Being a slave to a generator and it's fuel would be a horrible lifestyle. Diesel fucking sucks. Seems like a sure fire way to ruin an otherwise ideal remote, rural setting. Do something different, like greenhouses heated with wood, or do staggered light dep multiple spring/fall/summer runs.
Diesel Generator & General off grid thread
- Thread starter oceangrownkush
- Start date
I agree that putting a big diesel generator in a remote location isn't the most sustainable idea, which is why I suggested biodiesel. but your comment has me curious..
Where do you live?
Are you not a slave to your utility company already?
with 10k or less fuel wont be that bad. is there wood available. get a chipper and setup a gasifyer sp? setup,,,, oldschool tech. I once had a wood chipper with a 318 mopar engine
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Yeah, we're all slaves to something, right? I lived off the grid for years back in the 80's before there were solar panels, led's, SUV's, all the stuff that would make it so much easier to go offgrid today. Kerosene lamps, wood stoves, and a battery radio, at the end of a rutted woods road, over a wood bridge to a house I built from raw materials above 45L in far deep Maine. Generators suck. They just do. Diesel fuel is awful. The noise is annoying as fuck. But hey, I've worked for weeks on jobs run by gennies, and been on islands where every home had one, so go for it. Just chiming in because off grid stuff interests me.
if your not in a postion where you can store large amounts of fuel then your best option would be to get a pickup truck with a pump and rez in the back. maybe 300gal diesel reservoir. Then you dont need a company to come fill your tank. less exposure
JamesFarmer
Member
Propane over any fossil fuel always...
Propane (AKA: Liquefied PETROLIUM Gas) is a fossil fuel....
Diesel can gel in cold weather. That is why diesel sold in the winter time generally contains additives to prevent gelling. You may notice that in the winter we still have trains & semi trucks running without issue.
Another consideration with propane is that very often the "propane" that you buy is actually a mix of propane & butane. The boiling point of butane is 30F. So.... If you wound up with more butane than propane and the tank is located in a cold location it will not vaporize. Full tank but no usable gas.
I had this very issue last winter. During the summer I filled 3 propane tanks for my cabin in the mountains. They worked fine when the temp outside was 85F. When I returned over Christmas and the outside temps were in the teens to twenties none of my propane appliances would work. Tanks were all full but wouldn't produce gas.
I would also consider fuel cost. Based on current costs in my area, diesel will produce electricity at roughly half the cost of propane:
Propane 84k BTU's per gallon @ $3.00/gallon = $0.0357 per 1k BTU's.
Offroad diesel 128k BTU's per gallon @ $2.15/gallon = $0.0168 per 1k BTU's.
I used to service remote communications sites. For the most part the ones that had backup generators that were rarely used had propane generators. The sites that ran full time on generator were ALL diesel. I think that this is due to the much longer "shelf life" of propane. If you are running the generator daily then the shelf life of your fuel is a minor issue.
Just my $0.02..
Have fun!!
I visited a very secluded farm between starting this thread and now, their diesel gen created a fire that could have devastated their property and the surrounding area if they hadn't caught it immediately. I'm dubious of my own ability to maintain a diesel generator, truthfully.
Crazy bump, I had forgotten about this thread.
Crazy bump, I had forgotten about this thread.
Some folks that i know got busted because their cat diesel genny blackened the snow for a couple of km radius around their remote location.
They were later told that it looked like a big black zit from the air.
I think that the moral of this is that the more remote that you are the more that your activity will stand out and even more so if you plan to go large.
They were later told that it looked like a big black zit from the air.
I think that the moral of this is that the more remote that you are the more that your activity will stand out and even more so if you plan to go large.
I can only go by prices here but the national average this week is $1.87 per gallon.
propane here in Minnesota is $1.27 per gallon this week, and being as we heat our homes with the stuff it is usually good until it gets to -35 or -40F before it fails to convert to its gaseous state. not only are you being killed on price (more than twice our current price) but the quality of the product being sold to you isn't very good either, I've never ever heard of propane failing at that temp JF; complain to your dealer and have him swap out your tanks for a quality fill, or use someone else imo.
I have a portable propane generator in case we lose power here, in case of winter use and it's -35/-40F when power goes out I rigged my genny w/a home health heating pad and some fiberglass insulation that wraps around the 30# tank, the heating pad rests right on the tank's surface and makes contact with about 75% of the tank's side. I have to be 100% prepared as I heat exclusively w/electric, I have however been considering a small 'in room' ventless propane heater so that the genny can power the rest of my home, although I own a large log home I close off 85% of my place for winter use and I live in a 12'X28' area.
Diesel home heating oil tanks are usually located in residents basements up here because it starts to gel at the most moderate (-10/-15F) temps, and same here, at the pumps for vehicle use there are always additives to avoid gelling but they're only good to about -35F, almost every diesel pickup truck owner also owns a standard gas powered beater for the wicked cold temps we have here. I believe the semi trucks in this area have tank heaters that operate when their rigs are running, like an Arctic Fox tank heater.
on another note, we often see MN state trooper roadside check points to make sure that diesel truck owners (from pickups to semis) aren't fucking the road fuel tax system by pumping the cheaper home fuel oils into their vehicles. Local loggers however are allowed to use 'off road' diesel fuel in the equipment (skidder's, slashers, etc) that remain and operate in the woods onsite. All off road fuel oils are colored red for the reason above.
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an idle thought, what about a firewood/natural gas generator?
i've seen 'em used for wood burning truck setups, kind of cool
so in principle a gas type generator could be fed this way, with some mods of course
firewood doesn't raise many eyebrows, maybe a stealth electric generation option
i've seen 'em used for wood burning truck setups, kind of cool
so in principle a gas type generator could be fed this way, with some mods of course
firewood doesn't raise many eyebrows, maybe a stealth electric generation option
You can get really cool fire eater systems, extinguishers that automatically spunk 1000 L of anti fire foam all over the shop...
Well worth thinking about and planning for fires, I have my own fire extinguishers at home, so much easier to be your own fireman, immediately, on the spot, than wait for the real firemen to turn up, see your things, call their Bros the pigs...
Sign up at Frugal's Squirrels, and take a peak at the alt energy section..
Ask your questions there, they will be able to point u in the right direction
Ask your questions there, they will be able to point u in the right direction
