I think I’ll go with the big one, do the pure gas with stabilizer and get an electrician to add a sub-panel make it safe to easily switch on for the house.
These generators are not in the current review provided by Consumer Reports. That’s not a deal-breaker for me, if I can find decent reviews elsewhere. A number of people seem to like them, but I haven’t seen any comments on how noisy they are. Are they “really noisy,” “a bit noisy,” “not very noisy,” or ?
Your first question,“Can the 9000 be set up to switch to it from your main box?” This or any other generator can be set up to switch from you main box. If you use an electrician, he will install a transfer switch, which is actually another box with the same circuits as the other (original box). If you should decide to use an electrician and a transfer switch, be prepared to spend a “healthy sum” (considerably more than the cost of the generator) to pay for the electrician’s fee and the cost of the transfer switch.
“How much gas would it use in a 3 day outage?” Most people run their generators about 10 to 12 hours a day, as there is no real need to keep the generator going while you’re asleep. My experience shows that you would use about 8 gallons of gas a day.
Finally you ask, “Would it be better to switch to propane?” Actually, when you make the conversion to 3-fuel, you can use any of the 3 fuels you want to by just flipping a switch. For me it WOULD NOT BE AN ADVANTAGE TO USE PROPANE RATHER THAN GAS. In my area, propane is not nearly as available as gasoline and is more expensive. So it depends on which fuel is more available and less expensive in your area. Fortunately for me, natural gas is piped directly to my house and IS NOT INTERUPTED during a general outage. Moreover, the cost of natural gas would result in a huge savings over using gasoline. Natural gas costs only one third the cost of gasoline to run your generator. In other words, if a gallon of gasoline costs $3.50/gallon and runs your machine for 3 hours, the cost of running your generator for 3 hours would be 1/3 or $1.17.
The last point which is important to make involves the use of an electrician and a transfer switch. There is a FAR LESS EXPENSIVE way to accomplish the same results as the transfer switch with the SAME AMOUNT OF SAFETY. That is to use an INTERLOCK KIT. No time to tell you about it here but you can do an on-line search and learn all about it. The cost, by the way, gives you a very dramatic savings!
The 7k and 9k version specs say they are about 7db louder than the other models. I don’t own this brand of generator, but I do own a 9kW Champion Power Equipment generator I got at Costco that is rated the same 74db as the two larger models here. Your characterizations are clearly going to depend on your idea of what each is, which may be different than mine. I found the volume of mine to be about the same as my 22hp riding mower with the blades engaged. I would classify that as “really noisy”, but that’s me.
Keep in mind, pretty much anything is “really noisy” when there is no electricity in your area.
There are many states where it is against the law to sell “pure” gasoline…that is gasoline without bio fuel mixed in. I live in one of them (NJ). If you get natural gas piped to your home, then you may want to convert your generator to run on N.gas. See my post above for more information.
The “manual transfer switch” is call an INTERLOCK SWITCH. Unless you have a good working knowledge of electricity, DO NOT DO THIS WORK YOURSELF!! This is not only for your safety, but more importantly it is for the safety of many workmen who could be working on outside lines and could be electrocuted by your generator.
There is a list of states which do not allow the sale of ethanol free gas. If you live in one of these states, you are out of luck. Regarding your question, what you have list is probably within the limits of the small generator. However, if you add something like a microwave and/or a toaster to the mix, you will fry your generator.
A few years ago when hurricane winds came through the midwest, the noise of the generator became important. Houses in Kentucky that had a generator were running them outside like you should, at night.
They knew if that noise went away, the generator was being stolen, and they would bring out the shotgun.
Some thieves got smart; they brought a cheap old lawnmower and started the lawnmower next to the generator.
The “noise” never went away, but the generator sure did.
The Interlock switch is just a 3 pole, 3 connector knife switch, right? That would be wired better than my “cheater” idea.
The real limitation is that you should essentially do a load decision and turn off breakers to things like Central Air and electric dryers and ovens, so that you do not inadvertently overload and burn up the genset. You have to keep the kids from plugging in the window AC units, or using a hairdryer, or toaster.
I couldn’t help myself after reading the description. I just thought of a different song.
I remember WEN, I remember
I remember WEN I lost my line
There was something unpleasant about that place
Try to light a candle in a blackout
can’t see your face
And when you’re at night
Without light
Yeah I troubled such
But it wasn’t because I couldn’t start it up
It just took a touch
[Chorus]
Does that make me lazy?
Does that make me lazy?
Does that make me lazy?
Possibly
[Verse 2]
And I hope that you are turning on some of the lights
But think twice
That’s my only advice
Hmm
Come on now
Who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are?
Ha ha ha!
Bless your soul
You really know you’re in control
Well
[Chorus]
I think you’re cozy
I think you’re cozy
I think you’re cozy
Just like me
[Verse 3]
My engine has the watts, to give the lights I want to live
And all I remember, is thinking I’m glad I have my WEN
Ever since I was little
Ever since I was little I’ve wanted one
And its no coincidence I’ve come
And I can dine when I’m done
Get the generator you want, as you can buy the wheel kit from the same company that sells you the generator. It should be about $30 and bolts right up to your generator. If you have any problem getting a wheel kit, PM me and I could give you more information.
