Home use generator

[Paratrooper]

Hello! New guy here. I'm from N. AZ. in the high country and have a question or two about a emergency home use generator. I know nothing about them, other than a brand or two.

Our house (3500 sq ft.) has a septic system that has a holding tank and two 240 v. pumps that pump the waste up hill to the street. Our house sits on the side of a steep embankment.

We don't get all that many power outages here, but they do occur from time to time. Normally, I wouldn't be concerned, except that when the power goes out, we no longer can use our toilets. If we do, we don't flush til the power comes back on.

Anyways, I was hoping that someone on here could school me a bit on generators. Our house uses natural gas, so I'm assuming that a generator could run off of that. I have a spot in mind for a generator not too far away from our gas meter, as well as our breaker box.

If any of you could suggest some tips, features on a generator to be had, and whatever else, it will be appreciated. I just want to be better educated on the matter before I speak to a pro.

And BTW, this is a great looking forum and I hope to become a regular in the future.

TIA!!

 

[Bigbandguy]

There are several brands that will meet your needs. We have a 17KW Generac. The transfer is automatic when the lights go out and it will easily handle 240 volt needs. We have the downstairs AC and lights through the house on it. It as also cheap insurance against power failures as once you have one the power seems to never go out. I tell my bride that Murphy is in charge of such things.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Can you list your major loads- ACs (and size), dryers ovens heaters (yes i know you said you have nat gas but doesnt mean everything is nat gas), pool, well, etc etc

can you post pics of your main service panel, with the covers off, as well as any subpanels