What To Look For In A Portable Electric Generator
By Craig Elliott
Portable electric generators are used in several different manors including being used to power homes and businesses during power outages and powering various items used for outdoor activities. When looking to purchase an electric generator there is many variables to be considered b the buyer. With the cost of a quality generator ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, knowing which mode and type to buy will save the consumer a lot of hard earned money. The following advice will allow the consumer to make a smart and well-informed decision as to which portable electronic generator will be the best to handle their individual needs.
Shopping for a portable electric generator is a lot like shopping for a new car. The body and engine of the unit are included in the base price, but most of the essential and desirable features for the generator to go way up. Determining where and how you will use your generator will help you in deciding which of these pricey features you will need to purchase and include in the cost of the unit when doing the final comparison between models.
If you are looking to use your generator on a long term basis and are looking for it to be quiet and efficient you may look into purchasing an overhead valve engine for your generator. You may also look into a model that is capable of handling pressurized lubrication which will also prolong the life of the engine. The cost of these two features could raise the overall price of your generator more than two hundred dollars. If your needs require you to run your generator for long periods of time, you may want to look for models that have features that conserve fuel.
Some models can be purchased for about fifty more dollars and are equipped with larger than normal gas tanks. Many of these gas tanks are designed to hold five or more gallons than most generators which will allow your unit to run 12 to 18 hours more than average units. A generator that is equipped with an idle control feature will not only reduce the noise level of the generator but will allow the generator to run at less than full power during periods where less power is needed. This greatly increases your fuel economy and may allow your generator to run up to 18 hours longer than models that are not equipped with an auto idle feature.
A low oil shutdown feature is well worth the approximate thirty five-dollar increase in some generators price. It will automatically shut down the generator should the engine
Creating a self sufficient generator for home use.?
Is it possible to create a generator for home use that A. can power the average needs of a home while at the same time creating enough energy to power itself. B. can it be made small enough to be stored out side the home like a central air unit. I ask this because if it could be done it would solve the need for consumer use of oil and electric at the same time making each home self sufficient. It would also save the average home owner thousands in the long run. I believe it is an invention whose time has come. Any and all logical ideas are welcome.
What about having dual generators that can supply twice as much energy (electricity) the home might require. The extra energy(electricity) created by both generators could be stored in a battery(s) as an external power source to keep the two running. Think people and be creative(not absurd but creative). There has to be a way to make this work without the aid of outside sources. Remember aside from making billions this idea could change the world. Perhaps a reverse engineering concept would work. Anyone up for the challenge?
Guess i will have to prove the nay sayers wrong thanks for your answers.
Your life cycle costs would be greater. Consider 1) initial cost of unit and its installation 2) maintenance of the unit. 3) reliability. You will have thousands invested before you begin to pay for gas. It will take a long time, if ever, to benefit.
I have never seen one commercially made. The URL below tells you how to make your own. The problem is that a man can only produce about 100 Watts (a horsepower is 746 Watts) meaning the average person is only going to produce about 50 Watts for any period of time. I built a bike similar to what you want. It was useless but we had a lot of fun one night running a bulb during a power failure.
Sorry, but any such generator that could power itself alone would constitute perpetual motion, which violates the second law of thermodynamics. “The entropy of an isolated system not at equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value.” Basically you can’t get nothing for free.
Forget the “big corporations will cruch this” theories. Real science knows this is simply impossible. There are too many losses in such a system. Did you think that wires don’t have resistance, which generates heat and looses energy from the system?
There are ways of obtaining ‘free’ energy sources like solar or wind power. But those still cannot sustain themselves. When the wind stops or night comes so goes your power source.
How much would it cost to run an average home on a natural gas generator?
I was wondering if a NG generator would be worth setting up to run my average sized home, and would it cost more than the electric company gets me for?
look at your breaker box…..is it a 200 amp? and is there only one?
if you have one 200 amp box and are on a single phase system then you need a 50 KW generator.
watts= volts x amps
240 volts x 200 amps=48000 watts or 50 KW
of course you dont really need to go this big, usually folks only will pull 50 or 75 amps on a 200 amp service, but you dont sound like the kind of guy who wants to do things half assed.
another thing to think about, have enough propane to carry you for a couple weeks or a month……if an ice storm kills the power, a propane truck dammed sure aint gonna want to fill you tank.
Where can I get a bicycle-powered electric generator?
That I can use at home for extra electricity and exercise?
>up late lots of caffeine can’t sleep and random ideas,
clearly.
Consider the following: if you already have 115-230 amp electric power available to drive the electric motor, why not just by-pass the whole setup and run your downstream electric devices directly?
After all, there is a conversion efficiency penalty to pay whenever you transform energy from one form into another (in this case, electrical to mechanical back to electrical.)
So if you put in 100kW to drive the electric motor, you certainly will get less than 100kW out of the alternators due to efficiency considerations.
Do yourself a favor, stay off the caffeine and go to sleep.
Home made generator advice?
I had an idea to create a home made generator run off of an electric motor and four car alternators run in a series circuit. In a series circuit the amperage would be equal to that of all of the alternators combined. Example if a car alternator out put 75amp and a house runs on 220 amp at most. 3 alternators would give you 225 amp and 4 would give you 300 amp, not accounting for resistance. The electric motor would be about 1/2 HP and run on 115 amp or 208 to 230 amp. If the system was wired right and the alternator set up created enough amperage to sustain the motor and then extra was diverted to a house, like a solar panel, would this be a feasible source of power for a house? Would if be advisable to have 7 or 8 alternator creating a greater amperage output? Is there anything in a house that can not run off of the 14 volts that an alternator would generate? If so can you merely run it through a converter and sacrifice amperage for voltage at that device? up late lots of caffeine can’t sleep and random ideas, great combo, but not if you have to work the next day. Thanks for your thoughts.
Thanks for your input. The last sentence is kind of self explanatory.
What Kw size generator to purchase? 3k sf home w/ 3 heat pumps for heat & A/C. Elec oven and water heater.?
I am renovating a 3000 sf home and want to add a whole house, automatic generator. The generator will use LP fuel and have an automatic transfer switch. The home will have 3 heat pumps for both heat & A/C (3-ton, 2-ton, and 1-ton). Additionally, it will have two electric ovens and electric water heater. What size generator should I be shopping for? Thank you.