The propane vs. natural gas generator question is usually settled by your address before it is settled by preference. Natural gas service exists on some streets in Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs and Cape Coral and not on others; propane can be delivered almost anywhere but has to be stored on the property. This guide compares availability, storage and delivery, output by fuel, how to think about operating cost and what each fuel means during a long outage, so you can verify what applies to your lot before the assessment.
Natural gas in Southwest Florida is distributed by Peoples Gas, a TECO Energy company, and its mains follow specific streets rather than whole cities. Two houses in the same ZIP code can differ: one has a meter at the wall, the other would need a main extension that the utility may or may not build. Use the utility’s address check, then ask two follow-up questions: is the existing meter and service line sized for a generator on top of the house’s appliances, and what would an upgrade cost and take. Propane has no such limit; any licensed supplier can set a tank, and the question becomes where it can sit on the lot. Gen-Power does not assume gas availability by neighborhood, and neither should a proposal you receive from anyone else.
Natural gas arrives through the meter with nothing to store, refill or inspect for level; that convenience is the reason most homes with service at the wall choose it. Propane means a tank: typically 250, 500 or 1,000 gallons for a home standby unit, above ground on a pad or buried with only the dome lid visible. Tanks are filled to about 80 percent of their water capacity to leave room for expansion, so a 500-gallon tank holds roughly 400 gallons of fuel. Placement follows NFPA 58 setbacks from the house, property lines and ignition sources, and in flood zones the tank is anchored. Delivery is routine most of the year and slower in the days around a storm, which is why we size the tank for the days you want to cover rather than for the smallest tank that fits.
The same generator delivers slightly less power on natural gas than on propane because natural gas carries less energy per unit of volume: the EIA lists about 1,036 Btu per cubic foot of natural gas against 91,452 Btu per gallon of propane. Generac publishes both ratings for each model, and the difference shows up in the larger air-cooled units. If your load calculation lands near the top of a model’s natural gas rating, the next size up or a load-management setup is the honest answer, not the propane figure.
Any article that tells you natural gas costs a fixed amount per hour is using someone else’s rate. The calculation is simple and yours: take the consumption figure from the model’s spec sheet at the load you expect to run, multiply by your utility’s current price per therm or per hundred cubic feet, or by your supplier’s price per gallon of propane, and you have the hourly operating cost for that scenario. Then add what the fuel costs when the generator is not running: a natural gas account has a monthly service charge whether or not the unit starts; a propane tank may be leased or purchased and needs a top-up after a long run. Remember that standby operation is a few dozen hours a year in most years and a few hundred in a bad one, so the installed scope and maintenance matter more over the life of the system than the fuel bill.
Natural gas usually keeps flowing during a storm because the distribution system is underground, but it is a utility service, not a guarantee; a damaged main or a safety shutdown would stop the generator with it. Propane is finite and fully under your control: what is in the tank on landfall day is what you have until a truck can reach you. Both fuels need a generator that has been maintained, and both need the owner to know the consumption at the loads they run. A fair summary: natural gas trades storage for dependence on the utility; propane trades dependence on the utility for storage and refills.
Gen-Power installs Generac standby generators on both fuels across Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. At the assessment we check the gas meter or the tank location, the clearances and the flood zone, run the load calculation and give you an installed quote for the fuel that fits your address. Call (239) 674-3569 or start with the online estimate planner.
Generac’s published consumption for 14, 22 and 26 kW units, the 80 percent tank fill and worked runtime scenarios, so you can plan realistic fuel needs for a Southwest Florida outage.
Read the guideA clear plan starts with answers you can use.
Ask our teamNeither is better in the abstract. If natural gas service and meter capacity exist at your address, it removes storage and refills; if not, propane works anywhere with a tank sized for the days you want to cover. Output is slightly lower on natural gas on the larger air-cooled models.
Yes, on the larger air-cooled models. Generac rates the Next Generation 22 kW at 22 kW on propane and 21 kW on natural gas, and the 26 kW at 26 and 24 kW; the 14 kW is rated 14 kW on both.
It depends on the model’s consumption at your load and the days you want to cover. A 500-gallon tank holds about 400 gallons at the 80 percent fill limit; our fuel consumption guide works through the arithmetic.
Generac air-cooled units can be reconfigured between the two fuels by a technician, but the gas piping, the meter and the permit are a new job. Decide the fuel at the assessment rather than planning to switch.
No. It usually continues because the distribution system is underground, but it is a utility service that can be interrupted by damage or a safety shutdown. Propane is finite but entirely on your property.
A new generator, a service visit or a question about your system. Start with a conversation.
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