Generator

whats up every1?! I've been looking to take myself off grid and have been thinking of investing in a diesel generator to power my entire house. I also have equipment/know how/resources to produce bio diesel at a rate of 40 gal per 24 hours. however I like the "green" aspects of a propane generator. I was wondering if anyone had any expirience with larger generators and could enlighten me to the pros/cons of using one. as I understand servicing and maintenance on these things can be a bitch to say the least if you run it non stop... is this true, is there a better option/idea/brand? open to all suggestions and any insight would be much appreciated. I'm looking at a 24000 watt GENARAC type of generator. for arguments sake lets say i need it to pull a 50% load at all times. to anyone with expirience...please school me on the many points of using a large generator that needs to be addressed before I do the switch-aroo and bet the farm if you will. thanks for your time

we have a 9k and a 13k (i think) generator on the property. they are both generacs (don't remember the models i can check tomorrow though) and have never had a problem with either of them. however, they only come on when the power goes out, and to do their weekly cycle thing every monday... they are both propane. do you have a free supply of oil (from restaurants or whatever) to create bio diesel from? if so that sounds like a great idea for almost free/very low cost energy.

it will take alot of work & some money to produce enough bio diesel to run a generator 24/7.
devide the cost of the generator by the number of hours it will live and add the cost of your labor & any expenses to make the fuel. it may cost more than you save.I dont know what it takes to make biodiesel but is it worth say 10 hrs a week of your time & $20 of materials to make a batch of fuel to save a $200 electric bill? if its only an hr or 2 of your time a week & $15 to make the fuel, go for it!
when I first bought my house,it had a woodstove, I can get 2 loads of wood(about 15 face) delivered for $600. to save money,I decided to cut my own.when I was done,I figured I spent about150 hrs cutting and splitting. last time I did that! my time is worth more than $4 hr for hard labor.

mrmadcow said:

it will take alot of work & some money to produce enough bio diesel to run a generator 24/7.
devide the cost of the generator by the number of hours it will live and add the cost of your labor & any expenses to make the fuel. it may cost more than you save.I dont know what it takes to make biodiesel but is it worth say 10 hrs a week of your time & $20 of materials to make a batch of fuel to save a $200 electric bill? if its only an hr or 2 of your time a week & $15 to make the fuel, go for it!
when I first bought my house,it had a woodstove, I can get 2 loads of wood(about 15 face) delivered for $600. to save money,I decided to cut my own.when I was done,I figured I spent about150 hrs cutting and splitting. last time I did that! my time is worth more than $4 hr for hard labor.

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how did you figure a $200 electrical bill from using 12,000watts 24/7? the bill from using that much juice would be well over $1000 a month...

I don't know where medicalsbs420 lives or what he pays for a kilowatt.
the point was to add up the costs, in both money and time and decide if it was worth it.

thank you both for your input... I live in southern california and the power bill is highway robbery! I run a part time waste oil collection service and have good contracts with my clients, so I do have consistent and cost efficient access to resources for bio diesel production. cost involved with running the generator is not an issue for me when i compare the benefits. I am curious as to what kind of servicing schedule I would need to follow. ex: how many times per month I need to change oil, fill propane tanks, how difficult/costly it is to fill said tanks, how difficult installation is , etc. if a 24000 watt propane generator ran a consistent 50% load of 12000 watts 24/7. what would be the pros and cons? is what I'm describing even feasible? I plan on installing a silent GENERAC propane generator on the side of my house. I plan on filling the propane at air/gas-(or do I need a service truck to fill my tanks weekly/monthly?) so is filling the tank for a generator that size something I could do myself? apologies for my ignorance regarding generators... I have never used one bigger than a 1k watt portable that runs on gasoline, so this is a new world for me. would I need to be doing oil changes every 24 hours? any insight again is much appreciated and thank you for the input so far.

the generac commercial series recommend service every 200 hours or 2 years... that's pretty much just oil, oil filter, and check plugs, air filter, etc.. still, changing the oil in that thing every week or so would get annoying quick. as for propane tanks, you can use whatever size tank you want. we use 200# tanks on the houses that run the ranges/ovens as well and are filled commercially. we also have 100# tanks that we bring to get filled up. what you are describing seems feasible but will take some homework to figure out the exact system that fits your needs. it also may be more efficient to get a smaller generator, say 16kW and run it at 75% load... there's lots of good info and answers to your questions @ http://www.generac.com/

thanks cookie monsta! I will look into a 16kw and weigh the options, just needed a little shove from someone whos been there. really glad to know it could be done, and i'm barking up the right tree. thanks for the link and for your time- it is valued very much.

i would rather take my chances and steal the electric power.

WeeGogs said:

i would rather take my chances and steal the electric power.

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and that, is because you are an idiot.

Originally Posted by WeeGogs
hells bells guv, when the lights are on the plants breathe in co2 and breathe out air, when the lights are off they breathe in air and breathe out co2, so without a constant air supply in the tent and out again they are getting all confused, it wouldnt have to be much of a fan but you would have to leave it running all the time, that is presuming you are not having any heat problems from your light. so best to work out your tent total area say 4 x 4 x 2 meters thats 16 cubic meters so you need a fan that will empty one third of that area (say 5 cubic meters) a minute every hour so you need a fan that will run at 5 x 60 = 300 so you need a fan that will empty 300 square meters an hour, presuming you are using a carbon filter your exhaust fan would need to be about 500 square meters an hour, so how does that grab you.

medicalsb420 said:

thank you both for your input... I live in southern california and the power bill is highway robbery! I run a part time waste oil collection service and have good contracts with my clients, so I do have consistent and cost efficient access to resources for bio diesel production. cost involved with running the generator is not an issue for me when i compare the benefits. I am curious as to what kind of servicing schedule I would need to follow. ex: how many times per month I need to change oil, fill propane tanks, how difficult/costly it is to fill said tanks,......

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If you can produce biodiesel yourself,it might be worth your time/money but if you are buying propane,it will be much more expensive than paying a utility bill. I looked at a 15k diesel that estimated 1 gallon an hr @70% load. thats 160 gallons a week.a quick search came up with a price of about a buck a gallon to brew your own.
as for maintance

toastycookies said:

...the generac commercial series recommend service every 200 hours or 2 years... that's pretty much just oil, oil filter, and check plugs, air filter, etc.. still, changing the oil in that thing every week or so would get annoying quick....

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thats 200 hrs or 2 yrs,whatever comes first. so you would be changing the oil ever 8-10 days & TC is right,that can get annoying quick

Oil change every week and more expensive than regular power bill, and make your own fuel? I would go with "fuck that".

I had this EXACT same thought pattern last night while I was hella stoned.

I was planning on integrating the diesel generator into a grid-tied system, which will, in turn, either offset the cost of running 4k work of lights, and/or make the utility company pay me for the electricity generated.

I've been looking up the bio diesel processing stations online, and they have units that can produce 80 gallons of biodiesel from 80 gallons of veggie oil every 24 hours.

Even if I have to do an oil change every 7-10 days, It would be worth it I think just because there wouldn't be a record of extremely high energy usage. I've actually already got a structure on my property thats got a power hook up, meaning I can simply drop the generator inside, sound insulate the walls, provide an exhaust discharge, and VOILA, completely stealth.

I'm always open to criticism, so please give me your .02