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Virginia | Propane is nice because the fuel does not "go bad". Propane units in our area got a bad rap years ago because they ran a 3600 rpm and would wear out sooner than slower speed diesel units. You would get two hours of wear per hour compared to the 1800 rpm units. That was a design problem, not a fuel problem. If they only run a few hours per year I don't see a problem.
One reason we bought a diesel unit is if the power is out and the roads are blocked for days we can move diesel fuel around on the farm a lot easier than propane. I do pump the diesel fuel out of the generator tank and put in fresh fuel if the unit does not burn much over the year.
A good block heater on a thermostat should be used if the units need to be started in the cold. I would think propane would start cold better than a diesel. I think the block heaters on some propane units also warm the carburetors so the propane will vaporize in bitter cold weather.
Our units a full speed all the time. There are units on the market with variable sped drives that will allow the engine to slow down under low loads and keep the generator at the proper speed. They could be a little pricey for stand by use.
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Fired up the generators (pics)
