Thanks,
Paul

My brother wanted the same thing and bought a Generac at Lowes, Propane, sized to run what he wanted. It came with a transfer switch, sub panel, and cabling to connect into the breaker box or load center. Starts automatically once a week, and has worked fine for 2 years.

If you want a "turn key" installation, you're going to pay a lot more as Electricians don't usually deal with propane companies, Generac requires their local field rep to inspect and certify and start the unit initially, and a year or so down the road if warranty issues develop.....

What he did:

Bought the unit. Placed it on a gravel pad he put in himself.

Called propane company who delivered and filled the tank and ran the line to the unit and connected it.

Took the "umbilical" or the cabling which goes to the breaker box to a local Electrical supply house to be replaced. The reason for this was the supplied cabling was ridiculously short. The generator comes with a "sub panel" with cabling to go into the breaker box, again, it has to be right beside the breaker box. He measured how long it had to be to reach his breaker box in the utility room and they made it accordingly.

At that point he could have called in an electrican to tie it together, however I did it (retired EE).

As stated previously, FWIW.

This is something that I would buy from Lowe's as they "install what they sell, I've also noticed signs at Local electrical supply houses, so maybe that would be another option for RFP's.

I'm not pushing Generac, I have a small one which works fine, and I've recounted my brothers experience. Depending on your level of need or concern, I'd look at Honda big $$ but a really great machine.

Good luck,

Ev

Thanks for your post and my apologies for my tardiness in the reply. Unexpectedly, I have been off the net for a couple of weeks.

In the span of a little over two weeks, we have experienced an earthquake, hurricane and most recently torrential rains that led to flooding. We went without power for a few days and it just re-inforced my desire for a generator.

Ev, I could do it myself but I travel alot. I want the peace of mind knowing my wife can pick up the phone and call whomever installed the generator were she to have problems while I am overseas. I called my local Noland's (electrical, plumbing, HVAC distributor) and they gave me a couple of recommendations for electricians. They suggested I start with electricians because those are the people that are usually the authorized distributors for the various manufacturers and therefore authorized to service and do warranty work if necessary.

Right now, I am trying to work the propane angle. Some people say 'buy the tanks' others say 'lease'. I realize buying is more of an initiatl outlay but I don't want to get screwed by the propane company and want the option of switching companies if I have too. Others say most propane companies won't fill a tank unless they either own it or put it in.

Thoughts on this anyone?

Assuming you're in an all electric house, this might be a good time to evaluate if you want a gas range, clothes dryer, water heater, or a vent free heater. We like the gas range as we can cook (cook top, not oven) and have heat when the electricity goes out. An additional benefit it that as we USE propane (as opposed to having a full tank waiting for a power outage) we can get on the monthly budget plan which assures us of the lowest price per gallon they offer. I think we pay $45/month and that's for cooking and heat. The propane company autmatically fills the tank every August and I can call if I feel I need it. No additional charge.

Good luck,

Ev

Good luck,

Ev

So here's the latest. We have an electrical contractor coming out tomorrow who says they install a lot of turn key operations, including the propane tank.

On Thursday, we have the propane company coming out and they say they can do a turn key, including the generator and they will put the tank in and it doenst matter where we buy the propane.

It's going to be very educational on how this turns out. Will keep everyone updated on developments.

We decided on 20KW Generac generataor with a 100% 2 year service agreement. Obviously, it cost us more than a DIY but I needed piece of mind that someone would do the interval maintenance, respond to service calls if needed, etc because I travel a good deal and my considerably better half is the one who would most likely have to deal with any issues. Total installed costs, including 2 year service agreement and 100% all-inclusive warranty, 3 DLM modules and 200 Amp transfer switch, inspection fees, etc: $9000

It took them two days and I was impressed with both their professionalism and work ethic. They were on time and their workspace was spotless both days when they left. The building inspector told us "off the record, they are one of the best in this area." If you are in the Fredericksburg area and would like more details on the contractor, send me a PM.

For the tank, all of the propane companies around here will fill up any tank. If you have an original bill of sale, they will fill it with no inspection fee. If you don't, most charge a pressure test fee of $85 plus the propane to fill the tank.

After alot of research, we decided to buy our own. We had various quotes from all the propane companies and they were all over the place. Again, through Noland's we found several plumbers that do tank installations.

Again, we were impressed with the one we chose. He coordinated closely with the electrical contractor installing the genset so that the tank and plumbing installation would coincide with the genset installation. That way, the building inspector would only come out once, hence lower inspection costs. Plus, when the job was done, he sent his crew out the next day to rake all the gravel in the drive disrupted by his excavator and put seed, fertilizer and straw down over the disturbed ground. A real pro.

Tank Purchase and installation costs to include a seperate line run for an outdoor gas grill and a future stove: $3400.

We had Discount Propane fill the tank at $2.69/gal, very competitive for our area. If you want to deal with a good gas company, call Discount. These guys have an interesting business model. They only have five employees and all work the deliveries. We called on a Friday afternoon and one of the owners delivered on Sat morning. He arrived in a well maintaned truck, took all the saftey precautions, took the time to check our system and educate my wife and I on safety procedures in the event of an emergency. Once the tank was full, he asked for my credit card, swiped it across his little tablet computer and off he went.

Total cost of installed generator, propane tank and tank of gas $13,541. Sounds like alot but we couldn't be happier with the peace of mind of having it as well as the contractors we used for installing all the various pieces of equipment.

Congrats on the completed project.

Be well,

Ev

Well once they got everything hooked up, it was time for the demo and training class. Lo and behold, the generator wouldn't start. After as series of troubleshooting steps and conversations with Generac customer service, the tech determined the factory installed solenoid was bad so a replacement was enroute.

New solenoid installed. Still wouldn't start. Some more calls to Generac customer service, a couple of more tests and it was determined the gas regulator installed by the plumber on the line to the generator was bad. The gas pressure into the generator was too high and the regulator couldn't be adjusted. There's an internal safety feature I guess on all generators that won't let the engine spark if the gas pressures are not right.

Anyway, the tech made a call to the plumber who installed the tank, line and regulator. He came out first thing the next morning and changed the regulator. Generator fired right up the first time.

A couple hours later, the technician showed back up for the demo, training, etc. Everything now is fine.

Was most impressed with the professionalism and customer service of the plumber and the electrical contractor we had do the installation.