Eason Enterprises -- EasonOKC.com

Installation, upgrades, replacement and tie-ins of backup standby electric power generators for industrial, commercial or residential locations. Includes electrical interrupt box installations, placement of generator on-site, fuel line hookups and so on, as needed. Customers may select from a broad range of different generator brands and types, including units powered by natural gas, gasoline, diesel or propane.

Types of Standby Power Generators

• Small utility generators for residential or commercial uses — less than 5,000 Watts (up to 5kW)
• Medium residential or commercial standby generators — from 5,000 to 17,000 Watts (from 5kW to 17kW)
• Large commercial or residential standby generators — from 17,000 to 45,000 Watts or more (from 17kW to 45kW or more)

These economical standby generators can be a life saver when power is out for vital equipment, offices or small buildings. Small units are usually powered by gasoline or diesel, but can also be setup to be powered by permanent natural gas with city gas utility tie-ins, or by liquid propane from an on-site tank. The medium or larger generators are usually located outside the building, mounted onto a quieting particleboard pad and sitting on a special sound-absorbing gravel bed we prepare for the installation.

Units can be either manually activated by the user, or setup to start up automatically whenever power outages last more than 15-20 seconds. Automatic operation requires installation of a power interrupt box with switching hardware for a relatively small added charge.

How Automatic Startup Works

Each standby generator’s built-in control panel includes a logic circuit that constantly keeps track of your utility company’s electricity voltage into your building or residence. If the electricity drops below about 78VAC or about 65% of normal voltage levels, then your generator begins a 10-second timer. If the voltage stays below 78 volts at the end of the 10 seconds, then the generator is automatically started.

The engine in your generator warms up for another 5 seconds, after which grid is disconnected from your building, and power supply is switched to come entirely from your generator. Your power will be provided continuously by your generator until the utility company’s electrical voltage is back up and running at least to 75% of its normal value, or about 90VAC.

Once the utility electrical power rises above 90 volts, a re-transfer timer starts in your generator and runs for another 13 seconds to make sure the utility’s power is reliable. If their electricity is still above 90 VAC after 13 seconds, your autodisconnect interrupt switch is thrown back to the grid to place your system back on utility company power, and your generator power is simultaineously disconnected.

Once your system is again running on utility company power, the generator runs for a one minute cool down period, and then shuts down.

Your system continues to monitor electrical voltages from the grid, and will perform this cycle as often as needed 24/7 — day to day, year to year.

When line voltage is restored above 75% of nominal (which is 90 VAC), a re-transfer time delay starts timing.

After 13 sec. circuit board de-energizes transfer relay in the transfer switch if utility is still present and transfer loads back to the grid. After re-transfer, the engine cools down for one minute and then shuts down.

Brands of Standby Power Generators

Eason will help you choose the right brand and size generator for your purposes. A wide range of power capacity and fuel capabilities is available for you to select from.

• Baldor – available in 3,300 Watt and 5,500 Watt Industrial Diesel Electric Quick Start models
• Briggs & Stratton — a wide range of Briggs & Stratton standby generators are available, from small 3,500 Watt (3.5kW) portable gasoline or diesel units to commercial or residential 45,000 Watt (45kW) liquid cooled generators operating on diesel, propane or natural gas
• Cummins Onan –
• General Electric –
• Generac –
• Hitachi –
• Honeywell –
• Kohler –
• Powermate –
• Pramac –
• ProForce –
• Robin Subaru –
• Vox –
• Winco –
• Yamaha –

Type of Fuel for Your Standby Generator

• Liquid Propane
• Natural Gas
• Gasoline
• Diesel

Gasoline – Of all four kinds of fuel for your standby generator, gasoline is considered the least desirable. Disadvantages to gasoline include:

• Very dangerous to handle, during storage, and refueling the generator.
• Gasoline is difficult to store in sufficient quantities to run your generator for the several days or weeks that it may need to be used after a wind storm, tornado, ice storm or general outage. Most homes or businesses would need fifty to a hundred gallons of gasoline. This would mean dozens of 5 gallon cans, or installation of a large commercial grade tank, which would require licensing and inspection by the city, county or even the EPA. This is simply impractical and very expensive.
• Gasoline fuels risk leaks during storage that might create serious safety and health issues for many businesses or homes. Fumes or liquid gasoline leaks are serious environmental hazards.
• Finding sources for refueling during times of emergencies is close to impossible for gasoline, since pumping the fuel by local gas stations may be impossible due to their own lack of electricity to power their pumps.

For those reasons, most businesses, governmental agencies, schools, industries and residences do not opt for gasoline fueled generators in any application other than small portable units designed to be moved from site to site for short periods only.

Diesel – Diesel is just a bit safer to handle than gasoline, since it is not as volatile and therefore does not cause as many problems related to fumes or hazardous gas buildups. However, aside from that, diesel is quite similar to gasoline from an environmental or hazardous standard.

Considered almost as bad as gasoline when it comes to standby power generators, diesel suffers from the same hazards related to storage, refueling and leakage, long term environmental issues, etc. Additionally, diesel fuels may even be harder to find or refuel, after some long term outages, since pumping stations may run low on supply as they tend to give priority to trucks and commercial vehicles which use diesel and are vitally important during such crises. Further, diesel fuel may also have to be licensed by local government or EPA if you store much of it, or for long periods of time. One other disadvantage of diesel is that it may actually become degraded during long term storage due to biological decay caused by microbiological processes. So, for most standby power installations, diesel fuel is also not desirable for anything other than small portable units.

Natural Gas (NG) — These generators using NG are usually tied into the city or rural natural gas system, for an unlimited supply of fuel during most emergencies. Many if not most power outages do not interrupt the supply of natural gas, so your generator can begin running immediately as the electrical power outage occurs, and run for days or weeks if needed, all without refueling problems that would be happening every few hours if your generator was powered by gasoline or diesel. During installation, the local gas company will connect an iron pipe from their system and your gas meter directly into your generator. As needed, the gas is supplied continuously during emergencies.

Liquid Propane (LP) — This is universally considered the best fueling choice for standby generators. Eason will install a liquid propane tank for your generator, usually in an underground way, so that it is not visible next to your home, office or commercial building. Underground tanks are also less subject to wind or storm damage or degredation. As needed, your local propane sales company will top-off your tank on a regular basis, so you always have enough fuel for emergencies. Propane usually is a bit more efficient than gasoline or diesel, supplying up to 10% more electricity per dollar of fuel used. Propane has few if any environmental hazard issues, and is considered the safest fuel available. Most 500 gallon LP tanks can run medium sized generators for up to a week or more. Refueling is usually available from local suppliers, even during outages or shortly thereafter. For all those reasons, liquid propane is considered the best choice for most medium to large standby power generator installations. Eason recommends considering propane as your fuel of choice.