Generator use in extended outage

Most power outages are short run events, so if the fuel expense is unimportant let it run and you'll have no carbon build up from short on offs (really hate nondiesel gennies) If its a prolonged event (days or weeks), cycle it 8 on 16 off or less if you can manage it

__________________
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup........

We have had up too two weeks without power. Our power lines run through the woods and were ever they put them years ago. If the line has a problem in the woods they have to walk the line to find the trouble. Any way in my situation it is best to be able to run for a few weeks at a time. If the load is kept to a minimum the fuel use will be better.

i would consider an inverter and batteries for off peak times as another poster suggested. run the generator just during heavy load times.

If I had what the OP has, it'd run off of natural gas, and I'd let it run the maximum time between oil checks... free nat gas will make you do such things.

If I had to pay for propane, I'd run it twice a day, for an hour or two, to keep the fridge and freezers working, and do some loads of laundry. Put an inverter/charger with four or six deep cycle batteries on the system, charge it up, and run the telly, computer, and lights off the battery bank... 3gal/hour would get mighty expensive... a week, your 1000 gallon tank is going to be gone...

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Thanks everyone... this is my plan and just for this reason. I know nothing about deep cycle batteries, but that sounds like an interesting supplement to the Generac. I'll have to do some studying up on them.

I came home the other day and the power was out, had been for about an hour. The generator was running but DH had all the lights/tv etc off. I asked why the generator was on if he wasn't using any power...he just hadn't felt like going out back to turn it off. Never mind the propane we're burning Harry, you're probably smart to stay out of this one!

__________________
I'm not easy to live with, I know that it's true. You're no picnic either baby...

Don Henley

I agree with the recommendations of the others that suggest cycling the generator on and off. Residential Generacs run at 3600 rpm. Cycling it will extend the life as well as save fuel.

A smaller engine will consume less fuel, be less expensive to purchase, and will cost less to operate (= more fuel efficient) at 100% load. More watts for less fuel. In a power failure situation, your fuel is probably finite -- why not make a system that lasts as long as possible on what you can have on hand?

That said, I'm a computer guy, not a diesel engine guy. So I can speak to the inverter/battery/operation parts better than the mechanical parts. for me, when a diesel engine breaks, especially a small one, it's often cheaper to just buy another diesel than to get it rebuilt, based on quotes I've gotten.

Most of the computer facilities would exercise their generators once a month on a schedule, but they'd never get any other use.

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com

I would like to recomend the miltary surplus MEP series. They usually have low hours and are probably the most, over built generators made.

We have a whole house gennie and ran it for 4 days once when we had an ice storm. Ours uses around 2 gallons LP an hour when under a full load. I look at it this way, we got it to use it during power outages and so we will.

__________________
Miracles are like snowflakes
They happen with little fanfare and they're everywhere.

I always thought I wanted one of those whole house generacs until I learned it takes alot of propane to run them.

We have a 6500 Generator & it runs almost everything we need in the house & does a really good job so we'll just stay with that. It runs on regular gas & a full tank lasts about 8 hours.

We were out of power a few years ago in the middle of winter & we used our generator & everything ran just great.

While the OP wasn't clear on what he was trying to accomplish with his 20KW generator, I thought is was excessive. There are people who have that kind of setup in hot climates to keep AC running during a power outage, but his question about cycling seems to point away from a use like that.

3 gallons/hour fuel consumption seems a little high. It might draw that at 100% load, but you won't be seeing that. I had a 4300 watt generator that burned about $1/hour in fuel at various loads. I suspect that a 20KW generator will burn closer to 1 gallon/hour unless you have a heavy draw.

__________________
Ask Me About Linux System Administration

In our situation we get to over 100 degrees in the house and at our age heat stroke is a big issue. We can use a small window shaker now with our gas generator and the TV and computer and refrigerator and freezer. I run it about 2 o’clock when it starts to get hot and shut it off around 10 PM when it cools down enough. I am planning on getting a gas furnace and AC unit all in one package and our small generator won’t run it. We are looking at a 22 KW unit too.