Diesel vs Propane Home Backup Generator

[DaveFromMi]

What are your opinions on propane vs diesel for home backup generators? We have a 500 gallon propane tank and could upgrade to 1000 gallons. Looking for ~14 kW. Seems that diesel engines use less (volume) of fuel and would be cheaper to operate. Not sure about the long term prospects for propane or diesel.
Kubota makes a generator in the power range I am looking for.

Kubota 14kW Diesel Generator GL Series | GL14000

Get Norwall’s Price—14kW Diesel Generator. Exceptional Power & Compact Design. D902 3-Cylinder Engine, Easy One Side Maintenance, and Free Shipping

www.norwall.com

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[lugbolt]

I don't have a lot of experience with propane other than fork trucks. I usually have to clean or replace the vaporizer on ours once every two years (average 200 hours a year), as the gas is kinda dirty. It gums up the vaporizer internally. Sometimes it can be cleaned and new diaphragms and gaskets but if it's real bad (and it usually is) it just gets replaced.

Propane won't make nearly as much power as diesel either but it is certainly a viable option. My other home (vacation house) had a Onan propane burning 10K backup, which worked fine. I had a contract with the company I bought it from and they serviced it once a year. Never failed to start or run, ever. I would do it again (service contract) if I had to, it wasn't real expensive. The only downside is, as you mentioned, fuel. If you end up using it a lot and you already use the majority of your propane, you'll want to go to a bigger tank if possible so that the genset can run as needed when the power is out. That was all the time in my case. At least twice a week. Lights would blink and come right back on in a few seconds as the genset fired up and ran. It ran the entire house, 1400 sq, built in 1950, propane central a/c./heat.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I think it comes down to your utility's reliability.
If you'll only need it every few years, propane is the way to go. It's stable virtually forever.
If you use enough diesel in other equipment to keep your supply fresh, diesel might be the way to go.
Think about how reliable your re-supply would be if you need the generator for an extended time.

 

[challer61]

It’s all about fuel and availability. Propane is easy and clean to burn and the truck comes as needed. Keep it topped off and you’re generally covered.

diesels are awesome. But diesel fuel is an organic and not that stable. Bugs grow in it, water is absorbed, in a year the sludge in the tank will clog the filters when you need it. So if you go diesel you’ll need fresh fuel always and if things get bad, you’ll be going out for fuel if you can get it.

for either fuel, just calculate how much you’ll burn for say a week at full load. The. You’ll know how much you’ll need to keep on hand, and maintain.

 

[PaulR]

x4 as above.
Diesel may be more prevalent, but LP can sit forever.

How about both? 14kw whole house LP, then smaller diesel for the garage, garage fridge/freezers etc.

 

[challer61]

x4 as above.
Diesel may be more prevalent, but LP can sit forever.

How about both? 14kw whole house LP, then smaller diesel for the garage, garage fridge/freezers etc.

I follow the Marine code for preparedness. One is none, two is one.

 

[DustyRusty]

I have had a 18 KW 4 cylinder diesel generator for over 10 years, and it always starts, no matter how cold it is, and I have never had a fuel problem. There is a 40 gallon plastic tank under the generator, and I treat the fuel whenever I refill with fresh fuel. I have never had a water or algae problem with any of my diesels, and I have owned diesel cars, trucks, etc. for close to 60 years. Todays modern diesels are easy to start and the fuels today are even better. Most of the problems with the fuels were a result of the paraffin in the fuel, and today that is no longer a problem when you use products such as Service Power. I never have to exercise my generator, because the local utility does it for me with power outages, and my generator has an auto start feature. When the power fails, the generator goes into starting mode, with a heater in the air intake, and glow plugs. It takes about 15 - 20 seconds, before it starts cranking, and once it is running, the auto start will detect when the power comes back on. It has to see 3 minutes of sustained pole power, before the generator goes into a cool down mode and disconnects from the generator and then shuts down. Many of the inexpensive diesel generators aren't this sophisticated, and that is why they cost less. If your outages are short and infrequent, then propane is the way to go. If they are frequent and the duration is long, diesel is the better choice.

 

[ranger danger]

Ill add that the price of propane has been steadily rising over the last 2-3 years as has diesel. I run a diesel generator as backup to my solar off grid property. If life goes to he77, I can make diesel. I cant make propane.

 

[skeets]

I forget what the gas loss is compaired with the diesel,, something like if you have a 15KW ,hooked to propane it drops to like 13KW, something along those lines. The gas does burn clean and easy to use. Diesel,, welll you have a diesel tractor and you buy fuel for said tractor, and you dont have any problems with that. It all comes down to taking care of what you have, I ran a gasoline gen for 20 some years and it ran and ran, till it just wore out ( Tecumseh Motor). And I am kicking around a diesel gen set, I have fuel I dont need another fuel source. Just MHO

 

[ranger danger]

General rule of thumb when I was in the propane business was you lose 10% horse power and 10% fuel mileage when you convert to propane. That equates to a 10% loss of power production. None of this matters on a genset designed to run on Lpg. only on conversions.

 

[Tughill Tom]

What are your opinions on propane vs diesel for home backup generators? We have a 500 gallon propane tank and could upgrade to 1000 gallons. Looking for ~14 kW. Seems that diesel engines use less (volume) of fuel and would be cheaper to operate. Not sure about the long term prospects for propane or diesel.
Kubota makes a generator in the power range I am looking for.

Kubota 14kW Diesel Generator GL Series | GL14000

Get Norwall’s Price—14kW Diesel Generator. Exceptional Power & Compact Design. D902 3-Cylinder Engine, Easy One Side Maintenance, and Free Shipping

www.norwall.com

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I would think about how many run hours and how starts/stops a year your looking at. Myself I'd go with propane, way less maintenance and things to worry about.

 

[NHSleddog]

We have a 15K NG whole house setup. We have been 10 days without power one time and 5-7 days without several times.

I have used them all through the years. Gas, no thanks. Propane is costy but convenient. NG is the best for us hands down.

 

[JWool]

3 or 4 years ago I was considering a propane standby generator, because often I was out of town when we had a power outage, it as always a challenge getting the gas unit started by someone othe than myself.
I considered the propane stand by system which probably would have been just fine, but, I like the the reliability and longevity of the diesels, the stand by units I considered around 14k had a air cooled briggs and straton motors or something similar.
Having a diesel truck and tractor I keep fuel around so I went with the Kubota GL11000 and it works great, maybe a little overkill because I will never use it enough to wear it out.
Kubota direct has some good deals on the generators.

Kubota Generator Shop - Kubota Generators Direct | Authorized Dealer

This is the online Kubota Generator Shop. Reliable and dependable, Kubota generators will provide years of service bought from kubotageneratorsdirect.com.

kubotageneratorsdirect.com

 

[JimmyJazz]

I would base my decision on price and availability. I have an elderly friend and a true Scotsman (this means FRUGAL) who is strangely attracted to generators. He acquires them on the extreme cheap from various sources ,"refurbishes" them (his words) and sells or trades them. He has offered me a generator on several occasions and I have politely declined. These are large (to me) primarily diesel units. My feeling is that if I were in the market I would source an inexpensive used unit as there seem to be plenty available. If you are interested in the Scottish offerings let me know. The guy is a retired, eccentric ,electrical engineer who had successfully helped fix my formerly owned ancient Kubota powered Steiner tractor. Located in Pittsburgh, PA . The Paris of Appalachia.

 

[ranger danger]

NGV

We have a 15K NG whole house setup. We have been 10 days without power one time and 5-7 days without several times.

I have used them all through the years. Gas, no thanks. Propane is costy but convenient. NG is the best for us hands down.

NG is the way to go if you have it available. Problem is its primarily a urban, suburban fuel only. Us rural folks can't get it.

 

[Tughill Tom]

I would base my decision on price and availability. I have an elderly friend and a true Scotsman (this means FRUGAL) who is strangely attracted to generators. He acquires them on the extreme cheap from various sources ,"refurbishes" them (his words) and sells or trades them. He has offered me a generator on several occasions and I have politely declined. These are large (to me) primarily diesel units. My feeling is that if I were in the market I would source an inexpensive used unit as there seem to be plenty available. If you are interested in the Scottish offerings let me know. The guy is a retired, eccentric ,electrical engineer who had successfully helped fix my formerly owned ancient Kubota powered Steiner tractor. Located in Pittsburgh, PA . The Paris of Appalachia.

"The Paris of Appalachia" Now that's funny and i don't care who you are!!

 

[ctfjr]

Several years ago my son in MD and I bought 2 10K diesels from an auction at FT Meade. The government had refurbished both of them and put them on brand new trailers - then put them up for auction. Mine had .75hrs on the clock. Only the government.
I installed mine in our garage and sold the trailer. My son still has his on the trailer.
It's wired for manual changeover. I found a brand new 400amp switch on ebay for $200 - shipped free.
I added digital current monitoring on each leg. Other than that it is just the way it came. I run it on #2 heating oil, just like I run my Kubota.
It's built like a tank - 4 cylinder Onan air cooled motor.
The company I work for sells Honeywell (rebadged Generac) gensets. A 10k unit weighs ~300lbs. This one weighs 1300. I couldn't get it off the trailer with my former L3400 - had to call a tow truck to lift it off.
Runs our whole house easily.

 

[DaveFromMi]

Thanks for all the advice and info. I am leaning toward a diesel generator. From another site/forum, the consensus is that diesel would be easier to find if things go south.

Propane is cleaner/less maintenance and automatic, but uses more volume of fuel. Propane prices are going up significantly in the future, supplies are likely decreasing.

I have a pre-Y2K Generac 4 kW gas generator. I take care of it and it runs like new.

 

[ranger danger]

NGV

We have a 15K NG whole house setup. We have been 10 days without power one time and 5-7 days without several times.

I have used them all through the years. Gas, no thanks. Propane is costy but convenient. NG is the best for us hands down.

NG is the way to go if you have it available. Problem is its primarily an urban, suburban fuel only. Us rural folks can't get it.

 

[BAP]

Depending on how cold of temperatures you see in the dead of winter, a propane generator is more likely to start at -20f than a diesel if something goes wrong with the glow plugs or heater.