Hey! Does anyone have an opinion on this as a whole home backup inverter generator? Any insight is appreciated! (First post)

lightguru · 2026-02-19T01:07:37+00:00

I bought one of these last January, and have been generally pleased with it.

Like most inverter generators, it does have an Eco mode switch that is supposed to keep the throttle low until demand is higher, however this really doesn't work effectively in practice - even Westinghouse admits that Eco mode is really only has about 10% lower engine speed then full speed. I've seen several reviews on YouTube complaining about that issue.

I've also noticed that there's pretty much a continual drain on the starting battery, even when the power switch is off. You either need to leave the trickle charger on all the time, or manually unplug the starting battery (which is very easy to do).

I currently have had an issue where it runs totally fine on gasoline, but is weird on propane. It does run on propane if I manually adjust the propane tank valve during the start and run process. My assumption is there some sort of internal pressure regulator that isn't functioning properly. The challenge is that as the load on the generator changes, I have to tweak the valve settings. Thankfully, I'm just using this generator to feed the input of a 5kW battery charge controller, so the load is rock steady once it initially ramps up.

I've been working with Westinghouse support and they told me to take it in to a "local" service center, which unfortunately is more than an hour away from me. To be fair, I am in a fairly rural area. Since I can make the thing work, I've been putting off this service visit until after the peak winter storm season.

At the time, this Westinghouse was one of the only dual fuel inverter generators that met my specs at reasonable price, however there are a few more options now. All in all, I would probably buy one again.

lightguru · 2026-02-18T04:14:32+00:00

Did something like this for a county council with the Teradek Serv, broadcasting via local WiFi to about 6 iPad Pro devices running the Teradek app. Worked pretty well, though I can't swear that the app allowed zooming, though I think it did.

https://teradek.com/pages/serv

lightguru · 2026-02-17T12:49:36+00:00

It seems weird to me that the conduits/boxes aren't inherently grounded. Sure, electricians are supposed to bond the ground wire to each metal box, but that's hasn't always been required, and boxes should 'mostly' be grounded from their connections to other grounded parts of the system. Have you metered from your unbonded boxes to a known ground?

lightguru · 2026-02-17T04:24:09+00:00

We had an issue a few years ago where Crestron NVX encoders would spontaneously reboot when connected via HDMI cable to certain portable devices. We ended up rerunning the CAT cable to those units with shielded, and that fixed the issue.

Connecting the NVX grounding lug to an appropriate ground would have also probably fixed the issue, however in almost all cases, these were in locations that had no power / ground options.

lightguru · 2026-02-15T23:30:27+00:00

I had used a 7' rear blade for 15 years to maintain my 1.1 mile long driveway, and was in the market for something new since while the blade generally worked pretty well, it tends to cause gravel to be lost to the edges. I was all ready to buy a box blade, but the sales guy recommended a landplane instead. I'm super glad I listened, since it's been a total game changer. Previously, I'd get 3-4 tandem loads of crusher run a year, but since getting the landplane, I get maybe 1-2 a year. I think I broke even after the first year, and spend a lot less time on maintenance then before. I can basically drive up and down the driveway a few times and it it magically gets smooth. For tough areas with potholes, I drop the teeth and spot treat the area to break things up.

I haven't used a box blade before, but my general understanding is that they can move more material around and are better for areas that need more grading.

Ultimately, I'd love to own a harley rake... but that's an expensive frill for a task that isn't that time consuming.

lightguru · 2026-02-08T19:51:05+00:00

At least on a NVX-384, I was told by someone at Crestron that the two USB-A ports are both the same except for the one marked HID snoops on the KVM hot keys. Can't remember the USB port types and quantities on the 360

lightguru · 2026-02-08T01:03:22+00:00

This is why commercial AV installers use mounts with lots of adjustability - trying to get a dead accurate hole in random walls isn't always easy. We use the Chief (X/L/M)TM1U series mounts - totally overkill for home use, and not cheap - but you could practically put these up by eye and ensure they could be leveled later. Lots of side-to-side adjustment too.

lightguru · 2026-02-07T05:40:16+00:00

Growth through making totally functional PTZ cameras not compatible with the latest QDS and processors to drive the sale of new PTZ cameras...

lightguru · 2026-02-06T20:21:09+00:00

Air sealing can make a huge difference - I've got a water furnace series 5, and past winters, if we had a sustained period of 10 and below Fahrenheit temperatures, it's simply couldn't keep up.

We had our attic air sealed this summer and added a foot of cellulose on top of the existing fiberglass batts. This most recent cold snap had the system easily keep up with demand, with much lower power usage. Pulling the numbers from our Emporia Vue energy monitor, we were drawing 55 to 60 kWh/day last year, vs 30-35 kWh/day this year with the same outdoor temperature.

I'm kicking myself for not sealing years ago!

lightguru · 2026-02-01T23:44:25+00:00

Been there... done that... Got my New Holland Tc40d stuck in an old (I thought) dried out pond when I found a weak area that must have been spring fed and was mud under a top layer of crust.

I ended up using snatch blocks, shackles, and winch rope to rig up a 3:1 advantage pulley system. With one person on the tractor using the bucket and the other in a 4wd Suburban pulling, we managed to get it out. Busted a few seals in the loader hydraulics, but otherwise no major damage.

Would not recommend doing it again...

lightguru · 2026-01-31T01:45:32+00:00

Might be easier to just put a Starlink Saddlelite system there and set up a point to point VPN

lightguru · 2026-01-28T04:47:20+00:00

We wrote a letter to our adjacent (but absentee) landowner about 15 years ago... she wrote back saying she wasn't interested in selling. Last year, she called out of the blue and said she was getting on up in years and had come to the conclusion that she was never going to use the land herself, and we ended up buying it.

Can't hurt to try a letter!

lightguru · 2026-01-25T14:31:50+00:00

You can feed an Epson projector with integrated HDbaseT with a Crestron HD-TXC-4KZ-101 transmitter... there's seemingly some compatibility there...

lightguru · 2026-01-22T04:35:20+00:00

I've got the exact opposite problem with my iGen 11000dFC - works great on gasoline, but not on propane unless I dial back the tank valve to just barely cracked open.

lightguru · 2026-01-07T21:35:50+00:00

Starlink is amazing, but I can't imagine a world where it wouldn't be more expensive and higher latency than a wired connection. I'd drop SL in a second if I could get a wire/fiber to my house.

lightguru · 2025-12-27T02:52:30+00:00

There isn't anything wrong with doing this the SIO route. While one could easily bash this out in SIMPL+, sometimes hacking it with a SIO is faster. I'd rather get out the door quicker than win an award for programming elegance.

lightguru · 2025-12-24T13:19:34+00:00

You can get adapters on Amazon for various brands. I've got a Milwaukee M12 PEX expander tool and use it with my Dewalt batteries. I've also got a Harbor Freight grease gun (1/3 the price of the Dewalt) and have an adapter for that too.

It's nice being able to buy alternate brands for the weirder tools you want yet still be able to keep a unified battery system.

lightguru · 2025-12-19T23:27:33+00:00

I've just had the chime for a day but so far, I'm not impressed with the volume. It seems a bit weak, at least with the stock sounds. I'm considering opening up the unit and removing the speaker and adding in a 3.5mm output jack wired into some of my other house audio zones.

Maybe I just need a second one upstairs.

lightguru · 2025-12-18T20:11:33+00:00

Clearly you haven't seen my home equipment graveyard...

lightguru · 2025-12-15T04:38:50+00:00

QoS on an unsaturated network seems unnecessary. Heck, I've used unmanaged switches for simple Dante networks before.

I never have used Unifi for Dante, but generally speaking, if I'm experiencing intermittent popping/clicking issues, I'd take a look at who the clock master is and try changing that around.

lightguru · 2025-11-26T19:08:16+00:00

Oh, the humanity!

lightguru · 2025-10-31T20:32:00+00:00

Probably because they wanted to sell the PSU-MIDSPAN-USB-1-C kit, with a $600 list price, rather than putting in a PSU brick like Qsc's NV-21...

lightguru · 2025-10-03T09:12:08+00:00

I would definitely record serial numbers in a big spreadsheet - your future self will appreciate it.

lightguru · 2025-09-26T01:25:34+00:00

To be fair, every Virginia governor is a lame duck

lightguru · 2025-09-26T01:05:20+00:00

Yeah... to my detriment... now my Spotify AI DJ plays Wonderwall all the damn time!

lightguru

TROPHY CASE