The Relative Efficiency of Gasoline, Gas, and Gas Fuels For Back-Up Machines

When buying an electrical generator like a back-up energy supply for your house, one factor to think about is which kind of fuel you'll be using.  While you will find other key elements when purchasing an electrical generator, this information is only worried about the technique of evaluating the relative efficiency between gasoline, gas and gas.

The very first factor to know may be the equivalent ratio of one's output for that three fuels as expressed in BTUs, the generally used unit of one's.  The next table demonstrates:

Gasoline 1 gallon = 125,000 BTUs Gas 1 CCF = 100,015 BTUs (CCF=100 cubic ft) Gas 1 gallon = 91,700 BTUsYou can observe previously mentioned that 1 gallon of gasoline is much more efficient than 100 cubic ft of gas or 1 gallon or gas.  Actually, the ratio is roughly:

1 gasoline = 1.25 CCF gas = 1.36 gallons propaneIn short, you'd need 1.36 gallons of gas to produce the same BTUs of just one gallon of gasoline or, 1.25 CCF of gas.

Like a practical example let us state that gasoline is presently .85 a gallon, gas $.95 per CCF, and gas .00 a gallon (they are present day prices my home). Next, my generator uses 10 gallons of gasoline each day if run continuously for twenty-four hrs.  Therefore, for just one day's usage I want:

10 gallons of gasoline, or 10 x 1.25 CCF of gas, or 10 x 1.36 gallons of gas
10 gallons of gasoline, or 12.5 CCF of gas, or 13.6 gallons of gasWhen we then go into the prices:

(.65) x (10) for gasoline ($.95) x (12.5) for gas or, (.00) x (13.6) for propaneThe cost for running the generator 24 hrs is:

.50 for gasoline .88 for gas or, .40 for propaneAs you can observe, knowing the relative efficiency from the three fuels you can easily connect the present prices from the fuels to calculate the daily price of running your generator for every fuel. However, within the situation of gas, the price per gallon can differ broadly with respect to the quantity of gallons bought.  Within the example above, .00 a gallon was for filling a little 4-5 gallon container for bigger purchases the cost can decrease substantially.

If you're considering purchasing an electrical generator it is advisable to consider not only the first cost.  If you are utilizing it for longer amounts of time it may be cheaper over time to purchase an electrical generator able to running on alternative fuels.