Generators (1 Viewer)

[Fat Nick]

Oh - One tip for anyone who is going to run a generator with a manual transfer switch that helps immensely - Figure out what you want to run with it and what you CAN run with it, and put a green dot next to the breakers for all of those circuits. When you go to flip the service switch off to transfer to generator power, you can really quickly turn off anything without a green dot to avoid overloading your generator. It's a lot better to do this when you can take your time figuring out what you can run vs. trying to test it in an emergency or when the power is actually out.

 

[supermike80]

The fuel consumption is going to be tied to the amount of power it needs to provide. How big of a draw is your house? Once you know that you should be able to calculate the consumption based on the specs of the generator. It should have a general "mileage" listing in the manual similar to what you have for your car (mpg kind of thing).

OK, I will check on that.

I don't plan on running much - fridge, furnace, a tv if a game is on, internet, a few lights...... so not much.

Here is a table with an approximate consumption rate

Generator Fuel Consumption Rates

Ok I must be reading this chart wrong or something. Is this saying a 300Kw generator running at 1/2 load consumes 11.3 gallons of gas an hour?????

 

[Gally]

The fuel consumption is going to be tied to the amount of power it needs to provide. How big of a draw is your house? Once you know that you should be able to calculate the consumption based on the specs of the generator. It should have a general "mileage" listing in the manual similar to what you have for your car (mpg kind of thing).

OK, I will check on that.

I don't plan on running much - fridge, furnace, a tv if a game is on, internet, a few lights...... so not much.

Here is a table with an approximate consumption rate

Generator Fuel Consumption Rates

Ok I must be reading this chart wrong or something. Is this saying a 300Kw generator running at 1/2 load consumes 11.3 gallons of gas an hour?????

yes that is correct (according to that chart)

 

[beer 30]

The fuel consumption is going to be tied to the amount of power it needs to provide. How big of a draw is your house? Once you know that you should be able to calculate the consumption based on the specs of the generator. It should have a general "mileage" listing in the manual similar to what you have for your car (mpg kind of thing).

OK, I will check on that.

I don't plan on running much - fridge, furnace, a tv if a game is on, internet, a few lights...... so not much.

Here is a table with an approximate consumption rate

Generator Fuel Consumption Rates

Ok I must be reading this chart wrong or something. Is this saying a 300Kw generator running at 1/2 load consumes 11.3 gallons of gas an hour?????

yes that is correct (according to that chart)

A 300kW generator is also pretty massive. You could supply electricity for a cul-de-sac with that beast.

The larger the generator the more it is a gas/diesel guzzler and they do guzzle some gas/diesel.

 

[Ron Swanson]

The fuel consumption is going to be tied to the amount of power it needs to provide. How big of a draw is your house? Once you know that you should be able to calculate the consumption based on the specs of the generator. It should have a general "mileage" listing in the manual similar to what you have for your car (mpg kind of thing).

OK, I will check on that.

I don't plan on running much - fridge, furnace, a tv if a game is on, internet, a few lights...... so not much.

Here is a table with an approximate consumption rate

Generator Fuel Consumption Rates

Ok I must be reading this chart wrong or something. Is this saying a 300Kw generator running at 1/2 load consumes 11.3 gallons of gas an hour?????

yes that is correct (according to that chart)

A 300kW generator is also pretty massive. You could supply electricity for a cul-de-sac with that beast.

The larger the generator the more it is a gas/diesel guzzler and they do guzzle some gas/diesel.

Exactly. Whole house generators are commonly in the size range of 12-26kW.

 

[supermike80]

The fuel consumption is going to be tied to the amount of power it needs to provide. How big of a draw is your house? Once you know that you should be able to calculate the consumption based on the specs of the generator. It should have a general "mileage" listing in the manual similar to what you have for your car (mpg kind of thing).

OK, I will check on that.

I don't plan on running much - fridge, furnace, a tv if a game is on, internet, a few lights...... so not much.

Here is a table with an approximate consumption rate

Generator Fuel Consumption Rates

Ok I must be reading this chart wrong or something. Is this saying a 300Kw generator running at 1/2 load consumes 11.3 gallons of gas an hour?????

yes that is correct (according to that chart)

A 300kW generator is also pretty massive. You could supply electricity for a cul-de-sac with that beast.

The larger the generator the more it is a gas/diesel guzzler and they do guzzle some gas/diesel.

Exactly. Whole house generators are commonly in the size range of 12-26kW.

Well then that makes a ton more sense

 

[SFBayDuck]

Hadn't thought about actually putting a load on it, typically I just start it a couple of times a year and let it run for a bit, but I'll do so next time.

Running it with no load is better than nothing but you really need to have it loaded. You can eventually run into other problems running it with no load. Again, these things are meant to be used and that means loaded.

If you are using it for your house then it's a good idea to actually run it for the house even if you have commercial grid power. Just go through the steps you would do without having any power (turning off breakers etc prior to starting your generator) and then go ahead and load it with your house loads for an hour or so. Turn on lights etc to load it and make it work some. It's good for it.

Used the day off to catch up on some errands, including getting the portable dual fuel generator out. Poured a little of the gas in the can into each of the cars, and bought new gas for the gen and treated it. Fired it up and ran it with a space heater plugged in for about an hour to get some load on it. Switched over to propane and ran it on that for a bit. Then cleaned everything, checked the oil again, covered it up, and put everything back away. Always hoping I won't need it, but feel better having gone through the exercise in case we do.

Unfortunately the push button start doesn't work, but was able to get it going with the pull cord.

 

[FairWarning]

the ideal situation is a whole house from generac that runs on natural gas those babys are sweet and some of the folks around me that depend on sump pumps during rain have them because the generac comes on when the power goes out and the sump keeps on sumping and they are made in wisconsin so you cant beat that take that to the bank brohans

I see Generac commercials on ESPN2 quite a bit. Seeing that I plan on moving to central Texas at some point in the next decade-ish, this concept intrigued me. But as someone noted downthread, they're $16k??? I think I'd probably opt for something cheaper unless that price point lowers in the next 10-12 years.

My uncle has one, his was about $12k installed, uses natural gas. He is on oxygen and bedridden, so it just kicks on/off when needed.