A natural gas generator is your best buddy during a power outage. We have to burn natural gas to generate electricity because we don’t have access to electricity from the grid. We investigated the cost of running a generator on natural gas.
- A generator’s size. Obviously, a 20,000W generator consumes more natural gas than a 5,000W generator. The natural gas running cost calculator can help you figure out how much it costs to run a generator per hour. Further down, we’ve calculated generator gas consumption tables.
- Natural gas prices in your area. The price of natural gas affects the cost of natural gas generator fuel consumption per kWh. Let’s imagine we have a generator that costs $20 per thousand cubic feet to run vs a generator that costs $10 per thousand cubic feet to run. The running cost per kWh for a $20 natural gas cost generator will be twice that of a $10 natural gas cost generator.
- The generator is currently under load. Generators are operated at a power level ranging from 0% to 100% of their maximum output wattage. Running your generator at 60 percent load will result in greater operating costs than running it at 40 percent load.
We can accurately calculate how much it costs to run your natural gas generator per hour, per day, per week, or per month if we know all of these characteristics.
The cost of running a generator on natural gas ranges from $0.02 to $2.41 per hour (1,000W 25 percent load generator to 30,000W 100 percent load, respectively). It will use between 1.86 and 222.90 cubic feet of natural gas per hour.
We created a Gas Generator Fuel Consumption Calculator to help you figure out how much it costs to run a natural gas generator. Simply enter the generator’s size, natural gas price, and typical load, and the calculator will calculate how much natural gas this generator consumes per hour in US dollars.
We’ve also computed the operating expenses of 1,000W, 2,000W, 3,000W, 4,000W, 5,000W, 6,000W, 7,000W, 8,000W, 10,000W, 12,000W, 15,000W, 20,000W, 25,000W, and 30,000W natural gas generators at average prices and at 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, and full loads.
Note: If you need assistance calculating the operating costs of your generator, please leave a comment with specifics and we will do our best to assist you.
But first, let’s look at how to compute the running costs using a gas generator fuel consumption formula (this derivation is a little mathematical; if you like, you can just jump to the easy-to-use calculator and calculated tables):
What is the daily cost of running a natural gas generator?
4) Do I need to upgrade my gas meter?
MAYBE!
Your Project Manager will complete a Gas Inventory Report as part of your initial site survey.
Your Project Manager will perform an inventory of all gas-fueled appliances once the model of your current gas meter has been documented. If your local gas utility requires a gas meter upgrade, it is usually a simple operation with a little cost to the homeowner.
5) Is a building permit required?
Almost certainly.
Home Power Systems will liaise with your local building department as part of a turn-key installation to identify how local building code is interpreted in your area.
We have likely conducted a number of installations in your town or city and are familiar with the requirements of your Building Inspector. We’ll also obtain all necessary permits, HOA approvals, and, if necessary, attend variance hearings on your behalf everything is included in your price from beginning to end.
6) How often should a generator be serviced after it is installed?
To ensure reliability and a long service life, you must commit to properly maintaining your generator. You are not using an air conditioner or a furnace that can go for years without needing to be serviced; instead, you are creating power! Unless you have special demands, such as medical equipment, we recommend having your generator serviced once a year.
7) What is the expected lifespan of my new generator?
Under regular emergency standby conditions, a standby generator’s average life expectancy is roughly 15 years. A machine, like an automobile, may require maintenance as it ages and approaches the end of its useful life. Keep in mind that the air-cooled units are not designed to offer continuous power (24 hours a day, 365 days a year); however, we can develop a solution for your off-grid or prime power application using your existing solar PV array and battery bank contact us for more information.
8) How much does it cost to run the generator for 10 minutes per week for a month?
Running the unit in exercise mode shouldn’t cost more than $5 or $10 per month, depending on natural gas prices. Under 50 percent load, expect to pay roughly $20-$40 per day for gas usage during a power outage. It’s much less expensive than a hotel stay or bad food!
9) Why am I getting such a wide range of responses on what is required to install a generator?
It’s known as a “competence spectrum.” The majority of “generator guys” lack expertise, training, and dedication to the sector. They are only interested in the selling and installation. “You get what you pay for,” as the old adage goes. This is also true in the generator industry. Please do not call Home Power Systems if you are seeking for the cheapest pricing. HPS is the only authorized dealer for you if you want the best value for your money, a long-term commitment, experienced and certified personnel, and the assurance that your generator will start during the most critical time for you and your family.
10) Do you have any generators or spare components on hand?
Yes, Home Power Systems is one of the Northeast’s major stocking dealers. Most generators and transfer switches are in stock. If your generator has to be fixed, there is no need to wait because we store parts at both our Rochester and Syracuse locations, as well as on each service van. This implies that if there is a problem with your generator, we can fix it, and there is no need to wait for a part because we already have it in stock.
11) Can you tell me how much fuel I’ll need to run one of your generators?
Natural gas or propane vapor can be used to power Generac and Kohler home standby generators. The majority of portable generators are designed to run solely on gasoline.
12) Could you help me set up the generator?
13) Who will be responsible for completing the project?
You only have to deal with one firm when you work with Home Power Systems.
You’re working with a group that’s solely concerned with standby power generation. Home Power Systems has the unique capacity to supply all aspects of your generator installation from start to finish, from the first site survey and design of your standby solution to the review process by our expert personnel to the work completed the day of the installation. Because only licensed LP vendors are allowed to install propane regulators and set tanks, we will collaborate with your local propane provider and supervise their scope of work on-site if you are a propane customer.
14) What are the dimensions and weight of these generators?
15) Is there a battery included with my generator?
A battery is not included with any automatic home standby generators. For both Generac and Kohler air-cooled backup generators, Home Power Systems recommends a Group 26 battery. This is only one of the things that a turn-key installation comes with.
16) Will my installation be subject to sales tax?
Because a standby generator is a capital improvement, the purchaser will not be charged sales tax.
A property owner in the state of New York will be given a Form ST-124, Certificate of Capital Improvement, if they employ a contractor to conduct work that qualifies as a capital improvement.
Is it less expensive to operate a natural gas generator?
We can calculate how much natural gas a generator consumes each hour using this formula. Furthermore, we can determine the dollar amount of natural gas we use to operate our generator every hour if we know the price of natural gas.
Note: By extension, we can figure out how much fuel we use and how much it costs every day, week, and month.
Let’s use a 10,000W generator as an example to calculate natural gas generator fuel consumption. Take the average residential natural gas price in 2020 ($10.83 per 1,000 cubic feet, according to Statista).
How much natural gas is required to power a 10,000W generator at full capacity for one hour?
The equivalent of 10 kWh (kilowatt-hour) of natural gas will be required. According to the EIA, 1 kWh requires 7.43 cubic feet of natural gas (74.3 cubic feet for 10 kWh).
Note: If you’re curious about the cost of natural gas generator fuel per kWh, it’s roughly $0.08 per ft3 of natural gas. This is significantly less than the national average cost of power ($0.1319/kWh).
How much does a Generac natural gas generator cost to run?
Costs of Fuel A 20 kW Generac home standby generator, for example, consumes 204 cubic feet of natural gas per hour at 50% load and 301 cubic feet at 100% load. Fuel costs are $2.50 per hour at half-load and $3.65 per hour at full load, based on national natural gas prices of around $11.00 per 1,000 cubic feet.
How much does a whole-house generator cost each day to run?
This is determined by the size of your home, the size of the generator, and the amount of energy you’re attempting to generate. A tiny portable generator costs $30 to $70 per day to run, while a 15- to 20-kilowatt generator that powers the entire house costs $50 to $150 per day to run. You’ll need to account for fuel expenditures, which vary depending on the type of fuel and can cost up to $30 per day for gasoline alone.
Q. What do I need to know about generator maintenance after the installation?
Generators are only used outside, so it’s not unusual that they’ll require some maintenance from time to time. Annual maintenance, which costs between $75 and $300, should keep your generator in good working order. By running multiple times a week and reporting any possible faults, a backup generator will monitor and maintain itself.
Q. How many watts does it take to run a house?
To completely power a larger residence, more watts will be required. A 16,000-watt (16 kW) generator can normally power a 1,000- to 3,000-square-foot home, whereas a bigger home between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet would require a 20,000-watt (20 kW) generator.
Q. How long does a whole house generator usually last?
If properly maintained, a decent standby generator should last at least 20 years. A widely used generator will survive for a shorter period of time and will require more regular maintenance to extend its life.
How much does a whole-house generator cost to run for 24 hours?
It’s vital to keep in mind that the cost of running a generator varies depending on the power demand, and many modern generators have low-fuel or half-load modes. The estimated expenses of running your generator could be reduced or increased depending on these variables.
Gasoline Generator
Portable generators are most commonly powered by gasoline. A typical 5-kilowatt generator uses roughly 0.75 gallon of gasoline every hour. In July 2018, the average price of gasoline in the United States was $2.89 a gallon. If you used the portable generator for a day, it would use roughly 18 gallons of gas, which would cost around $52 per day to run. Because gas prices change, running these types of portable generators for an extended period of time can be costly.
Diesel
Portable diesel generators are less prevalent, although their fuel costs fluctuate like gasoline’s. Diesel costs roughly $3.17 per gallon on average. When running at full capacity, a 20-kilowatt generator will consume around 1.6 gallons of gasoline every hour. As a rough estimate, the cost of running the generator for a day would be $122.
Propane Generator
In the portable generator market, propane generators are frequently the cleaner energy alternative. Propane, on the other hand, burns more fast in a generator. A 20-kilowatt generator would consume around 3.45 gallons of gasoline each hour. As of March 2018, the average price per gallon for propane in the United States was roughly $2.50. A portable generator would use roughly 83 gallons of gas and cost over $200 to run for 24 hours.
Some standby home generators use propane, which is stored in big tanks on-site, which helps to reduce expenses by requiring fuel to be purchased in bulk less frequently. Under full load, a 22-kilowatt generator for the residence will burn around 3.6 gallons per hour. The standby generator costs the same as the portable version to run, a little more than $200 each day.
Natural Gas Generator
Because many homes are already supplied with natural gas, natural gas is quickly becoming the preferred fuel for residential standby generators. Natural gas costs $3.25 per thousand cubic feet in the United States right now. Because a 7-kilowatt generator uses around 118 cubic feet per hour, the cost of operation is only $0.82. Operating costs for a larger 15-kilowatt unit rise to $1.71 per hour, utilizing 245 cubic feet of natural gas.
This indicates that running a generator for the 10-minute “workout period” once a week would cost roughly $4 to $5 each month. And, depending on the energy load, the generator will spend roughly $20 to $40 every day during a power outage.
Is it cheaper to use gasoline or natural gas to power a generator?
Natural gas generators are more efficient and cost-effective than fossil-fuel-powered generators. Natural gas generators accounted for 43% of US electricity generation capacity in 2019, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
What is the maximum time a natural gas generator can run continuously?
A backup generator can power a medium-sized home for up to 3,000 hours on average, while it is not suggested to run a generator for more than 500 hours continuously.
What is the average amount of natural gas used by a Generac each hour?
Just like a car, if the generator is in good working order, it should run for as long as the fuel supply lasts. That is, the amount of diesel or gas you can feed it determines the amount of time it can operate.
You may be able to provide your Generac with fuel indefinitely if you have a gas generator and receive natural gas through mains pipes to your home. The fuel that your generator uses is constantly replenished by gas from the mains, so it may be able to run for weeks at a time if there are no mechanical issues.
Running times are not indefinite if your Generac uses liquid propane stored in a tank, but they are still significant. Most conventional tanks hold between 250 and 1,000 gallons. Typical household use consumes about 2 to 3 liters of propane per hour. So a 1,000-gallon tank will last you around two weeks during a power outage.
Home generator diesel tanks come in a number of sizes. Sub-base tanks typically hold less than 1,000 gallons of fuel, whereas subterranean storage tanks can hold up to 1,000 gallons of fuel. Above-ground tanks are also available, albeit they normally require planning clearance and do not have the same capacity.
A 10 kW generator running at half power will use about 0.35 gallon of diesel per hour, meaning that a 1,000 gallon tank will last about 17 weeks.
What is the average amount of gas used by a whole-house generator per hour?
What is the propane consumption of a whole-house generator? You may use roughly 2-3 gallons every hour, depending on the energy draw and the size of your generator. A full tank of propane would last about five to six days if you used a 20-kW generator and a 500-gallon tank that carries approximately 400 gallons of propane.
How much does a generator cost for a house of 2000 square feet?
Depending on your climate and the length of time your power is off, power outages can be both inconvenient and dangerous. Food degrades and goes to waste when there is no energy. Your home could reach dangerously hot or frigid temperatures during the hottest or coldest months of the year. If the electricity is off for days or weeks, you may need to relocate until it is restored. This is altered by generators. Until the electrical grid is restored, they can power some or all of your home. It can keep your refrigerator, lights, and heating system running at a minimum, or it can power everything as if the power grid had never gone down.
Generators are available in a variety of capacities and can be either automated standby models that turn on automatically when needed or portable variants that you start yourself. Purchasing a backup generator might come with a wide variety of expenses.
A whole house generator costs between $10,000 and $20,000 on average in the United States. An 18kW generator capable of powering a 2,000 sq.ft. home with heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, and appliances costs roughly $15,000 on average. The inexpensive cost of this project is $900 for a 5kW portable backup generator that can power your lights, refrigerator, and small appliances with no further installation. A 25kW generator capable of supplying a 2,500 square foot home with above-average power consumption, such as heating, cooling, heavy appliances, and auto charging, costs $25,000.