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MN Renovator · 01-01-12, 10:50 AM

That's not a bad idea to remove the waste heat. Now I know I'm not talking about diesel but if you could seal the exhaust and run the exhaust pipe outside and use a quiet generator indoors like a Honda 2000 watt inverter generator, which is quieter than a refrigerator at under 1000 watts, you'd have your heat outside and have a small fuel efficient generator inside. Those run off of propane too but I wouldn't want those fittings in my house. Then again people I've asked people who use them more than I have say that 1 gallon puts out about 5kw as long as it has enough load for idle speed or to where it raises itself slightly off idle.

So todays gasoline price at $3.199/gallon where I am so 5kwh per gallon is 64 cents/kwh. I don't think diesel is going to be too much cheaper to run, at least its not going to cut the numbers in half. My current generator, a 3kw Harbor Freight fixed speed direct alternator type(non-inverter) that I got for $240. It's probably a buck per kwh but I got it for power outages and for when I need to run large power tools that the inverter generators seem to hate(variable speed inductive loads don't get along well with most inverters) and it rarely gets used so I figure over the next ten years it will probably get an average of a gallon a year run through it.

I've put thought into generators though for solar off-grid applications because there will be times that there is either a need for a higher load or a need to compensate for less winter sun which likely come together when its time to heat the house when solar heat isn't around to keep the house warm or the batteries charged. I'd imagine propane would be more expensive than gasoline to run but probably much easier considering the house is likely heated with it in a remote location.

01-01-12, 10:50 AM	#21
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 939 Thanks: 41 Thanked 116 Times in 90 Posts	That's not a bad idea to remove the waste heat. Now I know I'm not talking about diesel but if you could seal the exhaust and run the exhaust pipe outside and use a quiet generator indoors like a Honda 2000 watt inverter generator, which is quieter than a refrigerator at under 1000 watts, you'd have your heat outside and have a small fuel efficient generator inside. Those run off of propane too but I wouldn't want those fittings in my house. Then again people I've asked people who use them more than I have say that 1 gallon puts out about 5kw as long as it has enough load for idle speed or to where it raises itself slightly off idle. So todays gasoline price at $3.199/gallon where I am so 5kwh per gallon is 64 cents/kwh. I don't think diesel is going to be too much cheaper to run, at least its not going to cut the numbers in half. My current generator, a 3kw Harbor Freight fixed speed direct alternator type(non-inverter) that I got for $240. It's probably a buck per kwh but I got it for power outages and for when I need to run large power tools that the inverter generators seem to hate(variable speed inductive loads don't get along well with most inverters) and it rarely gets used so I figure over the next ten years it will probably get an average of a gallon a year run through it. I've put thought into generators though for solar off-grid applications because there will be times that there is either a need for a higher load or a need to compensate for less winter sun which likely come together when its time to heat the house when solar heat isn't around to keep the house warm or the batteries charged. I'd imagine propane would be more expensive than gasoline to run but probably much easier considering the house is likely heated with it in a remote location.