Which to use? Propane vs Natural Gas:

Which to use? Propane vs Natural Gas:

If I had a choice between the two fuels, propane would be my first choice. It is widely available, easy to use with very little setup. If you grill in your back yard and you use the “white tank” to cook food outdoors over a grill. Then that is propane you are using.

But if you are cooking in your home over a gas stove, then this is usually natural gas. To be sure, call your local gas company to verify.

Natural gas supply comes to your home from underground pipes that are supplied to you by a local NG company. This fuel is carried over through pipes in vaper form, whereas propane is stored as liquid form in certified high-pressure tanks.

When you crack open the valve on the propane tank, it then comes out in gas form. That’s because liquid propane gas or “LPG”, evaporates at minus 44 degrees below zero or higher. This is way above room temperature when it starts to turn into gas.

Propane Advantages:

When camping, you can take propane with you anywhere and everywhere. In some area’s propane can be a few dollars cheaper than gasoline. Propane can also be stored to last several years or decades as long as the tanks are in good condition. Its always reliable and ready to use.

Propane Disadvantage:

There are not many bad things to say about propane. But if you are running a generator that is 4000 watt or more, a single regular BBQ size propane tank may not vaporize from liquid form to gas fast enough to keep up with the generator consistently during loads of 75% or higher. You will need to use one or two propane tanks that are 30lbs or more to do this. Performance of the generator peak output is limited by the size of the propane tanks used. Size your propane tanks accordingly. (See Reference Photo on Page 4)

If you’re running a 4000+ Watt generator off your RV propane tank, this shouldn’t be an issue since they are usually 30lbs or 40lbs and contain enough open space volume inside the tank for LP to evaporate into gas as demand increases.

Usually large generators are used as backup units for home use, for this we recommend natural gas hookup as this should be plenty to run even bigger generators. If there is no natural gas in your area, you can opt to install a 500-gallon propane tank on your property.

Natural Gas Advantages:

Just about every residential and commercial property are already equipped with natural gas supply line. Making this extremely convenient for use immediately. Hospitals, water pump stations, cell phone towers that have commercial grade backup generators use natural gas as alternative fuel to keep all essential equipment running.

Natural Gas Disadvantages: