When shopping for generators, there are many different things to consider, such as: it's main purpose, how much power is needed, does it need to be stationary or portable, the run period required, its safety and convenience, and the type of fuel you use and the availability of that fuel. One of the most prominent requirements, and one that some of these questions revolve around, is the type of fuel that the generator uses. There are four main types of fuels that generators use: gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and propane. Lets take a look at each of these and the pros and cons that each type offers.
- Gasoline - gas is effortlessly ready since we use it to run our cars. The price varies (like for all fuels), but gas prices is something most of us are normally aware of, or can unmistakably find out. Gas models, especially portable ones, are quite affordable. But the down side is that they have a short run time, the tank would have to be filled multiple times a day if you needed to run it continuously. So they are not good if you need to rely upon while a long term emergency. Also, if power goes down long term in an area, local gas stations would be affected so their gas pumps would not work.
- Diesel - generators that run off of diesel can have the same disadvantages as gas in terms of provide availability, they are also more high-priced and most often used in industry. However, diesel engines require less maintenance and are more efficient than the others available.
- Natural gas - if you are looking at residential or home generators, one of the big advantages of natural gas is that if you have natural gas at home, a generator can be hooked directly into your natural gas line. This fully removes the problem of running out of fuel or having to permanently refill the tank. One thing to be aware of is that when you choose your generator model, be sure to check its required gas pressure, and check the suitable delivery pressure of the natural gas advent into your home. If the required pressure of the generator is greater than what comes straight through the gas lines to your home, the generator may not work. Someone else possible problem to be aware of with natural gas, is that if there is a major disaster, natural gas provide may be interrupted or turned off for safety, in which case having a generator doesn't do much good. But, if your generator is a bi-fuel (which many Ng one's are) then it can run on propane as well, which is good but you would need to do a basic field adjustment to change from one fuel to the other. You also need a propane supply.
- Propane - Liquid petroleum gas (Lpg), or propane, has the similar benefit as natural gas of being able to run long term, but instead of using a city line running into your home, you need a large propane tank on your property that is hooked up the generator. The tank does need to be periodically refilled, but depending upon the size of the tank and the size and use of your generator, one can control off of a full tank for quite awhile. Since propane has an roughly unlimited shelf life, if you have a propane tank that is set aside just for a generator, you know that you will be ok, even while and extended outage or major emergency.
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