Powering a standby generator?

[LBrown59]

Natural Gas generators are nice, but you are using one utility to back up another. During hurricane Isabel trees were blow over and the up rooting took out gas mains in places. They fixed it pretty quick, but just something to consider.

I'm not going for back up - my goal is t0 eliminate the electric bill or at least greatly reduce it.

 

[BobRip]

I don't think you can use a fuel driven generator to reduce your total energy cost. The power company is generally much better and cheaper at that since they can buy very efficient generators. If you go with wind or solar with a fuel driven generator as backup that might work.

 

[LBrown59]

I don't think you can use a fuel driven generator to reduce your total energy cost. The power company is generally much better and cheaper at that since they can buy very efficient generators. If you go with wind or solar with a fuel driven generator as backup that might work.

I think you might be able to if the NG to power the GEN was free.
Since You wouldn't be paying the gas co. a gas bill and you wouldn't be paying the elect Co an elect bill either.

 

[BobRip]

I think you might be able to if the NG to power the GEN was free.
Since You wouldn't be paying the gas co. a gas bill and you wouldn't be paying the elect Co an elect bill either.

Probably right about that. Do you have a gas well on your property? You probably get a certain amount of gas free if so. Could you collect the waste heat off the engine to heat the house of water? If so I would get a good quality unit since you will be running it a lot. An inverter unit so that the engine could slow down when lightly loaded would extend the engine life tremendously.

 

[jlangton]

I think the difficulties of storing gasoline are very much exagerated.

A 5 gallon plastic gas container is less than $6 at Wally World, six containers and a quart of Sta-Bil, which is found right near the gas containers, will set you back less than $50.

Put a full dose of Sta-Bil in the containers before you leave the Wally World parking lot and fill them on the way home. The gas going into the containers stirs up the Sta-Bil if you put it in first.

You now have enough gas to run your generator for 30 hours or so, which is really enough for several days of power outage.

Plus, a 5-gallon container of gas can be bartered for a lot of things you might not have thought to stockpile in a real emergency. If you decide an evacuation is necessary, that gas is going to work just fine in the tank of your car. If after a couple of days of outage you and your neighbors decide that consolidating into one house and sharing supplies for the duration might be a good move, you will be very welcome with the remainder of your gas and a generator. If things get really desperate, those empty containers will hold gas scavenged from the tanks of cars.

Every six months or so I pour the gas into the tank of my pickup and re-fill the containers to be certain it is fresh.

This costs $50 plus a bit under $100 for the fuel. I can't do a natural gas conversion for anywhere near that price. And, the natural gas won't fuel my car and has no barter value.

You haven't bought a 5-gallon gas can lately have you? They're $20-$25 now around here due to the new CARB compliance laws and the no-spill junk dispensing system on them.It may not be in effect there yet-but it's coming soon nationwide-if you can still get those inexpensive gas cans-you'd better stock up.
JL

 

[realtaildragger]

The answer to the 3600 RPM issue when running a generator is to get a 4 pole generator as opposed to a 2 pole unt. The 4 pole just idles along at 1800 RPM to produce a 60 hz output with full current. Of course that might not be the max horsepower on the torque curve at 1800... but it sure is quieter.

Go to Generator Depot USA - Your Emergency Generator Store - Electric Generators, Gas Generators, and More to see a 5 KW generator head only at $295.

mike j

 

[BobRip]

I believe that you also require a bigger engine and as such a more expensive unit to run at the 1800 RPM. Certainly justified if running on the grid or for long run times, hard to justiy for a few days (at most) a years of outages.