March 16th, 2022Simple, easy, power

GENERATORS have been lifesavers in the Central Highlands over the past few years as the electricity grid reliability has deteriorated, culminating in the period after the 2021 storms where many people were without power for days.

But petrol and diesel generators require work including refuelling. Most have to be started manually, often in the dark, cold and wet. It was those issues that led t2zero founders Jürgen and Debra Rhyon to install a gas fired, home standby generator that starts automatically in the event of a grid outage. They are now offering this solution to others.
Jürgen said t2zero was created in response to a community move to achieve zero net energy and zero net emissions in Hepburn Shire. “Our company started in mid 2019 by supplying and installing Reclaim Energy hot water heat pumps. In early 2020 we partnered with Panda Solar and added the supply and installation of solar panels. After the massive storm last year, we realised how vulnerable we are to grid outages and began researching home standby generators.”
“Like many others, we had no power for days. Fortunately, we had an open fire for heat and a gas barbeque for basic cooking. We also realised that battery storage would not have coped with our energy needs in the middle of winter as our solar panels did not generate sufficient excess electricity to charge a battery.”
Debra’s research into generators concluded that US-made Generac gas-fired generators were the perfect product but struggled to find a vendor that offered a fully installed solution. They contacted Generac and committed to take this on as a business under the t2zero banner.
“Just hours after installing our generator we had our first outage. We were lying in bed, watching TV, and everything went dark. Just 10 seconds later, the lights were back on and the TV rebooted. We lay there feeling more than a little smug that our investment decision was immediately vindicated. In the two weeks since we installed our generator, we have had seven grid outages. The generator starts and shuts down automatically reverting back to sentinel mode when the grid comes back online. It’s a thing of beauty.”
It takes a full day for an electrician to install a home standby generator plus some preparatory electrical work on the generator’s fuel line before the onsite installation. Compliance certificates are issued for the electrical and plumbing work. An independent inspector is required to sign off on the certificate of electrical safety.
The starting price for an 8 kVA generator, fully installed is $10,950. Installation lead time is typically within three weeks from the time a customer agrees to proceed with an installation.
Jürgen said most households would be able to run off that size but t2zero will analyse the household electricity consumption history to ensure the correct size generator is installed.
Larger generators come in 10 kVA and 13 kVA for single phase power and 20 kVA for three-phase power.
“It’s one of the best investments we have made. We finally had enough of grid outages to the point where we decided to install our own standby generator and can now offer this solution to others.”
t2zero is looking to expand their network of electricians and local plumbers who are interested in coming on this journey.
Contact Jürgen on 0436 220 220 or contact@t2zero.com.au

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