most sites that sell or install generators have power calcs

i think kohler has a good one

the way you roll? whole enchilada will be about 20 kw

maybe consider natural gas too

many here have them set up to kick on in a split second

 islander wrote:
 


Looks as if the options are 13, 17 & 20kw.

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 

Forgot about your on demand electric water heater.  That will kick up the loads a bit. Id still call that peak and add 25 % or so ( you onlybuse that when you are heating water).  Remember that you want to be able to average 50 - 75% load capacity on yiur genset, or you will introduce other problems.  

what wre your available  increments  on generator capacities?

 islander wrote:
 

Probably. We had a tankless electric water heater installed last year; it pulls 40 amps all by itself. While our attic is insulated to R60, our windows are still original equipment - something I hope to rectify incrementally. All lights are LED, yes.

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 

are you doing split phase 240?  20 kw is around 80 amps at 240v. That's a lot of juice, but with hot tub and other loads you might get there on occasion. Still feels high for an efficient home. Lighting is normally a  big load and you went all led right? 

take your last powee bill and divive kwh bu the hours in the month. That's your average load. Peak is porbably 1.75x or so

 islander wrote:
 

I was hoping you were around...

I want to be able to run the house as normal - the whole house.

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 

I redid ourbold house with high efficiency stuff, and i ran the whole place off an 8kw generator with lots of overhead. 

consider a transfer panel with a subset of circuits - do you really need the guestbroom whennpower is out? Lights, tv, cold beer, hot water- no judgement on whatborder you put them in. 

NOT DIY... We will be having installed a standby generator next year. Sick to death of Baghdad Electric's outages.

Our home is approximately 1,000 sf and our appliances modern and efficient. In addition to the generator, we'll be replacing our package unit furnace/ac with a full-electric heat pump. From what I gather, a 20kw unit will be more than adequate; looking at a Cummins  because they're very quiet.

Anyone have any experience with such things?

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Seems our local Lowe's doesn't carry diamond-tipped bits, only diamond-ground carbide bits. But, one of those got the job done - a lot faster than I anticipated. Job went off without a hitch; the most difficult part was removing the old fixture.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
I have a set of diamond 'hole saws' I use to drill through ceramics. They look like tiny hole saws, without the drill in the middle. They are tricky to use by hand, but it's possible. Especially if you don't need precision. 
google 'diamond hole saw', Amazon has a set for under $10.

Ping me if you need details...
c.

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 
Will the tile be on the floor on on a wall?  I assume you're thinking of a small hole. If it's for something like a towel rack a penetration in a grout seam could eventually loosen or crack the grout because of the repeated strain of pulling and pushing towels on it, though even that may not happen right away.  If it's for something like a water supply line it may not matter as much.  Either way, a lot of (flexible) caulk or silicone around the perimeter is usually good.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 
I'm thinking I may be able to place the hole in the grout between a couple of tiles... or is that not a good idea?

 Red_Dragon wrote:
 
Carbide tip masonry bit. FIRST make a nick with a sharp awl or something to scratch it, then I use a very small bit to start. Put some masking tape or duct tape on it first, to help keep the bit from walking. The bit should also have a sharp point to help it stay put. You have to get through the glazing carefully. Once you get the small bit thru the harder outside, you can go to the full size bit. If you sprang for a new super hard diamond tip masonry bit, you might not need to do the small/large bit thing, but I go with what got me here. DO NOT apply much pressure. I keep the bit speed pretty fast but not maxRPM, and pressure very very light. It will go, eventually, but it takes patience.

What sort of bit does one use to drill a hole in ceramic tile?

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
oh, dear

 R_P wrote:
 

always looking for new members

Ready to unload his sack

A man brings a deposit of the white stuff

Volunteers polish giant’s erection by hand

 westslope wrote: 

Thanks - the closets are done now with new stuff.
The main problem was warped/bowed doors.

Alexandra:  Perhaps places like The Hardware Hut might help?

Furniture rails hardware seem to work as descriptors to use in a meta-search engine like Bing or Google.

 JrzyTmata wrote: 

One of my bestest friends (and musical collaborators) who's been doing the lion's share of all this DIY out of the goodness of his heart.