Propane Generator

Being out in the sticks, we sometimes experience prolonged power outages... 2-3, 7-8 hours ... and being on a well with our own pressure system, it means going without water as well.

A generator is the obvious answer... gas has no shelf life, but as we already use propane, it would seem a propane powered gen set would be ideal...

NOB , Propane Generators are readily available at Home Depot or Lowes, but appears not so in Guadalajara...

Has anyone out there experience with a Propane Generator and know where a person can purchase one locally?

6000 - 10000 watt should do...

http://honda.com.mx/fuerza/

If you go to the above link and click on "Generadores", you will see what Honda Mexico has to offer. None of them seem to use propane BUT they also didn't used to sell the Honda EU3000i. It would be worthwhile to give them a call and find out if they can get a Honda generator that uses propane...Honda NOB certainly sells them.
FYI, generators in Mexico are more commonly referred to as "plantas de luz".
Regards your comment about gas going bad...we cycled our "gas can" gas through the car every couple of months so we always had a fresh supply on hand. On the other hand, propane doesn't go bad and I like the idea of just opening a valve to have fuel when needed. In a prolonged wide spread power failure, the gas pumps at any Pemex aren't going to work either.
Cool new things about the newer generators...push button start (with back up pull cord) and also remote starting from up to 60 feet away.
Keep us posted on how you make out...I'm certainly interested.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=228085-24212-5893&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3229654&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

I'm looking for something with an auto-on feature... also acts as a surge protector for the whole house

There is even a Lowes in Mexico... but I've gotten nowhere with them... and unable to comunicate a deal and delivery arrangements...

I might have to bring something like this down with me but as you can see ... they weigh 400 - 500lbs

I thought this internet stuff was supposed to make things easier!!

You could pay to have one shipped down from the Lowes closest to the border in Texas or Arizona. Assuming they are NAFTA compliant it might cost you $100 to $200 in freight only. If you want me to get you a freight quote from say Nogales to Guad let me know. I'm in the business and have a few buddies that work for ABF Freight who service the US and Mexico.

http://www.generac.com/Residential/DealerLocator/Results.aspx?CountryId=3&CategoryId=1&CountryCode=MEX

The above link shows all Generac suppliers in Mexico...not a single one listed in Guad.
If you contacted Generac directly in either the U.S. or Canada and explained what you're looking for then somebody will point you in the right direction...like to the dealer in Mexico who supplies and installs the most stand-by propane generators. I'm kinda thinkin' that the installation is going to be really important.
The above process is how we found the Grundfos submersible smart pump that we wanted...and the guy spoke perfect English too and answered another million questions that we had.
I christen thee "ferret in training"...enjoy the hunt.

Another option is to purchase a gas generator and pick up the propane conversion kit. A lot cheaper to send that down here than a generator. Most can be converted from gas to propane or even the option of dual fuel. My Generac is a stationary model and weights in around 400 lbs. I'd hate to pay the shipment. As I mentioned in another post don't go any larger than you think you need to run the house. You will just waste propane.

If I had to do it again I would pick up a Honda generator of the size I needed and convert it to propane myself. If had nothing but problems with my Gernerac.

http://www.propanecarbs.com/

Bob asked about cost of running a propane generator on another thread that got so Hijacked I thought I would start it back up on this one.

I have current propane costs and the usage of my propane generator. What I don't have is the current cost of incoming CFE power. this is because of a lack meter readings over the last 8 months by CFE. So the first half of the numbers to get this started are as follows.

My Generac 7500 watt generator uses 7.8 ltrs/hour of propane to product the 7500 watts it is capable of. Within the hour I just filled my bulk tank and it cost me 5.14 Pesos/ltr. In other words to produce 7500 watts of power I paid 40.09 pesos.

I'm sure there is someone there that has a pretty typical house and could come up with CFE costs based on their usage and KW charges.

I still feel that the only way to go is grid-tie as batteries are a big cost and a continuous never ending maintenance issue. As grid-tie shuts down if the main power is lost there would have to be a bypass switch to allow the generator to continue to fee the house. I would think this could be automated.

I've been checking to see if I can pick up a used, good condition RV propane generator. Not that large, easy to bring back in the Honda CRV.

You don't see too many smaller generators already on propane but the conversion kits are easy to find. If I had to do it again I would go smaller and convert. Something that would run the RV and charge the batteries at the same time but no more. Any extra is just propane out the tailpipe.

Why not solar? I have RV buddies who boondock a lot and this works great with them. On rare occasions, they start up their gen sets.

More than a few gassers have propane generators. I just had this idea I might be able to pick one up and adapt it for here as a backup to our dismal CFE service. We don't have water in the house when the power goes off. That gets old quick.

I have solar on my RV and a big battery bank but there is a big difference between boon docking with next to no services and wanting to live full time in an RV with some resemblance of a normal day. My RV consumes 1500 watts min. providing i don't use the A/C. To store enough power to last me the into the night and till morning would need a huge system. Not something I could even think of bolting to the roof. It's scary but CFE is cheaper. However like i've stated the right size propane generator possible would compete.