Hi all. I know there have been threads on this topic before but a 'search' didn't turn up any similar / recent threads.

I am looking online at Home Depot for a large propane tank that will be used with a dual fuel generator for use during emergencies. Something I've been meaning to do for several years.

I'm looking at the Worthington brand and either buying 1 large 100 lb tank or several smaller (30 to 40 lb) tanks for easier movement.

The hose that came with the generator has a regulator and connection that fits the standard small tanks like you would have for your gas grill.

We don't use a gas grill so this tank will sit in a corner on the back patio for years and years (hopefully). My local feed store can refill it for me but I will have to haul it in my truck to them.

I am curious if anyone has any recommendations or lessons learned you could share. This seems like a "no brainer", but you never know what you can learn here on Sigforum.

Thanks in advance.

I've got 2 100# Worthington tanks for my duel fuel genny. Bought them from Amazon. Figured under hard use that they would not tend to freeze up like 20's do.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
I've got 2 100# Worthington tanks for my duel fuel genny. Bought them from Amazon. Figured under hard use that they would not tend to freeze up like 20's do.

I have 2 40lb Manchester tanks and a few of the 20lb tanks that I've bought at Tractorsupply. I plan on buying 2 100lb tanks eventually. TractorSupply also has the cheapest price on propane, at least in my area. I have a dually generator also and so far never used except for once a month startup and maintenance. Tanks hook up to my dually no problem. Secured & locked OUTSIDE next to the shed out back.

Pro tip. Invest in a propane tank dolly. Or if you have a sturdy dolly already to secure the tanks, your set.

Be sure to check your local building codes as to placement.
I know here you can't have a large propane or natural gas tank within three feet of a door or window.

First, calculate how much fuel/hr your generator needs.

Second, figure out how long a typical power outage might last. Then double it. (You optimist!) Seriously, though, do you want to have prepared for the situation, and then watch/worry as the tanks run low?

At any event, multiply the number of hours you want the generator to run by its consumption rate per hour, and that'll get you the amount you need for that duration.

Example: say you have a generator that uses 3 gallons/hour of propane, and say you wanted to power the house for 7 days, 24x7. In that event, you'd want 7 days x 24 hr x 3 gal/hr = 504 gallons.

Side note, re: underground tanks filled by a service. Those (at least here) only get filled to 80% capacity. So if you're talking underground tanks, the max duration should be figured on 80% of the tank capacity, which is the most it will ever get filled to. My '500 gallon' tank gets filled to 400.

For the above example (504 gallons) you'd need a 504/0.8 = 630 gallon tank.

As eluded to above depending on the size of your generator and the length of the run time you want you may be better off buying and installing an underground tank that the propane company would come and fill for you.

In our home construction business we would routinely install a 500 gallon UG tank but have installed 2000 (2-1000 gallon tanks) to one couple who was into prepping.

Another plus to getting a tank larger than what you need is that you can buy the propane in August/September when no one is buying it at a much lower cost that will hopefully last the year.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
First, calculate how much fuel/hr your generator needs.

Second, figure out how long a typical power outage might last. Then double it. (You optimist!) Seriously, though, do you want to have prepared for the situation, and then watch/worry as the tanks run low?

At any event, multiply the number of hours you want the generator to run by its consumption rate per hour, and that'll get you the amount you need for that duration.

Example: say you have a generator that uses 3 gallons/hour of propane, and say you wanted to power the house for 7 days, 24x7. In that event, you'd want 7 days x 24 hr x 3 gal/hr = 504 gallons.

Side note, re: underground tanks filled by a service. Those (at least here) only get filled to 80% capacity. So if you're talking underground tanks, the max duration should be figured on 80% of the tank capacity, which is the most it will ever get filled to. My '500 gallon' tank gets filled to 400.

For the above example (504 gallons) you'd need a 504/0.8 = 630 gallon tank.

Totally understand on the usage problem. But 1 100 lb tank is better than no tank and I'm not sure if I can put in an underground tank as smlsig mentioned. That would be a good option if I could.

I have a natural gas outlet right where I need it but my generator company says that the Champion Dual Fuel generator cannot be converted to natural gas. I have seen kits online - I'd probably do that before putting in an underground tank, assuming the conversion can be done safely.

Or, maybe just look for a generator that runs off of natural gas.

They also make 60lb cylinders.
A little easier to handle than the 100lb

Go big. the reason you have the generator is because you may need it. and these suckers consume fuel. Get the largest tanks you can personally manage and get at least two.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimineer:

Or, maybe just look for a generator that runs off of natural gas.

Sounds like the best way in my opinion.

I have a whole house auto start generator that runs off my propane tank for home heating. I do not have the option of NG. Wish I did.
You might want to get one that runs off natural gas.

I would get multiple tanks since you have to take the tank to get filled and transport it. Much easier to run a tank or two down to nothing and still have a full tank that the generator is running off of while you get the others filled (if you can). You're going to need a lot more propane than 100 lbs.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimineer:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
First, calculate how much fuel/hr your generator needs.

Second, figure out how long a typical power outage might last. Then double it. (You optimist!) Seriously, though, do you want to have prepared for the situation, and then watch/worry as the tanks run low?

At any event, multiply the number of hours you want the generator to run by its consumption rate per hour, and that'll get you the amount you need for that duration.

Example: say you have a generator that uses 3 gallons/hour of propane, and say you wanted to power the house for 7 days, 24x7. In that event, you'd want 7 days x 24 hr x 3 gal/hr = 504 gallons.

Side note, re: underground tanks filled by a service. Those (at least here) only get filled to 80% capacity. So if you're talking underground tanks, the max duration should be figured on 80% of the tank capacity, which is the most it will ever get filled to. My '500 gallon' tank gets filled to 400.

For the above example (504 gallons) you'd need a 504/0.8 = 630 gallon tank.

Totally understand on the usage problem. But 1 100 lb tank is better than no tank and I'm not sure if I can put in an underground tank as smlsig mentioned. That would be a good option if I could.

I have a natural gas outlet right where I need it but my generator company says that the Champion Dual Fuel generator cannot be converted to natural gas. I have seen kits online - I'd probably do that before putting in an underground tank, assuming the conversion can be done safely.

Or, maybe just look for a generator that runs off of natural gas.

If you have natural gas I can't quite figure out why you would want to go to all this trouble to run the thing off propane, which is going to cost a lot more... and even more if you have a permanent tank that requires filling by a delivery truck.

If there was a NG conversion I would do that in a heartbeat. I think the orifice is slightly larger on NG vs. LP but I'm not sure. But it would be great to fire the generator up and not have to worry about fuel. I've been through that with a smaller generator that I had running just to keep my sump pump going. We were out for 4 or 5 days and it was stressful enough without the added concern of the running out of fuel.

quote:

Originally posted by Blume9mm:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimineer:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
First, calculate how much fuel/hr your generator needs.

Second, figure out how long a typical power outage might last. Then double it. (You optimist!) Seriously, though, do you want to have prepared for the situation, and then watch/worry as the tanks run low?

At any event, multiply the number of hours you want the generator to run by its consumption rate per hour, and that'll get you the amount you need for that duration.

Example: say you have a generator that uses 3 gallons/hour of propane, and say you wanted to power the house for 7 days, 24x7. In that event, you'd want 7 days x 24 hr x 3 gal/hr = 504 gallons.

Side note, re: underground tanks filled by a service. Those (at least here) only get filled to 80% capacity. So if you're talking underground tanks, the max duration should be figured on 80% of the tank capacity, which is the most it will ever get filled to. My '500 gallon' tank gets filled to 400.

For the above example (504 gallons) you'd need a 504/0.8 = 630 gallon tank.

Totally understand on the usage problem. But 1 100 lb tank is better than no tank and I'm not sure if I can put in an underground tank as smlsig mentioned. That would be a good option if I could.

I have a natural gas outlet right where I need it but my generator company says that the Champion Dual Fuel generator cannot be converted to natural gas. I have seen kits online - I'd probably do that before putting in an underground tank, assuming the conversion can be done safely.

Or, maybe just look for a generator that runs off of natural gas.

If you have natural gas I can't quite figure out why you would want to go to all this trouble to run the thing off propane, which is going to cost a lot more... and even more if you have a permanent tank that requires filling by a delivery truck.

Since I never did describe my anticipated use case, here it is:

We have had power go out for a few hours the past few years in the summer when the temps get up around 100+ degrees. I'm thinking that a combination of the influx of people from the left and right coast's to the Dallas suburbs plus perhaps just aging infrastructure is the cause. Regardless, it has become more commonplace so if I have a way to run at least 1 AC unit, the fridge, and a hair dryer for 3 to 6 hours we should be fine. Here are my basic generator specs:

"It produces 8400 starting watts and 6750 running watts, and will run for 5.5 hours at 50% load when using a 20-pound propane tank"

So just taking a wild ass guess to derate the manufacturer's spec, I'll assume I could do 6,000 running watts for 5.5 hours on 60 gallons of propane - or a 100 gallon tank from Home Depot. So yes, I'd probably buy 2 tanks or the equivalent in smaller tank sizes. Whatever I can run with 6,000 watts is what I can run.

Well hell, look at this (just now did a search on DuckDuckGo:
https://www.amazon.com/Champio...s=lawn-garden&sr=1-6

I was thinking a whole house genny would be on the order of $12K+ (installed) but maybe it would be 4K to $5K'ish. Maybe I should relegate the propane generator to camping or as a backup and get more serious about a whole house generator. I'm going to call my gas company and inquire about my options from an installation/hookup perspective (nat gas is on the opposite side of the house from my electric service and internet/fiber).

So maybe a couple 100 gal tanks (or equivalent in smaller tanks) and getting serious about a whole house generator is the way to go.

I'll update my post if I go with a whole house generator. In the meantime, I think 2 or 3 60 gal. tanks will do. I can always sell them to my nephew later since he is big into 4WD / camping.

This is my everyday/week thing. Being offgrid, if I cant run it of solar-electric, I run it off of propane. Heating, stove, & generator. I have 3 generators, 3100w gas Champion, 8500w gas Briggs & Stratton, and 14kw propane Kohler. The 14kw generator is set up to run at 220/240v as a backup for cloudy days.

From March 7th 2019 to today I have run the 14kw generator with the following stats: 37h:15:07s @ approximately 1.5 gallons per hour. I run it once a week for 23 minutes, 1 min warm up, 20 min full load exercize, and 2 minute cool down. I have my exercise set to run late in the evening (8pm) so that I can recapture the power into the batteries rather than wasting the power just to exercise the unit. 19h:15m of exercise and 18h replenishing batteries on back to back cloudy days in Dec/Jan/Feb. I run the generator off of a 100lb tank and have refilled with 55 gallons of propane.

All total I have generated 139.3kwh since March 7th 2019. That's approximately 3.79kwh generated per hour on 1.5 gallons of propane. So there is some information on what you "might" expect from a whole house propane generator.

A couple things. 100# propane tanks fill to approximately 24 gallons with 23ish usable and are heavy 170lbs or so. I hate moving them, I have 5 of the 100# tanks. 20# tanks are easy to move and are approximately 4.7 gallons each with 4ish gallons usable and weigh around 35lbs full. I have 12 20# tanks for various uses. There will be someone with better stats on usable gas in any given propane cylinder. Outside temps are also going to affect a propane cylinder more than a buried tank. Fill that cylinder late in the evening on a cold night and see what happens the next day when the sun heats it up. Buried tanks are getting better heat from the earth at more stable temps to help vaporize the liquid.

Buried tank is an option for me, but with 22 miles of sometimes bad dirt roads, that puts me dependant on them making it out here for my refills. So not doing that at this time. I just use heavy equipment and a dolly to move the 100# tanks.


However, if you do have an NG source, most standby generators by Generac or Kohler that can run on LP can also run on NG. Mine came set to run on NG and converting to LP was unplugging a wire on the fuel regulator and swapping the NG fuel orifice out for an LP orifice that came with it.

If you don't want to go the NG route and want to stick with a portable generator you have plenty of options in the dual fuel market. If you already have a gas generator, this is a good place to get propane conversion kits.

https://centuryfuelproducts.com/

Good luck on your quest.

^^^^^^^ I’m wondering if you might consider a trailer you could mount a medium size tank on, pull it to the refill place, and park it where you can easily secure it and connect at home, depending on the roads you mentioned. Trailer would need good suspension and tires.

Best wishes to all y’all.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
^^^^^^^ I’m wondering if you might consider a trailer you could mount a medium size tank on, pull it to the refill place, and park it where you can easily secure it and connect at home, depending on the roads you mentioned. Trailer would need good suspension and tires.

Best wishes to all y’all.

So many projects around here. This one is on the list. Getting pallet forks for the skid steer this fall. Going to build a pallet for strapping 4 of them at a time to vertically and just load straight into the back of the truck.

If code allows in your area, I'd buy a tank and have it installed by one of the local gas companies alongside the house. Then when you need a refill, give them a call.

Get a pair of 100# and the appropriate switching valve from a propane supply store. You will get what you need the first time from people who do this every day. If you feel 100# is a it much you can down size.

They may have a service that will change them out for you. Those big tanks might well last past an emergency in which case you may never handle a tank in your life. A way to use a 20# tank would be nice too.

By the way, lots of good inputs. As expected!