Diesel Generator

Diesel generators are excellent investments for providing cost efficient energy. Even better is the fact that diesel is available at the most fuel stations unlike liquid propane. Learn more about diesel generators here.

Diesel Generator
Big Rig Power to Keep Your Home Running

Diesel engine generators excel in areas of longevity and efficiency. Diesel simply burns more efficiently in an engine. Think of an 18-wheel truck capable of driving over a million miles before major service is needed. A diesel generator may last the life of your home with that kind of longevity!

A typical 1800 rpm water cooled diesel generator can operate for an average of 12 to 30,000 hours before maintenance is required. Similarly sized gasoline engines will see a significantly shorter life due to how hot the engine burns.

The Strong Silent Type

Modern diesel generators are built for much quieter operation and require less maintenance than liquid propane generators at the same size. Also, the fuel is cheaper, costing 30 to 50 percent less.

Unlike a standard gasoline engine, which uses sparks to ignite a mixture of gas and air, a diesel generator engine uses compressed air to achieve similar results by injecting fuel into the superheated air.

This process gives a diesel a higher ratio of compression, which leads to better overall efficiency.

Other Considerations

Since diesel generator engines have no spark plug wires or carburetors to maintain or replace, diesel engines run cooler and burn less than half the amount of fuel it takes a gas engine to do the same work.

Diesel is also much safer to store than both gasoline and liquid propane. Diesel fuel is indeed flammable, but is not explosive and the emissions are far less toxic.

One common problem with diesel engines is cold-starting. When a diesel generator engine gets too cold, the air temperature cannot be raised enough to ignite the fuel. To circumvent this problem, a glow plug must be plugged into power or the generator must be connected to the home's circuit. Since power is always running from the municipal line, there should be no problems with cold starting when municipal power goes out.

Portable diesel engines are not so easy to keep heated and keeping the temperature up can be a problem in adverse conditions.

More fuel equals more power!

Diesel generators can receive a cheap, quick upgrade by simply swapping the fuel tank. This is an easy job since most designs seat the diesel tanks on top of the unit, letting gravity aid in better flow of fuel.

Diesel generators sound much more imposing than they actually are. Diesel engines are rather simple and are much more efficient than other types of fuel. This, along with the wide availability of diesel fuel, makes a diesel engine a great way to provide emergency, standalone or standby power.