STANDBY GENERATORS

M GO BLUE wrote:
We are looking to buy a new stick and brick house close to the grand kids and when completed want to equip it with a standby generator...

For those with a standby generator what fuel type do you have? LP? Natural gas?

Also our fifth wheel has an Onan 5500W gas generator built in...can this be used via a transfer switch to run the house if needed? is 5500W big enough to run the whole house?

Thanks for your time...

I can answer the second part: yes. I do basically the same thing, running my house with a big 8.5kW generator when needed. It's pretty simple: a transfer switch, a plug, and a generator. No, 5.5kW will NOT run the whole house. (Even my bigger one won't run everything.) It won't run a dryer, electric stove, water heater, central air (should run a window unit, even a couple if they're Energy-Star), and might not run a well pump or forced-air heat. It MAY be adequate, I don't know.

Mine is modified for extended running...I fuel it with pressurized (squeeze-bulb) outboard motor tanks. Depending on load, a tank lasts about a day...when I swap tanks, I usually check oil at the same time. Longest it ran was 19 days after an ice storm.

With no gas service here, I would probably go diesel for a standby generator. I have an oil furnace and a diesel engine will happily burn my fuel oil.