How much does it Cost to Run a Generator on Natural Gas?

If you have a natural gas line underneath your house-you don’t need to worry about powering the generator you have! You already know how easy maintenance natural gas is!

And let me tell you, it is also cost-effective! Do you want to know how effective natural gas is for generators cost? So, how much does it cost to run a generator on natural gas compared to the other fuel varieties?

Cost of Running a Generator on NG

Natural gas is cleaner than diesel and easy to work with when it comes to operating a generator. Yes, I won’t say that natural gas is completely eco-friendly but it is affordable. If you have gas pipes in your home or running underneath your house, I recommend you to set up the generator with natural gas. So, how much does it cost to run any generator with natural gas? I will give you a basic view of this point today.

If you live in an area where power outage is common, natural gas can be your solution. If you don’t have a natural gas line underneath your house it can be tough. You have to go through installing the pipes along with the automatic transfer switch and other objects including the extension cords for generator. But once you get the connection, it will be cost-worthy!

As I am dealing with the whole-house standby generators here, I will describe the cost shortly. For every thousand cubic feet, you have to pay $3.26 or close when it comes to natural gas. However, the operation cost will surely vary. It depends on the size of your generator too.

Yes, the price of natural gas fluctuates. But if I talk about the average cost of natural gas, it wouldn’t cost you much. Here, it’s important to know about the fuel usages of a generator every hour.

Do you know how much natural gas does a generator use per hour while a power outage? If you have a 5 kW generator in your house, it will consume about 0.75 gallons of gas every hour.

This is the amount required if the generator is the only survival equipment in your house in times of outages. The case is different for the larger units. For the 30 kW design generators, the device can use three gallons of fuel or natural gas on a full load. The 20 kW Generac standby natural gas generator will use 204 cu. ft. natural gas every out.

This is for 50% load. And for a full load, it will use 301 cu. ft. of fuel or natural gas. In the case of Generac whole-house generators, it can run for 8 hours constantly if you provide 5 gallons of gas. For 1000 cu. ft. natural gas, you have to pay more or less $11. So, according to that, you have to measure the amount you are paying.

List of Generator Natural Gas Fuel Consumption

As I have told you before, for 1000 cu. ft. you have to pay $11 or close. I have made a small list of how much fuel a generator on natural gas will consume. Take a look, it’s the easiest solution! If you know the usage in cu. ft. you can easily convert it to money!

• If you are using a 20 kW generator, for a full load, it will require 301 cu. ft. per hour
• For 30 kW generators, 416 cu. ft. per hour fuel will be consumed
• If you use a 40 kW generator, it will consume 543 cu. ft. gas per hour
• Every 60 kW generator will consume 798 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• For the 75 kW generators, 990 cu. ft. natural gas per hour will be consumed
• A generator of 100 kW, 1308 cu. ft. natural gas per hour will be consumed
• 125 kW Generator will consume 1627 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• 135 kW generators will consume 1754 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• A generator of 150 kW will take 1946 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• A little larger generator of 175 kW will take up 2264 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• The 200 kW generators consume 2583 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• The 230 kW generators will eat 2965 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• For the 250 kW generators, you have to provide 3220 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• The 300 kW generators will eat up 3857 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• For every 350 kW generator, the fuel consumption will be 4495 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• The 400 kW generators will consume 5132 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• For the 500 kW standby generators, the gas consumption will be 6407 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• The larger 600 kW ones will eat up 7681 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• In the case of the 750 kW generators, you have to provide 9593 cu. ft. natural gas per hour
• For the 1000 kW standby generators, 12780 cu. ft. natural gas per hour is required

Note: The fuel consumption listed above is for the full load only. Also, it is just estimation. The actual price may vary according to the market.

If you compare natural gas with electricity, the price is lower in terms of natural gas. On the other hand, electricity is two to three times higher in price compared to natural gas. In per kW, you have to pay $0.06 for electricity. On the contrary, for natural gas, $1.77 per therm is the cost.

But in this case, keep in mind that natural gas can be higher in terms of price too. I suggest natural gas if you are going to fuel your generator below 150 kW. If you go for lower than this, it is cost-effective. But in case you go higher, the cost can rise a little too. If you check out propane vs. natural gas generators, you will know that how cost-effective Natural gas generators are.

Yes, you get energy density in propane but if you want to invest less and get the utmost benefit, I never suggest anything other than natural gas. However, if you are trying to settle for a clean-burning and environment-friendly fuel, you can go for propane too! Learn how long will a Generac generator run on propane and know the difference between these two!

Wrap Up

Operating a generator with natural gas makes your work easier. I and glad that I don’t have to call the delivery truck again as again propane anymore! In the case of NG, my cost is less and the process of installation to maintenance-everything became easy! Why wouldn’t I love NG!