LP Generator

[4sarge]

Well after being w/o power for another 24 hours I feel the need to buy a generator. The neighbors claim that power has been out in this area for up to 3 weeks. I could not afford the propane for an extended outage of 3 weeks but it would be nice to have 24 or so hours of electric capability.

Onan +$$'s
Generac +$'s
BSA +$'s

I could go cheap and try to run a gas unit and only keep the fridge running and 1 or 2 lights.

Again, I hate to spend that much money on what really is a necessity.

Well Water
Refrigerator/Freezer
Lights/TV
Heat or AC

Anyone familiar with these, recommendations, dealer, sales pricing etc.

Thanks

[W9ZEB]

Growing up in Waukesha Wisconsin I'm familiar with Generac as a bunch of people I knew worked there.

Outside of that, I dunno anything useful. Sorry :(

[indyjoe]

I'd love to build up a good Lister Engine setup, but there is quite a bit of time and tinkering involved that I don't have right now. However, treated diesel would last for almost a decade and do very well for a decently long term power situation. Many are starting it with diesel and running old fry oil through it. This has many advantages for a TEOTWHAWKI situation.

The problem with Gas generators is that Gas doesn't store long, even when treated. It wouldn't be hard to rotate storage, just filling up cars with it for a while, but you have to do that. Propane and NG generators require tons of fuel. I don't know the right answer.

[4sarge]

Originally Posted by indyjoe

I'd love to build up a good Lister Engine setup, but there is quite a bit of time and tinkering involved that I don't have right now. However, treated diesel would last for almost a decade and do very well for a decently long term power situation. Many are starting it with diesel and running old fry oil through it. This has many advantages for a TEOTWHAWKI situation.

The problem with Gas generators is that Gas doesn't store long, even when treated. It wouldn't be hard to rotate storage, just filling up cars with it for a while, but you have to do that. Propane and NG generators require tons of fuel. I don't know the right answer.

The LP Gas Automatic Generators are the nuts but fairly expensive to install and operate. The Chinese have saturated the market with cheap diesel units but I worry about their longevity. I have a diesel tractor that probably could run some type of unit but it wouldn't be automatic.

[melensdad]

My generator is a tri-fuel, runs on gas, LP and NG. I wrote about it here: http://ingunowners.com/forums/surviv..._on_you-2.html

If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them if I can.

[4sarge]

Originally Posted by melensdad

My generator is a tri-fuel, runs on gas, LP and NG. I wrote about it here: http://ingunowners.com/forums/surviv..._on_you-2.html

If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them if I can.

Thanks, Very interesting thorough article about generators but I hate to hear about the inefficiency of the LP units. I'd hate to drain my 1000 gallon LP tank for a week of electricity. Neighbor has a small gas unit (4000) and he is using at today's prices a minimum of 20 - 30 dollars a day to run that :rolleyesedit:

[melensdad]

You must understand that when talking about "efficiency" of these small generators, and anything that you or I might get for our house is basically a small unit, we are talking about glorified lawn tractor engines for most brands. They are what they are and not much more!

When you get up into the 20KW units, which is about the smallest of the generators where water cooled slow RPM engines come into play (1800 rpm versus 3600 rpm) then you can start to get into greater efficiency units. But the last time I checked, and I admit that I have not in great detail looked over the past 12 months, you didn't really find too many of the water cooled, 1600 rpm generators that were smaller sized units.

The question is, how much are you willing to spend for efficiency for something that you HOPE you NEVER have to use, but when you do use it you will spend money running it? I guess I look at these things from the standpoint that even if it costs $25 per day to run my generator on natural gas, I am hopefully only using it for a few days a year. So if mine is a "low" efficiency unit and yours is a "high" efficiency unit then maybe you save 50% of what I spend??? So presume you spend $12.50 per day running yours . . . and presume we both run ours for 5 days per year . . . I will have spent $125 per year while you will have spent $75 . . . over a 10 year period you would save $750. BTW, on some years I've run my generator 5 days, on other years I've probably run it for no more than 12 hours. The worst we had was 8 days in the winter. In the summer if the power goes out you will only run your generator maybe 6 to 12 hours a day to power your well, refrigerators, etc. But there is NO NEED to run them 24/7 during a power failure.

What is the cost difference between the generators? Or do you have to increase the size (and therefor the cost) to get a "high" efficiency unit?

Might be worth it? Like I wrote in the other thread, when I bought mine the choices were a lot slimmer than they are today. Things may be a bit different.

[RogerB]

Sarge I found this site helpful. It has a 5 step process that helps you determine what size and type of generator will fit your needs.

Standby Generators - How to Pick the Perfect Standby Generator @ ElectricGeneratorsDirect.com - Home Standby Generator, Emergency Standby Generator, Backup Standby Generator, Emergency Home Standby Generator

I decided to go with a 17.5KW portable versus a stationary perminent fixture type. Considering if the house is partially demolished or otherwise unlivable. Or the local authorities prevent homeowners access to their own homes. What good would it do me, unless I could wheel it around or throw it in a truck or trailer.

[4sarge]

Originally Posted by RogerB

Sarge I found this site helpful. It has a 5 step process that helps you determine what size and type of generator will fit your needs.

Standby Generators - How to Pick the Perfect Standby Generator @ ElectricGeneratorsDirect.com - Home Standby Generator, Emergency Standby Generator, Backup Standby Generator, Emergency Home Standby Generator

I decided to go with a 17.5KW portable versus a stationary permanent fixture type. Considering if the house is partially demolished or otherwise unlivable. Or the local authorities prevent homeowners access to their own homes. What good would it do me, unless I could wheel it around or throw it in a truck or trailer.

Thanks for the info. It looks like this generator will only run for 10 hours on 16 gallon of gas and at todays prices that would be about 64 dollars. Does that sound right. The LP Gas models claim to use 1.61 gal per hour which isn't much better cost wise

[RogerB]

Originally Posted by 4sarge

Thanks for the info. It looks like this generator will only run for 10 hours on 16 gallon of gas and at todays prices that would be about 64 dollars. Does that sound right. The LP Gas models claim to use 1.61 gal per hour which isn't much better cost wise

yes its definitely not a cheap endeavor.... but also keep in mind that you probably wouldn't need to run it non stop 24/7 during an outage, atleast I wouldn't. Just as with any other tool of survival, you would need to use moderation/rationing/metering. Seasonal and weather conditional constraints would probably dictate to some degree on this.

I think I got it from Melens post that the LP and NG models don't produce as much output as those of gas. I'm thinking when I put out the bucks for all this, I'll get two of the 16Gal fuel staorage tanks.

Figure I could rotate it out using it in the various mowers/trimmers/chainsaw/blower tools during some of the summer. Then have both filled up for the winter for JIC scenarios, I hate the friggen cold.