Gasoline, Diesel, Propane and Natural Gas

Most generators sold use gasoline as a fuel. There are diesel versions, which cost more than gas. Diesel fuel has a nice attribute that it is not as flammable as gasoline, so storing diesel fuel is safer. If you have the foresight to bury an LP or Natural Gas tank in your yard for use with your generator, you will have a safe supply of fuel for your generator. However, make sure that the amount of LP to LNG in the tank is enough to get you through an extended outage. You will be dependent on the vendor to replenish your as supply after the storm and they will be very busy delivering gas to everyone else with a tank in the ground.

How much gas can you store?

The key to balancing comfort versus consumption is the amount of gasoline that you can safely store. A four day supply of gasoline for a 6500 running watt generator at half load will be about 70 gallons (14 five gallon containers about $250 worth of fuel at today's prices). That is a lot of flammable fuel to have around the house. It is also a lot of fuel to be carrying inside a car. Having a severe car accident with 14 containers of fuel in a car will be a very dangerous situation. Please to not travel with your kids in the car when you go to the gas station. If you can, purchase an external carrier that connects to the trailer hitch on your car to keep the fumes and any spills out of your car.

Remember before a hurricane, you will be storing 70 gallons of fuel somewhere, not in your house. Where will you put these 70 gallons of fuel so they will be there after the storm. One good place seems to be in the fuel tanks of a boat on a trailer. Assuming the boat makes it through the storm, a hand pump for pulling the gas out of the tank will be a useful tool. Otherwise, your 14 containers of gas need to be put somewhere away from where fumes will not accumulate and away from flames and high winds. Perhaps a hole in the ground! There are some generators, called “tri-fuel” that run on LP, N and gasoline. The best part of these generators are that they can run off of LP or N from a large tank buried in the ground. If the tank in the ground runs out of fuel and new supplies can not be delivered, then they can also run off of gasoline. This type of generator is very flexible in surviving an extended outage.

													Half Load			Full Load
Brand		Cost		Weight lbs		HP		Surge Watts		Run Watts		Tank	Run Time	Gallons/Hour	4 Day Supply	Run Time	Gallons/Hour	4 Day Supply
Coleman		700		99		5.5		3750		3000		3	10	0.3	28.8	8	0.38	36
DeWalt		1550		219		8		4300		3800		5	11	0.45	43.2	9	0.56	54
Coleman		750		158				6250		5250		6	12	0.5	48	9	0.67	64
Tecumseh		650		158		11		6875		5500		5	9.5	0.53	50.88	7	0.71	68
DeWalt		2200		256		13		7000		6000		5	8	0.63	60.48	6	0.83	80
NorthStar		2000		260		13		8000		6600		6.5	9	0.72	69.12	7	0.93	89
Northstar		3200		378		20		13000		10500		10	10	1	96	8	1.25	120
NorthStar		3400		460		25		15000		13500		10	8	1.25	120	6	1.67	160