[JohnWhicker]

I just made it through this horendous week of freezing in Texas and man I wish I had a generator. I have few quick guidance question and I really apreciate the help

• I need the bigest capacity portable power generator that can mainly run on NG as I have a 1/2" NG connection outside the house. 12KW? more, less? Money is not an issue (something like this but unfortunately is not NG --> DuroMax XP12000EH 12000-Watt)
• Best and most reliable brand? That will work in summer and winter. Again price is not an issue.
• Ideally will be a generator that does not require a conversion kit for the NG, mostly plug and play.
• If I need to go the NG conversion kit route I need something that is know to work and easy to setup.

Anything else I should consider ?

I really apreciate the guidance and help

 

[Jackruf]

How far is your 1/2“ NG supply line from gas meter?

 

[JohnWhicker]

How far is your 1/2“ NG supply line from gas meter?

Is a 6 FT long run 1/2" from the gas meter. I use that for my smoker now Not even sure if I have the right PSI to run a portable NG generator.

 

[Jackruf]

If you go on the USCarb website (maybe motorsnorkel.com now) there is some very good information on sizing plumbing to the unit hp size. You can cross reference the diameter and run length to determine what size unit your NG supply will support.

 

[JohnWhicker]

Thanks much. The question wasn't just about the 1/2" NG run Ther is more:

• I need the bigest capacity portable power generator that can mainly run on NG as I have a 1/2" NG connection outside the house. 12KW? more, less? Money is not an issue
• Best and most reliable brand? That will work in summer and winter. Again price is not an issue.
• Ideally will be a generator that does not require a conversion kit for the NG, mostly plug and play.
• If I need to go the NG conversion kit route I need something that is know to work and easy to setup

 

[Nebrasky]

I just made it through this horendous week of freezing in Texas and man I wish I had a generator. I have few quick guidance question and I really appreciate the help

Just a couple tangential thoughts to consider. First, you can't run much of a generator off a 1/2 inch line. You'd need 3/4" at least, so that would have to be upsized back to the meter. That's probably not much of an issue, but keep it in mind.

Second, do you want to depend on the Texas NG grid in an emergency? My understanding is that the power plants have about maxed out the NG grid and it isn't all as freeze-proof as you might like.

Give the info you've provided, I'd recommend getting something like this Winco model: WINCO PSS12H2W 12kW Generator

https://www.wincogen.com/wp-content/uploads/PD/Spec_Sheets/PSS/SP-109_PSS12.pdf

And then set it up with a 1,000 gallon propane tank. That would give you almost two weeks worth of max power on a full tank, probably longer because you won't be using full power continuously, and you don't have to worry about the NG pipelines freezing. Plus propane give you more power than natural gas.

It's a Honda engine powering a US built gen-head, which is probably about as good as you're gonna get for anything like that kind of money. And propane will store for decades without a problem. Maybe you'd want to get rid of the NG line completely and run your grill off propane.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.

 

[Browse Deweb]

I was thinking about a whole house generator running on natural gas, but I opted for a Honda EU7000is with a 30A input box and interlock on my main panel. I have an older car that allows me access to the tank via a 12VDC siphon pump and I store at least another 10 gallons of ethanol free gasoline in 5 gal cans in my garage. I wanted a quiet, reliable inverter generator that I can take with me when I sell the house and use for other purposes as needed. I don't lose power too frequently, and the Honda did great during a 3-day outage this past summer. It ran the whole house with the exception of our 4-ton HVAC unit. One tank can last up to 18 hours with lower loads. We have a pool and a basement with a mini-split AC, so we didn't need the main house AC. I could probably modify the generator for natural gas or propane, but I don't think I need to since getting gas shouldn't be a problem. After Hurricane Sandy, all of the gas stations in the state are now required to have backup emergency power to run the pumps.

If you have $$, you can always parallel two EU7000IS for double the power.

 

[Browse Deweb]

Your main panel photo indicates a lot of electric appliances and two ACs, so you may also want to consider a soft starter for your ACs if you expect to run them on generator power:

EasyStart™ 368 Soft Starter

The EasyStart™ soft start motor starter supports 115 & 230V A/C motors & employs a 4-part start ramp sequence that offers the lowest possible start-up current.

www.microair.net

 

[JohnWhicker]

Your main panel photo indicates a lot of electric appliances and two ACs, so you may also want to consider a soft starter for your ACs if you expect to run them on generator power:

EasyStart™ 368 Soft Starter

The EasyStart™ soft start motor starter supports 115 & 230V A/C motors & employs a 4-part start ramp sequence that offers the lowest possible start-up current.

www.microair.net

This is such a great sugestion. Many thanks. So this device will actually help with starting and running the HVAC units. I heard that only inverter type generators produce clean power so HVAC's can run. With this EasyStart device it means that I can use a standard generator without any issues and run my HVAC?

 

[Browse Deweb]

This is such a great sugestion. Many thanks. So this device will actually help with starting and running the HVAC units. I heard that only inverter type generators produce clean power so HVAC's can run. With this EasyStart device it means that I can use a standard generator without any issues and run my HVAC?

Yes, the inrush current (locked rotor amps or LRA) is the problem. Clean inverter power is good for sensitive electronics, but large motors shouldn't be negatively affected by a dirtier waveform. I have a hard start on my 4-ton AC which helps the condensing unit scroll compressor start up, but this doesn't reduce my LRA. It stopped my lights from dimming. If I got a soft start, it would bring down my inrush current and could probably start on generator power, but the continuous running current draw is higher than what my Honda can reliably put out, so it wouldn't be good for the generator or allow me to run the rest of the house. If I had two EU7000is in parallel with a 50A input box and cable and corresponding 50A breaker, I would get the soft start and run the 4-ton unit. In my case, I can still use my 15k BTU mini-split in the basement for air conditioning. We slept in the basement on a pullout couch during our last summer outage with the mini-split running. We were glad to have the generator available. Running lots of power also uses more fuel, so keep that in mind when figuring out your plan.