In part one of our emergency generator series we assessed how much power you would need to power your home in an emergency situation with a nice worksheet provided by Yamaha.
Now that you know how much power is required to operate your lights, appliances and heating and cooling system, we’re going to examine the three fuel types used for power: gas/diesel, propane, and natural gas.
In this post, (part two of this series) we will take a look at gas/diesel as the fuel of choice.
These are the basic things to keep in mind if considering a gasoline or diesel emergency generator:
1). Under 7500 W gasoline is the fuel of choice for most people and most common emergency generator available.
2). Large generators will tend to utilize diesel, small ones will run gas.
3). Gasoline and or diesel shortages could occur in any time during a crisis.
4). Without additives, gasoline has a shelf life of around 12 months and diesel 24.
5). Storage of large amounts of liquid fuel (gas or diesel) is expensive and potentially hazardous usually reserved for commercial operations.
Check out this handy comparison chart from Generator Joe for more details on the advantages and disadvantages of gasoline and diesel powered emergency generators.
Have thoughts or suggestions about this topic? Please share them with us by posting a comment below.
Be sure to check out our next post where we’ll discuss the pros and cons of propane emergency generators.