fuel choice for whole home generator

[Monark]

Like everyone else kicking around the idea of a whole home generator. My question has to do with fuel. Although I don't use natural gas in my house I do have access to it. When I bought my place there was a pipe sticking out of the ground that I am assuming was for a gas meter if I were to run gas to my house. I had the gas company come remove it because I nearly ran over it with my tractor once. So I am sure I could bring gas up to the house but it would require bringing it about 75 yards to the house and then to wherever I would set the generator. Or I could have a propane tank set and run off propane. Which would be more efficient/readily available with no hiccups during times like this freezing weather we are having and the most cost effective to do.

I am not even going to bother reading any replies. If you have access to Nat Gas, use it.

[Electrican]

Guys, we are talking about a generator. In the event it’s needed, it’s obvious use should be short term hopefully. I will personally try at all cost to avoid having to store a bunch of regular gasoline for long periods of time.

We are having a house built right now and don’t have a NG option. We will have a 500gal propane tank buried. I have a HF 8750 Predator I’ve already converted to dual fuel. IMO NG or propane is the best choice...with a nod given to propane because of benefits (consumption and power advantages) over NG.

Let’s not kid ourselves though. Just like with the electric grid, we are dependent on the suppliers of the other 3 fuel sources (gasoline, NG or LP) in the event alternative power is needed LONG TERM.

This is key to any power source your considering. With that, nothing is really long term solution.

[softpoint]

Using propane, you are dependent on your supplier having and then being able to get it to you. If roads are bad or he has truck problems, you may not get your LP when needed.
Using gasoline, you need to worry about it going bad. The same, not so much with diesel. I would use natural gas.

Using natural gas, you are depending on yet another public utility. I'd much rather have a full tank of propane or diesel not connected to anyone but me.

[RascalArms]

this is key to any power source your considering. With that, nothing is really long term solution.

Bingo!

using natural gas, you are depending on yet another public utility. I'd much rather have a full tank of propane or diesel not connected to anyone but me.

Bingo 2.0!

[Electrican]

Using natural gas, you are depending on yet another public utility. I'd much rather have a full tank of propane or diesel not connected to anyone but me.

Who and how you going to refill those? Again your dependence is still there.

[JRL]

I’m going with ng. I don’t want to have to try and get propane delivered if the outage is prolonged and demand is through the roof.

[jds247]

I have never heard of natural gas being shut off during a hurricane and I've rode out my fare share in 40 something years.. I have a 8k portable generator to back up the natural gas generator. Before a storm I fill my boat with 80 gallons of gas and 6 or 8 5 gallon cans that I have. That's the only way I can be sure to have at least 2 weeks of power..

[retrieverman]

Between natural gas and propane, I’d choose natural gas. I have friends with propane generators right now that are having trouble getting deliveries, because all the companies are slammed.

I’m studying on a PTO generator now, because I already have bulk diesel for my tractors. My 15kw generator will run my house, but like now, gas can be hard to find. Diesel is available everywhere. I also have 3 tractors, so I wouldn’t necessarily be inconvenienced by having one hooked up to the generator.

[eastex56]

Russell, we have a 22kw generac here at the house. It will run on either nat gas or propane. We don't have nat gas available so it's propane for us. Fortunately, we have not had to run our generator for even 24 hours at one time in the last three years and we were blessed to have line power during this event. I am considering getting a 500 gallon tank just for such an event that just happened. If I had the choice I would use NG. If you get one like mine you could always pipe it up to NG and have a propane tank as a secondary fuel source!

[WBT]

I have a large generator that runs on natural gas. I would have suggested that's the best/easiest choice until I learned Atmos started shutting off the gas lines in several communities around Dallas.

I'm now looking at a second backup generator for the essentials. Diesel and gas are more energy dense; however, they go bad over time. That pushes me towards propane. It has a much longer shelf life. I'd rather stash a bunch of 20 pound canisters and have them ready in however many years it is until this happens again. I don't want the hassle of constantly cycling through 5 gallon cans of diesel/gas sitting in the garage.

[Aggie13]

"Dual Fuel" is the way to go. I have a predator 5500 that I replaced the carb on that has selectors for Gasoline, NG, and Propane (I guess technically tri-fuel). I rarely use enough during power outages to warrant running it for very long though (it was initially purchased to be used to run construction equipment when building our cabin on the hunting property) more just to charge things up, cool things down, then shut it off.

The more flexible you can be with fuel source the better off you'll be, so no matter what happens(run out of propane, NG company shuts down, Gasoline is scarce) you're covered.

Couldn't tell you what's most efficient for a whole home long term fuel system, but if its just for a SHTF scenario from time to time flexibility is key in my opinion.

[thegrouse]

I would go propane because you do not have to rely on anyone doing their job if you have enough on hand. You are in control of how much you store based on your anticipated needs. You could run 1000 gallons if needed or larger. Eventually you will have to get it refilled, but nobody can shut you off until you are out except mother nature. If I was to get a bigger generator and had a bit of land that is what I would do, this cuts public utilities and their incompetence out of the equation.

[Playa]

I have never heard of natural gas being shut off during a hurricane and I've rode out my fare share in 40 something years.. I have a 8k portable generator to back up the natural gas generator. Before a storm I fill my boat with 80 gallons of gas and 6 or 8 5 gallon cans that I have. That's the only way I can be sure to have at least 2 weeks of power..

Nat gas gets shut off after tornadoes bc debris and damage can cause leaks. And in 2011 my wife and we’re celebrating our anniversary in Red River, NM. There was a cold snap at the end of Jan, 1st week of Feb, but the core of cold air came right down the Rockies. NM, and the texas panhandle were almost as cold then. We had left the day before our reservation and stopped half way. The next morning our condo called us to reschedule because most of Norther NM was without NG. We went on and, ironically they put us in an all electric unit.

It was weird, RR was nearly empty and most restaurants were closed, we found one intrepid fellow that had drug his propane grill to his restaurant, you could basically have burger or hot dogs and fries, whatever he could cook on his grill and burner.

All of this to say, there is no fail safe backup. Dual fuel, pick your poison and make sure you some of both available

[mbcajun]

You need all the options . I bought a gas generator 3 days after hurricane Laura. It has 241 hrs.on it when I got power back. I was only running it at night for the first several day because gas was hard to find. I live in Moss Bluff, just north of Lake Charles, La.and people were driving 100 miles to Alexandria to find gas. So you have to plan for possible long outages like some of you are experiencing now.

[mrc]

If I was going to do a generator it would be propane, it stores better than any fuel and the generator won't him up. You can get a 1000 gallon tank and it will last indefinitely, my second choice would be diesel.