We’ve been without ‘factory’ power since yesterday morning, and are on the Generac 20kw. Hourly consumption of propane, at our demand level, at about 32 degrees, and with the thermostat set at 65 degrees, seems to be about 2.5 gallons per hour. I had always wondered what the real demand level was. Now I know. Yay me!

If temps had been down as low as they were during the Big Chill, demand old have been a good bit higher.

How big is your fuel tank?

Do you have one of those fancy electronic gages, or are you just eyeballing the tiny gauge on the tank?

The old rule of thumb that I learned was that propane consumption is around 0.10 gallons per KWH produced. Things may have changed.

yikes! - that's 60 gallons per day!

What are you running that's pulling that much power?

Yeah that seems very high, I would double check my calculations.

Just looked at the specs on a 20kw Honeywell (made by Generac, I believe). Shows to use 3.56 gal/hr LPG at full load.

I'd bet your 2.5 gal/hr estimate is pretty darn close.

I cranked up the Northern Tool 5500 about 4:00 Tuesday. From looking in the tank a bit ago I think I've used about 17 or so gallons now.

Thanks to a recent education on here I just bought this last week and now have full usage of this machine vs. half. We have cords going everywhere around here, but have refrigerator, deep freezer, TV, lights, computers, coffee, etc.

Calls to Oncor get a message saying something like, "We don't know yet when you will have power." We have so many damaged trees our place looks like a tornado came through.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IUJ5VW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

that has been my hesitation to buy...Propane at 3 dollars a gallon x 60 gallons =180.00 per day....and you need a huge tank....

at idle they use 2 gallons per hour...

Buy the propane when prices are lower, like summertime.

Well, the liberals will tell you to charge your electric vehicle during the day when the sun shines so the solar panels will charge it....go to work at night....lol

I've been thinking of going to a bigger portable unit and was considering a dual-fuel model. I think I'll stay with gasoline.

I will just leave this here

Now it appears we're getting into the inefficiency of electric power generation and why it's easy to waste money on electricity you created but didn't need and use.

This is why I went with the SMALLEST generator I could get by with, as opposed to oversizing...like THE INTERNET says you should always do. I went with an 18kW instead of 24kW or larger that everyone recommended. A simple interlock on the resistance heat strips and we are in good shape.

I am willing to do a little load management to significantly extend the number of days I can run.

With the exception of inverter units, your generator never idles. It must always make 1,800 or 3,600 RPM to get 60 HZ. The larger the engine, the more fuel you burn at very low loads.


Look at the www.smartmetertexas.com data for your home. It shows your consumption every 15 min. Even in the current cold spell, we were < 3KW about half the time. In the summer, with the AC running, we are less than 5 kW, unless the water heater, oven, or dryer is running.

Unless you stay above 50% loading all the time, a larger engine means burning more fuel for the same amount of power.

Yep! An internal-combustion engine is what, only about 40% efficient at best , so 60% of your BTU's (and dollars) from the fuel source are going out the exhaust pipe,
which is why it's a terrible idea to size a generator capacity upwards to run Electric Heating - because fuel-furnaces are 97% efficient these days and a significantly better option instead!

Good information. I'd still rather pay +- $180 a day (for a short time) than going to a hotel and still worrying about my house.

I concur. It’s cheaper to pay$180 a day even for a week, than pay a 1% deductible when your pipes freeze and burst. Thus causing thousands in water damage, and taking months to be repaired.

You can leave your water running at a slow rate with no power on in the house to protect your pipes.

Unless you're on a well.

It's not just about pipes freezing...

Not just wells.
Over 250,000 people had no water or power during the Feb 2021 cluster. Our water quit running about 10 hours after the power went out. It was not just broken pipes, People had Water heater tanks rupture in my subdivision. People were throwing out canned food where the cans ruptured.

What do you do with pets? We have two bird dogs that are NOT hotel friendly.

My whole house generator brings me piece of mind....so does the portable generator I have for a backup of the backup...so does the 85,000 BTU propane heater...so does the window shaker AC that is a backup for the bedroom.

We both work from home and it was pretty much business as usual at hour house last Feb.

And we are on a well. Rumor has it that we won’t have power till Saturday. I shut down the generator and will start it up at dark and run it till about 9 pm. And I’ll run it in the morning for a few hours. Got the Big Buddy heater going now. With the fan on, that thing will throw some heat. Put a Mr Buddy in the bathroom, for the wife. And the fireplace is going good.

I called Pinnacle Propane for a resupply, which would let me run the generator for another day and a half approx. Those people are terrible suppliers. The woman said she’d entered my order and they’d have a truck out our way “in 5 to 7 days”. Good Lord. All the small mom and pop propane dealers have been bought up by the big multi state companies. Service has gone from good to awful.

Neighbor and I cleared all the roads into our area. Much use was made of the pole saw and the new Stihl 251. So now the propane truck can get to me in “5 to 7 days”.

Ok, so now I have grumped. Truth is that I do have heat, whereas many folks do not, so we are Ok.

Are you on PEC? If so, you're in my same "district" and I'm sure you'll get your lights on before me. Crap.