Your last generator Maintenance Run

[CloverKnollFarms]

Has anyone else calculated their fuel consumption thru testing or actual usage?!
If you could state the size of your generator, approximate load if possible & fuel used.
Gasoline propane or diesel.
Could get some good data for emergency planning.
90cummins

I mean, my 3500W inverter will run 12 hours at 50% load on 2 gallons? I just NEED to run a freezer, fridge, and simple cooking items. Heat is easy with a radiant propane heater and simple box fan.
Id like to have whole home, in our retirement home… but for now this is all we need.

 

[grsthegreat]

For my perspective, generator size requirements vary due to geography. While someone living in a warm climate may get by with a 7kw whole house, someone living in my part of north idaho that may need to power heat tape, heated livestock water tanks, wells, multiple freezers, etc in a long winter outage cannot.

 

[90cummins]

I’ve seen buyers remorse when a homeowner gets the fuel cost after buying a generator large enough to run everything without thought.

5 to 8 kW covers a lot of essentials in mild climates.

90 - that Radwell (a manuf I'm not familiar with) box may cover what you need for that freezer application, if the capacity matches load. Looked like worst case during a brownout, they'd reconnect every 10 minutes. Seller was not an authorized distributor..... sometimes buying that way works out, sometime not.... easier to be successful buying from that channel, if it's a product you already know well.....

I pinged a wizard I've known for decades in the real-world about your situation, I'll post his comments next.

Rgds, D.

Thank you Dave!
I forwarded the info and suggested he join TBN or at least look the forum.

90cummins

 

[arto98607]

I’ve seen buyers remorse when a homeowner gets the fuel cost after buying a generator large enough to run everything without thought.

5 to 8 kW covers a lot of essentials in mild climates.

We had a six hour power outage last month during unusual for us, 14*F temperature and winds up to 55 mph.

Our Firman inverter dual fuel 2900 / 2600 W running on LPG did very well, and was easily able to power our needs.
IE. Running two refrigerators, three freezers, fireplace insert fan, kitchen lights, toaster, coffee maker, modem, router, Wi-Fi, couple of computers etc.

Obviously you need to pay some attention and not put toaster and coffeemaker on together at the same time while everything else is on.

It certainly is a big compromise and does not compete with a large full house generator, but it seems to work fine for us, since we do not get many power outages and usually our winters are pretty mild.

Based on my observations, it should run 24 hours on a 30 lbs propane bottle.

PS.
I have 8 kW low Rpm noisy Diesel generator in case of extended outage, but am reluctant to use it.

 

[ultrarunner]

My 1990 Honda EM 5000 has served me well... powered essentials at 4 household during the extended power safety shutoffs.

The key was staggering the load so it all doesn't hit at once... by that I mean powering one or two refrigerators for 15-20 minutes before adding the next and so on...

I highly recommend quality 10 gauge extension cords when extending power to neighbors!

My log is 183 hours so not much and I do use stable marine for the fuel... It's kept under cover in the garage and chained and padlocked when in use outside.

Fuel on hand is rotated every 6 months.

The chrome gives it the classic look of a bygone era.

 

[daugen]

that's a nice looking Honda.
Northern Idaho sounds like you really want to be self sufficient GRS, like being in Canada.
Having backup power to keep from freezing to death sounds like a seriously good idea.

https://www.duromaxpower.com/products/16-000-watt-v-twin-dual-fuel-portable-digital-inverter-generator

I was curious to see how large an inverter gen the general public can buy.
this gen is double the cost of a standard gen that size, maybe triple in price.
I've been watching YT repair videos on gens and seeing what the oscilloscope readings are on the
output power of standard gens, including how distortion jumps up under heavy load.
Distortion numbers were ugly.
as we get more automated homes I wonder if good clean sine wave power will become more important.

 

[3930dave]

I installed a Generac 7kw generator. I have 200mp service and SOP generator installation would to size the generator to the 200 amp service. This would be a in the range of a 12 kw generator.
i knew from experience because it is my house that I would not need this large of a generator because i have used a 6kw portable generator for close to 15 years with no issues of the generator handling the load of the house. So I bought a 7kw generator. It is unusal to have 7kw generator connected to a 200 service. The fuel usage of the smaller generator was one of the major reasons that I went with the 7 kw generator. 1/2 load LP gas consumption is only .87 gal/hr. And I know that house will vary rarely run at 1/2 load. Hence this why my LP gas usage was so low over the 47 hr run.
it is best to ask for a 1 month load test/ recording of you house usage before you decide what size generator you buy.

Welcome to the thread !

You knew your load profile well, and designed/built accordingly. Nicely engineered.

High capacity can be attractive (and if you need it, you Need It. Thinking corporate chicken farms), but aside from all the associated costs, there can be application factors, when run at low-load, esp. in cold weather - ie. wet-stacking in diesels.

Plenty I don't know about Generacs..... if and @ what power-level they cross-over into water-cooled is one example. Biggest whole-house I've been around was something like 12kw, and it wasn't mine. I've never played with big-air cooled engines, @ low-load, for extended runs in Low Temperatures..... shouldn't be as problematic as Big Dzl in that application, but it's nothing I've encountered directly.

I have a Group 31 battery on maintenance-charge, hooked to a 1kw Inverter. That's my first GoTo, if I need to run light electronics only during an outage. Internet is already backed up on its own relatively high capacity UPS.

I like to frame things simply (limited cranial capacity here maybe ), so my rule of thumb for utility-trailers and generators is similar - Staying in the 1/3 to 3/4 of Capacity range, helps with keeping out of the Drama and Trauma zone....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I find that my fuel usage on the pto generator varies just slightly with the tractor being used, as well as the loading. But usually if I figure on 3/4 gallon per hour I'm close with either my IH 574 or the Branson 8050 (540E). The best fuel economy was on a IH 7220 using the 1000 to 540 adapter at half throttle the 8.3 liter motor just loafed along with no issues on about a half gallon of fuel per hour, with good stability. My Branson has no problem with the 540E runs it very smoothly. I tried the IH 574 on the 1000 with the adapter but that older engine and governor didn't handle it very well it was almost acceptable but not quite.

Flywheel effect.... good-sized Dzl + Generator..... sounds like a Good Marriage, to me !

Rgds, D.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

thanks, I'm impressed by this.
My Westinghouse sure doesn't have that.
I wonder if a conventional Briggs Vanguard say 30hp has a high oil temp sensor.

now the real question is how often have you seen these sensors do their job, or not?
if an engine blows, was it always due to low oil?

I'm curious how the low oil sensor works when it is positioned well above the oil fill line.
no oil pump, ?

View attachment 851824

Not sure how they work, but the one on our Honda shows low oil as soon as I turn the key when I’m changing it to try and check the hours while the oil is draining.

Over 4700 hours on ours that we bought in 2012

 

[3930dave]

Had the power out for a few hours yesterday. I wanted lunch, so I pulled out the Predator 3500W inverter. Like magic. Very quiet. Very fuel efficient.

That's a nice size, for a portable.

I've never seen a bad review, of the Predator Engines, and it sounds like they have the 'lectronics down.

I haven't crossed the border to HF in quite a while..... hanging around here could get expensive !

Rgds, D.