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Heat pumps are great if you spend the extra for the geoexchange type. Underground the temp stays pretty constant, so the heat pump is more efficient. Most people end up cheaping out and buying heat pumps with heater strips that activate when it's too cold. Some of those heat strips are 10kw...

You will need to check your local codes if you plan to do one, as they seem to constantly change the requirements for installation. As for actually building one, most of it is going to depend on what it is you are trying to accomplish. There is a variety of different system configurations so...

For diesels you also really want them sized properly for the load. It's hammered on here a lot, but an oversized diesel generator will cause you headaches. Even though running at minimal load you'll still be saving fuel compared to gasoline, eventually you have to put a real load on it and...

one downside of natural gas is where you live. Here on the West Coast is earthquake country, and when we get the big one, I expect nat gas to be turned off/unavailable for a long time while all the pipes are checked and fixed. To most people though an earthquake is something that's a minor...

^this is what I would expect most to do. It really depends on the person. It seems like the majority of standby generator owners around here are conservatives, and able to deal without all the luxuries of life if the length of outage is unknown. On the other hand, I also know people that...

It really depends on the engine design. Some engines like the older briggs have a bowl on the carb that the bolt holding it on is the jet, and it's inset into the center of the bowl, effectively making it almost 1/4" above the lowest part of the bowl, and no matter how you run it, there will...

I looked over that page, and some of the claims don't really sound right from practical experience. Examples: Biodiesel lasts 18-24 months without additives. If you try to store biodiesel for any length of time without additives, you're going to grow algae and other stuff in it, because the...

It all depends on what exactly it is you are trying to plan for, and what your expected needs are. You burn about 1 gallon of propane for every 6-7kw of electricity produced in a 3600 rpm engine. I can run my entire house on an average of 6kw, so if I got a 500 gallon tank I'd be looking at...

No parts needed yet luckily. Just been keeping my eyes open and even the non running gens that are obviously missing stuff are still going for more than I would expect.

I'm sure there will continue to be some in service for many years. My unit in Korea still had some MEP-002 generators, and this was in 2005-2009, so long past when they should have been obsoleted. Unfortunately around here they go for 2-3 times the price they were just a couple years ago. I...