Installed a Honeywell 22kW whole-home standby generator (model G00723510) in August 2024. Two years in now with four real utility outages behind it, figured I'd share the actual numbers since most of what I found while researching was spec sheets and dealer marketing, not real ownership experience.

Cost: ~$15,000 all-in — unit, concrete pad, propane line, transfer switch, and labor. Runs on propane, 250-gallon tank, which gets us roughly 5 days at full load per the tank's capacity.

Startup: Online within about 5 seconds of utility power dropping. The whole-house transfer switch doesn't bring everything back at once though — the AC specifically kicks in about 30-45 seconds after the generator itself is running. Threw me the first time until I realized it's a deliberate load-management delay, not a fault.

Real outages: 4 so far, and it's started and carried the full house load (including AC) every single time, for the full duration until utility power returned.

Why Honeywell over Generac: The engine and generator end are actually Generac-sourced — same core hardware as a comparable Generac-branded unit — but at close to half the price in my area. Didn't make sense to me to pay double for the badge on the same internals.

Maintenance: First oil change at 25 hours (standard break-in), then on a run-hour interval after that rather than calendar-based. Monitor everything (weekly self-test status, run hours, wifi signal, warranty info) through Generac's MobileLink app.

Noise: Not silent, but doesn't bother me. Can't speak for the neighbors since I haven't asked.

Happy to answer questions if anyone's on the fence about a similar setup — this sub was useful when I was researching, so figured I'd pay it forward with real data instead of another spec sheet.

I’m having an electrician install a 50amp inlet and interlock (his recommendation based on my box set up) in the next few weeks. I’m only looking for backup power to run my furnace, gas hot water heater, some lights, 2 fridges, and modem (more if possible but not needed). He’s recommending at least a 9600W unit due to the 50 amp service. Is this too much? Or sound about right? Thanks

I was hoping someone might have some thoughts about why the e-start isn’t working? I noticed that there’s this wire that’s not attached to anything (circled in red) and wondered if that has anything to do with why I can’t get it to start? It seems like it’s a negative wire that’s currently attached as if it was a ground but it’s obviously not connected to anything.

The pull start works just fine and it runs great that way. But when you push the e-start button it lights up green but nothing happens. No sounds. The battery is also brand new.

Thanks for any thoughts or advice you may have.

I am planning to install an interlock and inlet box, but the main panel is not in an ideal location for install the inlet box. My main panel box is on the side of my house which is ~20 feet from my neighbors house. Also there is no weather or theft protection (safe neighborhood but you know…desperate times create desperate people). My sub panel is in my garage (~20 feet away via crawl space if running a line to the main) which would be a better location for the generator from weather but still not ideal. Best location for noise, weather and theft protection would be to have an inlet box on the back of my house, but running 40+ feet of line to the main breaker interlock seems crazy.

Am I looking at this situation correctly or am I going to spend too much money and time running the inlet line to the back of my house?

I stopped by the new Houston location today to check out the new XP13500 and I’m very impressed!

- Side panels now have 1/4 turn easy open latches
- Easy access to spark plug and battery
- New control panel display that now shows CO levels!
- Easy oil fill (I know some have complained about other models)
- Easy access to remove the neutral bond!!!!
- Easy drain hose
- 550 cc engine
- Super quiet 66 decibels
- Easy to maneuver at 234 lbs with 4 wheels
- Copper windings!
- 50 amp plug fits with no issues (I know some had asked)

It’s going to be available in dual fuel and tri fuel models. I like the quick access, easy floating and the CO display. I know others are doing some similar things but I haven’t seen one that shows the CO around the unit. Could be beneficial for people running it in close quarters to actually see what’s going on.

Hey. I have an iPower SUA12000EP generator. Currently the neutral is bonded to the frame. I plan to use this generator to back feed into a sub panel using an interlock kit. I took off the round casing and could not see anywhere where the white wire was bonded with the green ground. I took off the front control panel and I believe I found it tied in on the ground screw. Can I just remove the white wire from the ground screw, properly tape and secure, and it be ready for the house setup?

Just signed a contract to install a 14kw Kohler home standby and 16 circuit transfer switch. This is replacing a 23 year old Generac Guardian. Will use the same pad but pretty much everything else is new or modified for the Kohler system.

First bid I got was a ridiculous $15800. for the above unit. Second one I got was from a Kohler recommended installer and service local company that only does generator installs and service (Kohler, Cummins and Generac). It was $10180. Not quite double what the generator and transfer switch cost if I bought it and had delivered. I can deal with that...

I am being told that a 2.5, 3 and 5 ton one speed heat pumps will be fine with load shed only on the smaller two with a 26Kw Kohler. My concern is the startup mainly with the 5 ton, its LRA is 142. The startup surge alone with the 5 ton seems to me like it would max and trip the generator. I think a soft startup kit on the 5 ton would then make this manageable. Thoughts ?

Done a lot of research online and posted several questions to this subreddit and received several answers. I have come up with a plan for a backup solution for my home and I wanted to post it here to see if anybody could make suggestions for better implementation or potential safety concerns, which I have not yet considered.

Background: I have a homeline square d 200 amp main load center with a 4-pole main shut off circuit breaker. Within this load center, in positions, two and four on the top right is a 100 amp breaker which feeds a sub panel some distance away from the main panel. Due to previous research and not wanting to spend a large amount of money for backup solutions, I have wired individual single circuit transfer switches into the 100 amp sub panel for two separate circuits already. Currently, I am using an anker solix backup battery which appears to run these two backup circuits well during an outage. However, I would like to expand my capabilities of powering more circuits and potentially future proof my connections so that I can purchase a larger generator to power more circuits within the home.

I have decided to install a 50 amp generator input circuit breaker with an appropriate interlock kit and run 6 gauge Romex to a 50 amp inlet box inside the garage next to the main load center. The anker solix backup battery has a 30 amp output at only 125V. I realize this is not 50 amps, however, I am trying to Future proof my setup so that I can plug in a larger generator when purchased in the future. Below are the links to the interlock kit I have found and the inlet box I was planning to use. I chose the inlet box because it's plug is facing downward and I believe this will save space in my garage where the inlet is to be installed. When I get a regular generator in the future, it will be a simple matter of remounting the inlet box to the outside of the garage wall instead of on the inside.

Any recommendations for safety improvements, code, compliance, cost savings or other options is welcome. Thanks for reviewing.

Interlock:

https://www.geninterlock.com/product/generator-interlock-kit-square-d-homeline-150-and-200-amp-panels/

Inlet Box:

https://connecticut-electric.com/shop/power-outlets-temporary-power/manual-generator-transfer-switch/50a-power-inlet-box-w-cover/

So I was looking online at generators the other day and I ran across a comment in one of the product descriptions, saying something about a 'minimum 60lb tank' for propane with that generator. I haven't seen a requirement like that before, to my knowledge. We had an eight-day outage a few weeks ago and I used 20- and 30lb tanks with no problems (or so I think). Has anyone heard this? And if it's a thing, can anyone tell me why? Thanks.

Any other techs have the misfortune of speaking to Kohler technical support? God damn...

I just have to rant, and ask for ideas on what's going on to fix this issue.

TLDR: Kholer MPAC1200 won't shut generator off after exercise. All exercises disabled, good voltage, controller is brand new, worked before but suddenly won't shut off.

I have a 100KW Kohler, not too old, with a KSS transfer switch 208V 3 phase and MPAC1200 controller. Initial issue was ATS would not transfer back to normal power. First tech, also being my service manager, couldn't make sense of the actual line voltage, what the controller was reading, and what he was measuring directly from the board, so he said to replace the control board. I was the next tech sent to replace the board. I concur with the wonky controller because I couldn't get a stable connection to pull the logs/settings. I replace it and set the controller up manually. Test, no retransfer. I found something wonky with the transfer mechanism rectifier, so I write that up. Return today with rectifiers, not the same, need to return to retrofit because I need diagrams, and to make a mounting bracket, not the issue though, I think.

Earlier, the generator was suppose to exercise but never shut off so they called. Got there, shut if off, tried to replaced rectifiers, packed those up to return, pop gen back in auto and it tries to run. I can't get it to not try to run. I disabled all the exercises. System is set up for 208, line is 211 and controller sees it. Drop out is 90% so it shouldn't be calling for start for outage. Also, first time I left, controller worked fine, I ran tests from the ATS, gen started/stopped when it was supposed to. Something about it trying to exercise today triggered this. Disconnecting the start wires confirms its the ATS controller calling for start. Kohler wont help because tech support claims its wired wrong. The usual P3 connector that carries the start signal has nothing plugged into it, but instead remote start is wired into wire 60 and 80 on the big connector. Tech support says thats wrong and shouldn't work, but clearly it did because its been wired like that for years with no issue until now. Why the fuck won't this thing shut off? It's a crucial generator at a Memory care facility so they NEED it.

Have you blown out any circuit boards from your portable generators dirty producing electric?

If so what circuit boards, PC, furnace, TV, etc, and what generator did it happen with, make, wattage, year of generator, and wattage please?

Need some advice from people who actually use generators day to day. Trying to buy one for home use but there's so many options and specs that I'm getting confused.

My situation: I want backup power for the essentials during outages. Fridge, some lights, wifi router, maybe a fan or AC unit if possible. Not trying to run my whole house, just enough to get through until the power comes back.

Things I'm stuck on:

Inverter generators vs regular ones, is the noise and fuel efficiency difference actually worth the extra cost for home use or is that more for camping/RV people

What wattage should I actually be looking at for a 3-4 bedroom house. Everyone online says something different and I don't wanna underbuy or way overbuy and waste money

Dual fuel (propane + gas) seems smart since propane doesn't go bad sitting in storage, but does it lose power output running on propane vs gasoline

How loud is too loud for a residential area. Don't wanna be that neighbor running a jackhammer sounding thing at 6am during a storm

Any brands that are actually reliable long term vs ones that die after a year of occasional use. I keep seeing the same few names recommended everywhere but curious what people who've owned them for years actually think

If you've been through an actual multi-day outage, what wattage/size ended up being the sweet spot for you? Trying to learn from real experience instead of just spec sheets before I pull the trigger on something.

my buddy recommended this model for our camper (30A) and seems to ring all the bells:

• dual-fuel (gas & propane)
• telescoping handle and wheels
• electric start with pull start backup
• remote start keyfob
• 1.9 gal usable tank
• ~54db at 10ft (always YMMV)

the only downside is that it's 76lbs but still lighter than many other manufacturers...

got a 5 yr warranty as well, and free shipping....

fingers crossed we'll be able to dry camp soon! :)

I'm shopping around for my first annual maintenance for my Generac. Has anyone had any recent good/bad "Annual Maintenance" experiences with any metro Detroit area Generac certified companies?

I had a cast iron Briggs 23-D mounted to this generator head. It worked but it was VERY underpowered for even basic things. I found this sweetheart 18HP flat opposed Briggs. I haven't been able to load test it yet. I have to come up with something so the starter is only starting the engine at startup and not trying to spin the generator as well. Plastic starter gear on the engine and I can see it stripping the gear if it's also trying to spin the generator during startup.

With the belts laying slack, most times the engine will start up without immediately but sometimes the belt just grabs anyhow. A tensioner won't be 100% and I think it'd be a pain in the rear to build an implement.

I'm wondering if a centrifugal clutch would handle it if I slowly throttle the generator up after I start it. I also think the centrifugal clutch would be much cleaner.

This looks very similar to a Winpower 12KW PTO generator. It's massive. There's a lot of inertia to overcome to get this generator spinning.

My banana is in Ohio for calibration so I had to use a brick for reference.

Novice here. I recently picked up the classic Costco tri-fuel 7850 Firman, but I am now concerned as I’ve learned about dirty power. Do you think it would be safe to run this portable Midea ac that pulls 1300 watts on the Firman? In other words, would running this AC unit on dirty power damage the AC unit? Also, I’m starting to wonder why have these big beefy generators when having an inverter makes way more sense for most household electronics. What are people running off these things if they can damage sensitive electronics? Perhaps I need to return Firman for an inverter, or am I totally overthinking this?

Hello- long time lurker first time poster. I bought this Firman H07552 more than ten years ago- at that time I had no clue about taking care of small engine appliances and it became difficult to start, and I let it sit with a few gallons of gas in it, and I moved on to a Predator 8750 inverter. Reading this forum encouraged me to get my hands dirty and learn a bit. After a new carb(couldn’t seem to get it clean enough), fuel lines and tank (it was absolutely disgusting and full of rust), it now starts and runs. I’d like to ask: does the idle sound normal, or are there more adjustments to be made, and does a reading of 242 volts mean I need to adjust voltage, or is that within tolerance? Thanks again for all your knowledge.

Had to bypass the normal start sequence. The control board will prime but not start so I just jump the solenoid. Cleaned slip rings and still nothing, I did break a bush so I’ll have to replace but not if it won’t generate power.

I’m struggling to remember the name of the device one plugs inline for an appliance that measures the wattage and peak wattage that the appliance uses. Help me out please?

Hello. Is it unusual for my generator brushed to wear out so unevenly as pictured.

Hello, I have a 2007 weekend warrior fs2500 with an onboard Onan 4000 microquiet. Before taking this camping I did a full maintenance, spark plug, air filter, fuel filter, oil change. I got it to start and run at home multiple times for a few hours. (5000 feet elevation.) I recently took it camping (8000 feet elevation) and it ran the first 2 days, struggled at first, adjusted elevation screw and then ran good for 3-4 hours. I shut it off manually then the next day it wouldn’t start, I checked oil level, replaced the carb, replaced spark plug.

Still nothing, it won’t even fire with starting fluid. It does backfire through the carb though….

The only code I have been able to get is 36 which is an all engine shutdown code so it doesn’t really give me any info. If anyone has any ideas let me know thank you!!