Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Whole house generator questions and off grid solar

Just went through this in November. My power company Nevada Energy has been toying with shutting off the power during Red Flag days ala PG&E.

I'm already on propane so I just needed to upgrade the pipelines and buy tanks, regulators and accessories. It really helped being retired from a propane company that sold all of the above at cost.

I consulted with my old boss who's been setting up generators nonstop since the Camp Fire in Paradise a couple of years ago. He suggested going big and water cooled rather than air cooled and smaller as the smaller rigs run at closer to a full load and as such had higher failure rates.

Ended up getting a 32KW Generac 4 cylinder turbo charged after cooled model. So far loving it and it's way quieter than my folks new 22KW v-twin air cooled Generac. Mine shouldn't ever run above 1/2 load except when I have mini splits installed as a backup heat source if my boiler fails.

When I researched fuel loads the bigger gen was within 1 to 2 tenths of gallon per hour than my folks smaller generator and runs at half the rpm's and way quieter. The extended service schedule of the water cooled is icing on the cake.

What does a big water cooled setup like that cost?

If all your running is generator .

Jim , do you have any tractors that run on LP ?

If you must pick one, go with propane, as it is not dependent on a third party provider like natural, that’s of course if you install a BIG tank.

Mine is both natural and propane, although I am only hooked up to my propane tank at the moment.

If your whole house is electric, install another auxiliary propane powered heat source as well.

Maybe even get rid of the electric range and go propane.

Then bury a monster tank underground and keep it full. 1000 gal minimum

What's the best Propane ?

Is the guy trying to do the Ted Kuscinski hermit thing or just wanting a home genset for that once a year ice storm?

off grid solar works great, if you can maintain your batteries, and source new ones when necessary. It helps to have a generator on hand as well, because you won't always have adequate sunshine.

It was spendy. All in was about 22K. The gen was 12K and the two 500 gal tanks with two pipelines four regulators and hogtails ect was 3K. The rest was permits and two concrete slabs along with two transfer switches for 200 amp service and three electricians for a day. Also in that is tool rental for a jackhammer and trencher. That part sucked. One portion of the pipeline to the house I hit an 18' stretch the was solid granite-kicked my old ass but got her done.

Could've saved a couple of grand going naturally aspirated with the motor but at almost 5400' elevation was concerned about deration and using more fuel.

My northern MN place is totally off grid. Unless I missed it above the OP is a bit ahead of things. The first step is to go thru your entire place and make a list of everything that requires electricity and how much per day it draws. Everything. That will dictate power sources needed.
Once you have that plus add in a bit extra you’ll know how many batteries needed, how many solar screens needed and what size the screens are.
I run on 10 batteries, 2 380 watt screens, and a large Honda generator when needed. I have not needed the generator yet for regular use, I do use it to run welders etc.
I also run propane but only for the stove, fridge, and backup lighting if needed ( hasn’t happened ).
Propane is a “wet” fuel so I do not run any machinery with it.

Osky

Thank you for your detailed response. You definitely have a great setup. 👍

Permits for concrete slabs? Wtf

Dang, that’s getting close to a whole house solar setup. I played with it just for fun last year, and a Tesla roof with power wall was about 30 K, new construction, if memory serves. But then you don’t have much of a power bill at all anymore.

Im leaning towards propane generator

These guys have an interesting assortment of generators - all types of fuel and sizes:

http://www.centralmainediesel.com/propane-generators.asp

No. Everything is gas or diesel.

When he said "off the grid" I kinda figured a Unibomber scenario.

Technically yes but was overlooked by the inspectors. Permits for the underground gas lines and the underground electric and then above ground electric which includes the transfer switches and at last Truckee Meadows Fire protection district inspection. She really only needed to see that I had a gas shutoff, theres two and a emergency gen shutoff. Again there's two. Didn't mind at all, she is really cute.

And as for permits realize I'm only maybe 18 miles from Cali and these Nevada twats have taken fees and permits to a level not even seen in Cali. Nevada having no income tax squeezes you in every other way.

I lived off grid about 14 years. Solar and wind. I ran a 10kw propane gen with a 1000 gal tank. My cooking Stove and heating stove, hot water heater, dryer were all propane too. If living there full time I would definitely do propane.

I kept a gas powered 6k harbor freight predator gen as a back up. I ran my well pump with an 8 k Honda gas gen to a 1500 gal gravity fed water cistern above my log home sitting on a small mountain. Worked well

the electrical grid is more efficient than a generator but....you need reliable more than efficient.

And obviously fill up the tank in end of AUG OR Sept which typically are the lowest price for propane