Diesel and Gasoline Generators

Diesel and gasoline powered generators are an excellent source of electrical power, but of course the problem is finding fuel for them. Every drop of fuel will undoubtedly be scavenged from abandoned vehicles and old storage tanks. Diesels run equally well on furnace heating oil. It is really nothing other than diesel sold under a different taxing system and perhaps with a coloring added to it.

A longer term solution for diesels is the growing and distilling of one's own biofuels. This subject is covered elsewhere in our series of web pages.

It is very beneficial to have storage battery systems associated with diesel and gasoline generating systems. These very often are larger generators that put out way more power than one wishes to consume at the moment that they are running, so it is by far more fuel efficient to store the excess power.

HOWEVER, it is more efficient still to use the power directly without first storing it because about 20% of the energy is lost in the conversion process. For this reason, where it is possible, it is best to bunch up or save up the tasks that require a lot of power until such time as the generator will be running, so that the power can be used directly.