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Hi, this is George, with Argo Electrical. And I am this arch protector guy. So this is podcast number 18. Obviously, it’s the second one for 2024. But this is the second podcast on the cost of standalone generators versus solar power. And this podcast is going to speak to cost analysis for generator. Now the generator that we chose was the one that we sized for my home here in Northeast Georgia. And so
13 199 square foot properties three small bedrooms and the upstairs with a bathroom, along with deanery, a kitchen, and pantry and bathroom and the lower level. Okay, that includes a
electric water heater, it includes a lectric HVAC unit with a condenser, electric microwave electric stove range, if you will. So the size that generator generates calculator gave us was an 18 kW. Okay, so the 18 kilowatt generator with Wi Fi enabled features along with a transfer switch is $5,769 Not including taxes. So you would also need a pad to set your generator on, you need a generator, you would need an LP gas tank, if you don’t have gas to your home. And I got told you, we’re totally electric. We do live in the outskirts of Metro Atlanta. But we are in the county. So we do not have availability for natural gas feed from a utility, we would have purchased an LP gas tank, you can buy 100 gallon gas tank, we chose the middle of the road 250 LP gas tank, believe you can buy 100 gallon, a 250 gallon excuse me I have the hiccups, a 500 gallon or 1000 gallon tank. So the 250 LP gas tank installed is $1,500 approximately. So we figured looking at their labor, their beginning price was around $2,000. For those of you who are unaware of how this deal works, you want to put your standalone generator on the load side of the meter base. A lot of the properties that we deal with, you would have to have a main breaker or disconnect service emergency disconnect at the meter base. So we’re just saying that we could do it that way, then you have to get the wire size approximately, which would be about a one out copper, or a two out aluminum which would provide basically 150 amps. The service on this house is a 200 amp for the last 10 years or so. When we do these upgrades, we generally go with the 200 the parts are cheaper, you get a little bit more robust. You know, fulfillment of needs as it were with the 200 amp. Okay, so we we put a price tag of $4,000. The gas the LP gas price, currently is approximately $3 a gallon. That’s with tax. So if we filled up our 250 gallon gas tank at $3 a gallon that would be that would be approximately $800. So we’ve got the pad, the battery $300 $350 for the field, the LP gas tank, if you had to purchase that it would be $1,500 So currently we’re at around 2200 hours, we put a price tag of labor, and parts for the needed stuff that you would need would be around four grand. So now you’re at eight grand plus, you know, around $6,000, for the 18 Kw generator, with a transfer switch, you would also potentially a house this small, you really don’t need it. But Generac calls is basically a part that decides a priority, one of the generators in operation, HVAC, obviously would be first range, I believe would be second, and then the water heater would be third. And then the rest of the house, the 120 circuits would be for you put these things on your deal. They’re about $150 a pop. So you know, I would say you would probably need at least two for this house. So now we’re looking at close to $14,000 for this 18 Kw 18,000 watt generator with the Wi Fi enabled features and the transfer switch. Maybe that’s a liberal amount. But I would say for something of this size, and to make it work to where you know, and this standalone generator, okay? It senses when you have no power available from the utility, it sends a message to the generator within about 10 seconds, the generator cranks, the Automatic Transfer Switch engages, it kills the power to the you know, from the meter base, and now you’re powering the home with your generator running on full power. That way you’re not worrying about doing the generator. So you know, it 15 $16,000 for a home that’s worth about $260,000 That’s a lot of money. You know, they’re very nice. But you know, as we get into the pricing of the solar slash battery powered opportunity opportunities or whatever, I really believe that the solar powered battery powered options would be much more cost effective. We’re trying to keep these things kind of short five to 10 minutes long. So I’m going to move on now. Once again, my name is George. I’m the owner of Argo electrical in Gainesville, Georgia. I am the surge protector guy, you could contact me at 770-596-1437 and you can also find us online at Oregon electrical.com. Thanks for coming. And we’ll be back with some more of the standalone generators versus solar power cost analysis. Thank you
