Greetings, I made it thru the hurricane Irma pretty decently without flooding I did have power outage, and what was my current generator, craftsman 5500 working 8500 peak, made it thru fine. Once I got power back where I’m at, I transported it to my mother’s house a city away to help her since she was not as lucky as I was. As of this message she is still without and probably will be till Sunday or further. Since she’s not as much as a prepper as I am she had never thought about a generator in the state of Florida. she offered to buy it from me for a good deal for both of us since it was low hours and it allows me to put money towards the bigger better deal, and don't worry it was a price that would be good even if there was no hurricane around, as there is price gouging right now as you can imagine.

as you can see my last one was a craftsman/ B&S 5500/8500 model, but I would like to upgrade something so that I can run a house off of it, I would be on the assumption maybe the 10k watts and above ? I’ve got an elderly father who can’t take heat extremes too well since he uses a walker and is a post kidney transplant recipient. my thought process is get something that I can install a disconnect box to, or since we are in a rental home maybe back feed thru the dryer circuit since we are in a rental, but at a later time and date when I get to Altamonte I can install a disconnect box. My priority for powering would be AC for a home that's 1600-2500 sq. ft. (the two houses sized), of course power for a fridge and freezer. And then maybe a few convenience items such as box fans or a TV with antenna. The hot water heater and washer dryer could most likely be used sparingly when needed.

I was thinking of going with a diesel generator since they are on the beefier/commercial side of things and some of them I could maybe put on a small trailer in the garage. I don't have any real work experience with them since I’ve only used the gas one a few times, but I would like to think that a diesel one might have a lower perceived noise output compared to the blaring generator noise we all come to dislike over time. I’ve briefly read about the military generators being a good economical choice, but that it would have to be rewired to go from a 3 phase output to 2 phase output for civilian use?

I have to rule out a propane/NG generator as we don't have any gas line feeds in the neighborhood and would not want to have a big tank in the backyard, maybe a 100lb cylinder in the garage for a grill/ burner. My budget is in the $1k-2k range with 2k being the limit as it’s all coming out of pocket probably after the first of the year when everything settles down. I’d love yalls input as to what would be a good choice

A light tower genny might be a good solution.

We picked up a Wacker 6000 watt genny almost 10 years ago for the mtn, new, on an impulse buy at an auction.

Everything is integrated, incl lots of fuel. Seems to be a lot quieter than the .mil gennys I've read about.

Prices range all over the place on eBay, [bought a nice MQ Whisperwatt 25 kw there from a reputable seller at a great price] about 2010. Took it there, fueled it and ran it... No screwing around.


Sometimes these can be found on Craig's list.

The mast and lights could be removed and resold. The crank-up mast might be useful for an antenna to someone.

Or the genny can be removed and the trailer and accessories sold.

Just took this picture remotely out of a dirty window n the 'barn'.

This one is wired underground into the barn and the 240 volt legs are combined with an Outback auto-transformer [eBay] to double the 120vac current  ---without having to rewire/reconfig the genny head. Works well. However it's used infrequently, only when we need to run something like a larger air compressor that the 2000 watt Xantrex inverter won't run.



In the center top of the enclosure there's a 3" black PVC or whatever pipe with a $15 solar panel that keeps the battery topped off. Starts right up so far even in the coldest winter. Everything in the panel mount is glued with PL urethane grey concrete crack sealer.

Diesel gennys generally will run more money, so your budget and desired 10kw might prevent you from going that route.  I'd recommend going tri-fuel - it'll cost you a little bit more, but will make your fuel choice more flexible.

Backfeeding through the dryer outlet is a bad idea.  There are different ways to prevent a mishap, but it's too easy for things to go wrong.

OP...You can't there from here for $2K. Not for double that. Probably not triple.
Absolutely the smallest that MIGHT work is about 12kw and even with that you will not be running the whole house. Well.. you might but ??
To realy do it right you need to make a list of every thing you really want (need) to use and figure total watts. Plus you have to add about 20% to that number for start up surge wattage.
Next issue.. if you try to run the entire house through the dryer plug it Could melt and or catch the house on fire. You need to go through the exterior electrical box where the regular power comes in with a transfer switch or other approved set up with correctly sized wire. Many houses are set up as 200 amp service.
I have extensive experience with 12kw, 23kw and 40kw backup gens. Dual 23's on 60' boat. Boat only needs 1 @ a time to run everything. A 12kw @ house that only runs 3 ton AC, TV/AV and some lights. Everything else
Is propane. Including fridges and freezers. That house is about (1300 sq/ft)
Another house (1800sq/Ft) with a 23kw and 40kw. We installed the 40 because the 23kw can not run the house and boat @ the same time in the summer when the boat is plugged into the dock.
Gens are Set up with automatic switching. Except the boat.
The house gens are in enclosures with 150-200 gal fuel tanks underneath. Mounted on concrete slabs.
That is the cats ass set up. Everything else is work.

If this is going to be primarily for back up power during an outage (and not off grid duty cycle), a generac in the 7500-10k size is a good choice. Tri fuel has a bunch of advantages. First, it does gasoline as needed, second, if gas runs low, lp is a good alternative and maybe easy to find on wrecked RV's etc. Third, if the gas comes on before the electricity, Bobs your uncle, no gasoline or lp needed. It is not a complicated system.

Generacs in Kali can be had for cheap at the moment. After a shaker they are harder to get but the demand dies quick and most are back on the market in a year or too anyway. I bought a 7550 generac for $400 and put a motor snorkel kit on it for another $250 I think. The gen had less than 20hrs and has electric start. I sold a 12k Generac that I bought for y2k about 5 years ago for $1100 It was near new, maybe ten hours. It was a beast though, big, heavy and hard to move around by myself.

Look at this puppy:

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/for/d/generator-for-sale/6303049426.html

If it could be had for $800 and add a MS tri fuel kit, your in for maybe $1100, spend the rest on Synthetic oil, filters and gas or a large lp tank. It's going to use lots of fuel.

so tri fuel is probably my best bet ? and im assuming Generac will be my best bet too ? im seeing 15k and 17k generacs for $2k right now on CL and FB marketplace but I think holding out till Christmas time might be the best.

also local hardware store has the 100lb propane tanks for $100 empty, two of them would be good to keep in garage for easy of storage and fill, and I would assume 1gal/hr consumption rate ? and what would the average cost to fill those 100lb tanks be ?

How many gallons in a 100# propane cylinder?  About 22 gallons?

How long would 22 gallons of propane run a 15kw genny ---about 8 to 12 hours?

Would a sensible person store 200 pounds of propane in their garage?

Would a sensible person store 200 pounds of diesel in their garage?

Are you talking about the 17KW-20KW open frame on wheel kit Generac? If so we have 4-5 of these to run mobile triage, medical aid, decontamination tents. They are very loud and very thirsty animals. Like 1.75-2.5 gallons of gasoline per hour under say 10-14KW. If you where able to do propane you would need a 500-1000 gallons tank to run more than a couple days with central air.

On the farm we have a miller bobcat welder/generator.  It's gas, but has a enclosure so some of the noise is mitigated.  I think it does 11kw surge, 10kw usage.  It's a useful tool and good quality, easy to load into a truck or put on a trailer, plus you can weld with it.

Do as others say and drop the coin.
Or
Buy a 300$ portable AC unit and a new 8-10k....
If all your wanting is AC and fridge.

this

you can spend the money on a huge genny you will rarely run, or buy a smaller genny and a portable a/c unit.

Fair sized tractor on Craigslist ~$3,000
22KW PTO generator ~$3,000

Probably about the cheapest way to do a whole house.