propane or gas for generator

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bought a new generator from costco today. replaces my old 23 year old one. this one is dual fuel. propane or gas. mine old one is gas only and i have 20 gals stored for it.

now that i have the option of propane would that be a better way to go? or is gas still the best .
 
Propane never goes bad. Do not use the smaller tanks, use AT LEAST the hundred pound tanks at minimum, smaller tanks somehow don’t put out enough pressure and it won’t run correctly.



A 20/30 pound tank will freeze up with any kind of demand worth running, and a 100lb is much cheaper to fill.
 
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Even if you normally run on gasoline, finish it off with propane so it'll completely dry out the carburetor.

In the summer at least you could throw a 20lb bottle in a washtub full of tepid water to keep it from freezing up.

Liquid propane has somewhat less BTUs than gasoline per unit. I could get a 20 lb fill, which is 4.3 gallons, for $10.75 from BJs wholesale. That's $2.50 a gallon, a little cheaper than gasoline, for a little less power. But it's nice that I don't have a smelly gas can in my car. BJs claims DOT regs don't let citizens transport more than 90 lbs at a time, which to me, seems generous.

I have an aftermarket propane carb on my generator and several 20lb bottles. Will report how it works under extended heavy use.
 
If I could do it again, I'd go with a dual fuel generator. During the aftermath of the last hurricane that came thru here, there was no gasoline to be found. However, you could get your propane tank refilled at several places.
 
What brand did you buy? If it's a Generac, dual fuel could translate to twice as many things to go wrong. My 16kw standby Generac is 12 years old and is being held together by wire, zip ties and pressure treated wood.

For your original question, most people feel propane is safer than gasoline storage. Good luck with your purchase.
 
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Even if you normally run on gasoline, finish it off with propane so it'll completely dry out the carburetor.


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Originally Posted By: NormanBuntz
What brand did you buy? If it's a Generac, dual fuel could translate to twice as many things to go wrong. My 16kw standby Generac is 12 years old and is being held together by wire, zip ties and pressure treated wood.

For your original question, most people feel propane is safer than gasoline storage. Good luck with your purchase.


Bought the champion brand. was on sale for 549.00 for the 7k model. seems to run pretty good. quieter than my old one. 3 year warranty
 
Originally Posted By: mx5miata
Propane might be cleaner burning not as efficient or power output not 100% sure


Truth - - unless the compression ratio is raised to take advantage of the high octane,

Power will be down only a little bit - - - BUT
You will burn a LOT more gallons of propane than gasoline.
 
Propane has a vaporization rate from each size tank. You need to find how many BTU of propane your generator needs per hour and that will tell you the minimum tank size for a given temp. What might be fine in the summer may not work in the winter.

A 20 lb tank is good for a test, but not to run it to power anything. Minimum of 100 lb tanks as you can bring them places to get filled. Better to get a tank that is 100 gal. Or bury a 500 or 1000 gal.

Never rent propane tanks.
 
have not bought propane in a while. exchange seems to be about $21 and refill about $4 a gallon. with less btu per gallon and higher price , it seems that gas is still the way to go?
 
It's very location dependent, but Propane should be cheaper than Gasoline.

It has a little less energy, but not a huge difference.

You can buy propane in an emergency, as the refill process uses stored pressure, not electric pumps, to fill. You can't buy gas if there is no electricity.

Propane stores much better, essentially forever. Gas goes bad after some months, I would say 6 maximum but others say 12 months.

Propane gells at low temperatures, making it useless (no pressure). You can heat the tank to turn it back into a gaseous state but that can be dangerous if you don't know how to do it. Some say the critical temperature is -20F but in my experience it's closer to -35F. However it will have less pressure as it gets close to that temperature. 0F is fine though.

Agree on avoiding the BBQ-sized tanks. May as well consider using the same cylinder for the BBQ though. If you do something like that, make sure the generator is far enough away from the home to avoid carbon monoxide entry to the living space.
 
Only thing with gas is remembering to change it out . Then there’s the dreaded Ethanol monster. It especially corrodes and plugs carbs on gen sets because they sit so much. Don’t ever use it in a Genny unless you’re actually simply burning it through at the time. It’s ok for that though. Just don’t leave it sitting ? Also no matter which you use put a fuel shut off and mini filter on the line. They’re cheap .
Gas, no opinion. I used to drive a 350 Chevy with a 2 bbl carb and a switching rig. Some sort of gov study trial rig 1070 Chevy half tons even had air bags right down to the exact same label on the visors in later they drove as normal burned more propane than gas and did stink if you sat idling long. Also tended to give one a headache if you sat idling long.
 
Some municipalities or utilities may turn off the natural gas in a disaster situation . To prevent fires .

We do service work for a Telco . They found that out , the hard way .

Otherwise , natural gas would be a great solution .

When I was young , we lived on a farm . We used butane / propane for the house & Dad's 720 John Deer tractor ran on butane / propane . The tank was large , from the point of view of a little boy . Could have been 250 gallon , could have been 500 gallon .

We never had problems with the vapor pressure being too low in the winter , or gelling . But it seldom got lower than -10F . Mostly 0F or above .

As has been said , no storage life limitations on butane / propane . Ethanol is at the other end of that spectrum .

A dual fuel generator , I agree , I would consider setting it up to do both .

Beast of luck to you , :)

Wyr
God bless
 
So, I have one of these dual fuel units as well. Only ever tested the propane running on a 20lbs tank. Never used it to run the house on propane, but I liked the idea that I could (always have at least 1 full 20lbs tank).

I see people recommending 100lbs tanks... Where do you buy those? Where do you store 100lbs tanks just set them in the yard?
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Some municipalities or utilities may turn off the natural gas in a disaster situation . To prevent fires .

We do service work for a Telco . They found that out , the hard way .

Otherwise , natural gas would be a great solution .

When I was young , we lived on a farm . We used butane / propane for the house & Dad's 720 John Deer tractor ran on butane / propane . The tank was large , from the point of view of a little boy . Could have been 250 gallon , could have been 500 gallon .

We never had problems with the vapor pressure being too low in the winter , or gelling . But it seldom got lower than -10F . Mostly 0F or above .

As has been said , no storage life limitations on butane / propane . Ethanol is at the other end of that spectrum .

A dual fuel generator , I agree , I would consider setting it up to do both .

Beast of luck to you , :)

Wyr
God bless


Natural gas is the best option for power outages.

If a disaster occurs and enters into week-2, good luck trying to hide the sound of that gas generator. Good luck trying to find fuel in any continued disaster. People that have begun to starve will be hearing your loud generator and on your property quickly. Better have plenty of ammo.

Natural gas is the perfect recipe for power outages that last multiple days and keep the generator sound down to a minimum.

I wouldn't look at anything, other than natural gas.
 
I don't see a big advantage for propane unless you're going to have a larger tank installed. Storing gas in jerry cans is fairly easy. You can also use it in your car during an emergency.
 
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