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Why not? There is no combustion happening on an outside condenser unit.
The amount of heat will depend on the load put on it.
I probably should have been more specific, sorry. Compressor is the wrong word to use. Gas furnace is what I meant...not sure of the exact term. I have a gas heat/electric a/c combination unit for example.
Mute point on the amount heat a generator will produce relative to an AC compressor. The exhaust from an AC is directed straight up while a generator's exhaust is horizontal. I have a friend with a 22KW unit located in a grassy area. He has had several extended outages over the past few years and the exhaust has killed the grass an area about the same size as the generator and off the exhaust end.
I probably should have been more specific, sorry. Compressor is the wrong word to use. Gas furnace is what I meant...not sure of the exact term. I have a gas heat/electric a/c combination unit for example.
When you use a furnace, the vast majority of heat goes into the house, right? I mean, that's the point of it. With a modern 95% furnace, 95% of the heat energy burned goes into the home, and while the exhaust gases contain CO2, it's *mostly* devoid of heat.
Contrast that to a generator, where 100% of the heat generated in the exhaust gets expelled, and in addition the unit itself generates heat due to the spinning of the internal components.
When you use a furnace, the vast majority of heat goes into the house, right? I mean, that's the point of it. With a modern 95% furnace, 95% of the heat energy burned goes into the home, and while the exhaust gases contain CO2, it's *mostly* devoid of heat.
Contrast that to a generator, where 100% of the heat generated in the exhaust gets expelled, and in addition the unit itself generates heat due to the spinning of the internal components.
We have two Generacs close to us, one runs at our community well house and my neighbor has the other. The neighbor's is under his deck surround on all sides by either decking, rock wall foundation or shrubs, about 3 feet to the wall, and about the same to the shrubs. I haven't seen any signs of heat producing damage.
The well house Generac sits almost against the side of a 30 foot long well house. There is some sort of Juniper on one side of the Generac and some Mt. Laurel on the other side, neither shows any wear or tear.
It's about 2 feet to the side of the well house and about 3 or 4 feet to the plants.
Both units are on a weekly start cycle (about 10 minutes long) and we have only had two short power outages in the past 4 years, so they don't run much.
Would this work instead of a generator?
A tesla system, but without the solar panels, and having an outlet for portable generator (for topping up the bagttery once a day for few hours)
Benefits:
- no large machine box visible outside
- no lawn burning around generator
- cost the same as gen+gastank
- no mechanical machine maintenance need/cost
Drawbacks:
- you have to reduce consumption after a disaster, cannot blast ac all day, have to be mindful about only using only one appliance at a time, pull pump will be off.
- have to keep gasoline tanks.
So when the power is out for several days, you still have to run a generator. This system looks to be as expensive as a whole house generator but with complications. When Fran hit Raleigh in 1996, we were without power for 10 days. I'll stick with a NG fueled standby generator. It's quieter that a gas fueled portable generator, can run the entire house without having to select which appliance to run, an unlimited fuel source that doesn't go stale and comes on automatically. And as you say, costs about the same.
So when the power is out for several days, you still have to run a generator. This system looks to be as expensive as a whole house generator but with complications. When Fran hit Raleigh in 1996, we were without power for 10 days. I'll stick with a NG fueled standby generator. It's quieter that a gas fueled portable generator, can run the entire house without having to select which appliance to run, an unlimited fuel source that doesn't go stale and comes on automatically. And as you say, costs about the same.
When a hurricane hits, electricity might go out. Isn't the same true for the natural gas utility system? I mean trees might fall on pipes, some houses might collapse and leak gas (depressurize the whole system).
When a hurricane hits, electricity might go out. Isn't the same true for the natural gas utility system? I mean trees might fall on pipes, some houses might collapse and leak gas (depressurize the whole system).
I thought those gas lines were buried?
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