On 11/26/2011 2:28 AM, Jeffrey Angus wrote:
On 11/25/2011 11:35 PM, Bill Horne wrote:
There is, of course, a "two-hundred pound gorilla" in the room: fuel
costs are usually minor compared to the cost of spoiled food, frozen
pipes, etc., so let me reassure everyone that I'm not looking for a
tiny difference. I'm just worried about getting a $1,000 gas bill if I
run a natural-gas powered generator for a week: we're not in need of a
fine-grained analysis here.

Ok, first off, an assumption. I'll go with the numbers I know.
My Honda EX4500S takes roughly 1 gallon / hour.
1 week = 168 hours.
168 hours x $3.50/gallon = $588.00

I stumbled across a "Cost of heating" chart, and I'm going to
assume that the relative fuel costs for heating would be similar.
So...

Gasoline = $588
Diesel = $620
Natural Gas = $582
Propane = $536
Electricity = $90

The differences are fairly small compared to one another. The real
problem is the apparent 15% efficiency of running a generator vs
using the wall outlet.

Jeff,

Thanks for the info. That's a good comparison.

Now what I need is information about the /reliability/ of the various
products and models. What /really/ scares me is the chance of finding
out that I bought a "light duty" engine that has just thrown a rod in
the middle of Field Day. Does anyone have a side-by-side
comparison of the various makes and models, along with a "plain
English" explanation of what code words like "emergency service"
mean?

TIA.

73,

Bill, W1AC

--
Bill Horne
(Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly)