How much does it cost to run a generator?

JohnBoy45 · Mar 3, 2006

Hi, I'm thinking about buying a diesel generator and what would it cost me a hour to run it for 12 hours. I'm running a 60 amp electric furance and 30 amp electric water heater and just a one or two lights. The furance would and water heat on all the time. My heating area is 600 sq. ft apartment. And what is the best diesel generator for a home owner?

Thanks, Terry

Egon · Mar 3, 2006

Could you maybe give a few more details on what all is invoved. There may be other alternatives that would be much cheaper.

Egon

gordon21 · Mar 3, 2006

From lots of running time here in Florida, I can tell you that a gasoline 5500 watt generator with a 10hp B&S engine will use about .5 gallon per hour at 60-80% load. I just bought my first tractor last week and was shocked at how little diesel it used in 5 hours. (about 1 gal per hour for 27HP at medium load).

Generators are not cheap to run. Doublecheck your true needs. Your requirements seem high. Don't go by the typical breaker rating in a house electrical panel. Check the amp/watt rating decal on the actual items to be run. You can alternate running some items to cut your total generator size.

MossRoad · Mar 3, 2006

If it burns 1/2 a gallon an hour it's gonna cost you 6 gallons of diesel every 12 hours. At $2.50 a gallon(optimistic right now) that's gonna be what? About $18.00 every 12 hours.

Fuel consumption is hard to pin down because of varying factors, like load on the generator, the size of the engine, etc...

You need to add up the power consumption of all the items that you want to run at the same time on the generator and then size your generator to that level + a little cushion for exta power consumption. Then you can start shopping for generators that meet your power requirements. Then you can determine what engine will be in it and start guestimating fuel consumption from there. One thing to remember is not all appliances have to be on at the same time, but they could be, so you need to size it by your needs.

For instance, we only have a 4000 watt generator. It will run the furnace and some lights or the freezer and some lights, or the refrigerator and some lights or the well and some lights, but it won't run the furnace, freezer, refrigerator, well and some lights at the same time. So in an emergency, we have to cycle the power on those major appliances manually in order to operate off of the small generator. But we still have a warm house, cold beer, fresh meat and a toilet that flushes! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

ronjhall · Mar 3, 2006

If you are using 60 amp and 30 amps at 220 volts. You will need 19800 watts. Thats a large generator. by home owner standards. Here is a link to Kubota's generators. Click Here In their specification the show fuel consumption at different loads.
Price for a 20 KW would be $9500 on up. Plus installation and transfer switch.

gordon21 · Mar 3, 2006

Ballpark pricing for capacity is about $100-120 per KW on the gasoline sizes smaller than 10,000W i.e. 5500w=$550-650 8000w=$800-1000
As you get bigger, the price per KW will drop. Transfer switches with 8-10 circuits will run $300-400 for the switch box itself plus installation. Unless you are 110% sure you know what you are doing, hire an electrician to hook up the transfer switch. Your "real" needs sound like a maximum of a 10-12KW unit and certainly not a 20KW unit.

jmc · Mar 3, 2006

( But we still have a warm house, cold beer, fresh meat and a toilet that flushes! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

Very eloquent! Ever consider writing country and western music?

40Kchicks · Mar 3, 2006

I believe the rule of thumb of generators is 1 gallon per hour per 10KW using gas. Diesel uses a little less. I had an old 50KW generator with a really small tank so we were filling that thing every three hours or so with 15 gallons to keep our poultry farm running. I replaced that generator after going through one long power outage.

You will probably need a generator in the 5500-10,000 watt range.

Eric

Spiffy · Mar 3, 2006

Eric's estimation, is really in line with what I've calculated too (although, I have a 2K gas one which is much thirstier).

I may be wrong, but don't think you have to worry about pipes freezing in your area.

Anyway, as others have mentioned(especially if this is back-up ony and maybe 1or 2 day maximum continuous) the two items you're concerned about are the easiest to cycle. In fact, I'd go with a 10K, kill the electric heat; keep a couple 1.5K space heaters around to warm up your toes occasionally. And cycle the water heater too if you have any other really large current draws. Else. if you go 15K, you might get the furnace and light to run fine if you cycle it with the water heater.

On a positive note, oversizing will cost you some fuel (the generator and engine, both might hit peak efficiency around say a 75% load), but not like a 2:1 difference unless grossly oversized.

MossRoad · Mar 3, 2006

Ever consider writing country and western music? 

According to Daivd Allen Coe, the perfect country and western song has to mention "Mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin' drunk", whereupon he sings the last verse:

Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got out of prison,
And I went to pick her up in the rain,
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck,
She got runned over by a d****d old train.

(source: wikkipedia)
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

DUMBDOG · Mar 3, 2006

Based upon your other thread in how much does it cost to heat your home, it would appear that you are thinking about replacing part of your utility needs with a generator. I may be mistaken about this.

If this is your intention, I do not see how you could replace the electricity with a cheaper cost on making your own. Simple economy of scale.

JohnBoy45 · Mar 3, 2006

Yes your right DUMBDOG I'm thinking about cutting off the electric company for good. I'm now thinking on trying a diesel generator with a wood stove for heat. I wonder if Tennessee good place for windmills?

Here is some generators below that would be good to have.

http://generator.kubota.jp/

Thanks, Terry

DUMBDOG · Mar 3, 2006

If it were me, I would go with the wood stove for the heat, but keep the line for the lights. If wind power was an alternative in your location you could sell the excess back to the power company when you did not need it.

Going fully self sufficient, you need batteries etc. Going out for diesel all of the time and the price of it would not be a good alternative in my opinion.

JohnBoy45 · Mar 3, 2006

I wonder if a farmer could get by with farm diesel fuel instead of paying at the gas station? Farm fuel is cheaper.

Terry

40Kchicks · Mar 3, 2006

Off road diesel is called farm diesel and it is cheaper than road diesel. Anyone can get it that has a bulk tank to be filled and is not going to use it for on road purposes. Our supplier likes to have at least 250 gallons to fill to make it worth the trip.

I watched a show on DIY this last week that featured a family that needed power to their vacation house. Electrical hook up was going to cost 15K so they went solar. It cost 10K and looked like a very nice system. Wind and hydro systems would be very similar in configuration.

If you already have power running a generator is going to be much much more expensive than if you stayed connected, used the wood stove, and spent money on energy efficient lighting, appliances and insulation. One other word of caution is that it will be cheap to disconnect from the grid but may be a little expensive to get back on the grid later if you want to or need too to sell you place.

Eric

escavader · Mar 3, 2006

"you dont have to call me darlin...darlin...you never even call me by my name' Even us REDNECKS up here in the northeast listen to DAVID ALAN COE /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifNow i cant get the d... song out of my head /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
ALAN

George2615 · Mar 3, 2006

Terry,
I'll agree with Eric too. I have a Miller Bobcat NT250 (gas powered) 10KW Welder Generator. The first day I bought it my power went out for 6 hours. I hooked it up and ran it. It used gas at about 9/10ths of a gal. per hour so I used 5.4 gal.. At a cost of 2.369 a gal. that 6 hours cost just over $12.79. A diesel gen. may be a little more fuel efficient but not much considering that diesel costs 30-35 cents more per gal. than gas in my area. I considered a diesel Generator but found the cost almost double for a similar sized gas unit. Based on this fuel usage rate, 24 hrs would cost $51.17 times 30 days a month would be a whopping $1535.10. Kinda makes the power companies cost look cheap. I'm glad I have this generator for backup power but I could not afford to run generator power on a full time basis.

There are many good brands of diesel generators. If you're set on a diesel you might look at Northern Tool (Northerntool.com). They sell diesel units (powered by John Deere) and LP/Nat gas units (powered by GM).

George

JohnBoy45 · Mar 3, 2006

What did your Miller Bobcat NT250 cost you? My local welding dealer here told me the Miller Bobcat NT250 would cost me 3,000 dollars. What kind of gas engine does your Miller have?

Thanks, Terry

40Kchicks · Mar 3, 2006

I found a nice used Miller bobcat 225 gas model used for $800. I figured it would be cheaper to have this running the house in a power outage than running power from my poultry barn generator to the house which is about 500’ away plus if I needed to weld something out in the back 40 I am ready. I haven’t used it yet except to test it out. They are not especially quiet. I believe you could get one for about $2500 but by the time you set up the wire feeder, arc welding cables, and tig setup, plus bottles you have laid down some serious money.

Eric

George2615 · Mar 4, 2006

Terry,
I checked with my local dealer when I bought mine. At the time he had a new one I was looking at in the store for under $2900. As I was looking at it a guy came in and bought it so I had to wait till the next one came in. About 2 weeks later I stopped back and they had one with 19 hours on it. I asked if this supposed to be new with 19hrs.? Was told it was factory refurbished, came with the warranty, and got it for about $2200. Saved about $700 by waiting so I bought it on the spot. Since I bought it they gave me a discount on the accessories I bought with it (2 - 40' lenghts of welding cable with ends, various rod, rod holder & ground clamp etc. and a full tank of gas) My local dealer sells them as fast as he gets them since I live in a part of the state were power goes out quite often. I downloaded the manual for it online and put it in a 3 ring binder. Ask your dealer about a refurb. unit. They might be able to get one for you. Mine has the Onan engine and currently has 54.4 hours and starts right up and runs like a champ.

George