Home Generator vs A/C

[Santa]

I bought a micro-air soft start a few weeks ago but haven’t installed yet. I have a 3 ton central unit that this thing was designed for and am going to have a AC company install it. They have instructions on three website and it’s only 5 wires to hookup but I’ll still get some help.

 

[Idoono]

Got a 35 horse tractor with a 25 KW Winco PTO generator. I ran for 29 days after Michael and it cost around $1,000 in fuel. Did not cost me anything because my insurance company paid for it as part of the settlement. I have a mechanical transfer switch to prevent backfeeding the lines. If you have a tractor I highly recommend looking into that system. That being said soft starts do work and are worth the money.

Idoono

 

[Krazy1]

Got a 35 horse tractor with a 25 KW Winco PTO generator. I ran for 29 days after Michael and it cost around $1,000 in fuel. Did not cost me anything because my insurance company paid for it as part of the settlement. I have a mechanical transfer switch to prevent backfeeding the lines. If you have a tractor I highly recommend looking into that system. That being said soft starts do work and are worth the money.

Idoono

Out of curiosity, what rpm's did you have to run your tractor at? My Kubota idols low.

 

[Duckyou]

Sorry, been out bush hogging. Yes, they installed a new breaker panel under the meter along with new breakers. In the panel i have a main breaker coming from the meter with a lockout between the second main breaker for the genset so i cant backfeed to the meter. I was going to go natural gas until i read how diesel is cheaper in the long run. Plus im 1/3 a mile off the road. I bought a rewound military surplus perkins 22kw with 5,000 hrs. Now im looking for a diesel tank on a trailer.

Your not driving with the diesel so make sure to get off-road diesel and put marvel mystery oil in it.

Find someone that can use it as you need to turn it over every year.

 

[3154tm]

Start saving your $$$, the electrician's I talked to quoted me prices in the $700.00 range to put a "soft start" in my A/C system.
Another thing to consider is how much gas one will use.
During IVAN my brother in law used a small [3.5 kw] and had his house weened off power, just running 1 small window A/C the refrigerator, one freezer and ceiling fans. We cooked on gas BBQ /camp stove , bathed either in the creek behind his house, or with a DIY shower with only cold water .
My point being, ask your neighbors & friends that were without power during IVAN what they did to survive .
Also, plan ahead for buying and storing gas

hi baddog, thanks for the input. you're right about how much fuel one of these can burn. fortunately, i have natural gas on site not that it'll be any cheaper. a friend ran up a $700 dollar NG bill after hurricane sally. as far as what to do, i've lived on the water on the west side of p'cola for nearly 70 years. that's how i know i need a/c after a hurricane, lol

 

[3154tm]

I have the hard start kit on our rental home and the home we live in but just ordered the Micro Air Soft Start.

Hard Start are much cheaper but does not do what the soft starts do. Amazon product ASIN B07X463KD1

EasyStart™ Soft Starters

Buy an EasyStart™ today. Our product line offers the best-in-class soft starter for single-phase motors operating at 115-240VAC/50-60Hz, only available at Micro-Air. The unmatched performance and compressor-protection features allow you to start your air conditioner on a limited power source...

www.microair.net

I will do a write up on the soft start and how much it dropped the in rush amps. When I install it.

Here are some pics when I installed the Hard Start on the new home that has a 4 ton HVAC Heat Pump. The reason I ordered the Soft Start is we are getting the two Enphase IQ 10T batteries, IQ Smart Switch and two load controllers to go with our solar system.

.

Before and after In-Rush Amps

hi kendive, yup, the hard start kits are a lot cheaper. i've been using them for years to cheat a little more time out of an older compressor unit. and yes, they're about 20 times cheaper than a soft start unit. but as you know, they don't do anything to drop the in rush current.
any reason you went with the easy start instead of some other brand?
i'm looking forward to the results of your meter test.
what size compressor/condenser unit do you have? the unit i have now is 2.5 tons and has a LRA rating of 70 and a run rating of 15.3. the hyper engineering people supposedly guarantee a minimum drop of 60% in rush amps. if so, i could get by with a 10kw generator for my whole house. thanks.

 

[reel_crazy]

another generator option is diesel boat gen set.. i had an 8kw kohler on my boat that had 3 cyl yanmar .. pretty much bullet proof and boat gen sets are generally made for continuous use .. tho saltwater certainly takes a toll ..
rich

 

[kendive]

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[kendive]

 

[B52]

Ok I got rid of that splice and ordered some 10ga Wago's and replace the splice with a Wago. I hate splices.

I also did another test with the inrush current and staying about the same around 45 amps. I just pushed the single phase contactor in with a sharpie to test the outside unit.

Here are the pics.

The Wago connectors. Did you get them at Lowes or Amazon? I have never seen that type of connector before. I'm not a fave of the splice connector but I didn't know about anything else.

 

[kendive]

The Wago connectors. Did you get them at Lowes or Amazon? I have never seen that type of connector before. I'm not a fave of the splice connector but I didn't know about anything else.

 

[Krazy1]

I went to a Bosch variable speed heat pump and when my 24K genrac is running the house I don't even hear it bog when it kicks on. I wonder how many amps it's drawing on start up? I know it saved us a substantial amount on our power bill in the summer months.

 

[Idoono]

Out of curiosity, what rpm's did you have to run your tractor at? My Kubota idols low.

Engine RPM's should be set to get 540 RPM at the PTO. OR better yet use a frequency meter to get exactly 60 HZ coming from the generator. On my new Kubota it is around 2600, on my old L3400 it was 2400 RPM.

Idoono

 

[kendive]

I went to a Bosch variable speed heat pump and when my 24K genrac is running the house I don't even hear it bog when it kicks on. I wonder how many amps it's drawing on start up? I know it saved us a substantial amount on our power bill in the summer months.

 

[Krazy1]

Yea probably don't need a soft start with that system...

If I buy another house I would never get a ducted system. I would just do the inverter ductless mini splits. The way they still build houses is just stupid and dumb !!!

I agree, other countries have all gone to them. I noticed that when we were in Costa Rica and also Jamaica.

 

[oldwing]

Yea probably don't need a soft start with that system...

If I buy another house I would never get a ducted system. I would just do the inverter ductless mini splits. The way they still build houses is just stupid and dumb !!!

I installed a single zone 24,000 mini split heat pump in my home about 3 years ago. Absolutely love it. Its quiet, saved me a bunch on electricity. My home is small and the layout allows me to use the single zone. Installed it myself so the cost was only the unit itself which was about $1200 back then.

 

[Molon Labe]

Start saving your $$$, the electrician's I talked to quoted me prices in the $700.00 range to put a "soft start" in my A/C system.
Another thing to consider is how much gas one will use.
During IVAN my brother in law used a small [3.5 kw] and had his house weened off power, just running 1 small window A/C the refrigerator, one freezer and ceiling fans. We cooked on gas BBQ /camp stove , bathed either in the creek behind his house, or with a DIY shower with only cold water .
My point being, ask your neighbors & friends that were without power during IVAN what they did to survive .
Also, plan ahead for buying and storing gas

I duzzant do cold baths. Several lengths of charged garden hose laid out in the sun, when it's out, and emptied into Igloos, etc., will give you a decent supply of warm water. My 6.2 kw generator easily runs most every thing in the house on 110. I have a 3-way disconnect, "grid - off - generator." I put a sign visible at the power pole visible to linemen, to let them know I am not connected to public electricity, however, I do go by the admonition, as, I am sure they do to..."there is no unloaded gun."

 

[Krazy1]

Engine RPM's should be set to get 540 RPM at the PTO. OR better yet use a frequency meter to get exactly 60 HZ coming from the generator. On my new Kubota it is around 2600, on my old L3400 it was 2400 RPM.

Idoono

I have a L60 that idols around the same. I know my 250 gallon propane tank was on 20% when Sally hit, I know shame on me. I forgot we hooked up our gas fireplace to it. Anyway it ran the whole house for 4 days on that 20% with the 22KW Generac. I would cut if off around 3 hours a day. I wonder how my Kubota would do as far as diesel fuel with the same circumstances? I know it's very good on diesel now but hardly ever run more than 2000 rpm's under normal use.

 

[Duckyou]

Yea probably don't need a soft start with that system...

If I buy another house I would never get a ducted system. I would just do the inverter ductless mini splits. The way they still build houses is just stupid and dumb !!!

I love mini spits - check out the ducted units and the cassettes.