Hurricane season is here

[Daezee]

For y'all that have portable generators, my buddy has a cheap window unit ac that he throws in his bedroom window. He says his 4000 watt genset runs that, the tv, fridge and some lights just fine.

I agree it would run that. My 5k window ac uses about 450 watts after the start up surge.

 

[ABlaster]

What was the total cost for purchase+install?

Mine was about 15K as well, installed in 2022. We came from ground zero as well. We didn't have gas hooked up to the house so it had to be run from the street.

 

[Themumfordman]

Mine was about 15K as well, installed in 2022. We came from ground zero as well. We didn't have gas hooked up to the house so it had to be run from the street.

Anyone run a whole home generator on propane?

 

[Daezee]

Anyone run a whole home generator on propane?

A friend of mine has a whole house propane generator (no natural gas lines where he is in north Santa Rosa County). During the last long outage this year from the tornado in the north part of the county, he told me after something like 3 days he shut it off due to so much expense in propane being used. He then went to his portable gasoline generator to power fridge/freezer/lights/fan. I don't remember any specifics he said other than it used a lot of propane to run the house for long and the expense of the propane.

 

[TK5o]

Anyone run a whole home generator on propane?

I do. Have a 26kw generac that is hooked to a 320 gallon propane tank. If my numbers are right I should be able to live normal for 5-6 days without power. Probably could extend that another week if I turn stuff off and use it sparingly.

 

[TK5o]

It can get expensive. But I wanted enough power to live normally during our outages as they seem to happen fairly frequent where I live due to thunderstorms, car wrecks and general maintenance.

 

[Themumfordman]

It can get expensive. But I wanted enough power to live normally during our outages as they seem to happen fairly frequent where I live due to thunderstorms, car wrecks and general maintenance.

So 300 gallons of propane for less than a week? Dang….that would get expensive real quick. How big of a house are you powering with that, and are you also feeding a pool or additional outdoor equipment?

 

[ABlaster]

Anyone run a whole home generator on propane?

I don't know how the cost of natural gas compares to propane, but for a 24 hour period we are looking at about $60 a day.

I would read the owner's manual carefully about your fuel use; you might not be able to extend your gas by using less power. My model just runs. It doesn't throttle back depending on need. It's all there, all the time. It would use the same amount of gas even if the whole house was powered off. Since it doesn't save anything, we run the house just as we normally would.

 

[Themumfordman]

I'd imagine partially it would depend on if they run any of those on inverter technology. I'm in the HVAC and plumbing industry, and a lot of newer HVAC systems are running invertors that throttle up and down as needed, and the electric consumption is a fraction of what old-school equipment uses. One of my impending upgrades on our current house is a variable speed AC system, which will cut down dramatically on the startup amp draw when it kicks on and make it feasible to run a 4-ton system on a not massive generator.

 

[TK5o]

So 300 gallons of propane for less than a week? Dang….that would get expensive real quick. How big of a house are you powering with that, and are you also feeding a pool or additional outdoor equipment?

Two story house 2 a/c systems with delay starts for the generator to spool up and 2 electric water heaters. One up and one down
4 bed 3.5 baths. 3 fridges and 1 standup freezer. Could easily unplug 2 fridges if needed.

Company says they are only allowed to fill the tank to 80% which gives us 256 gallons of the 320 gallon tank.

Here is a link to some info

Generac Help Center

support.generac.com

 

[TK5o]

Hopefully within 5 days I can at least be on the list for a refill. If not break out the portable generator and run the essentials. We have no city water only well pump and no natural gas line option.
I have a hookup straight to the well pump for the portable if need be

We are on a main road with underground power so as soon as power is restored to the road we should have it

 

[Themumfordman]

Two story house 2 a/c systems with delay starts for the generator to spool up and 2 electric water heaters. One up and one down
4 bed 3.5 baths. 3 fridges and 1 standup freezer. Could easily unplug 2 fridges if needed.

Company says they are only allowed to fill the tank to 80% which gives us 256 gallons of the 320 gallon tank.

Here is a link to some info

Generac Help Center

support.generac.com

That's a lot of power to use, makes sense why the usage on LP is so high. We are in a single-story 4/2 in town, no NG in our neighborhood. Based on people having issues getting gas service after a big storm I think having your own fuel stored on site just makes way more sense. Personally I'd love to have a propane setup anyway so I can convert to a tankless outdoor water heater and gas range top. Also would mean that in a power outage I've got low or negligible power draw appliances for cooking and hot water.

 

[Miami_JBT]

For y'all that have portable generators, my buddy has a cheap window unit ac that he throws in his bedroom window. He says his 4000 watt genset runs that, the tv, fridge and some lights just fine.

I have a rolling portable unit. Close the bedroom door, it keeps the room at 72°F. Roll it into the living room, it keeps us cool, etc...

 

[TK5o]

We have a roll around unit also. So we could turn off our central air units and just use the roll around as needed

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

House gen. Change the jets to go from propane to NG. Guess I need to test my house and see how long it lasts. 2x 100 tanks. When it's on, can run everything. 12kw. I can hear when coffee is brewing. Dang coffee makers suck up mega juice. (Bunn)

 

[TK5o]

Also for comparison. Mom has the 22kw ran it for 5 days using everything as normal: stove, washer dryer, dishwasher. Everything except a/c and only used 100 gallons