Fellows, many thanks for the sage advice on generator selection and sizes a few weeks back.
All just worked out wonderfully with the new generator set install last Friday.
We went with the Kohler 20RES KW whole-house model, with the RDT automatic transfer switch.
Not cheap, but well worth the security, and the switch has remote controls and status indicators,
gotta have the bells and whistles! The set may be a bit of overkill, but it will run the house,
barn and outbuildings, insuring that I can be on the air, stay warm and cook dinner at the same time!
Max load we could get with everything on was 53 amps, so looks like we have some overhead.
Both inside and outside the house the set runs nice and quiet, like a loud hum.
Testing the system I've found it takes about 10 seconds after power loss for the
transfer switch to kick in, the gen set to start and restore power, quite reasonable.
Once the mains power comes back, the switch changes over so quickly that
all you see is the lights flicker, does not even reset the clocks.
Funny story, the electrician and gas guy finished the install on Friday afternoon,
on a 5 degree day, but the Kohler rep was not able to "commission'" the set until Monday.
Late Sunday afternoon we started to get warmer weather, got up to almost 50,
so we went outside and put up the Christmas lights. In very short order it began to get very windy,
with a hard driving rain...I'm thinking we're going to get a storm. I could hear the buoy bells
ringing, raining pounding on the windows, the trees creaking, the whole scene, actually kind of liked it!
This quickly developed into big windstorm and a loss of power at 3:23 AM.
Generator set wired and in place, but not ready to go online.
Thankfully the power came back on at 7:30 AM so the basement did not flood.
Generator guy comes at 11 AM for the test and final check out of the set...go figure.
We may have missed this one, but we are safe for future outages.
Summary, I was impressed with the Kohler product line.
Seems solid, well designed, great documentation, and looking inside the transfer switch,
very well built for a residential system. The generator itself, this is where my mechanical skills
translated well, is very well constructed, easy to service, the air and oil filters on top of the engine,
and a remote drain hose and valve conveniently located for easy access.
The polymer housing seems ideal for my coastal location, surprisingly rugged, immune from rust,
and looks quite decent. The onboard digital controls have a neat LED screen which reads out
the status of the unit, as well as a any service or fault codes. Kohler also offers a module which allows
internet control and monitoring of the system, from your computer or iPhone!
The windstorm on Sunday evening
Nancy demonstrates how she plans to stay warm and toasty with just the push of a button
Inside the case - Kohler 20KW unit