Originally Posted By: IzzyJG99
Originally Posted By: spuds
Paul,I see reports of whole house generators,installed,start at 5 grand,would that be accurate?


In 2005 when we had our 15kW put it the cost was much higher than it is now. It ended up being close to $10,000. But we weren't on city gas lines. So we had to pay to have installed and rent a 250 gallon LP Tank. Then have it filled up. Which added to the cost.


The size of the natural gas line feeding your house is a critical cost dtiver. In our case, we could squeeze in an 8 Kw standby generator with our existing gas service, to cover (roughly) half the house, including heat, some lights, fridge and DW's medical equipment. But to go up to the next size, 12KW, would have required installing a larger feed pipe from the main gas line to the house--an estimated 8-10 K dollar increase alone over the 5K$ for the (fully installed) 8KW model. Not someting that was worth it for us. (Better use for 8-10K $).

So, IMO, cover the critical circuits first. Then, size your generator for that. You would be surpised how much power you can do without and be just fine. Most lighting circuits are, IMO, a luxury. Heat is not. Medical devices are not.
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