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DIESEL GENERATOR, (as your primary power source)

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41hope

Member
Wanted to add lights but afraid to have too much on the grid. They say 1000w per bedroom per house, what if the house has 3 bedrooms but is small? I'd like to keep my electric bill somewhat close to my neighbors. So I thought this would be the best way to add 1000w with generator. Any thoughts appreciated.
 
P

pico

Active member
Veteran
I wouldn't be worried about adding another 1000w unless you are in a part of the country that regularly checks power usage and screws with people. I ran 15,000 watts in a 2 bedroom for years with no issue.
 
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pico

Active member
Veteran
It looks like this is a 10,500 watt genset. The fuel burn they use is different than US based systems. This is essentially the same sort of thing I was recommending in the thread a few years back, never knew about it until now. They are using g/kW·h, or grams per kilowatt hour, I was using gallons per kilowatt hour. Let's convert grams to gallons. A liter of diesel weighs about 850 grams depending on the refinement. So a gallon will weigh 3400 grams. This genset is rated at ≤340 g/kW·h. If we divide 340 grams in to 3400 grams we can see it runs at .1 gallons/kW·h. Since this thing maxes out at 10,500 watts we can multiply .1 gallons by 10.5 to see it will burn 1.05 gallons per hour at full load.

This is not very efficient compared to the other gensets we looked at in this thread. It is right about half as efficient as the isuzu 21k. Isuzu 21k was .0505 gallons per kilowatt hour compared to .1 for this unit.
 
Uncle FREEDOM

Uncle FREEDOM

Member
Some friends are looking at a generator as a solution, but they have a couple of questions...

How is a generator wired up to the ballats? (i doubt it is just a simple as turn the key and everything is running. Does the gen set not need to warm up? (and yes they will be running 24/7 i mean for initial start up and shut downs for maint.

So how do you wire this? A pull arm box to shut off/ turn on after warm up?

A Automatic transfer switch? (anyone have a simple to follow way to build one of these?)

Thanks for your time boys.
 
D

_Dude

Member
pico said:
I didn't read everything posted recently, but it would be very inefficient to run a generator, store that power in a battery bank, and then convert that power back in to 240v to run the lights. The extra equipment would also be very costly.

If you are going to run a generator, run it 24 hours a day, have 2 flowering rooms, and shut it down regularly for oil changes. Get a diesel unit made for continuous use and low RPMs.
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Yep. Buying some land with a waterfall and setting up hydro power is more practical than all that battery BS.

It would be nice to have a comprehensive guide to running a grow on a diesel generator from someone who had done it for a long period of time. Who wants to read 10 pages of people talking about solar power, wind, and other fantasies?
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
Step one to determine if you can run a generator to power your grow:

Do you have neighbors within a mile of you? If so, you should NOT proceed.
Do you have less than 20KW of lights planned? If so, you should not proceed.
Have you compared power rates of your utility vs the price of the generator and fuel usage per day? If not, you should not proceed.

Genny growers are more often than not running 50KW in light and up. The reason smaller guys don't do it is because it almost never makes economic sense. If you can get power for under $.40 per kwh, it's gonna be cheaper to run off utility power, maybe even higher depending on how much you pay for the genny itself.
 
spunion

spunion

Member
$0.40 per kwh seems high to me. Shouldn't it be more like 10-15 cents from a utility company. Still though, 0.05 gallons per kwh doesn't seem very expensive at all.

Thanks for bringing up the noise though, I wasn't sure how diesel gennys ran...was hoping they were a magical silent and exhaust free source of power somehow =P
 
Lazyman

Lazyman

Overkill is under-rated.
Veteran
spunion said:
$0.40 per kwh seems high to me. Shouldn't it be more like 10-15 cents from a utility company. Still though, 0.05 gallons per kwh doesn't seem very expensive at all.

Thanks for bringing up the noise though, I wasn't sure how diesel gennys ran...was hoping they were a magical silent and exhaust free source of power somehow =P
Click to expand...

In some places it is, but in Norcal (Pg&E) it's actually over $.040 per kwh on tier 4/5. Lots of power usage. It's only at very high levels that diesel gennies are worth it, even then it's not by a wide margin. Guys that run them talk about how they hate to leave their genny unattended, as anything can go wrong and ruin a crop. It becomes priority #1.

The noise is very difficult to fathom, as in remote areas a low humming genny carries for miles. In fact, I would say: If you have neighbors, you shouldnt even bother with a genny.
 
Dr. Buddington

Dr. Buddington

Member
Well, I don't know how you can say that only big grows use gen-sets. Say a Kubota SQ-21, which is a premium quality Japanese made genny, puts out 85 amps of 240V power while consuming 169 liters of fuel in 24 hours. Monthly that would be - 5239 liters or under 7k per month. With 85 amps of 240v you could easily run 15,000 watts in two rooms on a flip. Even if the grower has no skill, hopefully they can hit a pound a light. 15+lbs > 7k in fuel costs IMO which makes it a worthwhile venture. Now the logistics of pulling it off is a different question.
 
Aeroguerilla

Aeroguerilla

I’m God’s solider, devil’s apostle
Veteran
Dr. Buddington said:
Well, I don't know how you can say that only big grows use gen-sets. Say a Kubota SQ-21, which is a premium quality Japanese made genny, puts out 85 amps of 240V power while consuming 169 liters of fuel in 24 hours. Monthly that would be - 5239 liters or under 7k per month. With 85 amps of 240v you could easily run 15,000 watts in two rooms on a flip. Even if the grower has no skill, hopefully they can hit a pound a light. 15+lbs > 7k in fuel costs IMO which makes it a worthwhile venture. Now the logistics of pulling it off is a different question.
Click to expand...

since when is 15 lights considered big? lol we talking 40+ for example on a 60kw diesel gen running 2.8gals at 3/4 load per hour your talking roughly 9k in fuel every 60days which should get you 40-80 lbs if done correctly...

diesel fuel is equal 2 electricity costs at around 30-35 lights based on KWH for my area. if you go under 30 lights its cheaper on the grid. over 30 lights cheaper off grid. thats what he ment.
 
M

Marshall

Member
for most, the purpose of the generator is not to run cheaper but to be off the grid. That is a value that can be determined only by each individual.

But like in almost every other aspect of life, its economies of scale. running your 10kw gas Honda is not cost effective at all
 
C

Chillin

Member
lets say someone wants run about 10 600w lights(6000 watts) in a basement and lives on a 5+ acre property- neighbors are about 300 yards away- it is a 1500 sq ft 4 bedroom house, which isnt big- would it be smarter to buy a generator and if so what kind? i know people do the high watt grows all the time and this isnt huge, but it does feel better to be safe-considering 6000 watts could pull in a estimate of 40lbs a year, then the investment might be worth it @4k a lb- anybody have any ideas
 
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