Jason Palmer, CPA, CITP

Cyber Insurance Auditing

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Services
    • Break/Fix
    • Network Infrastructure
    • Installation
    • Web Hosting
    • Web Applications
  • Consulting
  • Vendors
  • U.S. Federal Courts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Product Showcases
You are here: Home / Archives for Disadvantages Of Natural Gas

Hurricane Tech – Powering your Generator – Natural Gas

December 26, 2012 By Jason Palmer 1 Comment

It is quite common for Whole House Generators and some Portable Generators to support both Natural Gas and Liquid Propane as Fuel sources.  However, the Generator must be specifically configured to accept either Natural Gas OR Liquid Propane as the fittings and pressures are different for each Fuel type.

If an option, usually the best Fuel choice for your Generator is Utility Supplied Natural Gas.  It is delivered in pipes buried in the ground under high pressure.  Delivery is based on pressure physics and not at all dependent on Electricity.  Natural Gas is stored in huge tanks with floating tops at the Utility.  As the Natural Gas in the tank is consumed by customers, the delicately balanced weight of the top of the tank lowers and forces the Natural Gas out of the tank and in to the Distribution pipes to your home.  The Utility Gas Supply is rarely disrupted during even the worst storms specifically because the delivery system is not dependent on external electrical power and the pipes are mostly underground.

I have never lost my Natural Gas Service due to a Storm.  Check with your local Natural Gas Utility for the history of outages in your area.  For example, in the North Shore of Long Island, NY, Gas Service is virtually 100% reliable.  But in parts of the South Shore of Long Island, due to an antiquated delivery system, every time severe flooding occurs, Gas Service is suspended.

The significant advantage of Natural Gas as a Fuel source for a Generator is that it is a continuous, 24/7 supply – provided that Gas Service has not been disrupted – which as stated for most areas is rare.  Natural Gas is usually the least expensive of all Fuel Options.

The only significant disadvantage of Natural Gas is that it is not necessarily the most efficient of the Fuel sources.  In my article, “Hurricane Tech – The Whole House Generator Option”, I discuss the efficiency differences between Liquid Propane and Natural Gas.  However, the convenience and low cost of Natural Gas far outweigh the marginal loss in Generator efficiency.  A minor issue is also the increased cost of initial installation.  You may need Permits from your town and are usually required to use a Licensed Plumber.  A Town Building Inspector will want to perform a Pressure Test to make sure the connection is at the proper specification.

Filed Under: Disaster Planning, Tech in Plain English Tagged With: Advantages And Disadvantage Of Natural Gas, Disadvantages Of Natural Gas, Generator, Generator Fuel, Liquid Propane Generator, Natural Gas, Natural Gas Generator, Propane

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Categories

  • ACT! Premium CRM
  • Cloud
  • Commentary
  • Consulting
  • Disaster Planning
  • Google Apps
  • Management Consulting
  • Networking
  • Office365
  • Printer Issues
  • Security
  • Tech in Plain English
  • Tech Tips
  • Virtualization
  • Wordpress

The Tweetisphere

  • Just now
  • https://twitter.com/palmercomputer

Pages

  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Break/Fix
  • Consulting
  • Contact Us
  • Cyber Insurance Auditing
  • Installation
  • Network Infrastructure
  • Product Showcases
    • Brocade Product Showcase
    • Cisco Product Showcase
    • EMC Product Showcase
    • Emerson Product Showcase
    • IBM Product Showcase
    • Intel Product Showcase
    • Juniper Product Showcase
    • Veeam Product Information
    • VMWare Product Showcase
    • Xerox Office Products
  • U.S. Federal Courts
  • Vendor List
  • Web Applications
  • Web Hosting

Copyright © 2025 · Log in