We bought the 20KW unit with the automatic switcher after having been over 7 days without power due to a major ice storm in single digit weather. I use a Bi-Pap machine due to severe sleep apnea... along with a Oxygen generator too and I was absolutely miserable for that week. Adding to this health hazard, our house is virtually total electric.. stove, oven, the central heat's blower. We also had a major issue in keeping our water pipes from freezing in the laundry room located in the garage and in the bathrooms & kitchen located along outer walls!
We spent close to $700 that week on battery's, canned goods, lanterns, cases of 16 oz propane bottles & gallons of fuel, candles, a camp cook stove and a host of related items. That money would have gone a long long way toward a good generator like a Generac Generator! After that, we said, "Never [ever] Again!!!!!!"
I went to the local Locke's Electrical wholesale store and bought the Generac 20KW with the auto switching box that feeds into the main breaker box.... because it was large enough to run our entire 1,800 square foot house, as well as the 2 out building & the outdoor security lights.
The instant the utility power goes out... the unit comes on and approx. 12 seconds later we have full power again. When the utility power is restored.. it switches over so fast that the television & computer doesn't even flicker.
I had a independent 1" natural gas line run to the unit so it maintains correct pressure even with the gas hot water heater & the central gas heat running at the same time. With a simple flick of a switch, I can switch over to a 100 gallon back-up propane tank in the unlikely event that the natural gas were to fail.
Once a week it comes on at half speed and self diagnoses itself & circulates the oil. In the 2 yrs we have had the generator.. it has gotten us through a number of power outages due to blown transformers caused by squirrels & snake on the lines .. through several brown outs & wind / tornado storm damage to lines in the area. It is extremely quiet.. It is 4 feet from a bed room wall and we can barely hear it run. A major plus is you don't have to store gas that can go 'bad' over time nor go stand in line at a filling station.
I highly recommend the Generac brand generator to everyone. It self diagnoses itself, charges its own battery, circulates the oil and even it tells you on the computer screen if it needs any kind of service.. such as a oil or filter change. It has a 120 volt power outlet on the outside under a cover. The housing on my unit is aluminum with a tough epoxy resin paint and looks very nice.
In a SHTFan situation... as long as you have natural gas or propane available... you will always have electricity too. Living like a pioneer family of the early 1800's on the plains during a winter blizzard for a week is something we will never have to do again. I regularly say, "Thank you, God!" when I walk by the generator.
