3 ms·

I have a 50kw generac tied into my house with a 1000 gallon propane tank.

by kyleblarson 2y ago

voisin 2y ago
What will you do once the propane runs out? Solar (and battery) is the way to go.
- csteubs 2y ago
  Not OP, but I use solar and H8-size AGM batteries as primary with a backup diesel generator that I've converted to run on wood gas (and occasionally coal gas). Added a triple stage water filter to the gasifier last year to keep the tar and creosote down. The generator is an old clunker but it's easy to disassemble, which made it an ideal candidate for tinkering and the eventual retrofit.
  - hersko 2y ago
    Please tell me you have a youtube channel or blog on that thing.
- Marsymars 2y ago
  Not very useful for much of the year at high latitudes though. If you're off-grid, you basically need wood to heat your home, and if you clear the snow off your panels you can get enough juice to keep your phones charged.
- jtriangle 2y ago
  That's when the shooting starts. Let's hope it never gets that bad.
- kyleblarson 2y ago
  2a
wcoenen 2y ago
I don't understand what 50 kW could possibly be needed for. Part of the electricity bill here in Flanders is based on monthly power peak. I charge an EV at home, and by setting up the charging station to take into account consumption data from the meter, I have no problem staying below 7 kW. Okay, that's averaged over 15 minute time slots, but even the connection for my house is only rated 13.8 kW!
- yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
  Startup spikes; AIUI anything with a motor will initially sink way more power than you expect it to use, then settle to a more reasonable level. So you need to overspec a generator to handle that without a brownout. I think that's it, anyways; this is not my strong suit.
- quickthrowman 2y ago
  > Okay, that's averaged over 15 minute time slots, but even the connection for my house is only rated 13.8 kW! In the US we have single-phase (split-phase) 120/240v 200A service drops for houses, 48kW. Houses over 3,000 square feet with electric heating, electric ovens, electric water heaters, and electric air conditioning can push 150A peak demand, and a 200A service drop is not much more expensive for the utility than a 100A service drop. Most houses in my state have gas water heaters and furnaces so 200A is overkill for most people in my state. A 7kW 240V single-phase load draws (7000/240) 29.1A IIRC most of Europe gets 230V or 400V three-phase power for houses, so here’s both calculations. A 7kW 230V three-phase load draws (7000/(230*1.732) 17.57A A 7kW 400V three-phase load draws (7000/(400*1.732) 10.1A The reasoning behind a 50kW for a house in the US is (probably a 48kW) generator is you can fully back up your 200A service (240V times 200A = 48kW) and not split out the generator loads into a subpanel. Older houses in the US might have a 100A service, I’ve even seen 60A house services. P.S. 1.732 is sqrt(3)
  - travisb 2y ago
    Not needing a sub-panel is almost certainly the reason. The North American residential electrical code limits how many circuits you can put onto a generator based on the circuit capacity, not the expected use. You aren't allowed to pinky swear that you won't run your electric oven and dry laundry at the same time. It doesn't matter that your generator will just trip its breaker or die. So if you want to have most of your house on a permanently wired standby generator you need to wildly oversize that generator such that it can entirely replace utility power.

I have a 50kw generac tied into my house with a 1000 gallon propane tank.

voisin 2y ago

What will you do once the propane runs out? Solar (and battery) is the way to go.

csteubs 2y ago
Not OP, but I use solar and H8-size AGM batteries as primary with a backup diesel generator that I've converted to run on wood gas (and occasionally coal gas). Added a triple stage water filter to the gasifier last year to keep the tar and creosote down. The generator is an old clunker but it's easy to disassemble, which made it an ideal candidate for tinkering and the eventual retrofit.
- hersko 2y ago
  Please tell me you have a youtube channel or blog on that thing.
Marsymars 2y ago
Not very useful for much of the year at high latitudes though. If you're off-grid, you basically need wood to heat your home, and if you clear the snow off your panels you can get enough juice to keep your phones charged.
jtriangle 2y ago
That's when the shooting starts. Let's hope it never gets that bad.
kyleblarson 2y ago
2a

wcoenen 2y ago

I don't understand what 50 kW could possibly be needed for. Part of the electricity bill here in Flanders is based on monthly power peak. I charge an EV at home, and by setting up the charging station to take into account consumption data from the meter, I have no problem staying below 7 kW. Okay, that's averaged over 15 minute time slots, but even the connection for my house is only rated 13.8 kW!

yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
Startup spikes; AIUI anything with a motor will initially sink way more power than you expect it to use, then settle to a more reasonable level. So you need to overspec a generator to handle that without a brownout. I think that's it, anyways; this is not my strong suit.
quickthrowman 2y ago
> Okay, that's averaged over 15 minute time slots, but even the connection for my house is only rated 13.8 kW! In the US we have single-phase (split-phase) 120/240v 200A service drops for houses, 48kW. Houses over 3,000 square feet with electric heating, electric ovens, electric water heaters, and electric air conditioning can push 150A peak demand, and a 200A service drop is not much more expensive for the utility than a 100A service drop. Most houses in my state have gas water heaters and furnaces so 200A is overkill for most people in my state. A 7kW 240V single-phase load draws (7000/240) 29.1A IIRC most of Europe gets 230V or 400V three-phase power for houses, so here’s both calculations. A 7kW 230V three-phase load draws (7000/(230*1.732) 17.57A A 7kW 400V three-phase load draws (7000/(400*1.732) 10.1A The reasoning behind a 50kW for a house in the US is (probably a 48kW) generator is you can fully back up your 200A service (240V times 200A = 48kW) and not split out the generator loads into a subpanel. Older houses in the US might have a 100A service, I’ve even seen 60A house services. P.S. 1.732 is sqrt(3)
- travisb 2y ago
  Not needing a sub-panel is almost certainly the reason. The North American residential electrical code limits how many circuits you can put onto a generator based on the circuit capacity, not the expected use. You aren't allowed to pinky swear that you won't run your electric oven and dry laundry at the same time. It doesn't matter that your generator will just trip its breaker or die. So if you want to have most of your house on a permanently wired standby generator you need to wildly oversize that generator such that it can entirely replace utility power.