Changing my Generator to LPG saved me 53.22% on Fuel Costs.
The recent happenings in Nigeria has humbled everybody. Except you have a relative at the helm of affairs in government and you do not have to buy petrol, but get it for free, you will feel the pain. There is no big man anywhere. In Nigeria, the recent increase in fuel prices, due to the removal of fuel subsidies has sent the prices of PMS (Petrol) skyrocketing from about NGN 195 to as high as NGN 620 per litre overnight. This is a more than 300% increase in the price of Petrol and it is very very expensive. I had to look for an alternative to survive. Yes, you read that right, because, with the increased cost of fuel, every other commodity has increased: transportation, food etc. I was able to save up to 50% in the cost of fuel after transitioning to LPG so I want to share my experience with you, in case you are considering it too.
The Search: From Petrol Carburetor to Dual-Fuel Carburetor
To start this process, I had to do a lot of research to understand what I’m getting into: What is involved in conversion to LPG, what are the cost implications, which is better LPG or CNG, is it safe? Safety was the key deciding factor for me because “what shall it profit a man to gain savings on fuel costs, only to lose the generator to a gas explosion?” Penny-wise, pound foolish will be a kind expression to express this. Here are my key takeaways from my research:
- The gas option is quite cheaper than the petrol option because LPG fuel consumption is lower than that of petrol.
- Gas has less impurities than fuel, so it is better for your generator in the long run and it will require less maintenance.
- The wear on LPG-powered generator engines is less, and it produces lower emissions than petrol.
- The conversion is a simple process and only requires you to change the carburettor.
- The Gas cylinder has to be kept in an open environment at a safe distance from the generator
My dual-fuel carburettor was acquired through jiji.ng, a popular Nigerian e-commerce platform. The process of purchasing the carburettor was very simple. I learnt there are two type of carburettors, and it depends on the power rating of your generator:
- From 2Kva < 5Kva: This goes for about NGN 25,000
- 5Kva and above: This goes for about NGN 35,000
The prices depend on the time of purchase. When I made this transition, the dual fuel carburettors were in high demand, so it was expensive. It might be cheaper now. I called the supplier and he delivered it to my house. I made the payment on delivery.
The Change Process
As I said, the process of changing the carburettor is quite easy, any good generator mechanic can do it, but the trick is in getting it to work properly. Once the dual-fuel carburettor was in place, we embarked on a process of tuning and calibration. This iterative process involved fine-tuning various parameters, such as air-fuel mixture and ignition timing, to ensure optimal performance and efficiency for LPG operation. Mine did not go smoothly. I had to spend over 4 hours troubleshooting with the gen. mechanic because he could not figure out the problem too, so I put on my engineering hat to start the debugging process. No be small thing! 😮💨 Going through all the steps taken to get it working here would be boring, but I did find some troubleshooting guides online, which I have compiled here.
In my case, the generator was hunting: i.e. making sounds as if the fuel is about to finish even though the gas cylinder was full and the valve was well opened. We had to open the carburettor screws and make some adjustments to the valve internally for it to start working properly.
The Economics of LPG: Cost Savings and Longevity
One of the most compelling aspects of transitioning to LPG is the significant cost savings it offers. By using a 12.5Kg gas cylinder, I have experienced up to 50% savings in fuel costs compared to using petrol. How much fuel your generator uses will depend on:
The load on the generator (i.e. how much power you’re drawing from it)
The generator model and how efficient it is
How long you’re running it each day
A simple and practical way to calculate how long the gas will last is to monitor the usage and track the times the generator is put on. The first time I got approx 11 hours of use on 12.5kg. I was a bit surprised and started looking for ways to optimize it. I thought it should be more. So I looked for a formula to calculate how long the gas should last ideally. However, I can get up to 12–13 hours of use consistently now.
Comparison of my Generator fuel costs:
Petrol: 30 litres = 12 hours @570/lt = NGN 17,100
LPG (Cooking Gas): 12.5Kg = 12 hours @640/Kg = NGN 8,000
Cost Savings: NGN 9,100 = 53.22%
The 53.22% savings is because I used NGN 570 per litre. At the rate of NGN620 per litre, it increases up to 56.99%. Will you like to try this? Comment below if there is anything you’ll like to know more about. Also if you think I can get more hours from my generator, please teach me how so that I can continue managing it with my daily dose of God-Abeg 😩
