On Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:54:29 -0500, Wes
wrote:

Laurie Forbes wrote:

On 12/18/2010 9:04 PM, Gerry wrote:
On Dec 18, 8:57 pm, Laurie wrote:
Would appreciate any comments, good or bad, on the Generac Guardian
series of stationary propane/nat gas generators (we are looking at the
14& 17KW sizes).

Thanks for any assistance.........

Laurie Forbes

Before you commit I suggest you do some number crunching as to what
it will cost to run a nat gas generator for, say a week's power outage
and compare this to what it would cost with a gas or diesel engine. I
did and found that that running my house off my Miller gas welding
machine was a lot cheaper in the long run, plus I had a welding
machine to boot

It surprises me that a diesel or gas gen would cost less to run than
natural gas as nat gas is a lot cheaper (on a BTU basis). In any case,
we want auto start/stop and don't want to mess with liquid fuels if
possible. The specific circumstances also require idiot proofness.

Laurie Forbes


Laurie,

I'm a bit skepical that NG costs more than diesel or gasoline. I believe NG is actually
less expensive.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/calc/fuel_cost.cfm

BTU's are Btu's, just a standard measure of energy. Using the above site the prices they
consider normal (I didn't not verify validity), I get the following:

Electricity 37.17 per 1M btu
NG at 16.35
#2 Fuel oil at 23.58
Propane at 28.65
Firewood at 12.99 (steam powered genset anyone, just put that one in there for jest)

NG is normally still available during power outages. Now an earth quake might be a
different issue since the distribution system may be compromised.

Sadly generac doesn't make a dual fuel as in NG/Fuel oil in their residential line. They
do for their industrial offerings. That would be sweet and offer you options.

Wes

http://www.propane-generators.com/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Generators...cur&id=4048178

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/ge...generator.html

Etc etc etc

Top 10 Democrat Party Slogans

10. Bitterly clinging to aborton and taxes
9. We didnt destroy your freedoms, you can
visit them at the Smithstonian
8. If you want us to listen to your opinion, move to Europ
7. Someday none of this will be yours
6. We can't tax terrorism, so who cares?
5. Please don't vote us out!! None of us can hold a real job!
4. Why the Founding Fathers limited Government:
Racism!
3. Reducing America's carbon footprint, one job at a time.
2. America: We just cant wait to see how it ends!!
1. Making everything in this country free, except you.