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Cost of Grid Power Versus Running a Generator
Question
I know that volts x amps = watts/1000 = kw. My question is, do I use 220 or 440 as my volts, seeing as 1 leg is 220 (if measured leg to ground)? And also do I multiply this by 3, seeing that it pulls 100 amps per phase? Forum Responses
From contributor D: Generators are a pretty poor deal these days. You will average, at best, about 12kWh per gallon of fuel burned. So if diesel costs $1.80 per gallon, that is 15 cents per kWh for electricity. There are few places where electric rates are that high. From contributor W: You need to keep in mind that utilities bills for commercial accounts usually include 3 parts. First is the basic charge which is billed every month, second is the demand charge which is based on the connected load (kW), third is the energy charge based on the time the load is on (kWH). You will also get a bill every month and most utilities base this minimum on the installed transformer capacity. This minimum will be billed every month even if you don't use it. Therefore, before switching to the grid, you need to consider the amount of time (hours) that you operate. If this is just a weekend business and can live with the extra down time for maintenance, then stay with the generator. If this is a full time business, then electricity is probably the way to go. Also, a three phase service will cost several thousand dollars to have installed. From contributor R: The mill down the road cuts about 400,000 feet a month and their electric bill is around $5000. From the original questioner: Thanks for all your responses. It looks like hooking up to the line is what we have to do. When I started sawing a few years ago, I was buying off road diesel for less than $1.00 a gallon. I doubt we'll ever see that again! Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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