Worth getting a generator? And what kind?

andyhawes

With rising fuel prices the gas & electric bills are starting to really worry me.

I don’t have the roof space or really the belief that solar works well enough to make it worth the investment (happy to be proven wrong though).

And also with war in Ukraine and energy supply seemingly at risk in future, I was wondering if a generator is a wise investment?

If anyone has any experience or could offer advice?

And can this also be plugged into the home grid and excess feed back to the energy company to further reduce bills?

Or is there a more viable or better solution to be a bit more self sufficient and also save some costs?

Thanks for any info, advice or suggestions. 

[Deleted User]

Have you looked at the solar panel diy kits, ( thats if you have a garden to place the panel)  my son has one and says it works really well.

tacpot12

It's not really economical to install a permanent generator at home. Even if you ignore capital costs of the machine and preparing your electrical installation, the cost of the fuel to generate electricity costs more than it would cost to buy the electricity from the grid, even at today's prices. 

The people who have tended to buy such generators have been people who have unreliable supplies from the grid so have regular power cuts, and a business that needs a constant supply of electricity. Dairy farmers might be one example.

I believe a temporary generator might make sense in today's conditions of uncertain fuel supply, Preparing your installation so that you can plug a generator in whenever you need to is relatively straightforward, providing you are happy to have the grid disconnected when running on the generator. The cost might be c£1000 for this, and you can rent a generator, or have on ready to connect when the grid has failed. 

But if you want to have the generator running while the grid is corrected, and feed energy into the grid, you need to ensure that the generator is supplying power that is in sync with the grid and is disconnected from the grid if the grid fails (Anti-islanding). Grid-tied solar inverters include the anti-islanding functions, but generator changeover panels don't. For house-sized generator, you would also need a UPS to sync the grid and generator outputs. It's an unusual requirement and would push up the cost significantly; a solar + battery install would be cheaper. Generators also need servicing regularly, which is another cost.

The capital cost of a permanent generator would far outweigh the cost of energy even at today's high prices. A solar + battery installation, with a diverter to an immersion heater would give you a much more reliable and cheaper supply, and allow you to be paid for the excess energy you generate. 

Astria

I have a generator, but I wouldn't use it instead of the grid, as the grid is still a lot cheaper. I only use it when grid power isn't available (typically on location as it's small and portable). I would never try to feed the grid however as that would just cost me money - the money I'd get back from a feed in tariff would be less than it costs to generate the power.

Ectophile

There's no way you will make money feeding the grid using a generator running on petrol, diesel or LPG.  The cost of the fuel will far outweigh anything you will earn.  Solar panels are only viable because sunlight is free.

Ordinary generators must only be connected through a changeover switch, so you are either running off the grid or off generator, but never both at the same time.  The standard generators you can buy in shops are not intended to be grid-tied.  If you attemped to do so, something would go bang in spectacular fashion.

Anyone who wants to get paid for exporting electricity would need to have a type approval for their generator, and get the appropriate installation certificate.  No paperwork, no pay.

andyhawes

Deleted_User said:

Have you looked at the solar panel diy kits, ( thats if you have a garden to place the panel)  my son has one and says it works really well.

I’ve not but thanks for the suggestion, I only have a small garden but I’ll definitely take a look at those!

andyhawes

Astria said:

I have a generator, but I wouldn't use it instead of the grid, as the grid is still a lot cheaper. I only use it when grid power isn't available (typically on location as it's small and portable). I would never try to feed the grid however as that would just cost me money - the money I'd get back from a feed in tariff would be less than it costs to generate the power.

Ah ok, that’s exactly what I need to know, thank you!

andyhawes

Thank you so much for all the comments and suggestions, sounds like grid or solar are the best options.

 I’ll scrap the generator idea 😎