How Much Gas Does a Generator Use
A generator is an essential home appliance. It saves a lot during a power outage. You will be able to power some essential home appliances like your mobile phone, laptops. And even lighting of the house during a power outage. Now, getting to know how much gas does a generator use is also important. One of the factors to consider when getting an emergency generator is the fuel consumption rates. And some factors that contributed to this are mentioned in this article.
Factors Contributing to the Use of Gas in a Generator
Several factors contribute to the use of gas in a generator. And these include:
Generator Type
The types of generators we have are standby generators, portable generators, and inverter generator. The generator type determines how much gas it will consume for a working time. The power of the generator differs from one another as well as their designs. So the larger the generator is and how high its output power is will determine the amount of gas it will consume per working hour.
The Standby generator. This supplies power in times of emergency. This type of generator is very large. And it can supply enough power to power the entire house for several hours. So this generator is expected to consume more gas.
The Portable Generator. This generator type is small when compared to the Standby generator. You can easily move this generator type around. It is easy and convenient to use. They do not supply much power. So the amount of gas they use is not that much compared to the Standby generator. This portable generator also comes in sizes. The higher the size is, the higher the gas they consume.
The Inverter generator. This is the smallest of these generator types. Normally, an inverter operates by being pre-charged instead of using gas. But recently, some inverters also operate on gases. The gas being used serves as a secondary source of fuel. However, the amount of gas used by an inverter is small compared to the portable generator.
Fuel Type
The type of fuel the generator operates on also determines how much gas does a generator use. Types of generator fuel are diesel, Propane, Natural gas, and Gasoline.
Propane gas is considered an efficient and versatile fuel type. And it is preferred over others for a standby generator. Especially, in a rural area that is prone to electricity blackout.
Propane is a very reliable fuel type. For example, a generator of 6kW will use about 35gallons of propane per day. Some generators can power a house for a week operating in 500 gallons of propane.
Natural Gas
This fuel can be easily gotten in a relatively modern area. To power say, a 7KW generator for a day, you will need approximately, 2,400 cubic feet of natural gas. Natural gas may be seen as a substitute for diesel. This is because it is cleaner than diesel. One thing to consider before getting a generator using natural gas is that you have a natural gas line in your house. You would not be able to connect your generator without this line. For example, a generator of 1000 cubic feet on full load will run for 9883 hrs.
Gasoline or Diesel
A generator operating on diesel as fuel consumes less fuel. They burn fuel at a slower rate, so they are cost-efficient when it comes to gas usage. Gasoline generators are easy to get and are cheaper than diesel generators. This is because gasoline is easily available and you can access them easily. Averagely, for a 5-gallon gasoline generator, expect it to use, at minimum, 0.75 gallons of gasoline per hour.
Load
The load is an important factor that also determines the amount of gas used by a generator. The load is regarded as the appliances that are connected to the generator.
Most generators are made to be fuel-efficient, depending on the load. For instance, a generator with a power of 5KW at a quarter full load might make use of less fuel. But a generator of 2KW power at three-quarter full load may use more fuel. And as a result, the average fuel consumption of a generator for a specific load has been clearly stated by the manufacturers.
How can you reduce the amount of gas consumption by your generator?
There are several ways by which you can minimize the amount of gas your generator consumes. Some of them are:
- Making use of energy-efficient devices
These devices will help to reduce the load on a generator and as a result, reduce gas consumption.
- Connecting only necessary load
This also reduces the load on a generator. If you connect only the necessary appliances, it will go a long way to reduce the amount of gas usage.
- Make use of inverter generators
You might consider using an inverter generator if the amount of energy needed is not much. And you can connect two separate inverter generators, to double the output power.
Conclusion
Some factors such as type of the generator, types of fuel on which the generator operates. The load on the generator and the generator rating affect the amount of gas the generator will consume. If your generator is to operate for a long time, it will require a lot of gas at times. Especially, if many loads are connected to it. The size of your generator is also inclusive. A bigger generator will require a large fuel tank and more gas will be needed.
