Sizing a propane standby generator

[James Riley]

I have a well pump and motor on it's own meter. I do not have the specs on the motor. It pulls up from about 60' down, at about 45 gpm. And my bill is for about 800 kWh per month. The coop utility power goes out periodically and we want to have a propane generator that I can use to keep my water available and a small milk house heater on when the power goes out. I'm not sure what size to buy. How many watt generator do you think I should buy? Thank you.

 

[Megawatt]

The generator and utility feed breaker must be interlocked to meet code. Otherwise by mistake you could feed generator power back into the utility line and electrocute the guy working in the hole in the road. For the generator sizing, you really should try to get some specs on the pump or measure the current.

Thank you. I don't know how to do that.

I'm not above paying an electrician but I can't seem to find one.

I have to agree with @Lucien that you need a interlock kit or transfer switch because it can be very dangerous if you get confused. Well pumps doesn’t have a starter nor heaters, it’s just a set of contacts that pull in when the pressure switch drops to its desired setting. 45 gallons per minute is a lot of water and you Need to set your pressure switch a little lower which is probably why your motor keeps going out. I’ve had mine 23 years and changed the motor 1 time

 

[James Riley]

I have to agree with @Lucien that you need a interlock kit or transfer switch because it can be very dangerous if you get confused. Well pumps doesn’t have a starter nor heaters, it’s just a set of contacts that pull in when the pressure switch drops to its desired setting. 45 gallons per minute is a lot of water and you Need to set your pressure switch a little lower which is probably why your motor keeps going out. I’ve had mine 23 years and changed the motor 1 time

I think I'm still at 35 gpm (even though my water right is 45 gpm). I have/had things set at 40 psi on, and 60 psi off. But I also have a cycle stop valve in the line. Some well people have set that out of the range on the directions in order to give me more pressure due to friction loss far from the well. But I've set it back in range, per the directions, because I seem to have plenty of pressure 2,000 feet away.

 

[Megawatt]

I think I'm still at 35 gpm (even though my water right is 45 gpm). I have/had things set at 40 psi on, and 60 psi off. But I also have a cycle stop valve in the line. Some well people have set that out of the range on the directions in order to give me more pressure due to friction loss far from the well. But I've set it back in range, per the directions, because I seem to have plenty of pressure 2,000 feet away.

My friends well pumps 27 gallons a minute and they told him that they could supply a whole neighborhood