Fuel & Run Time

Propane against natural gas, tank size, and hours at half load.

5 articles

• Natural Gas or Propane — Fuel Supply Decides the Run Time

  A generator's run time is a property of its fuel supply, not of the generator.

• Maintenance — A Generator That Sits Idle Is the One That Fails

  The generator has one job and it does it perhaps twice a year, which is exactly the profile of a machine that does not start.

• How Long Will It Run — Calculating It From the Tank

  The generator burns fuel in proportion to what it is producing, and most of the time it is producing far less than its rating.

• The Gas Supply Is the Constraint People Discover Last

  The generator arrives, the pad is poured, and the gas meter turns out to be too small.

• Standby Generator Will Not Start — Battery, Fuel, or Lockout

  The weekly exercise proves the engine runs. It does not prove the battery can crank it cold, and that is the failure people meet at 2am.