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Generator power

V

Vaughn Simon

Jan 1, 1970
0
SteveC said:
looking to buy a generator to power my whole house, off grid. My current
power needs are about the highest is 47kwh/day down to about 22kwh/day,
average about 32kwh/day.

Would this generator handle my power needs?

The short answer to your question is that we don't have enough information to
answer your question. For a start, why don't you Google around for some
generator sizing guides like this one
http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/generators/content.aspx?asset=gg_wattage
and see what kind of answers you get? After you have done a bit of homework,
come back here and we can discuss your findings.

Also, define "off grid". Do you expect this generator to power your house
24/7/52 or is it just for standby use? There is a huge difference!


--
Vaughn

.........................................................
Nothing personal, but if you are posting through Google Groups I may not receive
your message. Google refuses to control the flood of spam messages originating
in their system, so on any given day I may or may not have Google blocked. Try
a real NNTP server & news reader program and you will never go back. All you
need is access to an NNTP server (AKA "news server") and a news reader program.
You probably already have a news reader program in your computer (Hint: Outlook
Express). Assuming that your Usenet needs are modest, use
http://news.aioe.org/ and/or http://www.motzarella.org/ for free, and/or
http://www.teranews.com/ for a one-time $3.95 setup fee. Newsguy,
http://www.newsguy.com/ offers a variety of reasonably priced services. If you
wish to experiment with real Usenet access, they will give you a free 2-day
trial account.
..........................................................

Will poofread for food.
 
S

SteveC

Jan 1, 1970
0
Off Grid, means that the power needs of the house will come from the
generator first, then if needed, take from the power company.

Steve
 
S

SteveC

Jan 1, 1970
0
well, no A/C. Have a well pump though. Oil Fired Boiler for heat and Hot
water, no Electric HWH. Fridge, stove, Microwave, Dishwasher, LCD TV,
washer, dryer, few electric power tools, using all CFL lights.
So my biggest draw would be clothes dryer, couple hours a week, less in
summer.

I just need to know if this would power our house or would I need more
power.
12kwh generator sounds like it's enough seeing my highest daily average
usuage is 47kwh.

Thanks,
Steve
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Per SteveC:
Off Grid, means that the power needs of the house will come from the
generator first, then if needed, take from the power company.

That seems to imply that the power company's electric would be
available at least most of the time.

What's the rationale for running a gennie with it's very high
cost per kilowatt hour instead of using the power company's
product at a much lower cost?

Or is the power company's per KWHR cost very high?
 
S

SteveC

Jan 1, 1970
0
Going to run BioDiesel in the Generator, so cost per kwh will be low.
Steve
 
J

Jim Rusling

Jan 1, 1970
0
SteveC said:
Going to run BioDiesel in the Generator, so cost per kwh will be low.
Steve
Then you really need to look at a 1800 RPM generator, they will last a
lot longer.
 
G

Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
You start by going around and reading the wattage ratings
off the nameplates of all those appliences. That will
give you an idea of your demand. But that will give you
your maximum. Your actual usage will be less. For instance:
your stove will use more or less power depending on
how many burners are on, and at what temperature. The
dishwasher will use more power if you have it set for
high temp wash or heated dry.

If you are trying to reduce your electric bill I would
suggest that you first reduce your consumtion. Replace
the electric clothes dryer with a gas/propane one. Also
the stove should likewise be replaced. Once those two
big loads are removed you may want to rethink the sizing
of your genny. A smaller one will use less fuel.

In a situation like this, you practice load management.
IE: you don't turn everything on at once. If you insist
that you need to dry a load of clothes while you run
a load of dishes, with a cake baking in the oven, while
you warm up a slice of pizza in the microwave, while
watching NFL on the TV, then you flush the toilet (causing
the well pump to kick in)... Well, that's going to take
a pretty big genny. If you can arrange it so that you
don't use your big appliences at the same time, you can
also get by with a smaller genny.

All these things, and several others, have to be taken
into account when sizing a generator.
 
B

bw

Jan 1, 1970
0
Keeping a
generator running 24/7 would be a major project in itself. Remember that's
over 5000 hours per month at full RPM, which is equal to about 250,000
miles per month on a car running 50MPH. A lot of fuel and a lot of wear
and tear on the machinery. I realize you may be willing to go without
power for a significant part of the time but you need to give it a lot of
thought and study. Perhaps someone does but I have not heard of anyone
running a house on generator power when commercial power is available. You
will likely get more (and much better) advice from people who actually
operate on generator power.

Don Young

A month is 720 hours.
 
V

Vaughn Simon

Jan 1, 1970
0
But the point remains that 365 days ran at (say) 12 hours a day comes to 4380
hours a year. That is plenty enough to wear out a cheap generator (even a
diesel one) in a single year.

There is a big difference between standby generator equipment/installation and
what you need for 24/7 prime power. Prime power operation takes prime
equipment. A prime power installation will also incorporate better mufflers and
some sort of sturdy generator shed to control noise. The equipment at the link
that the OP showed us did not look like prime power stuff.


--
Vaughn

.........................................................
Nothing personal, but if you are posting through Google Groups I may not receive
your message. Google refuses to control the flood of spam messages originating
in their system, so on any given day I may or may not have Google blocked. Try
a real NNTP server & news reader program and you will never go back. All you
need is access to an NNTP server (AKA "news server") and a news reader program.
You probably already have a news reader program in your computer (Hint: Outlook
Express). Assuming that your Usenet needs are modest, use
http://news.aioe.org/ and/or http://www.motzarella.org/ for free, and/or
http://www.teranews.com/ for a one-time $3.95 setup fee. Newsguy,
http://www.newsguy.com/ offers a variety of reasonably priced services. If you
wish to experiment with real Usenet access, they will give you a free 2-day
trial account.
..........................................................

Will poofread for food.
 
U

Ulysses

Jan 1, 1970
0
SteveC said:
well, no A/C. Have a well pump though. Oil Fired Boiler for heat and Hot
water, no Electric HWH. Fridge, stove, Microwave, Dishwasher, LCD TV,
washer, dryer, few electric power tools, using all CFL lights.
So my biggest draw would be clothes dryer, couple hours a week, less in
summer.

I just need to know if this would power our house or would I need more
power.
12kwh generator sounds like it's enough seeing my highest daily average
usuage is 47kwh.

I don't see where all those kWhs are going. I run much of the same stuff
and use about 5kWh/day. I do have a propane refrigerator so that saves
about 2 kWh.

Something else to consider: I run my whole house from one 3600 watt 48 volt
OutBack inverter. I have a second one just in case but don't really need
it. I have an X240 autotransformer which, along with one inverter, will run
my well pump as long as there are not too many other loads present. IOW we
manage the use of our appliances. You might want to consider inverters and
a battery bank and just use the generator to charge the batteries. That way
you would be running your generator only a small part of the time (depending
upon your usage) and you would have some quiet time and electricity
available when the generator is not on. I charge my batteries with a 6.5 HP
gas engine and an alternator and need to run it about 2-2 1/2 hours per day.
You could do something similar with bio-diesel. Personally I'm leaning
towards using woodgas but it's all very complicated.
 
U

Ulysses

Jan 1, 1970
0
Per ransley:



This is a totally idle question... but is anybody running one of
these things?http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001011.php

Ive heard 100000 hours is a possible life with Lister, and its a easy
rebuild, they maybe run near 1000 rpm which is the main reason of the
longevity, and its built like a tank.

I read something about the Chinese engines a while back and if I recall
correctly the new ones came with spare parts such as piston rings and head
gaskets and were intended to be repaired in the field with common hand
tools.
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Per ransley:
One of those would be deserving of its own small building, I want one.

One thing I was wondering about was noise.

On one hand, they run as low as 650 rpm.

On the other hand every diesel engine I've heard made a much more
obnoxious noise than a gas engine of similar size.
 
V

Vaughn Simon

Jan 1, 1970
0
(PeteCresswell) said:
On the other hand every diesel engine I've heard made a much more
obnoxious noise than a gas engine of similar size.

For many years my shop had an old Lister generator for standby power. It was
mounted in an old dumpster against the outside shop wall. I never thought it
was overly loud. Wish I still had it!

Vaughn
 
B

Bruce in alaska

Jan 1, 1970
0
ransley said:
Ive heard 100000 hours is a possible life with Lister, and its a easy
rebuild, they maybe run near 1000 rpm which is the main reason of the
longevity, and its built like a tank.

Yes, Listers have been known to run "Almost" indefinitely, HOWEVER,
Have you looked at what Lister Parts go for these days???? Not for the
faint hearted. Most run Genends at 1200 or 900 Rpm.
 
C

Cosmopolite

Jan 1, 1970
0
Gordon said:
You start by going around and reading the wattage ratings
off the nameplates of all those appliences. That will
give you an idea of your demand. But that will give you
your maximum. Your actual usage will be less. For instance:
your stove will use more or less power depending on
how many burners are on, and at what temperature. The
dishwasher will use more power if you have it set for
high temp wash or heated dry.

If you are trying to reduce your electric bill I would
suggest that you first reduce your consumtion. Replace
the electric clothes dryer with a gas/propane one. Also
the stove should likewise be replaced. Once those two
big loads are removed you may want to rethink the sizing
of your genny. A smaller one will use less fuel.

In a situation like this, you practice load management.
IE: you don't turn everything on at once. If you insist
that you need to dry a load of clothes while you run
a load of dishes, with a cake baking in the oven, while
you warm up a slice of pizza in the microwave, while
watching NFL on the TV, then you flush the toilet (causing
the well pump to kick in)... Well, that's going to take
a pretty big genny. If you can arrange it so that you
don't use your big appliences at the same time, you can
also get by with a smaller genny.

If he watches Green Acres, he will get pointers on the method. :)
 
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