Let there be light... and heat.
It's here, it's here!
We finally have a whole house generator that's not just an extension chord dragged through the basement window and plugged into a hand-me-down relic generator that warbles and throbs like the little engine that could for two hours between refills.
It's been a bit of a journey we started back in May! Yep, three design plans submitted to the town code enforcement four times only to end up with the first one being accepted. The kicker was having the inspector come out, look at the generator as you see it here and say, "Yep, it's a generator. Sign here." Didn't look at any of the electrical or propane work we had to do to make this reality... I was about to ask if he wanted to see any of it then thought better to keep my trap shut and sign there as requested.
Biggest pain in the back side was replacing our propane set up. Apparently, two 200lbs pigs is not enough propane for a generator. Something about surface area and vapor point... my wife's eyes glazing over, and a few thousand dollars more.
Took them most of the day to pick up the tank and bury it in the yard. Fortunately, we were the first of four tank installs scheduled that day. "Wait, it's 4:30pm and you have how many more to do today?" Unfortunately, it took them four more visits to get the propane plumbed out to the new generator. That was actually the last task to get completed. Here's a hint if you're planning to do this. Ask the tech exactly which parts he needs when he visits next time, write them down. The day before the scheduled appointment, call the service department and ask to speak to the tech that will actually be doing the work. remind him which parts he should bring the next morning.
Fortunately our electrician was a real professional as well as a good friend working weekends to get this hooked up. Still, it took him three visits to complete the electrical hookup. One day to run conduit, one day to run wire and begin wiring the generator, and a day to wire up all the breakers. For those of you who know Jay, can you guess which panel he installed?
I've never heard him cuss and bitch so much as when he was sorting through the rat's nest our builder made of the original panel. His wiring truly is a work of art.
I think the best part of all this was having the power go out the day after they hooked up the propane. 60 seconds later there was a low hum outside and the lights came back on. Ok, not really. I'd forgotten to close the cut off switch after testing the generator so there was a low hum but no lights. Had to go out and flip one switch. But two days later it all happened automagically.
We finally have a whole house generator that's not just an extension chord dragged through the basement window and plugged into a hand-me-down relic generator that warbles and throbs like the little engine that could for two hours between refills.
It's been a bit of a journey we started back in May! Yep, three design plans submitted to the town code enforcement four times only to end up with the first one being accepted. The kicker was having the inspector come out, look at the generator as you see it here and say, "Yep, it's a generator. Sign here." Didn't look at any of the electrical or propane work we had to do to make this reality... I was about to ask if he wanted to see any of it then thought better to keep my trap shut and sign there as requested.
Biggest pain in the back side was replacing our propane set up. Apparently, two 200lbs pigs is not enough propane for a generator. Something about surface area and vapor point... my wife's eyes glazing over, and a few thousand dollars more.
Took them most of the day to pick up the tank and bury it in the yard. Fortunately, we were the first of four tank installs scheduled that day. "Wait, it's 4:30pm and you have how many more to do today?" Unfortunately, it took them four more visits to get the propane plumbed out to the new generator. That was actually the last task to get completed. Here's a hint if you're planning to do this. Ask the tech exactly which parts he needs when he visits next time, write them down. The day before the scheduled appointment, call the service department and ask to speak to the tech that will actually be doing the work. remind him which parts he should bring the next morning.
Fortunately our electrician was a real professional as well as a good friend working weekends to get this hooked up. Still, it took him three visits to complete the electrical hookup. One day to run conduit, one day to run wire and begin wiring the generator, and a day to wire up all the breakers. For those of you who know Jay, can you guess which panel he installed?
I've never heard him cuss and bitch so much as when he was sorting through the rat's nest our builder made of the original panel. His wiring truly is a work of art.
I think the best part of all this was having the power go out the day after they hooked up the propane. 60 seconds later there was a low hum outside and the lights came back on. Ok, not really. I'd forgotten to close the cut off switch after testing the generator so there was a low hum but no lights. Had to go out and flip one switch. But two days later it all happened automagically.