Jan n Neil

Am thinking of buying a diesel free standing geny to run all of the house we get a fair few power cuts here with earthquakes/wind/snow ect and i,m thinking it will be a huge selling point if we ever move. I want a system where i can fire it up flick a switch and it will run the whole house so my question is what size do i need ? house is 330 squares and we have electric everything

thank u in advance
Neil

theghostofdustybin

http://www.gillettegenerators.com/sizing/sizing02.html

Try that.

Stormer999

Cant you find a generator supplier who can fit you up for a load analysis to graph your max demand? It's easy for commercial metering as they usually give max demand readings, but try your utility supplier.....just in case!

Jan n Neil

Exellent

sparkytoad

You could split your board into essential and non essential supplies, should lower your cost. Maybe lighting and certain power outlets, only.
Just a thought.
Done a couple of systems with solar panels, that charge a battery bank combined with a generator, just in case the apocalypse happens. Might be worth considering

Jan n Neil

i thought about solar/batteries but if the world ended and there was no sun

How much are they ?

sparkytoad

Not sure mate tbh, just looking into it myself. Not sure if you get a feed in tariff here

sparkie down under

Jan n neil

not quite as easy as flicking a switch, and judging by some of the other answers others have given here it reinforces my 'STICK TO YOUR OWN F**KING TRADE' mantra.

But just to make sure you and everyone else understands.......

One. This is PEW and can only be done by a registered electrician (with current practising licence).
Two. This work, as it directly effects the mains HAS TO BE INSPECTED by an inspector.
Three. A change over switch will have to be installed, and they are usually manual. you can get automatic but the wiring is more extensive and expensive.
Four, you can NOT have two different sources of energy in the same fuse board, unless certain precautions and modifications are made, and then certified.
Five. Do it wrong and you'll back feed the system. You could cause death/fire/injury to anyone working on the public system, and if I happened to be that person I'd be coming around your place and showing you the power of the moving electron in your most intimate of places.

and lastly, there's nothing wrong with your idea, (I'm getting closer and closer to doing it myself having had yet another power cut). but it's not as simple as just hooking up a geni and way you go. You MUST get this done safely, for your and everyone's else safety.

Before any smart arse's out there say that you can do your own wiring in your own home, true. But the majority of this work is located within a fuse board and the home owner is NOT allowed to do ANY work in there.

Any questions PM me

Chippy Giles

To run absolutely everything in a house you're going to need a BIG genny along with a substantial amount of fuel to keep it running non stop for however long you need. But if you broke it down to just powering essentials you can get away with a much smaller - hence cheaper to buy and run unit.
Don't underestimate the amount of fuel you are going to need either, the big 20ft container types will eat up 100 gallons in 12 hours working hard - i know i've hand pumped it in....

BEVS

Minky has been there and done that.

Jan n Neil

Cheers men (and lady) I know i need a decent size
http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-fa...-486383004.htm

Was looking at this one, but i dont think i need this much power ? I,m very aware of the amount of derv they need to keep them going but that,s not a problem with my job

i,m absolutely getting a sparky in to wire it up i totally agree with your mantra and i definatly aint my fe*in trade. As a sparky how much would you be charging me ball park ? feel free to PM me if you are embarrased about the criminal rates you boys charge

Neil

Jan n Neil

Thank u flower, big kiss on your bottom next time we are down that way


But it,s about time u got ur arses up here ?

minky

Hi we are totally off grid and run power off solar panels for electricity and solar for hot water we have a wood boiler that heats the water for winter and the radiators.We have just got a generator to boost us up for the winter we are using a petrol one from memory its about 6kw we plug it in to our system which has been set up from the solar guys so we just flick the switch and it powers us and recharges our batteries at the same time we bought the generator from the south island and they were very helpful.

Karen

minky

if you keep you electric bills you can work out how much electric you need we did this to work out our solar requirement

Jan n Neil

Cheers Minkey.
Dont wanna go totally off grid just want a back up in case, the sparky down our street has done his so i have a better idea of what i need

Neil