Current Cost of Adding Whole House Generator

pvoffgrid · August 27

Hi, I was just told by our local electric utility rep it is about $15,000 to have a whole house generator like a Kohler or Generac installed by a professional. I confirmed that with a friend who just had a Generac installed two weeks ago and he says that yes, he paid about $15,000 for the generator he bought on-line, he trenched, we poured the concrete slab, we set the generator, a local plumber ran and connected the propane gas line, and a local electrician did the connection from the generator to the electrical panel.

I found a Kohler 14kW and 200A ATS is about $6,000. That means $9,000 was the cost for rebar, concrete, gas line, electrical wire, and the labor to connect the gas and to connect the generator to the ATS and the panel. Am I out of line for thinking $9,000 is excessive, and that it probably should be closer to $2,000, which would be about 4 hours for the plumber at $200 per hour and 4 hours for the electrician at $200 per hour, knowing full well that $200 per hour is probably high?

TIA

JRHill · August 27

That's a pretty nice system! Your system information already shows: Generator: (1) Kohler 14RESA propane so I'm confused. And some of your equipment is REALLY old - Congratulations!

You don't say where you live so its pretty hard to answer your question. Location, location, location....

pvoffgrid · August 27

Hi, Well, I need to remove that system from my profile. I sold that house, and before selling it we upgraded everything in 2018. This is why I laugh at people who tell me they will save money by putting solar on their houses - definitely not true. But, I will do it again because it works, it works well, and I like the freedom it provides.

I now live in a house in the Black Hills area of WY & SD without any PV at the time. But, I am currently completing a major top to bottom, inside & outside, remodel. This is why I am considering the generator at this time - dig the trenches from the house to the future generator location while the landscaping is in process of being redone.

JRHill · August 27

I know the area. I guess it probably depends how hungry those tradesmen are at the time of 'bidding' the job. And also if you want this done before the cold winds blow and that time is getting short. Also the remoteness of your project.

Where we are if I call a tradesman (State licensed with all the i's and t's) they charge full rate even for driving because, as I was told if they "weren't on the road they'd be making full rate at a closer place". Ya can't get much more clear than that.

Dave Angelini · August 27

I keep hearing the Generac add in N Nevada for $125 a month installed.

Probably for the rest of your life. 😉
Costco has good deals also!

JRHill · August 27

"But, I will do it again because it works, it works well, and I like the freedom it provides."

@pvoffgrid , I have a question for you? You are heading into a new from scratch system at a new place. Based upon your past experience)+) and starting fresh, what are you leaning toward? You are one who understands the need for load calculations, location/exposure, choosing appliances and making adjustments to life vs just flipping a switch, etc. The equipment market has had some fall outs, models cancelled (but some new equipment introduced) and so on.

If you could build your dream system, and maybe that's what you are doing, what are you looking at? Doing it yourself or reliant on a local business?

I hope this doesn't seem snoopy. I am curious because of the range of experiences some people have. Some folk have nothing but bad to say when relying on a mass vendor. Then there are those who have understanding even if they hired out. But ya don't hear about them quite as much because of lack of problems. What's your idea of a problem free and minimum maintenance system?

pvoffgrid · August 28

Yes, I am heading into a new from scratch system. I am going to go slow and get this remodel well behind me before moving into a new PV system, and this new PV system will be a combination grid-tied/off-grid system. I will not do it myself but I will act as a GC to the extent I can. This is because I have found since 2000 most PV companies do their best to make PV sound like rocket science. It is not...it is pretty straight forward based on my attendance at the school of hard knocks.

Every house in the neighborhood I lived in was PV-powered with batteries and generators due to the local Indian Pueblo refusing to allow the power lines to be extended two miles into our neighborhood. But, that did not matter to us as PV worked beautifully, with some hiccups of course that were easily solved. Let me start with the description of the houses in the neighborhood. $600k USD and up. 3 - 8 bedrooms. 3 - 5 bathrooms. 1 - 3 stories. 1,600 sq ft to 8,500 sq ft. Log home. Straw bale. 2x6 stick built. ICF forms. PV size ranged from 1.9 kW, 1,125 aH battery bank with a 11 kW Kohler propane generator (my initial size for my 3,200 sq ft 3 bed, 3 bath, 2 story home with out buildings, a full woodshop, electric dryer, and 5-car garage) to recently 15kW (prices have decreased since 2000).

What we learned is at 1.9kW we had to watch our power usage. At 2.4 it was less watching, and at 3.6 it was minimal issues - occasionally a problem. Getting into the 4 kW range - no issues with power. 5kW and above you asked yourself was the power truly coming from the sun? A 5kW system will power the majority of homes without issues, if there is no air conditioning (refrigerated air), no swimming pools, etc. So, doing a load calculation is fun to do but not necessary. What I also learned was that friends and coworkers who lived in the city were being sold 8kW - 12kW grid-tied systems if they had pools and AC; that just confirmed to me a load calculation was not needed. And now, with prices low, just go buy a 12kW - 20kW system. Generator size? we used a 11kW Kohler for 18 years and when we replaced it we went with the Kohler 14kW. Our good friends had a Ford 18kW (maybe a 20kW?) and he always stated it was overkill for charging his batteries. Remember, we were not connected to the grid but I look at it this way. My 11kW powered my house by itself without any issues when we used it like that on occasion.

pvoffgrid · August 28

Lessons Learned: Put your batteries & inverters in the garage or right next to the house. We put ours in a separate building down a slope Never ever again - if we needed to reset the inverters, check the generator, etc it was always raining, windy, muddy, snowy, cold. I hated that aspect. Our neighbors just went into their garages - lol. Leave enough space above the batteries to add water easily if you have lead-acid batteries. But, today should not be a problem as the Lithium batteries are so inexpensive now lead-acid would be a huge step backwards. My personal preference is the PV modules should be ground-mounted but that is also location-dependent. I just know that when it snowed I had my panels cleared within 15 minutes but my neighbors would often have snow-covered panels all day long.

I hope this answers some of your questions but let me know if you have some, or if I confused things.

JRHill · August 28

Nope. I appreciate your experience. I hope you can find the installers who have experience with the equipment YOU have chosen.

cleancurrent002 · August 28

Tying into a 200A service with an automatic transfer switch can be a full day or two of work, plus heavy gauge copper wiring isn’t cheap right now.

Current Cost of Adding Whole House Generator

Comments

Categories