have well water where I live, so when we lose power, we lose water too. Once, I was taking a shower when we lost power. Needless to say, having to dry off when you're full of soap and go start a generator isn't ideal. But what's worse, once you wait the typical 30 minutes to confirm the power isn't coming back, you have to then take the 10 minutes to start the generator up, plug in the gen cord and flip all of the breakers. And you don't know when power has come back, so every 30 minutes or so, you call the power company/go on their website and try to figure out, do we have power back yet? A very annoying, time-consuming process. We recently lost power while I was out of town and my family didn't know the procedure to start the generator up, so were forced to stay in the dark for a day until it came back. To me, your setup is fine for occasional outages. As I get older and as the frequency of these outages increases (we had 4 just last month), a whole house generator is a luxury I'm willing to spend for.
Very, very helpful. Thank you. Issue & Question - I want to do what you've done, but my NG meter is on the West side of my home and the electrical panel and my 30amp generator connection is on the East side. The closest NG outlet is in my courtyard about 20 feet from where I plan to place my generator. The issue is, the NG out is down to a 1/2 pipe that is further reduced to 3/8, and I fear the NG pressure and flow will not sustain the needs of the generator running at capacity. Question is: - must I get my plumber to run almost 40 ft of 1" gas line? Thanks in advance for your opinion.
Brother, I appreciate the information. Just so happen to have your video in the main screen. I was affected by Beryl too, 8 whole days with a janky generator set up haha.
I built the same setup 4 years ago. Work great without any issues. I then installed the soft start on my home AC 3 weeks ago. After hurricane Beryl My Westinghouse 12500 watt generator ran great for a day and a half. After that it overheated because the extra load (8000 watt balanced over 240v) was generating so much heat that the fan I had could not exhaust the heat fast enough. Lesson learned I have to buy a new generator and set it up outside the storage unit when in use to have proper ventilation. Also only use generator to run the whole house AC for a short period of time. Generators are not designed to kick on and off a whole house AC with a slow start every 20 minutes when it reaches temp inside the house. Too much of a load. Going with an inverter generator and using a midsize window unit for the next storm. I regularly changed the oil with 10w-30 Royal Purple. Compression lobe locked, the surging started, bearings failed, now a dead Westinghouse generator with no power output. Be careful with the loads you put is all i am saying. Make sure you have proper ventilation. I was not using the zombie box but had 2 fans to keep the generator cool and that was not enough in 100+ degree weather in Houston.
The zombie box vents in from the bottom and out up the top. The fan is pretty powerful and very warm coming out which means it's very effective. According to them it's actually more effective in cooling than just leaving it outside in ambient air and I suspect they are right as long as you properly vent the exhaust which I did. Still you make a good point and it's definitely for something for me to consider about the frequency of use of the ac kicking on. Duromax has a 5 year residential parts and labor warranty so I'm willing to risk it.
Yep! Me too. Brand new duro max 13k ruined. I built a really nice set up, however it relied on 2 fans for cooling air. Floor fan drawing from vent pushing through generator. Then shuttered exhaust fan pulling out the heat at opposite end. Both fans quit for some reason, the circuit didn't trip, was just no power coming out. Exhaust tube fell off muffler and super heated the box, overheating the generator to the point of failure. I will no longer depend on fans for cooling air. It's a fatal flaw.
@pipeliner345 I've heard of people adding a thermostat that wirelessly sends you an alert when it gets too hot....may do that for my setup.
The easiest solution is to move NORTH.
@@Runamukker Warranty aint gonna do you any good while you're sittin in the dark lol
Spot on! Did basically the same thing. Added a propane outdoor hot water shower. Keeps the high draw tankless water heater off the generator. Works great. You can also do things like turn your ac off to run your dryer for 30-40 mins. Ease the gen load. Looks like you have it handled!
Thank you for the detailed walkthrough of your generator setup! It was very informative and certainly helps me to plan my setup better, so thank you for the video.
Thank you, I came on to learn about the Zombie box but ended up learning about the soft start on your ac.
Your selection of generator setup has so, so many variables and I appreciate the quality setups folks like yourself have put in effort to share. Everything from budget to your equipment requirements to availability of resources, locations, and size constraints, there is NO one size fits all. Educating yourself is the key to a successful and SAFE selection. Thanks for sharing!!
Well, nice setup and good explanation of everything. As we all know there are numerous ways to provide backup power. I did a similar setup but used a Reliance Transfer Switch box. Since I did all my labor my expenditures were under $2000. The Reliance system is much easier for my wife to do if I am away. I also did the same for my daughter's house.
Greatly appreciate your help and explanation of your setup. I’ve been thinking of something exactly like this. But I hadn’t thought about the soft start, excellent idea..thank you so much for your video and explanation. 😊😊
The interlock is not to stop you from getting power from 2 sources. It protects the linemen from getting electrocuted from your generator when your power is out and you are running your generator
Mostly it protects the public & emergency responders.
I'm a lineman. We test everything we touch & wear high voltage rubber gloves while doing that.
Thanks for thinking of us though.
Both
@@burkeswanson7348 it prevents the main and generator breaker from being on at the same time. So power coming in from the generator doesn’t go out of the house on the main. But you know that already. My post is for others that may not.
@@burkeswanson7348 I run a 10,000W duramax which power comes into the house through a reliance pro / tran2 transfer switch for it to operate the main power is shut off so no harm will come to the workers that are working to restore power , great comments guys and gals thanks for sharing
@@johnclyne6350 Is there a concern that the neutral is not disconnected from the pole for the interlock usage case? Can current flow back to the pole through that neutral which is never disconnected for the interlock use cases. Is that a concern or not? Thanks for responding back
Well done.
I am currently waiting on the insurance adjuster so I can start making repairs after that hurricane.
Studying up on generators which brought me here.
Get yourself a Westinghouse generator. I would go to the Westinghouse website to see what models/configurations they have available and where to get them. I got one of their top generators offered at lowes. I didn't get the big daddy mack Gen offered at lowes because it was only gasoline and I wanted something that would give me some options on the fuel source. Their next one down was a dual-fuel option and was still high enough to run a whole house. So I pulled the trigger on that one because I also saw I could convert it to take natural gas. Well today I decided to go look at the westinghouse website to see what all they offer and low and behold, they have my same model in a tri-fuel option and they also have the daddy mack in a tri-fuel option! I wish I would have gone to their website first because it would have saved me from buying the dual-fuel option I have and I would have gone with their tri-fuel option and saved myself the headache of a conversion. Now I'm stuck with this generator because lowes won't take it back once the box is opened. But I guess it could be worse!?!
I did the same to my house in California. I hired an electrician to install the generator transfer switch. However, my electrical panel couldn’t accommodate one. So they installed a sub panel and moved all my circuit breakers and the transfer switch in there. I have the same ZombieBox enclosure for a Champion 11,500 watt gasoline only generator. I also put a micro air soft start on my 3 ton AC unit. Everything runs fine off the generator and my immediate neighbors can’t hear my generator from inside their homes. The only issue is the APC battery backups I had on my PCs wouldn’t charge from the generator. It’s not an inverter generator and the battery backups couldn’t tolerate the THD (Total harmonic distortion). No big deal, the computers ran fine without them. After watching your video, I may consult a plumber to run a Natural Gas line to my generator and install the kit from Champion. That seems like a smart idea.
good vid. I am about 45 ish mins north east of H and have a 9k predator harbor freight deal but im off grid on solar. we dont really have CNG gas out here and SJC sux for power outages so if you wanted to do something like that itd be gasoline or LP only. yall city slickers got all the good stuff, LOL thx for the vid, hope it helps some people out.
I have the same setup, Zombie box, MicroAir and generator! However, after doing additional research on generators, the Duromax open frame generators produce very dirty power! The Total Harmonic Distortion is 12 to 20% depending on load. That will damage sensitive electronics, such as, Computers, TV's, Furnace electronics, and any computerized modern appliances. I am selling the Duromax and going with the Westinghouse WGEN 115000 TFC. It produces more power at less than 5% Total Harmonic Distortion. This is considered clean power and safe for electronics. You might want to check it out, it would be a better choice! Great video by the way!!!
I ran several oled tv's, gaming computers and a ps5 for 3 days with no issue. Alternatively you could, if you were concerned, purchase a battery back up box for your entertainment center which takes in dirty power (ac) and converts it to a pure sine wave (dc) before sending it to the electronics. DC sine wave stays charged by the generator AC
www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500AVRLCD3-Intelligent-System-Outlets/dp/B0BCMLLSHL?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1
I fried all my led lights running a generator to them, was really surprised they couldn’t take it
I do one better. I have the Honda EU 7000is.
That's an inverter generator with clean 60 cycle power. It's fuel injected so no priming & it sips fuel in economy mode. If you want to really protect your appliances? That's the one to get. Mine delivers 123-123-246 volts all day long no matter the load & I get 18 hours of run time on 5 gallons of gas at half load.
I'm a power lineman for a living. That's the one I recommend for back up power.
@@anotherdumbwelder6219 This is just a guess, but much of the dirty AC that people are complaining about can be fixed even on cheaper generators. I had a good industrial generator that only had about 50 hours on it when I started noticing flickering lights. I took some measurements and it was producing about 210v with 105v legs @ about 55hz @ ~3100 rpms. A bad throttle spring with an rpm adjust with an AVR adjustment fixed everything. If you check your RPMs and voltage you can generally get clean AC even from a cheap generator. Generally speaking the price difference with generators comes from engine quality. The generator part is basically the same from one to another. If it's rated for 30 amps or maybe 50 amps it will produce said amount if the engine is running at rated RPMs. Dirty carbs will make the engine "hunt" and change the voltage and HZ produced by the generator. No need for a new generator and more money unless you are asking it to do more than it's rated for.
Very true. That's why I didn't go with the Duromax. Good luck finding the Wgen11500TFc. I guess by now, you've found out they are nearly impossible to get right now.
Great video! I’m in the process of setting a system up for our house and your video showed up at exactly the right time to help me,,, set up in a more affordable and efficient way. Many thanks!
I've ran my house with portable Generac 17500kw with 26k surge once, with selective caution, on a single 50A output. The generator is a POS, don't buy one. But it started my 5T A/C without issue or soft start as the surge is very high. A word of caution if you are generator shopping, know if what you are looking at is continuous watts or surge watts. Both numbers matter but some manufacturers put surge as the top number in their rating, others (like this particular generac model) list continuous as the main number. It matters.
You have a misunderstanding of the amp draw for your 5T a/c and what your generator is capable of. Neither fan in the A/C system are 30A draw as you mentioned. They draw a few amps each once running. It's only the compressor that is high draw. If you have an LRA of 90 you have a fairly efficient unit as many 5T still in use are higher, just a note to others. It was good to see you made some clarifications in your write up under the video for others to understand what you meant.
I was in Beryl too and out of power for 6 days. I now use a 5500w (surge) Champion propane inverter generator running on a 250g tank to power two emergency inverter window A/C's that actually cycle when set to 74 degrees. They keep 1500sf downstairs - with 19ft ceiling in half of that - quite comfy, plus it powers two inverter refrigerators and a deep freezer. This inverter generator rarely goes over 50% output. I appear to use about 8 gallons of propane a day. I also have strips of radiant barrier I cut and tape over the SW facing windows and one glass door. That makes a huge difference. This year has been crazy with power outages. Best of luck.
To anyone reading this:
You cannot replace a 200A service with 50A and have "business as normal". You can selectively decide what you want to run and still leave all breakers on, unless you are all electric. Think about your common 120v small stuff. Microwave 8-10A, coffee pot 8-10A, hair dryer 10-12A, small space heaters 12A each ...... Etc. (divide amps by two for apples to apples since these are 120v and you are using 240v@50A capacity) Two hairdryers going while you make morning coffee and run a couple space heaters, now click the microwave to heat your breakfast and use a toaster at the same time. You are consuming 60-80% of that circuit. Trick is for a family to communicate and understand you can use all the lights and fans you want, but need to be selective using high draw small appliances at the same time, especially if the central A/C is running. If you are all electric at your house, only turn on ONE 240v breaker at a time. (licensed electrician)
Thank you for the information. Very clear.
Thanks for the breakdown. I run a Dura Star 12k. It runs a 3 ton , portable A/C and the necessities
@@Larry-yb7zl Thanks for the information. I have become wary of having a whole house generator installed because I have a lot of neighbors that have them and every time the power goes out I see a lot of Generac repairs vans around. I think I have decided to just buy a good sized inverter tri fuel generator and wire a multi plug somewhere so I can connect the generator to the back of the plug and plug extension cords into the outlets. That would allow me to plug in the fridge, internet router, tv, etc. I have a portable heat pump a/c that I sometimes use in the garage. I can cool our bedroom with that. In a pinch I could even run a cord up into the attic to the controls of one of my gas tankless water heaters. Or even the blower motor on one of the gas furnaces. It’s a bit of a pain in the butt, however, the reality is that the power doesn’t go out very often. When it does it is usually for a short time. I have tried and tried but I just cannot justify spending $16,000 for something that sets in my yard and is hardly ever used. And if I had one installed and it didn’t work when I needed it!?! Things would get ugly very, very quick!
@@danbgt Inverter technology is fantastic. I've had my 5500 inverter generator three years trouble free 280hrs run time. Still has original battery. Sits on my back porch under a factory soft cover. I start it monthly. It's hard piped to my tank and a quick connect at the porch. I have two shut off valves, one push-to-turn at the source and one at the porch. There are much larger inverter gens on the market now to chose from. Specs on mine is .17/G hour at 25% load and seems almost linear but not rated at higher loads. It was $1100 when I bought it. It is a PITA to not have switched lighting in every room but I can live with it. Inverter window units are cheap and very efficient, probably the most bang for the buck you can get. Honestly don't miss the central A/C but we don't have kids or need to use our upstairs during power outages.
I use four reels of extension cord each reel having four built-in 120v connection ability and I use heavy cords. One reel goes to the garage. Other three in the house, then I branch out from there to what I want to operate. I have a lot of milwaukee battery tools including a portable fan and lighting. Eight batteries I rotate to charge. We do fine and it costs about $20-$25 a day for fuel (guessing here). Neighbors with fixed units $100-$150 day. When my gen fails, I'll buy another one but probably one that has 240 capability and I'll install an interlock and outlet at the panel so I have switched lighting. No concern with central A/C inop. Have propane for heat, cooking and piezo ignition tankless water heater that requires no power or batteries to operate.
Couple of tips. In January I bought a portable inverter 60pt Hisense dehumidifer from Lowe's. If you crank it to maximum it puts out a lot of heat. Seems to max out at 600W but probably heat equivalent to 4500w of space heaters. On low it draws just over 100w and runs quietly. Been in continuous use since January and it's impressive. Currently $469. This will be a main source for winter heat during a power failure and at 600W it's very complimentary to warming your home with a small generator. Placing radiant barrier between the window and blind was a god send. I had some on hand from atticfoil as I am in the process of installing in my attic. It made a noticable differience in the heat radiating thru windows, and I already have low-e argon glass. You can use cooking foil or reflective bubble wrap. They all do the same thing for radiant heat control.
@@Larry-yb7zl Thanks for the info. During Beryl our power was only out for 13 hours. That is longest it has been out since Ike back in 2008. It was only out for 6 hours after the wind storm in May. I have a small inverter generator from Harbor Freight that I bought three years ago. It was still in the box! I serviced it, started it up and ran our fridge, tv, internet router, a couple of LED lamps and a small fan. It did just fine. We don’t have kids at home or pets. It’s inconvenient to do things that way but it not terrible. I have better things to do with 15 or 16 thousand dollars.
Excellent system breakdown!
I'm going to look into that AC soft start kit for my AC units.
Much appreciated!
Don't forget to give the gen an oil change for long life. Nice to see you put the interlock in place
Nice set up. Informative video. Thank you.
Speaking as an electrical engineer, its critical to keep the generator cool (within operating temp specs) especially when heavily loaded and if outside temp is 95+F. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Shade it under an open air tent that is at least 6ft above the generator to shade it from direct sunlight and use box fans to keep air flowing through the generator engine and electric generator motor. Once you have generator temp under control, it can cycle your AC as often as you like. 20 min duty cycle is no big deal. The active cooling box (zombie) is a perfect cooling system for the generator. It does all the above in one box. Since generator engines are air cooled, the engine will always die first on a poorly air circulated, loaded generator.
I was wondering about enclosed generators. I put mine under a beach canopy. Of course not during the storm but after is passed. As a mechanic I to put a fan on my generator , Kept in the shade. Understanding how important it is to have a lot of fresh air flow around the generator. It seems the only way to enclose a unit is if its liquid cooled.
@@Badwolf6466 The active cooling is extremely essential - in heavy heat you need a LOT of airflow. Regardless of what you plan it's important to test it - we tested out using a basic 6' tall pop-up canopy on an 89-degree day with two separate generators. We took a temperature reading under the shade of the canopy and it was 9 degrees cooler at 80 so we were certain the generators would run better. Somehow though they both consistently ran hotter under the canopy than outside of it, even after the addition of two 20" box fans.
I have the Champion tri fuel 9000w inverter generator. On propane it can start my 3 y/o American Standard 5 ton AC but on NG it can’t. It will start and run my 3.5 to. aC w/o a soft start. Need to install the soft start kit on my 5 ton. My neighbor had a different 4 ton AC but couldn’t start his AC with my generator. All and all, I Love it! Did the electrical myself as I’m an electrical engineer but hired a plumber to install a NG quick connect on my gas meter. Spent $2500 for everything including a 50 ft 3/4 gas line and thick 50 ft, 50 amp extension cord. Oh the plumber said it would cost $8500 to run gas underground 85 feet to where my breaker box is so I run a long gas line and extension cord which cost about $500 for those two items instead of
I have the same generator with an all electric house & after seeing it struggle to start my 5ton ac unit I decided not to run the ac, it sucked because my backup window units were on loan to my daughter. I’m looking at whole house 26kw generac units with 200amp auto transfer switch for $6300, but I need to buy a 500 gal propane tank, new tanks are $3200, so I can do it for around $10,000 but I have quotes for $20,000+ to do a turn key job. I will order everything to install myself, Beryl caused 4 days without AC, it sucked. I’m in Matagorda co so dead center of the eye, not fun.
@@mike-n-texaswoodturning9481 26Kw is roughly 108 AMPS. Most 5 ton AC units have a start up of 145 LRA. You might consider installing a MicroAir soft start kit. It will reduce the LRA by two thirds. My 3.5 ton AC unit has an LRA of 122 amps. After I installed the MicroAir it reduced the start up to an LRA to 32!!! My 13kw generator has no problems running the AC now!!
@@mike-n-texaswoodturning9481Soft Start kit brother.
@@Runamukker From what I've read, soft starts are good for the generator but will give your AC Compressor a very short life.
Have you ac guy install a soft start/ hard start kit on you ac and you won't have a problem
Great tutorial! Especially for those not otherwise in the know about electricity & generators. Nice set up with the natural gas.
I did the same thing with a roll out generator like yours. Instead of the Gen Max I went with the Uber premium Honda EU 7000is. Not the newest one but the earlier model with out the CO minder & the blue tooth. I wanted an inverter to power up my home instead of a regular genny. The inverter delivers clean 60 cycle power just like the power company. Yours may not? I can run sensitive electronics on mine without any issue. Also it sips fuel in economy mode. Mine will run half load on 5 gallons of gas for 18 hours. I have an interlock for my CB panel just like you. However I had a custom fabricated enclosure made for mine that is vented on 2 full sides. It’s made of 306 stainless steel. My genny is set up inside my enclosure like yours. I have the inlet inside the enclosure. My enclosure is on a poured in place concrete pad that is attached by screws to the concrete. I have a ground Rod for my cabinet as well to safe guard anyone touching it. I have the trickle charger hard wired to the battery. I bought the same soft start kit. My genny is ready to go with 3 switches & 1 push button. It is set up for my wife to use. She is not electrically savvy but knows a lot more than me. She has written instructions as well as refresher classes on restoring power to the house in an emergency when I’m not home.
I store over a hundred gallons of pre-treated gas at my house. That’s enough fuel to last three weeks. Enough time for services to be restored. I have it stored on a metal rack that is grounded to another ground rod. Like you we did our homework. Hopefully with your audience well educate the TH-cam crowd? I look forward to more videos!
I’m a utility lineman for a living. When the power is out at my house I never get any calls on my phone as I’m busy getting everyone else’s lights on. I consider a generator at home a safety item. It’s an insurance policy incase the worse case happens.
Our genny is super quiet & my neighbors all think I must have a “special line” at my house because they all know I work for the local power company. Generators are going to become a necessity with global warming & more violent storms. I see it on my end at work.
Man...that's super impressive and thank you for what you do. You may as well be Captain America when people need you.
@@Runamukker Not really. Most have smiles when we show up. Others might not be soo happy. Especially the ones who have been out a while. I warn customers now that a generator should be part of their house emergency plan. If only to run their well pump & provide heat & hot water. That’s huge right there. My wife & I are both heat intolerant. We need our 2-1/2 ton Trane central air.
If you would like to see my enclosure & genny running? Go to my home page. I have both on there.
Checked out your set up and that enclosure is NICE! Well ventilated. Keep up the good work and stay safe running lines in disaster zones!
Love this setup. You did it right! I have had a similar setup (without the awesome quick connect NG connection) for many years and it worked great. A 5500-watt portable with an NG conversion ran my entire house, except for central air, but I have a portable AC in the bedroom to sleep at night. Saved me many times. (I live in Houston too) The only issue, although minor, is the power normally goes out when the weather is really nasty or in the middle of the night. I don't want to be out in the blowing rain or at 2 am trying to hook all of this up. In addition to the purchase price of a Generac (10k - 14k range), the natural gas cost is about $100 per day (24 hours). The fuel cost for a portable generator runs about $25 - $40 per day (24 hours). Whichever way you go, or even if you don't have a generator the Micro-Air EasyStart is a compressor saver. Thanks for the show-n-tell, nice work.
Very informative!! ❤Loved the whole presentation! Went through the storm as well but didn't have a Generator. We have one NOW! Thanks again.
Excellent presentation and information. Thank you.
2 weeks ago, we here in northern Ohio had 5 confirmed tornados, one of which was only 2 miles away. Which caused 400,000 people here, including my house to lose power for 3 hours short of 5 days. I have 2 Honda inverter generators so we had almost everything except the central air. But my gas meter is at the front of the house and my utility meter is on the back of the house, so I'd probably have to spend some serious money plumbing in a gas line to the back yard. But this was an excellent video! Food for thought!
I have a 6500W genny. Got the disconnect and shoreline to the breaker box. I live by myself. So I had a port-a-cool AC for one room. So I live during a power outage in my ham room. Can run cooler, Ice Box, 100w and 50 watt ham radios, charge laptop, some lights and fans. Enough at least to be able to sleep at night.
I got my genny on the $80 garden cart from HFT. As one living in H-Town, flooding is an issue. The cart gets the frame 16-18 inches off the ground. Also improves air flow.
Having a neighbor build for me a shed which will protect unit from rain, sun, and heat.
I already have a Honda EB6500, generator inlet on the back porch and multiple 5 gallons gasoline cans. I upgraded to a Kohler 38KW whole house unit powered with natural gas. No problems running everything at the same time in 100+ degree weather. Peace of mind.
Would you mind sharing how much you spent on that really, really nice Kohler 38KW Generator setup?
Hey, you can get a 22kw generator backup installed for about $10k now i had a block house built around it as Fl. Hurricanes i seen them get damage by debris. Portable generators are not able I think to handle a 5-ton AC unit my AC unit is the brand new inverted AC units which are its whole house like everybody else is but they're electrically designed differently they use a lot less power. The best generators for diesel as far as miles per gallon or they get the best Energy Efficiency out of any of the generators but storing around a thousand gallon tank of fuel is kind of hard plus if you don't use it regularly gets algae in it
Many thanks amigo, good stuff! Live in Harris County as well and am in the market for a generator enclosure. Heard what I needed to hear about zombie box and got some bonus learning material regarding the soft start. I appreciate you sharing this.
thanks for this video....nice setup and shoutout to the electrical company. appreciate it as i begin my houston area generator journey
Nice! Only thing I’d do is swap that Gen for a tri fuel inverter. Much safer and efficient. Nice work though!
Great video! I love the idea for a gentent! Thanks for sharing!💪🏾🇺🇸
Thank you sir for your very detailed video. I was thinking of a whole home Generac that i was quoted $15k but with this setup is much more economical.
The compressor may draw 30 amps, but the fan will only draw maybe 5 at most. It is the inrush current from the compressor thst will be around 100 amps. The "soft start" is a variable frequency drive that ramps it up to its running amps instead of the inrush current being drawn in the first moments that the motor starts.
Seed the skies amazing how many people look at things in plain site but do not see!
@@bymarcatholictinkering hello bot
@@seedtheskies not a bot
Thank you . Great info about the ac
Thank you for your time and video. Very informative content. 👍🏽🇺🇸
You should consider getting several ( maybe 6 ) 100 lb propapane tanks and keeping them stored filled in case the natural gas service fails, because if you have a bad enough storm/disaster that the gas fails you will not be able to go out and get any other fuel when it does. Gas stations are either sold out or without power to pump and good luck finding someone open to fill propane tanks then.
Where I live we go for a 4 days sometimes even 2 weeks once without elect . What becomes crucial is Fuel and 30 weight Moter oil - I suggest you get a small generator that will run your refrigerator only. Think about it when you have no fuel for an hour ride away - and everybody and I mean everybody is scrounging for gas. It happened to us a couple of times.
switch over to a big propane tank and also you can add a second one for an emergency use only if you living out in the country. they make converstion kits to switch out you generator. I would buy two or three cases of oil at sam or costco and store them just only for you generator. I have a big fuel storage filled of non ethanol gas just for my Generator and a huge big bottle of propane tank. two cases of oil for the GEN.
hope this helps, I have been doing this for about 7 years and I am still using the same generator. mine does propane and gasoline Champion Generator
Great video. I have a very similar set up after the power outage in May. No power for 6 days.
Have pretty much the same setup. I installed mine about 8 years ago. Lesson learned: Start saving for an inverter generator with high output. Having a clean sine wave protects your vital and sensitive equipment. NOT EVEN Generac Whole House gens have clean since waves. Great video.
My 26 KW Generac has less than 5% THD. That’s good enough for sensitive equipment.
I don’t think that’s accurate. They have plenty low THD.
I just ordered the Honda 7000 unit. I live in West Texas, thought about converting it to run on gas becuce of the “unlimited” utility. Not sure this will run the 5T AC unit but will look at the soft start option. Nice video, thanks. Time to cut that grass.
I serviced and installed standby gen sets for near 25 years and the one thing nobody talks about is the cost to operate. Yeah, we all toss numbers around about how many gallons per day it might be, but breaking it down to cost of producing Kws, will make your head spin. If you think 25 cents is high from your utility, any smaller set will be 4-6 times more. That's right.... over a buck per Kw to make your own. Oh, and that's not figuring the up-front costs of the installation. We're basically talking about fuel here.
Yes, it might be true and it is true actually but it’s much more costly but it’s only for what 12 hours one day three days. I rather do that and spend the money upfront and have electricity then be completely without try diet three days in 90° weather then you could throw all your refrigerated food out and see how much it cost to restock that.
I’m sure we piss away more money than dad on frivolous things during the month that you could cut out and that more than compensate for the extra electricity for three days
@@vjc812 yes, it does solve the problem, but my point was it's more expensive than most realize.
I have a 5500 Watt Gasoline powered generator, and she will run about 10-12 hours on 5 Gal of fuel. So we are talking about $15 bucks in fuel costs to get through the heat of the day in central Florida after a storm. That's cheap comfort when you can run all of your internet gear, PC's, TV's, lights, fans, phone chargers, electric stove top burners, Microwave, Coffee Pots, 2 refrigerators, 1 deep freezer, a 40 Gal Electric water heater, and a window AC unit in the Master Bedroom, etc in the heat of the summer. That's pretty cheap comfort for the week or so that it may take you to get commercial power back. And of course, at night when it's cooler you can shut off the Generator after the Bedroom is super cold, and the fridges and freezer have reached max coolness for the night. After a comfortable nights sleep of 6-8 hours, you can fire up the generator, turn on just the water heater and 1 light. When the light gets really bright after being on with the water heater for an 30-45 minutes, you know the water is hot (ready for a nice shower) and you can turn off that breaker and turn on the breakers for the rest of the house, start up the coffee pot, etc. Energy management is the key to using a smaller generator in these grid down conditions. That and a little planning and thinking ahead...
@@optionstraderman and that's how it's done, but you have made my point. We do anything in a pinch. $15 a day is $450 a month (if it lasted that long) for a half day of power where you do all of that footwork. I doubt your electric bill is anywhere near that. Again, thanks for making my point.
@@rupe53 When you look at the alternative's such as packing your family up and moving to a hotel for a week or two at say $150 to $500 bucks per night, having a backup generator is a pretty cheap solution. In my area, we were without power for 5 to 23 days 3 times when we had the 3 back to back hurricanes a few years ago. The Generator definitely paid for itself.
Thanks for sharing great setup you mentioned Generac I bought a used 16k Generac propane very cheap just had it tested tan great but I’m in Florida setting up has been not easy still working out the kinks but I say your setup was my way of connecting mines up with that outside generator plug and the panel switch because the quotes for a electrician just to connect the automatic switch well it’s in the thousands like $2k permits and all I’m still maybe doing it but I’m on a poverty social security they call income hence the reason of connecting it your way and most definitely get that soft start kit I already have a smaller version for just the compressor but I prefer that one we’ll wish me luck on my project oh and for more protection against the weather I’m building a insulated box unit from scratch so I’ll get more life from it thanks for sharing
the fan motor pulls around 3 amps, same with blower motor inside, which is around 3 to 4 amps max. the compressor is the only main part that pulls high amps
Thank you. Awesome tutorial.
When you said you were out of power for 3 days, I was wondering if you were impact by Beryl. And then you confirmed my suspicion. Nice setup! I had a generator, but I ended up having to use extension cords. Not to mention the generator was woefully underpowered. I have a new generator on-order. Had been thinking about getting a Zombiebox. Seeing that setup... now I'm really leaning more towards getting one. Thanks for the video!
I love it....can't hear it running from the street and It's always just in there ready to go.
I was in Beryl without power for 8 or 9 days, I don't rememeber
But 4 of those days we ran my van with a 1500w power inverter for the fridge and Wi-Fi so we could actually see what was going on
Middle of the 4th day I decided I want a damn generator because this is ridiculous!
I got a 9k Predator from Harborfreight (I wanted the 13k tri-fuel but none were available)
And I tapped into the breaker panel using the drier breaker as the power in. It worked to power the entire 2 story 2600sqft home without issue, even with someone accidentily powering both 2.5ton AC systems at the same time
Needless to say I won't ever be left without power again, that sucked. I'll at some point do something similar
Thank you for the video!
I have a similar setup as well for 2,000 ft² house and 3 ton unit I was averaging around 10,000 running Watts off peak and around 12 to 13,000 on, and decided for a 15,000 max peak tri fuel generator with 10,000 running on the natural gas which will definitely power everything in our house.
The inlet cost 500 bucks, the generator was about $2,500 and the plumber is around 3 to 500, depending upon the type of work the plumber has to do.
it's a much more efficient way to power your home in an outage for a fraction of the cost
I hope that $500 inlet price includes the electrician costs as well, they're only about $50 to buy directly.
I have a Generac 24kW whole house setup and it runs on both NG and propane. In fact the electricians did some startup testing with a propane tank before the plumber ran and hooked up the gas.
But I’ll agree that having a 3rd fuel option isn’t a bad thing. But during a storm event where you might need to go get gas or propane refill, good luck! My generator ran 8.5 days after beryl without a hiccup.
But that is a nice setup, and certainly less than the $14k I spent on the Generac whole house that I had installed a few months ago. I initially thought about going with a more DIY setup but then realized my wife would never want to do that on her own and having the piece of mind that the house is taken care of even if I’m away was worth it. Especially with little kids at home.
Had a home setup with an OG Coleman Powermate Vantage 8000. Ran essential circuits only with a manual transfer panel. Ran for a few days after Ivan, but used a lot of gas. Had to keep a stockpile because gas was out for miles all around. Moved and ended up after a serious bout of Tornados running a week on a Briggs Storm Responder 5500, used less gas but really could only run a handful of stuff because I didn't have this one wired into the house. Had to drive a state over to get gas when we ran low.
Eventually after having a bunch of random stupid power outages (cool evening, everyone around us with power, went an additional 8 hours without power while the neighborhood across the street had it) increasing in frequency, bit the bullet and got a Generac 24kW myself as well. So much better and I don't have to worry about my family going out in inclement weather to crank the generator/flip breakers/keep it filled up/etc. It's got auto load shedding the whole nine. I don't have to worry when I'm out of town that they can manage while I'm gone. I also watch it on my phone and know when it kicks on and exercises or has any issues.
However, I am working a contingency with an additional plug and switch to allow plugging in a gas/diesel gen if the natural gas goes out for any reason. I still got my old gas gens and exercise and maintain them as an insurance policy.
Thanks for your review on your home generator setup. Very nicely done and a good thorough explanation of how the system was put together and the aspects n components of the system that need to be done and which part of it should be done by a certified electrician, etc. BTW, just wondering if the DuroStar Genie you have is a "Inverter" Generator model ?
Thank you again Runamukker. Very informative and helpful..
This Duromax is not an inverter generator.
Great video I got a generator about the same size as that and the generator hook up and the breaker and all that for hurricanes here in Florida, it works good I’m itching to get a good hurricane so I can actually use it😆
Right?....everyone without a generator gets nervous, but we get excited to use our stuff....lol.
We've had two good hurricanes in the last month. Did you get to use your new generator?
We even use soft start kits for Tesla batteries for Solar. Now they have a built in cranking power output for AC to start. I think everyone in FL and TX should be watching this. Never saw so many wealthy people without power and looking like a hot mess when hurricane Irma came. They had nice car that was over 50k but never even had a 1,200 decent generator. Everyone should get an inner lock kit generator that doesn’t cost a lot. People willing to pay anything when power is out but not pay to prevent something. Prevent is key
Yep.
I set my ranch home up with a dual fuel Westinghouse 12KW generator with remote start/ stop, much like you did, then I installed a Honeywell 200 amp automatic throwover between the meter and the breaker box. (And yes, the remote is wired into the Honeywell ATO.) My system runs on propane, so there is definitely a limit to how long I can run my generator. But, since I live in rural country I can source non ethanol fuel in larger quantities. Mostly used for the ranch equipment, but during storm season, I make sure my ranches gas storage tank is as close to full as I can get it. I love my Zombie box, and so do the chickens and goats. I prefer to run the generator on propane, but having a duel fuel will pay off. Plus, I have some solar on the house. Not enough to run the entire home, lighting mostly, but my Motorcoach has enough solar on it that it can add to solar generation should there be an extended national outage. Plus, I can plug my RV with big battery bank into the home as a backup to the generator.
For an intown set up you've got it right.
And for those of you thinking about doing this to your home, check with your local utility and see what your maximum peak usages have been in the summer and winter so you'll get a handle of how big a generator you really need. Calculate what you have to have running in the house based on those past usages. Some of you may have the ability to see what you've used online. (I'm a retired Power Lineman / Technician!
BTY, my home has propane heat, but we also have a fireplace and a cast iron stove for heat, so the 12KW generator is sized to run my ac units easily. Oh, and we have 2 water heaters. One propane and one electric, so hot water from the well isn't an issue. And I should mention our 12K gallons rainwater harvesting storage also makes us a little less dependent on the Utility Companies.
Oh, and the reason I wanted to comment. I prefer the portable generators over the permanent installed ones in case we ever have to Bugout. We'll just take this big generator with us to wherever we bugout to!
Again, that's a great intown system, and the lockput panel is greatly appreciated by your local power lineman!
Thank you for the feedback....I agree with everything you added.
You’re using a Honeywell automatic transfer switch with a portable generator?
@davidc-l9174 Yep, the big 12 kw Westinghouse generator has an auto start standby system built in it. And the ATO functions the same. I just had to create a wiring harness so they would communicate with each other.
Westinghouse makes a standby sensor auto start system (about $250.00) that can auto start their generators, but it only has one 20 amp (IIRC) outlet on it. It's great for a few lights and one refrigerator.
@@CurtisDrew1 Can you give more details about how you have your portable generator connected (wired up) to the Honeywell automatic transfer switch?
Nice video! Just a thing on the soft start, I talked with some electricians and AC guys who actually suggest not using the soft start, but the hard start instead as the soft start over time will cause unit issues. I just wanted to let you know as I was just about to buy the soft start and my AC guy said no, let's do the hard start. Hope that helps. Love the box!
Hard Start: Suitable for units struggling with starting, especially in older systems or those with frequent start-stop cycles.
Soft Start: Ideal for reducing inrush current, particularly with generator use, and for systems with electrical limitations or seeking reduced wear and tear.
@@TechnoDad72 yeah and this is exactly what I thought as well that's why I wasn't sure why he recommended the hard start but maybe he meant soft start.
I think microair would disagree with your explanation! 'EasyStart is designed to connect directly to the compressor motor and reduce the power surge that occurs on start. It does this by controlling the power supplied to the windings of the motor on each AC cycle. EasyStart gradually increases this power until the compressor is running.
This increases the time it takes the motor to get up to speed and creates a very smooth start that reduces the peak current by 50 to 70%.'
It definitely starts my compressor after my condenser fan. I verified it....I suspect it does both.
@@Runamukker yes but the fan is 120v low current and the electronics ramp up the current on the compressor with less inrush as quoted by microair. It also does nothing for the furnace blower which is also 120v.
The benefit of the soft start is as @RustyBdTz states. It reduces the in rush when the compressor starts. The load for the cooling fan on the condenser is small - a couple of amps at 120V. The fan for the evaporator is fairly low load - 3-4 amps at 120V and is powered from a different feed than the condenser. Newer AC units contain logic to sequence the start of the three components independent of the soft start.
Regardless, kudos to you on your installation. IMHO, you made excellent choices to balance cost, reliability and aesthetics!
I have the same soft start kit and my fan on my condenser starts to spin first for about 2.5 seconds and then my condenser ramps up after.
hi Runa, could I please request that you record a video of the generator turned on, while inside the zombiebox? I wanted to see how loud this particular generator was inside of the zombiebox, and I cannot find anyone else on youtube that has the duramax 13000 inside of a zombiebox. thank you!
That's a great setup. I was all set to call BS on the 50 amp cable until you showed the cool A/C delay startup system. I never even knew they existed. LOL How's the overall noise level with that Zombie box? thanks for sharing this. I think I could likely get by with this or something even a tiny bit smaller.
Cant hear it from the street....makes a huge difference.
@@Runamukker Thanks bro. Cheers
The total amps for your ac should be about 40A not 90A but im not looking at the specs for your equipment so you might be 100% correct. the soft start is an incredible upgrade. The only thing i would add to all the information you shared in this video is make sure your generator is the weakest link in the electrical circuit. My electrician wanted to add a 30A inlet box and it would limit my options to 30A instead of 50A. The importance of proper electrical is i would have to do math on all the electric being used and only use 30A to avoid a fire. If the generator is the weakest link you can turn on equipment until the generator cant handle the load and it will shut down or trip its own breaker and nothing serious will happen.
I do prefer the inlet box that plugs in from the bottom bc it is easier on the cord but having a generator setup like yours is so valuable when the power goes out. Over all this is one of the best affordable setups i have seen. I honestly dont see the value in buying a generx bc the cost and infrequent usage of a generator. Can you link in the description qhere to find the outdoor generator box.
@@optionstraderman I was hoping he would try and make an affiliate link so he can get a little money from the purchase. I appreciate good information and would love to encourage him to make more videos like this bc he genuinely made a great video
I was just thinking about doing something similar to this and thought I’m sure someone else has done this and came to TH-cam and you was the first video I seen thank you
Before i looked at the description, just based on the look of your house, the street and the weather, I was thinking: *I wonder if this guy is in Houston* and you are. I'm in NW Houston near Cypress and my set-up is virtually identical to yours but I have a pergola in my backyard so I don't have a generator shed. I'm using a Westinghouse 14,500 peak wat tri-fuel generator and I also got a plumber to install a natural gas quick disconnect T-line and an electrician to install the same soft start kit. I ran my generator for almost 2 days straight (had to get gasoline once) and then we got power back. It performed flawlessly. Additional thought: I wholly agree on your sentiment and your strategy against the Generac and Kohler stationary whole-home generators- they are RIDICULOUSLY over-priced and yes, if the natural gas network stops working then you have a $20,000 pile of junk. I saw a comment on TH-cam where a guy bought a Generac and had it installed around 2017 and it only cost him $8,000 and now the same unit is, as mentioned, close to $20,000.
what's your sf and ton size condenser? i was looking at the 14,500 peak tri fuel but I'm seeing if that's a over kill if i have a 4 ton 2500 sf home was built on 2021...
Thanks for the info 👍
A quick note, please keep all covers on the gas feed ports and lines when not in use. Insects will wreak havoc by building nests in these openings. Try cleaning out spider nests of mud dauber wasp nests in the dark with pouring rain all around during a severe storm. Not safe nor comfortable during a raging storm.
As for the Generac systems, I think they are intentionally taking their customers for a hard ride. When I left the states 18 years ago a 6 Kw generator of theirs sold for about $6K at Home Depot. Electrical mods were done by your electrician to your homes system. Now I have heard (do not know if true) that they insist on doing your home electrical mods to "preserve" the warranty on the generator. Another issue I saw in the early specifications of their Gen sets was a 3000 hour lifespan of the generator. That is not much considering that amounts to 125 days of 24 hour run time. Onan and Koehler genders on RV's far exceede that lifespan. I have even seen a Catipilar Gen set running a motel in the middle of nowhere in Illinois non stop. This unit has a oil circulation system with filters that keep the oil free of any contaminants, a cooling system that has a high capacity resivoir to allow for proper cooling. Only once a year does a company come in and change the oil in the system and check on coolant quality. If ther ever found a need to shut down a generator they would bring in a trailer mounted unit hook up and synchronize it to the house generator after fired up and then isolate the house generator and turn it off for repairs. Everything works on diesel sold for off road use only.
Cool set up, but just a fyi they do make lp/ng combo generacs they don't only run on ng. Also you can buy a generac 22kw lp/ng guardian with a 200amp automatic transfer switch for $6k from Sam's club it I don't see why it shouldn't cost a whole lot more for an electrician and plumber to install it prob could do the whole thing installed for $10k or less not no $20k as you claim. And just so you know all generators require routine/annual maintenance not just generacs.
Automatic standby generators also require permitting, inspections, and PTO from your utility. That's a large portion of the install costs, possibly thousands of dollars depending on your area.
Great information & great setup, exactly what I’m looking for… thanks!
Hurricane Beryl had us without power for 9 days. 5 of those days with no generator. It was hell to say the least.
This video is perfect for someone new to generators like myself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in this type of purchase.
This video made it simple and easy for us to jot down what we need, and you gave accurate estimates so we don’t get messed around. Thank you good sir and God Bless
See the description for the breaker box inlet/interlock people I used if your in the Houston area.
I solved my electric back up with a 12K diesel generator / 70 gal fuel tank for about $12k. It a fully enclosed unit that I run from inside my garage. I also have 4KW solar and a 6KW inverter with 15KW battery storage. I use the solar / battery for quiet operation and use the diesel for whole house 240v when needed.
What diesel generator did you go with? During power outages in my area (I live between 2 major interstates) it's easier to get diesel than gas. Thanks for any info.
Very interesting setup! I'm in Houston as well, and you have my mind gears turning, haha. Would be interesting to look into creating a setup that essentially turned the enclosure into a refrigerated unit (maybe solar-powered?) to help with dissipating heat. Like retrofitting the coil setup from a window-A/C unit into an enclosure somehow. Hmm...
His Zombie Box has a giant electric exhaust fan on top of it pulling out all the heat and the vents around the bottom allow cool air to enter the cabinet to keep the generator nice and cool while running. Great setup! Exhaust appears to be ported out of the back of the box to a muffler, so very little heat from exhaust inside the box. Great setup!
Thanks for your video. Very helpful information. One question, does that zombi box also quiet down the noise from a generator? Looks like it does. Thanks again for sharing.
Oh yea......a ton.
Thanks for the detailed walk through. This was a great video.
Very well spoken and informative. You must be close I have same trash company
Great video, thanks. What breakers did you turn on first after throwing open the 50amp generator breaker? e.g. furnace blowers, AC, followed by smaller amps, or does it matter based on the size of your generator? Thanks!
I turn them all on since I do t really feel overloaded on my gen. I don't run the dryer, air fryer, or microwave on gen power, though. Those seem to strain my system when ac is on.
Unlike your home with the breaker box inside the gargage or home, I have the main breaker located outside the home, where switching to a backup using a mechanical interlock on a panel would leave me exposed to the elements. I'm still trying to find a way to accomplish something similar without the use of a transfer panel. Still thinking about it.
my place was setup like this when i bought it. i ran a 100a main breaker in that box thru a 4ga set of wires to a second box inside then ran all my circuits off that box. my situation was the outside box was real close to the house tho. if you have a higher service 200a or 300a or a longer lun to the house you may need larger breakers or cable.
I have been in the HVAC business for nearly forty years and I have never seen natural gas run with galvanized pipe, but maybe it's a local code thing. Other than that pretty good video
Nice video - ty! Also, I *really* like those metal panels around your AC. Would you share their source, please?
My wife got those, and I just asked, and she doesn't remember. I just googled ac condesor fan decorative cover and a bunch of different ones popped up.
@@Runamukker Thanks for taking the time to ask your wife & reply. 🙏🏼 I'll speak with Uncle Goog.
Thank you because I don’t have 20k. I appreciate this video.
you can do solar real cheap except the batteries. $3k for 10kw panels and inverter. but it only works when the sun is up, for night you need batteries and thats where they get ya. normal house $10k to $15k just in battery
@@Texas_Radical wow!!
Been doing it in NC for 28 yrs. Always used blk steel and sometimes copper. Ive heard of galvanized being used but never seen it.
Went through the storm as well. First time with a generator. Looking to run on natural gas like your setup with the soft start. Had not seen the zombie box. That is cool. Nice setup. 😊
That zombie box runs about $2k-5k.
Add a Starlink and you really wouldn't know anything happened. I have the gen setup and during the "Big Freeze" in Texas a few years ago, like you , I hardly knew anything was happening, including full high speed internet. FYI, during a power outage most internet goes down because the distribution boxes lose power also. So get Starlink and/or a good antenna for local stations. BTW, nice setup.
Crazy that Ive been looking into this and really close to pulling the trigger.
@@Runamukker starlink is my only option out here, but its expensive and you will have way faster options in town. also it DOES go down in storms. when its raining i loose signal.
Great Video! I just had my breaker box outfitted with the interlock to use the Generator but now I am ready to do the natural gas hook up was unsure if I wanted to go thru with it but after watching your video it just makes sense. Plus I don't have to worry about running to the gas station for gas etc. Not sure if I am gonna do the Zombie box enclosure a little pricey but its a good option gonna have to continue my research for the enclosure. Thanks again for the info very useful.
Definitely get the NG....it's everything when you need it. Just get a gentent...just as good and nobody cares about noise when everyone that has a generator is running their generators.
@@Runamukker so true about the noise when the power is out lol
Thanks for sharing. Id suggest to have all openings (like gas inlet, hose) covered/plugged with something. If a mud wasp finds its way in it will make a mess thats a pain to clean.
They are when not inuse.
Excellent video! Thanks for taking the time and sharing
Awesome set up! Did you have to have a larger natural gas meter installed? What is your CFH capacity on your meter?
Not sure but it's the meter that came with the house.
Does Generac run on gas or propane?
Another major appeal of the Generac generator is that it can run on either natural gas or propane. If you're using natural gas to power your generator, you'll hook it up directly to your home's gas meter. If you're using propane, you'll hook it up to a line that connects to a propane tank
Nice!I have the Duramax 12000 Dual Fuel,Wondering if there is a natural gas conversion kit available it runs propane/gas will be getting my 50 amp plug soon
Thanks!very informative and budget friendly.
I'm sure there is...NG and propane use the same regulator....I think just the orifice is different.
Heres some great advice. And I tell you this because I have dealt with so many homes being affected by surge\lightning and utility surging the home.
If you look up installation for square d hepd50/80 it will tell you to esnure your surge breaker is closest to your
Main breaker and that the wires are twisted as they go to the breaker for best perfomance.
Also helps from surge going through all your arc fault breakers before getting to the surge breaker.
Im a houston electrician and my specialty is dealing with homes that get affected by surge
How can I contact you! I have been affected big time by surge
@@lonniecoleman7859 where you located
How can I contact you? I am thinking to have a generator inlet installed. I lived close to Pasadena.
@@TechnoDad72 pro max electrical
@@TechnoDad72see the description for the interlock install.
Nice Set Up, Great Job!!!
Your outdoor condenser fan and furnace blower don't use very much power at all, like a couple amps or so each. You must just be looking at the circuit breaker size that serves them.
One thing missing from your setup is a power back restoration alarm. I got one and it’s nice to get a alert when the powers on and I can shut the generator off.
Great idea...didn't know they made those.
@@RunamukkerI didn’t either until recently. Not expensive and easy to setup.
I have a return alarm just wraps around one of your main feeders. Either side of the hots. Measures electrical radiation to know when power is in the wire. Have a 18kw generator. With the interlock and inlet. Put it all in myself.
Or just use an automatic transfer switch…
@@XxTWMLxXthe 9 volt battery doesn’t last for days I found out.
This is a cheaper gen set up. But in regards NG, everything is relative. Interruption of NG is extremely unlikely, but to purchase gas or propane when no one has power generates it's own problems.
I'm in Houston and NG was down during our crazy ice storm 2 years ago when the lines burst.
Good thing about that generator is easy and cheap to replace if it fails where Generac at the mercy of them. I hear Generacs are junk the air cooled ones over heat after long extended runs in high heat when you need the thing.
Definitely part of my thought process but the main consideration was the cost. I also know that I can upgrade it as the tech improves and take it all with me to the next house.
Nice set up. I’d have a blower fan set up that turns on when your generator turns on to get good airflow
It has that built into the Zombie Box.
@@Runamukker awesome
Generacs also run on propane also and it cost 12k -13k everything is also automated
Nice setup.
I like your setup and I've been running a portable generator in a similar manner for over 20 years. Here are the details you didn't mention:
* Venting - if you're running your generator in a box, you've got two issues: heat build up and carbon monoxide. I guess you can open up the lid when you're running it, but then it's less protected from the elements. Some people create all types of venting solutions. Fans, mufflers. None are perfect, but it's doable. Just something to point out.
* THD or total harmonic distortion. Basically, a measurement of how clean the power coming in is. From your utilities, it's usually 5-6%. For a generator like you're running, it can be 20% or more. It's fine for some devices like laptops, that have internal batteries and can clean up the dirty power. But I've had two instances in which a pump burned out while running a portable generator. Again, this is 2 pumps in over 20 years, so that's not terrible. But if you have sensitive equipment, you have to be careful running it on dirty power.
* Having to manually do the transfer - This is a big annoyance and there's a lot to talk about here
We have well water where I live, so when we lose power, we lose water too. Once, I was taking a shower when we lost power. Needless to say, having to dry off when you're full of soap and go start a generator isn't ideal. But what's worse, once you wait the typical 30 minutes to confirm the power isn't coming back, you have to then take the 10 minutes to start the generator up, plug in the gen cord and flip all of the breakers. And you don't know when power has come back, so every 30 minutes or so, you call the power company/go on their website and try to figure out, do we have power back yet? A very annoying, time-consuming process.
We recently lost power while I was out of town and my family didn't know the procedure to start the generator up, so were forced to stay in the dark for a day until it came back.
To me, your setup is fine for occasional outages. As I get older and as the frequency of these outages increases (we had 4 just last month), a whole house generator is a luxury I'm willing to spend for.
ZombieBox vents via fan from bottom and out the top. Thd of my gen is 5%. For everything else see my description in the video description section.
My concern is on ng and these generators are for ling term which there nit designed for is having a 2nd backup unit. I agree totally about cost
Very, very helpful. Thank you. Issue & Question - I want to do what you've done, but my NG meter is on the West side of my home and the electrical panel and my 30amp generator connection is on the East side. The closest NG outlet is in my courtyard about 20 feet from where I plan to place my generator. The issue is, the NG out is down to a 1/2 pipe that is further reduced to 3/8, and I fear the NG pressure and flow will not sustain the needs of the generator running at capacity. Question is: - must I get my plumber to run almost 40 ft of 1" gas line? Thanks in advance for your opinion.
Just get a 50ft, 50a generator cable.
It also extends the life of the compressor. Less wear and tear on your whole system.
Brother, I appreciate the information. Just so happen to have your video in the main screen. I was affected by Beryl too, 8 whole days with a janky generator set up haha.
Nice video. Is that a 1/2 inch or 3/4 in pipe he ran from the meter to your generator ?
3/4 all the way.
@@Runamukkerty
Can you share the video you made about running delicate electronics on Gen power? Thanks in advance!
Thanks 💪🏾