Generator Shed

[fatjay]

Finally made some serious progress on the shed for the generator. A couple weeks back I poured the pad, but the weather wasn't cooperating. Finally some nice weather. I put cinder blocks around and glued them down using landscape rock caulk stuff and let it set for a couple days. This weekend was when the real progress was made.

The chimney for my fireplace and furnace protrudes out about 2', so I just extended that out for the generator shed. I poured a 5'x'6 concrete pad with 24" footers using about 100 bags of 60lb quick crete. I used the harbor freight concrete mixer. Poured 1gal of water to 1 bag of concrete, and was an ideal mix.

I put 2x4's around the bottom, then anchored them in with concrete anchors. This stuck them to the block very well. I used the same concrete anchors to anchor the frame to the house, and for the rafters for the roof.

I still need to put one wall up, ran out of day light. The door will be a garage door, but only 3' wide and 6' tall. The hardware is $80 then I'll make my door panels out of plywood. I don't want something that opens out because snow piles up a few feet, and I don't want something that opens in because it'll hit the generator.

The goal is to ultimately stucco to match the house so it looks like a permanent part of the house.

Here's a few pictures of the progress so far.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I have a propane standby generator, it's about 20 yrs old now, it lives in a little enclosure made of removable panels, just like lamb panels if you know what they are like, and with a hinged roof of corrugated plastic sheets. It needs lots of ventilation, and it creates a lot of heat when running. To keep it cool I prop the hinged lid up with a rake if it has to run in the summer. What I would suggest is that you build into your generator house plenty of ventilation, and also room to get at it for service. On mine the side panels come off so you can get to the battery and to change the oil, so my lamb panels also can be shifted for easy access.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I agree with sheepfarmer, gensets make a lot of heat. Ventilation is critical.
Also,i see no provision for the power cable.
One last thing,although well built,i guess if any repairs to chimney were necessary,could gain access through either side.

Attatched to house,i guess it would be best choice for noise transmission into house.

 

[skeets]

You live int PA the land of taxes and potholes, I just wonder when they will catch up with you and up your property taxes.. LOL..
Yes a power vent will help tons when its running, a small 110 exhaust fan would be all you need, just make sure you have a vent in the door so the air moves across the motor to cool it and carry away the exhaust fumes. Not sure how your feed is going but your disconnect should be out of the weather and it looks like you have enough room for it in there. A very nice build I must say just a few little tweaks and I think your good to go.

 

[D2Cat]

In the pictures I see a guy standing on a 2' ladder, reaching high, drilling the top plate.

Not a big deal, but he seems to be average height and average build. I could only imagine someone with the moniker of "fatjay" might be poking a bit of fun at himself and his rotund shape. Did you stop to take a picture of your helper?

Nice work. by the way!

Now when you get finished with that project would you please get into that workshop and get it organized? When you show pictures of your mechanical projects I always see so much "stuff" nearby I don't see how you get around to work it it.

Mine is the same way. I just work outside.

 

[fatjay]

I'm putting a 4" exhaust fan connected to a dryer vent type thing on the outside, which will be plugged in to the generator. Generator on, fan on.

I'll be putting a 1" exhaust pipe connected to the generator up the side of the chimney, so there shouldn't be an issue with exhaust.

PA taxes are pretty extreme, the house was last assessed in 1987, the property values have tripled since then. So I'm trying to do anything to avoid reassessment, my tax would be higher than my mortgage.

 

[Stmar]

My neighbor had some fiberglass electrical enclosures that he used for hunting blinds so I got one of those for my Honda EU2000 that charges my battery bank when the solar is lacking. I wired a cable to the inverter so all I have to do is take the gen out to the enclosure, start it up and plug it in. Needed the enclosure because it is on the north side of the house and that is where the prevalent winds come from. It is bolted together so portable if I ever want to change locations. Love to recycle/repurpose stuff.

 

[bearskinner]

One of the first thing I put in after moving to N Idaho. Hooked into a 250 gallon propane tank. It comes with a weatherproof, vented shell. I also wired in a manual bypass switch, and a plug on the back porch for using a portable generator. A back up for the back up.

 

[coachgeo]

Dont want to be a Terd in your parade.. but your location might not be what you hope for. Hopefully Im wrong.... but seems to me the hollow chimney might just love to help the engine's beat drum throughout the house.

Not a sound expert so for all I know the opposite will happen and sound will reverberate up the flu?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I'm also a parade wrecker.
I'm going to 100% poo poo your choice of location.
#1 you can not safely or legally build off of an exterior chimney structure.
I would venture to say you didn't get a permit or any local building department approval.

I know it's your property and your home and who am I to tell you that you picked a "bad" location.

I'm not saying this to be a PITA, I'm saying it because if Forbid anything happens, your insurance company would deny your claim for losses and there would be nothing you could do about it.
Read your policy, every policy I know of has the right to deny claims if something you have remodeled, changed or built renders the building in violation of building and safety codes.
And even worse if they find out about a building deficiency, they can cancel your policy and put you and or your home on a black list, very hard to get off of it once on it.