alt.energy.homepower

On Aug 29, 10:31 am, Liam Greenwood wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:12:39 -0400, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
> > 3) In the end, I might get an el-cheapo 5 or 6 kW unit to
> > supplement the 2kw Honda - if only to drown out the
> > racket from my neighbor's 5k2 Home Depot special... -)
>
> > 4) Natural gas is maintenance-free.
>
> > The more I think about it, the more it seems to me like
> > having a gas line run to our garden shed and converting
> > whatever generator we have to run on natural gas OR gasoline
> > would be worthwhile move to address the realities of a *real*
> > power failure - . more than just a couple of days
> > duration and limited access to gasoline....
>
> I'm in a semi-rural area, and there isn't any natural gas
> piped in. So I was thinking of getting a whole house sized
> generator (has to manage the well pump as well as whatever
> else is considered 'critical'). My thought was to get a
> propane powered unit, rather than gas or diesel, as delivery
> and storage of propane seems a lot more straight-forward than
> bulk storing gas or diesel. Tied in to this is my wife's
> preference for a gas cooker over electric, and maybe using
> propane for water heating.
>
> I know that I'd have to carefully look at the cost of kw per lb of
> propane vs kw per gallon of gas/diesel - but are there any other
> gotchas in a propane gennie I should look out for?
>
> No model in mind - I'm in the info gathering (aka 'dreaming') stage
> of planning, as we have only been in the house for 3 months and
> there are other more pressing concerns before I get to this
> project.
>
> Cheers, Liam


Liam -

I agree with the propane.
Underground, out of sight would be best.

If you can up seal-up diesel in say a 55 gal drum, then there are
posts indicating many many years of storage are possible.
But you still have to transfer it and filter it.

Propane is "naturally" sealed since it is under pressure.

Tri-fuel adapters let you go with propane - or gasoline in an
emergency if you have to.

If the unit is only for emergencies, then Fuel costs are less
important than they might be if you were getting all your power this
way.


Propane is less of an environmental risk.


best
Phil