Generator advice needed - thinking of buying one for a small bungalow

[Rollerball]

Thanks again for the helpful advice, I am now curious about fuel usage - let's say that I go for a petrol generator, 5kW to power my chest freezer, fridge and oil boiler (and maybe use any remaining wattage for the LED lighting in the bungalow or to charge a smartphone or rechargeable batteries if necessary) - roughly what sort of petrol consumption would I be looking at per hour?

 

[Burnerman]

Very difficult to say really but mine was using just over a litre an hour. It’s a 6 BHP Briggs.
I don’t know what the load was because I wasn’t there all the time. I’d guess at 2kW
5 kW is a pretty big generator - maybe a little too big?
One point though, don’t run the machine constantly at full load, and don’t run it without any load at all.
Sorry I can’t be more specific unfortunately, but if fuel is a real concern diesel sets are available - pricey though,
Some will be electric start, others recoil.
John

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks very much, I used 5 just as an example.

It would be under some kind of load all of the time from the fridge and freezer, the boiler only two or three times a day.

 

[Burnerman]

Of course, the fridge / freezer demand won’t be constant either. When the load cuts in on my genny the exhaust noise gets a little louder and then settles down again. It doesn’t notice the boiler starting up.
It runs 3 kW no trouble but to be fair I’ve never overloaded it so I don’t know if it would stall.
Have you considered hiring one for a day and having a play with it?
Personally I think they are invaluable as a sort of insurance in the bad weather, and me and mine plus my pump went over to Keswick during the 2017 floods .....spent the day pumping out the wells under lift shafts to get the old folks who lived there out.
Brownie points by the ton.
Regards
John

 

[Rollerball]

Good point and fridge and freezer not being on all the time, hadn't thought of that.

As for hiring a generator for a day to try it, I'll see what's available.

 

[Collectors]

Thanks again for the helpful advice, I am now curious about fuel usage - let's say that I go for a petrol generator, 5kW to power my chest freezer, fridge and oil boiler (and maybe use any remaining wattage for the LED lighting in the bungalow or to charge a smartphone or rechargeable batteries if necessary) - roughly what sort of petrol consumption would I be looking at per hour?

Not very expensive to do, but have a look at a geny with an lpg conversion. certainly run cleaner, slightly quieter & if you feel it might be used often?, get a 47kl bottle of gas, it will last ages, plus 20 BQ's. The other things now days is petrol goes off quite quickly. Had that a few times with lawn mowers.

 

[morqthana]

The law changed this year, so now need to use DERV not red diesel, so the big advantage is now lost.

That change did not apply to non-commercial users.

If someone has a generator at home (or a diesel heater in their garage), then they can use red diesel if they can find it.

 

[Collectors]

If you are after good generators, Honda & Yamaha make good quiet ones, but not cheap. Honda around £1200.00 for a 2kw & another thousand plus for a 3kw. Same with Yamaha. But i was surprised at how many good looking ones on Facebook at good prises. Good luck.
PS: Hyundai is another good make. I got a large lawnmower & a chain saw that both have been reliable.

 

[ericmark]

At home, when the power goes off, starting a generator not a problem. But if not at home when you lose power, then it clearly will not help. My batteries cut in automatically, but they only run freezers and central heating, I have a 3 kW limit.

The other method is to run off batteries 24/7, my son did that on his boat, everything was powered from the batteries, but when shore power was available he had a large battery charger that would keep batteries topped up. Also, his engine had two 120 amp alternators on it and could also keep batteries charged.

This arrangement means no need to grid tie, all connected on the DC side, not AC.

I note on BBC website

The family are among nearly 3,500 homes across Wales still without power, National Grid said its engineers were continuing to work hard to reconnect everyone affected.

and they want us to fit heat pumps? And drive electric cars?

 

[SimonH2]

I found the earth to neutral connection a problem in the past, some generators connect it within the generators, but not all, and also found where earth connected to 55 volts rather than the neutral, well then not really a neutral but line 2, so we had a 55 - 0 - 175 volts supply, and no overload protection on the 55 volt output.

No surprise really. If you assume 2off 110V windings, make one of them 55-0-55, then you connect the other winding in parallel for 110V or series for 220V. Unless you start switching the earth, you naturally end up with 55-0-165. And for the majority of uses, nobody cares.

If it does matter, there is always the option of altering the wiring. Obviously invalidates any warranty, but shouldn't be too hard to do. If you don't need 110V, just hard wire it for 0-220V.

... and they want us to fit heat pumps? And drive electric cars?

A colleague told me that one of his neighbours bought a diesel genny to power his EV charger. Runs on red diesel, costs less than running a diesel car.
But completely takes the p**s with the environmental arguments for EVs.

 

[Adam_151]

A colleague told me that one of his neighbours bought a diesel genny to power his EV charger. Runs on red diesel, costs less than running a diesel car.
But completely takes the p**s with the environmental arguments for EVs.

Not allowed anymore, the rules changed in April 2022, can no longer use Red for generators and construction equipment, and some other sectors too. I'm guessing its probably just farming thats allowed to use it now? but don't know for sure. I'm sure thats not helped the food price crisis, all the refrigerated trailers for chilled and frozen deliveries to supermarkets and distribution centres used to use red for the fridge unit, I'm guessing thats probably no longer allowed

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Not allowed anymore, the rules changed in April 2022, can no longer use Red for generators and construction equipment, and some other sectors too. I'm guessing its probably just farming thats allowed to use it now?

Plus use at home, in domestic environments too are permitted.

 

[ericmark]

Our locos still use red, or of course coal for the older ones. It has produced a problem as now we need a stock of white as well as red for tools.

 

[SimonH2]

Using rebated fuels in vehicles and machines (Excise Notice 75)

Find out when you can use rebated diesel, biodiesel or kerosene in vehicles and other machinery.

www.gov.uk

2.4 Machines and appliances for heating and electricity​

Machines and appliances being used primarily to generate heat and electricity for premises that are not used for commercial purposes can use red diesel.

 

[ericmark]

I was watching a USA YouTube video about using lead acid battery as a battery back-up. I have an old battery pack 12 volt 12 Ah which has a 300 watt inverter built in, and was thinking about a new battery, these cost around £20 and since lead acid (VRLA or AGM) can use a charger at the same time as using it.

The lithium battery (LiFePO4)

that replaces this, is around £200, now rated 288 watt-hours, so first need to turn 12 AH into watt-hours so 144 watt-hours so twice the size, but £200 so 10 times the price, but if buying the lead acid one now around £100 so really only twice the price, if I was not using some bits which I already have.

As they go bigger the price jumps, £1500 for a 2 kW model, and the battery to fit my solar system (3.2 kW) was £1100, and I can go to 4 of them so 12.8 kWh is my maximum.

As far as I am aware, I can't charge it off my car, but the small 12 volt Lead-acid I could connect to the car battery and run my car. We are looking at emergency power, not living off the grid, so fuel cost is not an issue, as we all hope it will not be used.

So the big question, "chest freezer, fridge, oil boiler and lights" what size is required? I am sure 2 kW is ample, but 500 watt likely too small, so at what point can one get away with it.