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Message
Whole Home Generator
Posted on 11/25/24 at 8:51 pm
Posted on 11/25/24 at 8:51 pm
Help me understand sizing options specifically concerning heat strips. I’m not an HVAC guy or electrician. Everywhere I look it says that ~23kw is sufficient for most homes. I have two air handlers, both with 10kw heat strips. Wouldn’t I need at least 20kw to run each heat strip before I even get to powering everything else? Is that logic correct or is there usually a running wattage that is lower?
6
Posted on 11/26/24 at 12:02 am to GAFF
Yes. Resistive heating uses that many watts of constant power. You’d need 20kw to run both at the same time, plus 1,300 or so each for the air handlers.
Thats a lot of juice.
How big is your house that you need 20kw worth of heat?
Thats a lot of juice.
How big is your house that you need 20kw worth of heat?
This post was edited on 11/26/24 at 12:04 am
Posted on 11/26/24 at 12:23 am to GAFF
That’s why I went with gas furnaces.
Posted on 11/26/24 at 12:26 am to GAFF
TheBoo is right. The largest consumers of electricity in most homes will be HVAC. And if you have a heat pump with resistive heat it will be a massive consumer of power.
Do you have gas in your home? If so you could maybe consider converting one of those furnaces to gas heat and reduce the electrical load considerably. But if you don’t have gas at your house at all, you’ll also need to consider the load from your water heaters, oven, cooktop, dryer, etc. for all the load.
Do you have gas in your home? If so you could maybe consider converting one of those furnaces to gas heat and reduce the electrical load considerably. But if you don’t have gas at your house at all, you’ll also need to consider the load from your water heaters, oven, cooktop, dryer, etc. for all the load.
Posted on 11/26/24 at 7:26 am to bapple
Get an electrician to run a load test on the power consumption of your house.
Every 30-60 seconds, turn on one by one all the heavy consumers of power you want your generator to supply power to.
The measurement will be in amps and generally will be a little north or south of 100. Size the generator accordingly keeping in mind most NG/LP fueled generators are specked out using LP. The KW will be reduced by 10-15% using NG.
Next decisions are RPM and water/air cooled. If you can afford it get one that runs at 1800 vs 3600. Most air cooled gens go up to a max of 20/22kw. Anything above 20/22 kw is generally water cooled.
Every 30-60 seconds, turn on one by one all the heavy consumers of power you want your generator to supply power to.
The measurement will be in amps and generally will be a little north or south of 100. Size the generator accordingly keeping in mind most NG/LP fueled generators are specked out using LP. The KW will be reduced by 10-15% using NG.
Next decisions are RPM and water/air cooled. If you can afford it get one that runs at 1800 vs 3600. Most air cooled gens go up to a max of 20/22kw. Anything above 20/22 kw is generally water cooled.
Posted on 11/26/24 at 4:17 pm to GAFF
We have 22 kw kohler natural gas gen that powers our whole home
3700 sq - 3 ac units - runs the whole house w everything running.
No complaints
3700 sq - 3 ac units - runs the whole house w everything running.
No complaints
Posted on 11/26/24 at 5:07 pm to rodnreel
quote:
Most air cooled gens go up to a max of 20/22kw. Anything above 20/22 kw is generally water cooled.
Largest air cooled option from Generac now is 26kW. Then you start getting into liquid cooled territory.
Posted on 11/26/24 at 7:00 pm to lagniappe09
quote:
We have 22 kw kohler natural gas gen that powers our whole home
3700 sq - 3 ac units - runs the whole house w everything running
This is what I'm getting at. I assume you wouldn't run your heat strips or they're 5kWers?
The question came up because I'm in the middle of construction and I'm close to the finals being ready to go in. Unfortunately the power company is saying that it'll be after Christmas before they can get permanent power hooked up. So I thought I'd just get a generator to run the heat until then. Then afterwards I'd have a generator for back up. After speaking to my HVAC guy he recommended using electric heat over the heat pump to keep dust out of the system during installation of finishes. He said he feels like just one of the strips would do what I'm wanting (10kW strip for 2700 sqft home). Mainly just trying to keep the inside somewhat acclimated for cabinets and trims.
My thought was if I'm going to buy one might as well get one for the whole home. Now I'm not so sure
I'm thinking of the "portable" kind rather than the stand alone systems. Maybe a 15kW? How many watts would I need if I wanted to run one 10kW heat strip and led can lights during constructions, but still have enough to power some essentials once the home is complete (when not running the heat strips)? This post was edited on 11/26/24 at 7:08 pm
Posted on 11/27/24 at 10:16 am to GAFF
quote:
Maybe a 15kW? How many watts would I need if I wanted to run one 10kW heat strip and led can lights during constructions, but still have enough to power some essentials once the home is complete (when not running the heat strips)?
Depends on what you mean by “essentials.” Anything that utilizes electricity to generate heat will be a large consumer - heat strips, hair drier, space heater, etc. You also don’t want to run your generate right at the ragged edge of its capacity either so I wouldn’t go as small as 10kW if you know you’ll need 10kW at a minimum for the heat strips. LED lights can essentially be ignored because they are so efficient and other general items like coffee maker, dishwasher, fridge, etc. won’t be heavy consumers and likely won’t all be running at the same time. At a glance 15kW would be adequate.
However if you’re trying to set everything up for a more permanent installation for later, I wouldn’t cut any corners. Try and set it up exactly as you plan to use it when all the construction is complete.
Posted on 11/28/24 at 1:22 pm to GAFF
My neighbor installed a generac. He has a heat pump with heat strip. Electrician set smart switch so that heat strip doesn't come on when generator is running. He used Lincoln Electric service.
Posted on 12/1/24 at 9:50 pm to GAFF
When considering which fuel to use,,,,,if you are in a big neighborhood, sniff out how many homes have NG generators,,,,,when the electricity goes out and all many neighbors have NG gens that kick on, many times the infrastructure is not sized up for that much gas flow and those gens starve for fuel,,,,lots of failures are due to this and the cheap electronic Generac uses.
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