Originally Posted by
SCSInet
http:///forum/post/3190995
I doubt the electric company is going to be able to tell you your average current draw, unless you have a "smart meter." Most of us have the old school meters that just keep track of the total amount. Worth a call though, not saying anything is wrong with trying.
Bionic's comment did make me think of something...
If you are really serious about looking into a full generator solution, you might want to put a device on your panel that will actually keep track of your power usage for you.
Google "The Energy Detective." For about $200, you can get a wireless device that clamps onto the main cables coming into your panel and keeps track of the power going through them. The statistics are uploaded to Google, which will allow you to pull up graphs and average trends. It might be a good investment to get something like this and run it for a few months to actually see what you use, and allow you to size a generator accordingly.
As a side benefit, you can probably pay for this device in no time by keeping an eye on your consumption and learning how to do things to drive your daily averages down. I have one of these deals on my xmas list, hope I get it.
One thing to keep in mind is that those standby generator packages that HD and Lowe's sell that come with the transfer switch are only designed to handle a few circuits. If you want to handle the whole house, you need a large transfer switch that actually goes between the utility and your breaker panel, and switches the entire house over. This is going to be more expensive, and would be a professional installation job for 95% of homeowners.
My buddy told me the transfer switch he needed for his generator was going to cost close to $2000 plus installation. All the transfer switch does is switch from utility power to generator power seamlessly when power is lost. It's not a requirement for hooking a generator to your home. He told me for the $2000+ to get the thing, he could manage to walk outside during a power failure and manually crank up the generator and 'flip the switch'.
You missed out on a deal with me tank. My brother's company is moving to a new location, and they have a 150KW diesel generator, including a transfer switch, that they sold to a company that handles frozen tissues for $8500. I actually thought about buying it, but I think my Homeowner Association would have sued me when this thing cranked up during a power failure.