Comparison Home Stand By Generators

[Toyboy]

The cost to run it is minimum when compared to the initial cost of the unit and the comfort it provides. If running cost is an issue, go cheap as you want. Heck, get grandpa to peddle the bicycle like on the Honda commercial.
Life is about choices, I made mine on whats best for the family. I've heard a lot of people say "I wish I'd spent a few bucks more and got something better". But I've never heard them say "I wish I'd gone cheaper".
Bottom line: buy what the budget can afford.

 

[K man]

Its nice to know some folks don't have a budget. :laughing:

In all seriousness, I understand the need for sump pumps. And I enjoy convenience. I'd just like to know if anyone has figured out how much it would cost to run a large automatic generator 24/7 for a week, instead of everyone saying "who cares?", that's all.

Well, when the day comes that I run my generator 24/7 for a whole week then I will let you know how much it cost me. Until then I just use whenever I need it. Like I said I am not worried about the price who cares lol

 

[MossRoad]

I cringe anytime I hear someone say they aren't concearned with how much something will cost.
Looking at this chart for diesels....
Approximate Diesel Generator Fuel Consumption Chart
A 20kw generator at 1/2 load consumes about a gallon per hour. So, 24 gallons of diesel per day. Let's say you get diesel for the price of $3.50 (based on below average prices currently, today, in my location).
24 * $3.50 = $84.00 per day in fuel.
$84.00 * 7 days = $588.00 per week.

At full load, its 1.6gph.
38 gallons per day * 24 hours = $134.00 per day, or $940 per week.
Another diesel chart.
Diesel Fuel Consumption Chart

Now lets look at natural gas/LP.
Can anyone find a general fuel consumption chart?
I can't, so here's a link to a 20kw Generac unit.
http://kt4qw.com/generator/generac20kw.pdf
Fuel consumption...
Natural gas:
1/2 load = 206 cubic feet/hour, or 4944 cu ft/per day, or 34,608 cu ft/week.
Full load = 294 cubic feet/hour, or 7056 cu ft/per day, or 49,392 cu ft/week.
With Natural gas prices fluctuating between $10-$17 per thousand cubic feet over the last 5 years
See chart U.S. Price of Natural Gas Delivered to Residential Consumers (Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet)
Let's use $13.50/thousand.
1/2 load = 4944 cu ft/day / 1000* $13.50 = $66.74 per day, or $467.00 per week.
Full load = 7056 cu ft/day / 1000 * $13.50 = $95.00 per day, or $667.00 per week.
Should your power go out in winter, it's more likely to be $17 per 1000 cubic ft.
At those numbers,
1/2 load = $84/day or $588/week.
Full load = $120/day or $839/week.

Now look at LP...
EDIT EDIT EDIT...
Numbers were for litres per hour, not gallons per hour. So the real numbers are below...
That same NG generator using LP uses:
1/2 load = 7gph.
Full load = 11gph.
According to this chart, current propane U.S. price is $2.41/gal.
This Week In Petroleum Propane Section
If it follows annual trends, it will go up at least a buck a gallon by February, so buy propane now.
Let's figure it at the current price.
7gph * $2.41/gallon = $16.87 per hour * 24 hours = $405/day! That doesn't seem right???
But this chart says it costs about 3X more to get the same BTUs out of propane as it does natural gas. http://www.knoxenergy.org/uploads/File/Alternative Energy Conversion Comparison.pdf
YIKES! Its over $400/day on propane at 1/2 load! That can't be right can it? $2800/week???


Real LP numbers are 1.89 gallons per hour. WHEW! That's better:ashamed:

1.89gph * $2.41/gallon = $4.55/hour * 24 hours = $109.00/day... That's better!!!
$765.00 per week at half load.
2.9 gallons per hour at full load * $2.41/gallon = $6.99/hour * 24 hours = $168.00 per day.
$1174 per week!

So I googled propane VS natural gas and yep, its at least double and more likely triple the cost to use propane VS natural gas. More research is required!

Anyhow, before anyone gets any generator, you should really figure out what it really going to cost you when it runs... is it worth $500-$600-possibly thousands per week? Are you prepared to go away on vacation and come home to a multi-hundred possibly multi-thousand dollar fuel bill?

I cringe anytime I hear someone say they aren't concearned with how much something will cost.

 

[MossRoad]

Well, when mine was first installed, I looked at the consumption listed in the manual and figured the tank they installed would last 2.5 weeks at 100% load. The tank costs about $1000 to fill in the winter or about $750 in the summer.

Thanks.

 

[Threepoint]

Who cares about the cost..... that about says it.

Again, has anyone run one of these large generators for a week 24/7 and how much did the fuel cost?

Can't report first-hand, but a friend has a whole-house propane generator with auto-start that ran continuously for 4 or 5 days during a major summer outage awhile back and ran through a full 500 gallon tank (which at 80% typical max fill is 400 gallons) in that time. I'm guessing her home is around 3,000 or 3,500 sq. ft. Hard for me to believe that's a typical rate of use, even with central air, but I almost fell over when she told me about it. Her genset is 30 KW, which is way overkill, IMO. Our house is nearly 3 times that size, and we got along fine running a little 8250 W gas generator 10 to 12 hrs/day. That of course was without the air conditioning, which eventually got uncomfortable, but we slept in the cooler basement and I'll take that trade off.

 

[K man]

Those prices make me cringe too cause they are outrageous. My manual says 1.2 gph at 1/2 load and 1.8 at full load sure is far away from the 7gph-11gph. Like I said I will find out for sure when I get a long black out.

 

[MikePA]

Who cares about the cost..... that about says it.

Again, has anyone run one of these large generators for a week 24/7 and how much did the fuel cost?

Hi Moss,

I don't have a large generator, just a little 5 kw, but it powers the circuits we need, e.g., sump pump, well, furnace, frig, etc. During the ice storm earlier this year, we ran the generator 24/7 for about 4 days. 5 gallons of gasoline lasted approximately 10 hours, or .5 gallons/hour. At today's prices, that's .5 x $3.00 = $1.50/hour.

$1.50 x 7 days x 24 hours/day = $252.00/week.

 

[Toyboy]

Can't report first-hand, but a friend has a whole-house propane generator with auto-start that ran continuously for 4 or 5 days during a major summer outage awhile back and ran through a full 500 gallon tank (which at 80% typical max fill is 400 gallons) in that time. I'm guessing her home is around 3,000 or 3,500 sq. ft. Hard for me to believe that's a typical rate of use, even with central air, but I almost fell over when she told me about it. Her genset is 30 KW, which is way overkill, IMO. Our house is nearly 3 times that size, and we got along fine running a little 8250 W gas generator 10 to 12 hrs/day. That of course was without the air conditioning, which eventually got uncomfortable, but we slept in the cooler basement and I'll take that trade off.

If she has a 30kw GenSet, she also has a at least a 4 cyl water cooled industrial engine in it. That's like comparing apples to oranges when your talking the air cooled units we've been kicking around. That's a whole different animal.

 

[buickanddeere]

I cringe anytime I hear someone say they aren't concearned with how much something will cost.
Looking at this chart for diesels....
Approximate Diesel Generator Fuel Consumption Chart
A 20kw generator at 1/2 load consumes about a gallon per hour. So, 24 gallons of diesel per day. Let's say you get diesel for the price of $3.50 (based on below average prices currently, today, in my location).
24 * $3.50 = $84.00 per day in fuel.
$84.00 * 7 days = $588.00 per week.

At full load, its 1.6gph.
38 gallons per day * 24 hours = $134.00 per day, or $940 per week.
Another diesel chart.
Diesel Fuel Consumption Chart

Now lets look at natural gas/LP.
Can anyone find a general fuel consumption chart?
I can't, so here's a link to a 20kw Generac unit.
http://kt4qw.com/generator/generac20kw.pdf
Fuel consumption...
Natural gas:
1/2 load = 206 cubic feet/hour, or 4944 cu ft/per day, or 34,608 cu ft/week.
Full load = 294 cubic feet/hour, or 7056 cu ft/per day, or 49,392 cu ft/week.
With Natural gas prices fluctuating between $10-$17 per thousand cubic feet over the last 5 years
See chart U.S. Price of Natural Gas Delivered to Residential Consumers (Dollars per Thousand Cubic Feet)
Let's use $13.50/thousand.
1/2 load = 4944 cu ft/day / 1000* $13.50 = $66.74 per day, or $467.00 per week.
Full load = 7056 cu ft/day / 1000 * $13.50 = $95.00 per day, or $667.00 per week.
Should your power go out in winter, it's more likely to be $17 per 1000 cubic ft.
At those numbers,
1/2 load = $84/day or $588/week.
Full load = $120/day or $839/week.

Now look at LP...
That same NG generator using LP uses:
1/2 load = 7gph.
Full load = 11gph.
According to this chart, current propane U.S. price is $2.41/gal.
This Week In Petroleum Propane Section
If it follows annual trends, it will go up at least a buck a gallon by February, so buy propane now.
Let's figure it at the current price.
7gph * $2.41/gallon = $16.87 per hour * 24 hours = $405/day! That doesn't seem right???
But this chart says it costs about 3X more to get the same BTUs out of propane as it does natural gas. http://www.knoxenergy.org/uploads/File/Alternative Energy Conversion Comparison.pdf
YIKES! Its over $400/day on propane at 1/2 load! That can't be right can it? $2800/week???
So I googled propane VS natural gas and yep, its at least double and more likely triple the cost to use propane VS natural gas. More research is required!

Anyhow, before anyone gets any generator, you should really figure out what it really going to cost you when it runs... is it worth $500-$600-possibly thousands per week? Are you prepared to go away on vacation and come home to a multi-hundred possibly multi-thousand dollar fuel bill?

I cringe anytime I hear someone say they aren't concearned with how much something will cost.

I'm not buying your consumption numbers or price for NG or LP. A gen set may run 12-72 hrs a year under load so the "diesel" savings will never break even with the higher price of the diesel generator. As for cold weather starting. A LP or NG will roar to life while the cold diesel just makes bad sounds as the battery dies. Have you figured the price of block heater power all winter ?

 

[hr3]

Its nice to know some folks don't have a budget. :laughing:

In all seriousness, I understand the need for sump pumps. And I enjoy convenience. I'd just like to know if anyone has figured out how much it would cost to run a large automatic generator 24/7 for a week, instead of everyone saying "who cares?", that's all.

If you really want to know how much it costs DO the math.. From .75 gph to 2 gph.. and for as many hours or days you want...

As for the budget sometimes it gets busted ,, If the power is out I'm out helping those who don't have power so the wife is home alone and a happy wife is a happy life,, I have a very happy life

I see you did the math,,hmm 7gph Who out there is running a 50kw gen set at full bore ????