Propane or gas generator? (Fryeburg, Liberty: how much, water heater, camp)

[boonelsewhere]

buried power lines is a way to go, i like trees, i just too afread to trim tree branches near power line. i been told by power company you can NOT burried 3000-4000 feets of high voltage line, it weak the line some thing like that i don't know the detail. but what i can do is bring in the over head line on the pole with in 1000 feet, then run the line under ground to the tranformer with in 300-400 feet to the house, from there to the house underground.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I have seen 765,000 volt lines in Quebec. When the humidity is low they crackle and emit sparks at night. When it's damp and foggy they have halos around them at night. That is a huge amount of power to cram into a wire about 2 inches in diameter.

[mensaguy]

Is there much difference in the amount of noise a gasoline powered generator will make compared to a propane powered one?

That could certainly make a difference to some people.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by mensaguy

Is there much difference in the amount of noise a gasoline powered generator will make compared to a propane powered one?

That could certainly make a difference to some people.

Not really. Almost the same noise from what I have seen, but with the larger stationary units, they have an enclosure that does a really nice job muffling the noise. Combine that with a nice muffler system and I have installed them 3' from a house, and you don't really notice them while inside.

[mensaguy]

Thanks for that info. I had been leaning strongly toward a propane generator based on my experience with gasoline going bad in a can when it is not used for a long time. However, if I can preserve the gasoline, I may have to rethink. Have you noticed any difference in the difficulty starting a gasoline vs a propane powered engine?

[Bydand]

Personally I think the LP engines fire a bit easier, especially when cold. I have had my gas powered generator fail to start because I didn't change out the gas over the course of the winter, even with Sta-bil in it. In fact I have the carb downstairs right now soaking to get a layer of "varnish" out of it because it was getting hard to start again the last time I checked it. (Usually start it and let it run for 30-45 minutes every month I don't have to use it.)

[Bydand]

When we get our bigger place this Summer the unit I am going to install is narrowed down to these two units.
Guardian 16kW: GUARDIAN 16kW

Generac 16kW: 16 kW Air-Cooled Home Standby Generator (http://www.generac.com/Products/Residential/AirCooled/16KW.aspx - broken link)

I have installed both of these units for other people and they are sweet running rigs. The transfer switch they have bundled with them are quite nice and very good sized actually. It will come down to who has a better price and guarantee when I get ready to buy. Both are great units, both are rated almost identical, and both are very quite when running even under a load.

[mensaguy]

Thanks for the practical advice. Based on that, my original thought that LP would be easier to start when needed still stands.

I'm going to put a meter on some circuits this summer and try to come to a conclusion as to what size I should buy. I still have a couple of years to finalize my thoughts before I want to have one in place.

[Maineah]

We have a 6500 watt Yamaha generator for back up. It's electric start and pretty quiet for the output size. I poured a small concrete pad for it and installed an outside pulg for it. The plug runs to a Gen-Tran transfer switch beside the breaker box. It has ten circuits in it which can be used seperately or doubled up for 220 volt service. Since installing it four years ago we've never had to use it! I keep the generator in the barn and have a lifting rig for it that I use with the front end loader of the tractor.

I have the well pump,sump pump,furnace,freezer,refrigerator,(stove is gas),and a few lighting circuits wired up to it. I run the generator bi-monthly for a couple of hours to charge the battery and change the gas out every 6 months. I use Sta-Bil in it to keep the gas fresh.

I also have a small,very quiet, 2000 watt Honda generator. We use it for camping and I use it when I need power in the woods or away from the house. I also use it to tap my maple trees with. I have had occasion to use the small generator for power outages that last only six to eight hours or so. I mostly use it to cool down the refrigerator and maybe run the freezer it it happens to be summer. You can't run the whole house with it but it's big enough to run a coffee maker, power saw, electric frying pan, lights and other small appliances, (not all at once mind you). We have the big generator ready for a prolonged outage (days) like the Ice Storm of '98 which Acadianlion luckily escaped. Many of us learned a valuable lesson about being prepared for prolonged power outages from that storm.
Now my in-laws who are getting up there have a whole house propane backup genset that automatically kicks in when the power goes out. It's set up way out by their barn and my mother-in-law says she never even knows when it's running. They have about $40,000 in that system. My set up was less than $2000.

I always like to add whenever generators are talked about that there are always people who make the mistake of running a generator inside their house. The only loss of life from the '98 ice storm was from people running generators inside the house. Don't do it. Carbon monoxide will kill you.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Somebody took your inlaws for a ride. The local general store here has a large propane generator hard wired to a GenTech switch. It is full automatic and cost under $13,000 all installed. It will run large refrigerators, vet fans in the kitchen, well, furnace, gas pumps and lights. The generator is a sine wave unit and computer friendly. Got to keep the Megabucks line open y'know.