Air Cooled Standby
A look at what is currently available on eBay
 Generac model 5525 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $4,200.00 
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 Generac model 5524 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $4,000.00
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 Generac model 5523 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $3,700.00
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 Generac model 5522 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $3,300.00
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 Generac model 5520 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $2,700.00
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 Generac model 5518 Air Cooled Stand By Generator US $1,875.00
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 Briggs & Stratton 15kW Air Cooled Automatic Standby Home Generator 40234 NEW US $3,195.00
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 GENERAC AIR COOLED STANDBY GUARDIAN NG LP GENERATOR TRANSFER SWITCH US $1,750.00
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How to help standby generator start on cold days?
I have an air-cooled Generac standby generator (natural gas) on an automatic transfer switch. Everything works flawlessly above about 15F, including the automatic weekly exercise. Below that, I usually have to crank it for about 10 seconds at a time six or more times before it will start.
The engine doesn't give any sounds of struggling and the battery always seems up to be up to the task (though I haven't measured warm versus cold battery performance).
Generac says there is no block heater for this unit (I gather they only have coolant and not oil-based heaters).
Does anybody have any suggestions for unattended solutions that would get this unit to perform in colder weather for roughly $600 or less? Perhaps a third-party oil or possibly battery heater known to work with these units?
Generac does not offer a heater kit for air cooled generators. Here in South we do not have that extreme temp. problem. Being that the generator enclosure is well insulated, one thing that I would try is installing a battery heater blanket under the crankcase between the engine mounts. I would be careful that there be no oil under the unit, and stay away from the foam sealing at the generator air intake. The heater I speak of is a pad approx. 12" x 6", and plugs into a 120v, 20 amp duplex. I would check this daily after installing to make sure it is not getting too hot. The heat should get the crankcase warm and the inside of the enclosure should eventually warm some.
