menglish December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I am looking for a generator for my 180G tank and was wondering if anyone has one that they would recommend or one i should stay away from? I was thinking of something in the 3000-5000 watt range that would support the tank and a few home appliances. I am not trying to break the bank either. I would rather spend the extra cash on stock. My tank is still very empty. Much thanks Milton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khh27 December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 A 5.5kw minimum I would suggest a 10ish kw if you plan on tank and household. A 5.5-7.5kw will run pretty much whole house outlets w/o powering hot water heater, and well pump if you have one. You can switch well and hot water just not both together. And don't even think about heat/ac. I would look into when house generec 10-12kw they are built to last and will turn on when power is off. Honda, generec are both good quality Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08can-am December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I use a briggs and stratton 5500 watts i believe. I used it for my 300 and my 30 plus tge fridge and some lights. Its a little noisy. If thats a factor go honda. But those are more Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 Honda eu3000 is great....expensive but so quiet Champions etc are fine...just get them in the off season...we have a few at the farm etc....heavy and loud but work fine for the cost Most important thing of all is to use ethanol free gas.....run it dry for storage...... Ethanol is a horrible thing If you store outside build a shed or something and get a battery tender...they also have plastic storage things as well 3000-3500 will power some lights tv fridge and tank etc no problem....if you want a heater/ac etc you'll have to start counting watts. Do you want an automated switch over or manual..... Think about plug in placement and where you will run it....hopefully you can chain/secure it as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 Honda is super quiet if you have sensitive neighbors, but expensive as others have said. I have a 4kW that I wheel out for outages and it's kind of awful because I have to be home to do it. I have to start it every month or so to make sure it's still ok. And you only end up using it in the worst weather, so that's just when you're outside messing with the thing. I'd surely love to have a propane powered Kohler or Generac which would come on automatically and work a transfer switch, but so far it's been out of my budget. I agree with what Evan said that a 3.5kW would keep the tank going and maybe also the fridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I went through this process a few years back so here's my perspective, a good bit of which has already been mentioned. 1) decide if it's mostly the tank and a few other minor accommodations or if it's also for the rest of the family. i.e. is the wife going to get any benefit from the generator or just your tank. 2) do you travel much for work? i.e. will you be home when the power is out or will your wife/kids be by themselves Aside from money, those 2 are the main questions to answer. If you only want to run your tank and not much else, a 1KW generator could even work. I had that during the derecho of 2012 when we were out of power for over a week. It ran the main tank pump, vortechs and that was all I needed. I even had enough extra power to charge iPads, phones and laptops to keep the family entertained. I could also run the basement freezer by itself so we alternated between 6 hours tank and 6 hours freezer. Not saying you want to restrict yourself like that, just saying you don't need a huge generator to keep the tank alive. Getting bigger generators are mostly to keep the wife and kids happy too (but see below). If the other things you want to run include electronics, you need to make sure the power out of the generator is clean. Many portable generators put out a STEP wave and not a sinusoidal signal. Sensitive electronics (including UPS battery systems) will reject this so that may be an issue. The Honda EU generators are expensive but that is because they also have an inverter component that puts out a clean signal. It's more than just a generator. If you aren't home a lot, a portable generator may not make sense. Someone has to be home to pull it out, connect it, and turn it on. If you travel to work, you need to think about whether your wife or kids will be able to do that when you are away. That means physically able to move/connect the equipment but as Alan said, also during a big thunderstorm or in the snow. I travel a bit so I started off with a Honda EU1000i. It was the smaller of the Honda units but it was one my wife could take out of the garage, pull and start. It's the size and weight of a largish briefcase. During the derecho, I used about 2 gallons of gas that week. As Evan mentioned, maintaining a gas engine that isn't used much is an inconvenience (as is ensuring you have the spare gas on hand). He is also right in that having a centralized place to plug the generator into an power what you want is better than extension cords everywhere with doors left ajar. Sorry, not trying to sound negative. Just providing input so that you don't think it's simply stopping at Costco/Home Depot and dropping $500 and you are done. The "drop money and done" scenario comes with a standby generator that is plumbed into your natural gas/propane supply and wired into your house with a auto-transfer switch. But those solutions are more like capital improvements to your property (e.g. a patio/deck) and start at $10k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menglish December 2, 2015 Author Share December 2, 2015 Thanks all for responding. Here is what i am thinking. Whole house is way to expensive. I was thinking of something that would run the tank and a fridge. No TV or stereo. I do not even need lights. ( I will use the tank's lights to light up the room). I was going to have my electrician install a transfer switch that will run only the fish room circuit and another 1 or 2 circuits. That way i will avoid the long extension cord through the door. I do not travel much and work close to home so i can always run home to power up the generator, if needed. I was going to get a wheel kit and was thinking an electric start so the wifie can start it up in needed. i am really thinking just about what is necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xabo December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 (edited) "I had that during the derecho of 2012 when we were out of power for over a week.""Getting bigger generators are mostly to keep the wife and kids happy too (but see below)." Yeah.................after the Derecho the wife decided that was it. She complained the entire week about the AC being out. A couple of weeks later she had the 17K Generac installed.............for her comfort, not the tank Edited December 2, 2015 by xabo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 Thanks all for responding. Here is what i am thinking. Whole house is way to expensive. I was thinking of something that would run the tank and a fridge. No TV or stereo. I do not even need lights. ( I will use the tank's lights to light up the room). I was going to have my electrician install a transfer switch that will run only the fish room circuit and another 1 or 2 circuits. That way i will avoid the long extension cord through the door. I do not travel much and work close to home so i can always run home to power up the generator, if needed. I was going to get a wheel kit and was thinking an electric start so the wifie can start it up in needed. i am really thinking just about what is necessary. Seems like you have a realistic expectation and plan. The main challenge will probably be to get the transfer switch installed in a location that the circuits can be run to it (without drywall work) and outside the generator can be easily connected to it. You may not need to get the gennie that close with a big/expensive "extension cord" designed for this application. Keep in mind- if everyone works and is out of the house during the day, you need a way to know the power went out. Putting your Apex's 9V plug AND home router/network on a battery UPS will allow you to get an alert. "I had that during the derecho of 2012 when we were out of power for over a week." "Getting bigger generators are mostly to keep the wife and kids happy too (but see below)." Yeah.................after the Derecho the wife decided that was it. She complained the entire week about the AC being out. A couple of weeks later she had the 17K Generac installed.............for her comfort, not the tank 17K Generac- you didn't specify if it was $17K or 17KW. Probably both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xabo December 3, 2015 Share December 3, 2015 Seems like you have a realistic expectation and plan. The main challenge will probably be to get the transfer switch installed in a location that the circuits can be run to it (without drywall work) and outside the generator can be easily connected to it. You may not need to get the gennie that close with a big/expensive "extension cord" designed for this application. Keep in mind- if everyone works and is out of the house during the day, you need a way to know the power went out. Putting your Apex's 9V plug AND home router/network on a battery UPS will allow you to get an alert. 17K Generac- you didn't specify if it was $17K or 17KW. Probably both! 17 KW Generator.............................cost.....around $1800 installed. She knew people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menglish December 3, 2015 Author Share December 3, 2015 Nice, i do not think i can get my wife to agree on the 17KW Generator. That would be really cool. I have also been thinking of getting solar panels on the roof and the Tesla battery, but i still have lots of question about that option. Solar City will charge you 5K up front for their 7KW battery and with installation, it will be about 7K. I am thinking the generator will have to do while i decide of the more long term solar option. I do have an apex and will have my router connected to a UPS to give me alerts when the power goes. Plus i also have a battery backup for my mp40 and I have a deep cycle marine battery and an inverter that I know will give me at least 10 hrs of power if i run only the return pump (Waveline DC12000). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave w December 3, 2015 Share December 3, 2015 (edited) Just to give an entirely different (and very cheap) perspective, consider getting a couple of 12 volt batteries that fit in your two cars. Keep them on a trickle charger. If all you need to do is keep some air stones or pumps running, two 12v batteries should last you a long time. If one of your car batteries goes out you have replacements handy. Edited December 3, 2015 by dave w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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