AC power line question

[Bob Bruninga]

>> We have found that the typical home generator can only generate
>> about 4 or 5 kwh per gallon.  At $3.60 cents a gallon, that is at
>> best about 90 cents per KWH which is about TEN TIMES what we pay 
>> for electricity from our utility (about 9 cents per KWH).

> Did you miss the parts where Chip said he was running a 
> 50kw transmitter (which probably won't run so well off 
> your "typical home generator", which runs off of gas, 
> not diesel, anyway)?

No, I thought the original topic was what someone was currently spending on
gas to keep their freezer and refrigerator on line.  I thought the comments
about a 50 kW diesel generator doing it at half the price of the grid gave
the wrong impression in the current situation of people trying to get by on
generators.  SO I thought it appropriate to use some real numbers relative
to the real situation at hand.

And most people are going for a 5 kW generator running on gas.  Though I
find that excessive.  My refrigerator and all the CFL lights I need get by
on a 500W generator just fine.  If I want to run a window AC, I find that I
need about 1000 watts.  I was amazed when one of those cheap $80 5000BTU AC
units actually starts just fine from a 1 kW inverter on the car system.
Once it starts it only draws about 600 watts and runs fine.

For what it's worth.

Bob, WB4aPR