Recently by Eric Peters: A Modern Take on u2018PlannedObsolescence'
Having a generator for back-up power is great unless you dont have the fuel to run the generator. The irony of the back-up generator most of them, at least is that they run on gas. And whats the item thats usually hard to get when the powers down?
Gas.
About two weeks ago, a violent storm line called a derecho passed through our area; thousands of people lost power not for a few hours, but in some cases, for a week or more. The lines queued up real fast at local gas stations the ones with still-operable pumps, anyhow. You could not buy a portable five gallon (or 1 gallon) gas jug at any Lowes or Home Depot in the area. Many people had generators. But sometimes, they couldnt get gas for them. Which meant they might as well not have had the generator, for all the good it did them.
And this was just a relatively minor and known-to-be-temporary situation. Imagine a more serious and longer-term SHTF-type of scenario. Just when you need gas the most so will everyone else.
Which means you probably wont get any gas.
No gas no power.
Well, you could store up some gas. The problem with that idea is that gas especially ethanol-adulterated gas, which is in fact 10 percent alcohol does not store well, even with fuel stabilizer added and even if you keep the stuff in a sealed container kept in a dark and fairly cool place. Three months or so at the outside. After that, you risk bad gas and a gummed-up carburetor in your generator. Which means it wont run.
Which means you wont have power.
Thats why I converted our generator to operate on multiple fuels gasoline, propane and natural gas. This has several advantages, functionally as well as practically speaking.
The obvious one is I am not dependent on gasoline for back-up power. If the juice goes out for a couple of days or longer I dont have to worry about queuing up with everyone else down at the gas station and hope the gas stations open. I keep about 100 pounds of propane in storage enough to operate the essentials (most especially the well pump) for weeks. A month or two, if need be if I limit the time the generator runs. If your home has a large propane tank or even better, a natural gas hook-up you could run the generator almost indefinitely. Or at least, for a long time. Long enough, probably, to make it through all but complete SHTF-type scenarios.
This is peace of mind gasoline cannot provide.
Propane also stores indefinitely or practically indefinitely. A portable 20 pound tank will be as good a year from now as it is today, provided you keep the valve from rusting up. Assuming you keep the tank in a reasonably well-protected environment such as an enclosed shed or in a garage, the fuel itself will last for years. So, no hassles keeping track of when you bought your fuel and how old it is and whether its time to run the stuff through your weed-whacker, just to get rid of it. Buy a few 20 pound (grille-size) tanks or one of the large 100 pound cylinders whatever works best for you and youre set. Its like having long-term storable food.
Propane (and natural gas) also burns more cleanly which will extend the life of your generators engine as well as increase replacement intervals for spark plugs and oil.
Theres also the money issue. Gas even now is still pretty expensive. If you find yourself in a situation where its necessary to rely on gasoline to run your generator for an extended period, the dollars will add up quickly. The typical portable generator has a five gallon tank, which will typically run the unit for about 10 hours or so. At $3 per gallon current prices thats about $15 a day to run the generator. If you have to run it for two weeks, youll be spending more than $200 to keep the lights on and the food in your fridge from spoiling. At $4 or $5 a gallon, it gets harder to keep the lights on.
At $7 or $8 a gallon, many people wont be able to afford to run their generators at all.
Propane and CNG are not only cheaper on a per-gallon-equivalent basis, theyre not a subject to wild price increases because there are vast reserves of the stuff right here in the USA. Plus, you can stock up now at current (low) prices and not sweat future (inflation-driven) price spikes as much. Because theres no worry about the fuel going bad in three or four months time.
Buy now, use later even if later is several years from now.
Bottom line: There are no downsides and lots of upsides to multi-fuel operation. So, I went ahead and got the kit from U.S. Carburetion (see here) for about $180. It included all the components needed to convert my 8,000 watt portable generator to multi-fuel operation. I just finished doing the install and thought Id share the experience.