generator questions

[racer77]

i was thinking about buying a generator for running esentials during a power outage. trying to decide between a large portable gas generator and a expensive hole house stationary unit. i guess my real question is... if something bad happens, will natural gas keep flowing to run a whole house unit? short of not paying my bill, what would have to happen before natural gas stopped flowing?

 

[Balinor]

anything that would disrupt the flow IE broken lines comes to mind.
underground pipes would be vunerable in an earthquake (unlikely though we do live on a fault line area) any above ground maintance areas would be more likely to be an issue but again prolly not alot of issues.

 

[racer77]

anything that would disrupt the flow IE broken lines comes to mind.
underground pipes would be vunerable in an earthquake (unlikely though we do live on a fault line area) any above ground maintance areas would be more likely to be an issue but again prolly not alot of issues.

so a natural gas unit would "probably" be a better choice.... if you could keep someone from steeling it.

ok... thanks for the input.

 

[Skywired]

What is your stress/comfort level?? My brother's family level suffered years of sporadic times...many hours to many days at a time. They finally infested in a unit. Well money spent!

 

[racer77]

What is your stress/comfort level?? My brother's family level suffered years of sporadic times...many hours to many days at a time. They finally infested in a unit. Well money spent!

i could do without somethings electricity provides. but if i'm gonna spend the money then i might as well do it right. just need to weigh the my options to figure which is more practical. don't want a unit that would be rendered useless in the event of a disaster.

 

[WhitleyStu]

...don't want a unit that would be rendered useless in the event of a disaster.

Then you need an LP generator and an LP tank or a gas generator and a gas tank. I have a 15K gas whole house generator and a 550 gallon gas tank to keep it running for quite some time if I watch my usage.

 

[churchmouse]

Minimum 5500 watt unit. LP is not my primary choice but everyone is different in their needs and ways. Stay away from a natural gas unit. To many variables.
A 6500 will carry essentials but not the whole house. Are you in a neighborhood or isolated.
10,000 Watts might pull your load but you have offered little in what your needs are as in furnace, fridg, freezer, lighting etc. All this needs consideration when budgeting for a genny.
There will be some expense when wiring it into the system so do it properly. There are a few threads already discussing this a great length.

Welcome to ingo.................

 

[racer77]

Minimum 5500 watt unit. LP is not my primary choice but everyone is different in their needs and ways. Stay away from a natural gas unit. To many variables.
A 6500 will carry essentials but not the whole house. Are you in a neighborhood or isolated.
10,000 Watts might pull your load but you have offered little in what your needs are as in furnace, fridg, freezer, lighting etc. All this needs consideration when budgeting for a genny.
There will be some expense when wiring it into the system so do it properly. There are a few threads already discussing this a great length.

Welcome to ingo.................

i'll do a search for other threads. thanks for the input. unfortunately i live in a neighborhood that would frown upon a large lp tank. i definitely have some more research to determine my power needs for running furnace or ac, fridge,and dryer. natural gas would be easiest to install, but really see advantages of propane in a disaster scenario.

 

[racer77]

Then you need an LP generator and an LP tank or a gas generator and a gas tank. I have a 15K gas whole house generator and a 550 gallon gas tank to keep it running for quite some time if I watch my usage.

i guess any way i look at it, if i want security from disaster scenarios, a tank is the only real option. homeowners association will probably frown upon that. maybe need to move to meet my security needs. thanks for the input!

by the way.... how big of a tank would you recommend? and do you know much run time a tank will deliver? i realize there are really huge tanks that could last for some time, but again i have h.o.a's to deal with.

 

[churchmouse]

Completely forget running your A/C....get some fans and deal with that if it happens. The current draw of a cooling system is fairly high and unless you have 10 KW constant supply you could fry the unit. Do you have an all electric home??????????????

 

[radar8756]

unfortunately i live in a neighborhood that would frown upon a large lp tank. .

You can have the tank underground ...

One of my previous employers had Radio Towers with 10kw generators and Underground Tanks ... propane company would come by every couple months and check fuel levels ... way overkill but equipment HAD to work in emergency

Current employer has the same thing but tanks are Above Ground so they have Vandalism issues (stealing the copper line from tank to Generator) ... but a Home might not have that problem

 

[Car Ramrod]

In my opinion it all depends on where you live and the probability of ever actually needing to use it. If you live up north, and have a greater chance of needing to use the generator due to storms, then I might suggest the dedicated unit. However, I would suggest a portable unit if you live in a more weather stable area, and don't foresee needing to use it a lot. That is a lot of money sitting next to your house that you may never use.

I live in Indianapolis. We don't see a lot of harsh weather or power outages due to weather. I could not justify spending that much money for a dedicated unit to just sit next to the house and probably never get used. I opted for a portable unit that I can use to power the house, but can also take with me or use elsewhere if need be. I also have two smaller units that I can use to power single, smaller items without needing to pull out the main unit.

I went with a Generac 6500. It should be more than enough for anything I ever need to power, and also has 8000w surge.

 

[Adamz04]

I bought a 7500 watt gas generac generator last year. I live in the country and have 100% electric. Because all my heat is 220 I had to get a unit large enough to run a couple space heaters along with the essentials. The lp generators I've seen are nice but you don't get the wattage of a gas generator. I like the portability versus stationary unit because u could take it somewhere to help family and friends.
I'd go with a portable gas generator of at least5500 watts if u have a gas furnace and at least 7500 watts if you have electric heat

 

[racer77]

In my opinion it all depends on where you live and the probability of ever actually needing to use it. If you live up north, and have a greater chance of needing to use the generator due to storms, then I might suggest the dedicated unit. However, I would suggest a portable unit if you live in a more weather stable area, and don't foresee needing to use it a lot. That is a lot of money sitting next to your house that you may never use.

I live in Indianapolis. We don't see a lot of harsh weather or power outages due to weather. I could not justify spending that much money for a dedicated unit to just sit next to the house and probably never get used. I opted for a portable unit that I can use to power the house, but can also take with me or use elsewhere if need be. I also have two smaller units that I can use to power single, smaller items without needing to pull out the main unit.

I went with a Generac 6500. It should be more than enough for anything I ever need to power, and also has 8000w surge.

you might be right. i live in brownsburg, so we share the same weather. its definitely more economical and versitile to go with a portable unit. storing gasoline might be a problem. i have seen duel fuel genny's. lp might be easier to store. but fuel economy of the unit, and the amount needed on hand is something to consider. 20 gallons of gasoline might only last a few days.

 

[racer77]

I bought a 7500 watt gas generac generator last year. I live in the country and have 100% electric. Because all my heat is 220 I had to get a unit large enough to run a couple space heaters along with the essentials. The lp generators I've seen are nice but you don't get the wattage of a gas generator. I like the portability versus stationary unit because u could take it somewhere to help family and friends.
I'd go with a portable gas generator of at least5500 watts if u have a gas furnace and at least 7500 watts if you have electric heat

hmm... interesting. great information! thanks! food for thought...

 

[Martin Draco]

If you want to run a generator on natural gas, you can either buy a tri-fuel portable unit unit or buy a gasoline unit and easily convert it to tri-fuel (gasoline/propane/nat. gas).

 

[churchmouse]

In my opinion it all depends on where you live and the probability of ever actually needing to use it. If you live up north, and have a greater chance of needing to use the generator due to storms, then I might suggest the dedicated unit. However, I would suggest a portable unit if you live in a more weather stable area, and don't foresee needing to use it a lot. That is a lot of money sitting next to your house that you may never use.

I live in Indianapolis. We don't see a lot of harsh weather or power outages due to weather. I could not justify spending that much money for a dedicated unit to just sit next to the house and probably never get used. I opted for a portable unit that I can use to power the house, but can also take with me or use elsewhere if need be. I also have two smaller units that I can use to power single, smaller items without needing to pull out the main unit.

I went with a Generac 6500. It should be more than enough for anything I ever need to power, and also has 8000w surge.

Figure in the surge before buying. Some of the ratings include surge and it is as much as 25% of the total rating on some units. The high end portables are more honest with output ratings.

 

[Car Ramrod]

you might be right. i live in brownsburg, so we share the same weather. its definitely more economical and versitile to go with a portable unit. storing gasoline might be a problem. i have seen duel fuel genny's. lp might be easier to store. but fuel economy of the unit, and the amount needed on hand is something to consider. 20 gallons of gasoline might only last a few days.

From my experience it seems most generators are spec'd like cars. Cars typically hold enough fuel to go 300 miles. Most generators' fuel tanks are sized so they get 10 hours of run time at 50% load (regardless of whether it's a 1200w unit or a 6500w, bigger unit just means a bigger tank). You also need to remember that depending on the situation you may not want to run your generator 24/7. If your house is the only one in the neighborhood with lights, well you're probably going to get unwanted visitors. You also have the noise to take into consideration.

The other upside to a gas unit is it gives you gas stores on hand to use for anything you may need them for. In the event you need to get the hell out of dodge, you have fuel to take with you to extend your possible driving distance. It also gives you fuel to use for your mower when you're in the middle of doing yardwork and accidentally run out (happened to me yesterday, but it was a good excuse to rotate my stores).

 

[cg21]

well for me I am in NWI we have a lot of power outages... I am going to go with a natural gas unit.... if the SHTF I will either buy a portable gas unit.... or hope noone messes with the gas lines.

 

[racer77]

If you want to run a generator on natural gas, you can either buy a tri-fuel portable unit unit or buy a gasoline unit and easily convert it to tri-fuel (gasoline/propane/nat. gas).

i didn't realize portable gas units were easily converted. definitly makes it more versitile for every situation. i'll research this option more. thanks for the heads up!