NG, Propane, gas or diesel generator??

[kenmac]

big gen is a lot of gas. Your NG feed may not be big enough to supply the power you want



paul

Depending on your N.G. supplier. You can have a larger N.G. service / meter installed at little or, no cost to you. You can also ( depending on your supplier) have a seprate service / meter just to supply the generator

 

[PBinWA]

Thanks for the replies. I have ruled out a PTO generator because I feel that it is very possible that I'll need my tractors to work if we have a disaster and have no power. I do like the options and ideas listed though. I think I "want" a diesel generator for the reason I mentioned earlier, but I really don't know. I followed the link listed for used NG and diesel generators. It appears as if I will need a 50kw generator from what I see. I have a nice place for one if I get one that has it's own enclosure. Still, I'm not sure what type.

The one thing I would also consider is, do you really need 50KW during an extended power outage? (I know you like to go big Dargo) But in reality, for an extended power outage you wanted to conserve as much fuel as possible. In my house, I can run our basement power, well pump, hot water heater, and propane stove from an 8500 watt generator. It's everything we "need" to live comfortably and with my usual fuel supplies I can probably go for a week or more (pretty rare for the NW to be that bad for that long).

I think it's good to consider not just the size of the generator but the fuel economy of the unit and how long you may need to go. That's kind of why I suggested a smaller generator that powers the essentials at a more fuel efficient pace. Then if you really need the extra KW you can fire up a PTO Generator or if you must have a big diesel generator have it for backup.

It would kind of suck to sink a lot of money into a big generator and not have a backup option. Considering you have two good size tractors (I think) you have two motors for a PTO Generator. Essentially, with a smaller dedicated generator and an extra PTO generator then you have three options.

In times of disaster, it's nice to have options and redundancy.

 

[Dargo]

Depending on your N.G. supplier. You can have a larger N.G. service / meter installed at little or, no cost to you. You can also ( depending on your supplier) have a seprate service / meter just to supply the generator

Oh, I have a huge NG supply here with all the tankless water heaters, furnaces and 400,000 btu pool heater. My gas meter is the size of a small lawn mower.

Still, I'm obviously confused. My "little" Honda generator has something like a 20 or 22 hp gas engine and is rated at 10,000 continuous output. But, it doesn't have enough to run any A/C units. Since I don't plan on living on generator power, I am getting more interested in looking into some low hour used units. Maybe there would be something like that in a PTO configuration somewhere?

 

[JoeL4330]

me, I'd split my electrical load into: critical; more-or-less essential; and, other. Two new panels, two auto-transfer switches. Feed the critical panel through one AT sw from the more-or-less panel. Feed the more-or-less through the other AT sw from your current mains panel. Two gensets, NG and Diesel, one to each AT sw. Me, I would size and fuel the (smaller) critical one from NG and the (higher-amp) more-or-less from diesel ...but you could do the reverse ...choose your scenario. [if you followed the above description, note that the smaller genset automatically cuts out when the larger is running].

Why would winter starting be any harder for the diesel genset than for any other diesel motor you have? Same winterized fuel, block heater and extra parallel deep discharge batteries optional ...[and, note that except in your catastrophic earthquake scenario the NG genset is running while you fiddle with the diesel if, indeed, you have to.]

I would not think that 800 amp service is required in an "emergency" ...and, if I had natural gas and adored AC, I would have installed gas-powered AC units, which have higher installation costs but lower operating costs.

...it's fun to plan survival scenarios with OPM (other people's money)

 

[kenmac]

Still, I'm obviously confused. My "little" Honda generator has something like a 20 or 22 hp gas engine and is rated at 10,000 continuous output. But, it doesn't have enough to run any A/C units. quote]


Cause it doesn't have enough start up amps to run a 4 ton A/C unit. It will run a small window unit

 

[Dargo]

I would not think that 800 amp service is required in an "emergency" ...

Yeah, I would say that would certainly be a true statement.

Anybody else have any places to look on the net for price comparisons? The only 'reasonable' priced diesel units that are new appear to be Chinese brand power plants I've never heard of. I don't think I want to rely on some junk Chinese diesel engine that comes from the factory leaking oil and is made from WWI technology. I'm always concerned when a brand new diesel engine comes with spare parts.

Price wise, it looks as if NG units would be the best. I still worry about NG lines being ruptured in a major disaster and being left with 20k of useless equipment. I generally do have 3 or 4 full propane tanks sitting around for fork trucks. For some reason I seem to doubt if they would run a 50kw generator very long.

After calling local companies I can see that I'm going to end up buying the generator somewhere other than locally and then just hire one of the electrical contractors to wire in the automatic transfer switch. I've already seen units priced double here locally as compared to what I can find them on the net. Any good places for reasonably priced new or lightly used equipment? I still am up in the air about what fuel source to use.

 

[Dargo]

Still, I'm obviously confused. My "little" Honda generator has something like a 20 or 22 hp gas engine and is rated at 10,000 continuous output. But, it doesn't have enough to run any A/C units. quote]


Cause it doesn't have enough start up amps to run a 4 ton A/C unit. It will run a small window unit

Don't laugh, but I tried. It killed the generator dead. Fortunately it is somewhat idiot proof and it didn't hurt anything.

 

[PBinWA]

Is AC really something you need in an emergency? Even a Heat Pump isn't useful during extreme cold so it should be removed from your formula.

 

[schmism]

Price wise, it looks as if NG units would be the best. I still worry about NG lines being ruptured in a major disaster and being left with 20k of useless equipment. I generally do have 3 or 4 full propane tanks sitting around for fork trucks. For some reason I seem to doubt if they would run a 50kw generator very long.

Kohler Residential 50KW Emergency Backup Generator - Natural Gas or LPV:Kohler Generators:Home Standby:Natural Gas & Propane Generators

1/2 load fuel usage ~5gal/hr

your really going to need a large (250-1000gal) stationary LP tank to run this size of genny for any length of time.

 

[kenmac]

Is AC really something you need in an emergency?

I do. In the summer it hits 90+ here. All all a dog has to do is to wet on the power pole & we loose power