Looking for a turn key generator install, 20kw propane. Whole house. Needs new panel and transfer switch

Had one recommended company come out, give a quote, I signed it, called to ask how to send payment and they won’t return calls. I suspect they sent a we don’t want the work quote and we’re surprised it was signed.

I’m willing to spend whatever it takes. Just want someone to come fucking do the work.

Anyone recommend any companies just south of Austin?

Do you know what brand of generator you want?

If you reach out directly to the names they'll usually refer you to a local dealer who can do it for you. I know both Generac and Kohler do that, and we got ours through Kohler. Local company reached out, gave a spiel, and after I sent them a copy of our plot they sent me over a quote. Talked to the owner and asked a few questions when he was out here, such as placement, and had the quote amended. Took a while and several trips out to get it installed but it's working now.

The guy I used in Dallas ordered everything. I had to source my own electrician to install the switch and make the connections. Took a bit of coordination.

You can order a 22KW, with transfer switch from Home Depot and have it delivered for $6200.  Delivery time is sitting at about a week right now.  The smaller sizes are out of stock.  
If you are going to run it off of natural gas, then bigger is usually better.

I installed an 18KW last year.  While every Generac Authorized Installer was quoting > 5 months, the truck delivered min in less that a week.  I DYI'ed everything except burying 500 gallon propane tank.  The installed cost including the propane tank purchase and install was $4000 cheaper that just what I was quoted for the  Authorized Installer to provide and install the genset. I also did some HVAV and water heater load management that would have cost me another $400 - $500 dollars.


There was a thread hear about it here, but i could not find it.  There is a thread over at the Texas Hunting form: Texas Hunting Forum

Quite a bit of discussion there about sizing.  I had to go propane and I was looking for the 'perfect' balance of maximum runtime vs convivence.   I travel a lot for work and needed any management to be totally automated for the wife.  Just last week I was in California when had an outage (Oncore claims it was "equipment related", but it happened as system load peaked on Tuesday.)  The wife did not know there was a problem until the neighbor call asking "Is your power was out too?'   NOPE


Full disclosure...Complete DYI is probably not right for most folks.  In my younger days, I did heavy industrial electrical and I've installed 1MW standby/peak shaving units, so rerouting the "little" 200 amp incoming service to my house was no problem.  Still, there is a lot you can save money on doing the physical mounting of the generator, any hand trenching,  and the like.  If you get a local electrician to install the transfer switch, then the rest is very doable.  The instructions for Generac were straight forward.  Search YouTube

One big thing you need to be aware of: doing a DIY may lock you out of a warranty. You also need to keep meticulous records. The generator company will look for any reason to deny a claim, and unless you can show that it was properly installed by their standards (which an authorized reseller/distributor will have automatically) and that you performed maintenance on it regularly, they will chalk up warranty claims to "not our problem". That's an expensive proposition.

Your are correct.  There is a process that must be followed with Generac to maintain the warranty coverage.  Even after the install, if you do not to get a maintenance  contract with one of their preferred vendors, keep every receipt for service or parts.  Document all maintenance and inspections.  Some of the Generac engines need valve clearance checked regularly and they are known for denying claims based on that.  My engine does not.

We are having to DIY. Thanks for the install and warranty info. Licensed electrician is installing. I’ll check the manuals prior to install

I plan to have a service contract with someone local. Hopefully someone will want the business

I’ve had Austin Generator do a lot of work for me. Last company I worked for had 14 100K+ genarators. They are good people

They are on my list to call.

My electrician family found me one in stock and snagged it. Other family owns a gas company. Should be able to do it cheap and licensed. Just gotta follow the install manual.

Based on what I saw during ida get a spare main board to have around. They fry unexpectedly during prolonged use. The generac brands were the worst.