Standby Generator - Diesel or NG?

[kenmac]

Wow ! Now that's an old generator !

 

[Cottonhawk]

NG is a better solution as you don't have to worry about the fuel supply for your generator. We had a outside 20kw ONAN LP generator with auto switching installed and it can support the whole house.

 

[rosietheriviter]

NG is a better solution as you don't have to worry about the fuel supply for your generator. We had a outside 20kw ONAN LP generator with auto switching installed and it can support the whole house.

To any of y'all lookin' seriously at any of the gaseous fueled genset might consider a dual or tri-fuel genset.. NG, LPG, Gasoline at the flip of a switch.

Rosie

 

[SpringHollow]

I have not read all of the posts in detail. I sell diesel, natural gas, and propane standby generators. For residential backup use, unless you live in an earthquake prone area, I would recommend natural gas. Cheaper install, they are 1800 RPM units once you get over 16 KW. In a pileline disaster, our generators (and others) are easily switchable to propane and you could always get a propane tank brought in as easily as getting diesel. However, you can not get diesel or propane brought in as easily as natural gas under normal disasters. We had an ice storm here where roads were blocked for many days by downed trees and power lines. If you needed diesel or propane, you would have not gotten in.

Ken

 

[Skyco]

In a pileline disaster, our generators (and others) are easily switchable to propane and you could always get a propane tank brought in as easily as getting diesel.

I'm curious what size propane tank is needed to support a 40kW generator. I'm not talking about volume for longevity but surface area to vaporize the fuel. For example a BBQ sized 20lb tank probably couldn't vaporize enough fuel to run a 40kw at full output I suspect.

 

[SpringHollow]

Typically, one is looking at a 500 or 1000 gallon tank. Much bigger than a bbq grill 20 lb tank.

Ken

 

[Skyco]

Ahem If you can't get diesel delivered in a disaster do you really think someone would deliver and fill a 500 to 1000 gallon tank....weighing well over 1000 lbs- empty

 

[SpringHollow]

Ahem If you can't get diesel delivered in a disaster do you really think someone would deliver and fill a 500 to 1000 gallon tank....weighing well over 1000 lbs- empty

What I said was, if you could get diesel, you could get propane. But in most instances, you will have natural gas (pipelines are not usually affected by ice storms, etc.).

In non-earthquake zones, natural gas often makes the most sense.

Ken

 

[Skyco]

Ok. Getting back to what I said earlier in the thread one can haul their own diesel in 5 gallon cans if need be but one can't haul their own LP or NG

Actually there are diesel engines that can be converted to run on compressed natural gas as well but I'm not sure anyone has one that is readily switchable between the two fuels. That would be the ticket, run on NG with a fallback to diesel if NG is lost.

CNG Engine and Diesel Engine Conversion

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I used the calculator suggested in a previous post and it recommended a 30KW generator but it didn't factor in some critical issues such as we have over 12,000 square feet of glass. The glass panels are all gas filled sealed units but there is still a considerable heat loss from them. So I think a 40KW genset is about right. However before I make any commitment, I will have an electrician check out exactly what I need.

Thanks agian for all the input.

This 12,000 square feet of glass in a house has me baffled. Do you live in an 80,000 square foot house?