DIESEL GENERATOR, (as your primary power source)

[_Dude]

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

Yeah I don't even know why it's being discussed. It's pretty obvious that diesel genny ops are for big rural grows.

 

[Marshall]

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

I think you would create more suspicion with the generator than anything else. 300 yards is not that far. SOund travels pretty far given the right conditions. Plus fuel delivery, etc

I can hear the train horn when my windows are open, and I am at least 2 miles from the train tracks.

 

[I.M. Boggled]

Storing the generated juice with "recycled forklift batteries"

Storing the generated juice with "recycled forklift batteries"

In many rural areas, "recycled forklift batteries"(single and multiples in-line) are used as a relatively cheap alternative for generated electricity storage than say purchasing pricey factory new storage batteries.
In commercial use most forklift batteries (deep cycle Lead/acid batteries) are fast charged (at 5hr or 6hr rate) between uses, thereby reducing the life of the battery by as much as 50% or more at which time it is replaced/traded in for a new one.
I'm seeing that many new fork lift battery companies charge a "Core Charge" of about 800 us dollars upward if one doesn't have a rebuild-able like-type battery core to trade in...so even a used forklift battery can many times easily run a grand or so,($1,000).

Old ones purchased at a discounted price can be easily refurbished and used with slow charging (12hr to 20hr rate).
The slower charging rate is ideal for Wind and Solar House storage requirements and can be very, very readily adapted for use with generators.
Some old acquaintances of mine used the same used forklift battery they picked up for free back in the "70's" to run their wind/solar powered ranch house for many moons (they were still using "old reliable" back in '98 when I last saw them.)

I'm the original poster and I am threatening to find the time to go through this long ass thread and see if I can't glean a readers digest version of "best of" the most informative posts in this thread and perhaps serve it up as links in the first post.
If anybody else has the time... their version of the best of will be linked also in order to perhaps help progress this discussion.
Thanks for all your contributions here, as I now go back and attempt to read and digest this six hundred plus posts in this giant hairy beast of a thread.

IMB

 

[poindexterous]

Hey, I ran a setup entirely with a Kohler 1800rpm diesel generator for several years some time ago, now I'm just hobby level and use grid power. The gen did the job but was much more of a pain in the ass than grid power with all the maintenance and fuel use and noise and heat, we just couldn't explain the power use otherwise, we eventually finagled a commercial power account and sold the gen, and were relieved to be done with it. We had three different fuel companies delivering #2 heating oil to run it. I would never go that route again unless there was no grid power available. You can always make up a fictitious business that would use a lot of power, like a pottery studio with electric kilns, to explain the power use.

 

[SMOKE-ONE]

I know this is off topic,but I'm hoping if someone can tell me if this would work.Acquire some deep cycle batteries.Charge them at one location where there is'nt any illegal activities,then take those batteries to another location and connect them to an inverter for use.Yea, you would loose a lil' power in the process,but you would'nt have to worry about high power bills at your "spot".Now why would'nt this work?

 

[poindexterous]

Hey Smoke,

That certainly would work you'd just be hauling tons of heavy batteries. A typical deep cycle battery that could be carried might be a 100 amp hour one, so a 1000 watt light uses 10 amps so that battery would run a 1000 watt light for 10 hours inverter loss aside. If I had to do that I'd have a van full of batteries that stayed in the van, making the van essentially a giant mobile battery, drive it to the charger to charge them, then drive back to the grow and run the power line out to the van, thus never carrying tons of batteries by hand.

So a van with one ton suspension could carry about 2000 amp hours of battery, assuming 100 amp hour weighs 100 Lbs, so that would roughly run two 1000 watt lights for about a week at 12 hours per day. There are probably batteries with a better amp hour per pound ratio than my made up number. Sounds like a hard route to go but if there was no on site power and a generator was a problem it could work. Although 2K in light wouldn't be a suspicious level of power use, so to do a lot more lights would require a fleet of battery vans or an 18 wheeler full of batteries. All in all I'd find a better way.

 

[SMOKE-ONE]

So a van with one ton suspension could carry about 2000 amp hours of battery, assuming 100 amp hour weighs 100 Lbs, so that would roughly run two 1000 watt lights for about a week at 12 hours per day. There are probably batteries with a better amp hour per pound ratio than my made up number. Sounds like a hard route to go but if there was no on site power and a generator was a problem it could work. Although 2K in light wouldn't be a suspicious level of power use, so to do a lot more lights would require a fleet of battery vans or an 18 wheeler full of batteries. All in all I'd find a better way.

Thanks for the critique.Yea that sounds severely impractical!!!! All that your just to power a couple of 1000's!!I knew something had to be wrong with the idea because I havent ever heard anyone ever trying it.

I just cant afford the startup cost of a generator and fuel.Let alone the work it will take to maintain it properly ,all the while keeping it stealth.I just wish it was a better way.

 

[poindexterous]

Thanks for the critique.Yea that sounds severely impractical!!!! All that your just to power a couple of 1000's!!I knew something had to be wrong with the idea because I havent ever heard anyone ever trying it.

I just cant afford the startup cost of a generator and fuel.Let alone the work it will take to maintain it properly ,all the while keeping it stealth.I just wish it was a better way.

Yeah, the battery technology isn't quite there yet, maybe with lithium ion's but they'd cost a fortune. Do you not have grid power on location?

 

[SMOKE-ONE]

Yeah, the battery technology isn't quite there yet, maybe with lithium ion's but they'd cost a fortune. Do you not have grid power on location?

yea but It has a smart meter.I know you can try running 2 rooms on a flip-flop,but the spikes that occur when the bulbs are ignited can still be noticed, and could raise suspicion.

 

[ogada]

you know i must have been a little to high when i suggest this lol.. i agree now that it would make no sense to run a 10kw in light of batteries for 12 hours. im doing a smaller system myself and experimenting with inverters and batteries. the amp hours i need are roughly 800 daily to run my lights. the reason it makes sense for me to run this system is i have two rooms on a flip flop, so instead of using only half the generators power at a time and wet stacking it i can run my generator less and use my power when i need it.

diesel generator are also less expensive compare to other generator.

if you want any alternate solution then use battery generator
check this guide for best battery list.