Propane Whole House Generators, Warning.

[Industrial Toys]

I have never liked the concept of propane for home use. I came accross this video quite by accident.

Home Standby Generator - Before You Buy, Watch This - YouTube

The only thing worse than not having something you need in an Emergency is Thinking that you do! Ironically, this guys saving grace was his 7.5 Onan Diesel set in his RV.

 

[TripleR]

I would never buy or not buy based on one person's result/opinion. We've had one for four years and it's great. We have two 500 gallon tanks and the propane dealer is two miles away. We have a maintenance program as I'm disabled. Everyone in my area uses propane as the majority of home use.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I never do things based on "Everyone" else, for starters.

I don't like 3600 rpm screamers anyway, but the fuel useage issue is most illuminating.

 

[kenmac]

All propane burning appliances burn allot of propane compared to NG burning appliances

Had he read the specs for that generator, it would have given him an indication how much propane it would burn.
Then, he could have purchased a larger tank

 

[RNeumann]

So let me get this straight- guy has a bad generator before the storm and magically it didn’t work for him. No shock there! Then he has major damage to his place but it’s more important to post a YT video to complain. No shock there! Then he says don’t use propane because it has “way less” energy than diesel. So with no load on the generator it uses like 2 gal/hr. No shock there. We need to find this guy and give him a participation trophy!

If my generator didn’t work before a storm I wouldn’t expect it to work during a storm.

If I bought a generator with a circuit board that controlled it and was required to run it it I’d first smash my hand with a hammer so I’d know the pain and aggravation the generator may cause me.

If I was running my generator in an emergency I’d probably only run it a few hours/day at the most. Just enough to get by. I wouldn’t waste fuel or be able to tell you how much fuel it used with no load on it!

I’d research the BTUs/gal for various fuels so I could speak intelligently about the subject when comparing fuel types. You may need say 100 gallons of diesel and 130 gallons of propane. I’d also be wise to know the shelf life of the various fuels.

I’d also put the phone down and fix my place and or help my neighbors. But I do realize the biggest issue for some was not having internet for social media.

Bottom line- if this video is the decision maker for you......you are getting into the right club!

 

[coobie]

That is about the DUMBEST video I have every seen.We have had our 17kw generac whole house PROPANE installed now for about 8 plus years.It has run 5-7 days with minimum fuel usage.One mans view I guess..

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm still in favour of staying clear of a propane set, but you guys do point out some interesting things. In an emergency, I would basically need to keep my fridge and freezer going. Light at night. Water system keeps enough pressure to flush a few times without any power at all. Water heater does not require constant power either. Not sure,why with his so energy efficient house, he needs that 7.5 Onan Diesel (same as one of my sets) running 24/7! I totally agree with the circuit board description, especially all that BS diagnostic stuff. The more stuff you have absolutely no control over, the worse it can be. Although some people have no aptitude for that kind of thing. I would sooner have something in a small building, that I can get in and inspect, and work on than something in an attractive BOX.

Also, If I had a RV with a 7.5 Diesel sitting there 360 days a year next to my house, I think the obvious choice would be to make connection facilites for that under used generator.

 

[jfh28]

I've had a propane generator for close to 13 years now and it's saved my bacon more then once......propane is really the only fuel choice up here so thats what we go with.....most of the time I will lose power in the winter so I always make sure my 325 gal tank is full during winter time......yes it will go thru propane if I let it run 24/7 but for an extended outage I will power it on and off.......longest outage so far has been 7 days and the generator allowed us to stay instead of finding a motel so I really don't have any complaints about getting it.......also once a week the generator automatically cycles on for 10 minutes so you know everything is working......mine occurs every tuesday morning so if I don't hear it then I know to go check on it........Jack

 

[groundcover]

Propane has its place but everything can give you problems !

Elderly couple that I help out had a 1800 RPM liquid cooled Generac that wouldn稚 stay running , I called the local generator guy who put a new board in it and declared all was good.

Ten days later we had the ice storm of 2008. Generator didn稚 work !
Took a crew most of the day to cut their way up to the house with two saws and a Cat backhoe.

I called the generator guy and he told me there was no way he could get back there as he was way too busy ! When asked for suggestions he replied 都end them to a shelter? Wrong answer for a couple in their 90痴 with a dog !

I could get the generator to start but after thirty seconds of running the starter would try to engage again and it would shut down. I tried to outsmart it, I loosened the bolt to the starter cable and after the engine started pulled the battery cable off. Still no love,after thirty seconds the hertz meter pegged and engine shut down.
I got their wood stove going and started to cut my way up to the barn where I keep my diesel generator.
Got back later that night and hooked it up to their transfer switch. They were pretty happy and impressed!
Next day I dug through the book and came across a number from the original installation company. I called the number and got a message , if we had a service contract call the pager, works for me !

Few minutes later got a call back, told him what I had and thought I needed a board. He asked what was going on and he said I needed a voltage regulator. I gave him the part number from the book and he said he thought that was an old number but he as in his truck and he would call back when he got back to the shop. Wasn稚 so sure I壇 hear back but sure enough twenty minutes later he called and said the part number had been changed . He had one and would hang it on the back door . Gave him a credit card and sent a friend to retrieve it.
Got the part that evening and called the electrician that said if I got the part he would put it in. Got his voicemail but figured all I had to do was find a part that looked like the one in the box and swap them !
Once I got a ton of sheet metal out of the way wasn稚 too bad. Hooked the battery cable back on and fired her up, beautiful sound ! Electrician called back to say he just got home and all his voicemails came in. He walked me through dialing in the hertz and said he would have his guys stop by in the morning to check it out.
Disconnected my generator,hooked theirs up and got some rest. Next morning met up with his crew the guy was dumbfounded, You got a part for a Generac , on a Sunday , during an ice storm ???!!

 

[Industrial Toys]

It's why I would never be content without multiple backups, for backups. Even like having several tractors. Redundancy! Maybe you can't blow snow with one, but you can push it with another. I even have a swede (sp?) saw in case all my fifteen chain saws fail! Or kerosene lamps. That kind of thing. If I am ever without power, heat, water or light, something really bad must have happened.

In my opinion, these consumer whole house generators are in the home appliance league, being of no higher quality or reliablility than your home Depot Dishwasher or Lawn Mower.

 

[groundcover]

Right there with you Industrial , Figure if Noah had two of everything I should have four !

 

[techman]

I agree with the guy. Propane is convenient, but an expensive fuel. No storage issues like gasoline, but price and btus per gallon can cost a lot, and may require a big tank. I have a 10 kw diesel which burns about 1/3 gal/hour average running my house on an extended outage. No storage issues with diesel.

paul

 

[Industrial Toys]

The last time I was at my Ex GF, mothers place up the Bruce Peninsula, I looked at her B&S Propane all-house system. Engine would attempt start, and shut down for overspeed. Guys that installed it are not interested in looking at it. Nor am I. I know things break, but it's new, never been used other than excercise. Just more "fancy" consumer junk if you ask me, and a standby system should be at least a little beyond that. All these things had fancy LED indicators for faults, then LED numbers and now LCD displays. All this fancy stuff costing very little, but no effort made to make them higher in quality! And all this fancy stuff to be, obsolete and unavailable even sooner, I bet!

 

[coobie]

It's why I would never be content without multiple backups, for backups. Even like having several tractors. Redundancy! Maybe you can't blow snow with one, but you can push it with another. I even have a swede (sp?) saw in case all my fifteen chain saws fail! Or kerosene lamps. That kind of thing. If I am ever without power, heat, water or light, something really bad must have happened.

In my opinion, these consumer whole house generators are in the home appliance league, being of no higher quality or reliablility than your home Depot Dishwasher or Lawn Mower.

Keep that thought.Laffin...

 

[Diggin It]

I don't watch videos, but from some of the comments, it looks like it deals with things I've thought about.

When we set up an emergency services building a few years back, we had long discussions about LP vs Diesel. The though was that LP had to be delivered by limited companies. If the roads were damaged or closed for any reason, those trucks wouldn't be able to run. Then we weren't sure if their pumping facilities to fill the trucks would work.

With diesel, being in a rural/Ag area, we figured most everybody close by had a supply on hand we could commandeer if necessary. And we knew we could gravity feed out of those tanks one way or another if necessary.

 

[3Ts]

I only watched part of the video. It sounds to me like he's complaining about the company that installed it. Poor service, can't get parts, don't really care about their customers, and it doesn't sound like the generator and fuel tank were sized properly.

I have a propane generator - Generac 22kw. It's more than I need, but I'll leave that for another thread. I considered diesel since I have a diesel truck and tractors. I also did the fuel consumption calculations and got a 1000 gallon tank. I also had it buried which all but one of the propane companies did not want to do. Most wanted me to use a 250 gal rented tank. (Only 60% in a tank is readily available, with a 20% reserve totaling 80% of rated tank capacity. If you run out, the whole system has to be leak checked again before filling.) One company had never buried a tank but was willing to figure out what needed to be done to do it. They got the job.

 

[Stimw]

Seems like the guy did his research AFTER he bought the system!
I have had to go 12 days in August, Florida heat without power after a storm so I know a few things about generators.
I used a 5.6 kw gen that used 1/2 gal an hour and I had to go 15 miles for gas.
I now have that generator and a Honda EU 2000. The Honda will run 8 hours on a gallon of gas!
I only run the 5.6Kw for the well pump when needed, Honda will run 1 window AC, fridge, TV and misc as needed.
Less is more!

 

[Industrial Toys]

That's still 21 Gallons if the outage is a week. We don't usually get crazy heat here. Keeping the stuff in the fridge and freezer cold IS usually the main priority.

I don't even remember when it was, the big ice storm we had with week long or so outage. A new neighbor came over, fuming because some part had failed on his new Honda.

 

[LittleBill21]

this post is dumb,

"i would never buy a computer controlled generator? every single inverter based generator is computer controlled including the famed Honda. every industrial level CAT generator i have delt with is computer controlled. the Higher level MEP military generators are computer controlled even their smaller inverter set.

people buy at a price point, why buy a 10k genny with low fuel consumption, if i only need it once in 5 years? even if my 500 dollar generator uses 3x times the fuel, im still saving a crap load of money.

maintenance is what it takes, nothing more nothing less

 

[kenmac]

Use a B&S 5500 watt portable for my outage needs. Will run 8 hours on a tank full. about 5-6 gallons of gasoline.
Used it last month when we lost power for about 10 hrs.
Great thing about stand by generators is, they work fine until you actually need the to work ! LOL