amount of gasoline used in 24 hrs with onan 5000 watt gen

Hey you all anyone have any idea how much gasoline my onan 5000 watt  generator will use from my gas tank in 24 hrs of solid running. Were trying to figure our budget and want to stay comfortable if possible and with the price of gas I'm just a little bit concerned.
Thanks randall

If I remember correctly Onan figures about 1/2 gallon per hour at half load.

My 7KW would use about 18 gallons, so a little less that that for yours.

Frank

1/2 gal per hour x 24 hours x $4 per gallon = $48.  Might as well find a campsite with electricity for that price.

Exactly right.  I remember when it really was cheaper to stay in a Walmart lot and just run the genny all night for AC.  Not so anymore.

Lou Schneider said:

1/2 gal per hour x 24 hours x $4 per gallon = $48.  Might as well find a campsite with electricity for that price.

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wow you could pay for a solar panel array in just a few nights at that rate.

In most cases you would not average 50% load for 24 hours, but a real hot climate with a couple a/c's running could easily get you near 100% load for long periods. THAT is expensive (nearly 1 gal/hr at 4000+ watts on a 5kw generator.

anemic said:

wow you could pay for a solar panel array in just a few nights at that rate.

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True, although solar panels won't run anything high demand (like the A/C) and most models really only provide supplemental power for battery charging, i.e. it won't do the job alone.

Solar panels seldom work well at night.

I appreciate all the answers  folks - sure sounds like boon docking ain't what it used to be. this gives me what I was looking for and I really appreciate it . Randall

I figure 1/2 gallon per hour with one a/c running, plus incidental loads.  Works pretty well for planning purposes with our 5.5 onan.  A night at wal-mart is a short night for us, generally no more than 8 or 9 hours, which translates to 4.5 gallons.  At current rates of about $3.50 in our area, that's about 18 bucks give or take, just for the gas.  I'd still take a $25 campground fee for the night though, as it's quieter, and there are other costs to running the generator.  I figure $1 per hour for scheduled maintenance, and another $2.00 per hour for replacement.  That means my one night at wal-mart really costs $27.00 plus the gas, or around 45 bucks.  Sometimes the convenience is worth it and sometimes it's not.  In the spring and fall, when you don't need the generator on, it works much better cost-wise.

We do not boon dock very often in hot humid weather for another reason, leaving a generator running while we are sleeping. The risk of a leak allowing fumes into the coach just doesn't seem worth it to us.

Good point Jeff I have an uncle and aunt that almost lost it because of that and they didn't have an alarm they do now.
Thanks All ran

Like Jeff, we don't boondock in circumstances that would require 8+ hours of generator time - not worth it. Our Walmart stops rarely exceed 1-3 hours of generator time, even in hot weather. If the night is so hot as to need a/c, we head to a campground for sure.

Never really thought of myself as a Boondocker, but I guess I am. We camp in national camp grounds that have NO services, we typically camp next to the ocean which provides good breezes and lower temps. If it is hot we run the big Onan for the AC but do it seldom, most of the time we want good power for TV's, fans,coffee maker, battery charger and lights, we get this from running a little Onan 1000 Watt portable generator. The small generator runs for hours on a gallon of gas, keeps our batteries charged and does not heat up the coach, it is also quieter then our big generator. I have noticed over the years of attending the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh Wisconsin that many big rigs have a small geny next to their rigs ,undoubtedly for the same reason , you just can not run a big generator economically for 500 watts of needed power. I am not suggesting that this is a good fix for a hot night in a Wall-mart lot, but it works great for a long stay if AC is not required all the time. My rig is diesel but has a gas Onan, The gas tank holds about 25 gallons I carry one 5 gallon portable gas can that I can fill from the big tank if needed (little squeeze pump siphon hose works great) I plan for about 1 gallon of gas a day but rarely use that much. Other bonus of having this little generator is as a backup, so when your electric fuel pump goes out to lunch on the big unit you do not have to interrupt your vacation. I lost my fuel pump on the way to Oshkosh last year, (bought one at a parts store) replaced it and had the starter go two days later (good thing the big geny is almost new). ran little geny as needed for the next ten days with out missing the big unit at all!

Mark R. said:

.....I have noticed over the years of attending the EAA Airventure in Oshkosh Wisconsin that many big rigs have a small geny next to their rigs ,undoubtedly for the same reason , you just can not run a big generator economically for 500 watts of needed power.....

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Mark,

Are you going to Airventure this year?

This will be my first time at Airventure at Camp Scholler. Arriving on the 24h.

Jeff,

do you use a Genturi for generator exhaust safety improvements? Still not comfortable sleeping with it overnight?

(replies on this topic will edify me as a newbie RVer, generator user and soon to be installed Genturi future user)

thanks

The Genturi is not just for safety, but to get the exhaust fumes up in the air so they don't come into the RV, yours or your neighbors.  Diesel exhaust isn't nearly as dangerous as that from a gas generator, but it does smell bad

Don at this point it does not look like I will make the trip, will be family camping up to start date of Airventure, Not to mention the cost of fuel this year will exceed 1000 dollars plus camp fees and admission ETC.ETC., its allot for one (poor) guy to justify, but I sure wish I could go!! Hope you have a great time, if you are into aviation you can not miss! Any questions please feel free to contact me with a private PM for phone #.