Can I use gas supply to generate electricity?

Zweitaktmotor

I just received my annual statements and noticed that electricity is about three timees as dear as gas. It may sound daft, but if there was a way to generate electricity directly from my gas supply, I could perhaps make quite a big saving?

Obviously, your gas pipes are not to be tampered with, but has anyone had a professional generator installed? Does this work?

macman

Yes. The device you need is called a gas fired power station.
But you may find that it does not quite fit in your kitchen...

timbim_2

Most of the UK's electricity is generated from coal and gas fired power stations, which work by burning gas to boil water and generate electricity from there. The reason electricity is more expensive than gas is that the process for converting gas to electricity is not particularly efficient.

The way to save money through the gas/electric price gap is to use gas for heating wherever possible; so central heating, cooking and hot water.

Tim

daveyjp

Yes with a CHP (combined heat and power) system, but it's not very effective for a single property.

rogerblack

timbim wrote: »

The way to save money through the gas/electric price gap is to use gas for heating wherever possible; so central heating, cooking and hot water.

Gas cooking can be rather inefficient - 50% of the heat from a gas ring does not make it into the pan.
over 90% of the heat from an induction cooker does.
(conventional electric hobs don't do so well)

The best way to save energy is to use it carefully, whatever the source.
For example - turn the stove down once a pan has been brought to the boil, and put a lid on it.

SYNERGY

Zweitaktmotor wrote: »

I just received my annual statements and noticed that electricity is about three timees as dear as gas. It may sound daft, but if there was a way to generate electricity directly from my gas supply, I could perhaps make quite a big saving?

Obviously, your gas pipes are not to be tampered with, but has anyone had a professional generator installed? Does this work?

It may sound daft, but if there was a way to generate electricity directly from my gas supply...............

There is, it entails buying a small gas powered generator plant sufficient to cope with your estimated maximum household load, all the control and safety equipment, paying for servicing it, consumables, parts when they wear out etc.

.............I could perhaps make quite a big saving?

Perhaps not :eek:, more like a big loss.

.........but has anyone had a professional generator installed?

There are many companies and business's, large and small, who have gas fired standby generators in the event of mains failure.

I think the bean counters in these companies would have run this by their abacus.

There are in fact quite a few producing useable amounts of electricity from gas, possibly not the total electrical load they require, but a contribution towards it, much like solar panels.

However these, in most instances, use ' free ' gas, ie sewerage plants etc.

Pincher

Bloom box

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom_Box

BAXI Ecogen

http://www.baxi.co.uk/ecogen

About £8,000 to put one in. You get 1kW max of electricity, which is good enough to keep the central heating pump, zone valves and control electronics going, plus a few energy saving light bulbs. Apparently it's no good in a power cut. It should attract some kind of Renewable Heat Initiative subsidy for micro-generation.

The problem is, in summer, you only run the gas boiler to heat hot water, and the boiler is not on continuously even in winter.

Natural Gas

In China, they have taxis that run on CNG Compressed Natural Gas.
In principle, therefore, you can have a Natural Gas engine driving a dynamo. In the event of a power cut, you can isolate the house from the national grid, run the dynamo at 50Hz, like any other petrol/diesel generator. Do-able, but I pin my hopes on the Bloom Box, which is small and silent.

gasmanmartin

i would stay clear of those ecogens - had nothing but bother with them


Give it a few years and there will be more reliable options available.

or to reduce your electricity cost now, get some solar panels fitted

cing0

There is also https://www.whispergen.com for microCHP but it doesn't seem to have taken off probably because of reliability and the kit needed to connect it to the mains safely.
Once the AA/BG/Npower etc home care contract start to cover them, should be good to go.

Zweitaktmotor

Thank you all. Micrto-CHP is exactly what I am looking for.