Power outage again??

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by aiden_is

I think the lure of diesel is that they can run on just about any kind of fuel like kerosene, etc, so they have a better perceived usability. I have no idea how true that is in practice however.

Another factor with diesel is that the energy content of diesel is about 1.5 times greater than propane. So assuming roughly equally efficient motors, you can generate more electrical power per gallon of diesel compared to a gallon of propane. Some believe the lifetime of a good diesel motor is longer than a propane motor.

Dave

[mistyriver]

Originally Posted by Cnynrat

Another factor with diesel is that the energy content of diesel is about 1.5 times greater than propane. So assuming roughly equally efficient motors, you can generate more electrical power per gallon of diesel compared to a gallon of propane. Some believe the lifetime of a good diesel motor is longer than a propane motor.

Dave

We found the diesel genny to just be more of a pain to store fuel for and since propane is easily delivered (and we use propane for other things), that was much easier. Also our diesel was more finicky in cold weather which was mostly when we used it.

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

We found the diesel genny to just be more of a pain to store fuel for and since propane is easily delivered (and we use propane for other things), that was much easier. Also our diesel was more finicky in cold weather which was mostly when we used it.

Absolutely correct that diesel fuel is more difficult than propane to store for long periods of time. It needs to be treated with something like diesel Sta-Bil, and is subject to contamination by water among other things.

And yes, it can be finicky in cold weather.

All this goes to show that there are tradeoffs regarding choice of fuel for a generator.

DAve

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

We found the diesel genny to just be more of a pain to store fuel for and since propane is easily delivered (and we use propane for other things), that was much easier. Also our diesel was more finicky in cold weather which was mostly when we used it.

And this was part of our reason for propane. We like to cook with gas, so we did a gas kitchen cooktop, and we have a gas clothes dryer.