Just playing Devil's advocate.Some people won't want to store all those jerry cans,get down on their knees and siphon gas out of their BMW and then run out to their generator and gas it up in middle of a storm every 6 hours.For those people natural gas is a better option.
I know what you mean... It may be a pain, but all options for emergency prep will require some effort. I don't see a lot of jerry can storage needed (with sources noted earlier). IMO, it is a PITA storing propane as well so at least with gasoline I and many people already do it. And there is the cold weather issue with propane generators that has been absent in this thread (discussed below).
Not everyone lives in the GTA, I can get propane with no power (tank exchange or refill), gasoline needs to be pumped. Gas isn't convenient and in the event of an ice storm last thing I want to be doing is messing with siphoning appliances or trying to get something started because it was put away wet.
Well, since this website is
GTAM, I figured the conversation should be focused on urban use. Rural areas make sense for propane generator use, primarily because addressing cold weather propane use by sizing propane storage with a large tank is not an issue. Let's also note though.... in rural areas, some individuals will have gravity fed gasoline supplies as well, so by making a few strategic friends your point about limited gasoline supplies in a power outage goes out the window. As for the cold weather issue with propane generators, I've discussed it below in more detail. It makes propane generator use more problematic in urban use for many people than in rural use).
If the power is out everywhere, the stores will be closed as they can't run their cash registers or lights. The only supply you can count on is the one you possess before the outage happens (with a close second to natural gas as it is rarely interrupted).
Having been through a multi-day power outage in the GTA I found that there just weren't people opening any businesses. So I totally agree that the only fully reliable fuel supply that someone can count on is their own
No one yet has posted about the potential for poor cold weather performance of propane. Propane vaporization rates are much lower in cold weather, which is exacerbated as the tank get's used up. Those conditions, in combination with small propane tank size can result in a generator not being able to run (i.e., tank freeze up).
A 20lb or 30 lb propane tank as it is consumed in freezing weather may stop working with a propane generator demands (it will work when the tank is full, it may not at 50% full or 25% full). And the colder it becomes, the worse the problem. That is why in most cold climate places, I've seen recommendations of two 100 lb propane tanks or a 200 pound tank for propane generator use. While this may be no issue in when living in the country (lots of space), in urban areas (again, noting the
GTAM descriptor of this forum),.... transport, refill and space considerations make a large tank potentially a problem for many urban people.
A 4000 watt generator at 50% load consumes about 40,000 BTU. Very conservatively, a 20 lb propane tank at 0 degrees Celsius and 25% full can vaporize 16,000 BTU. So in this example, the 4000 watt generator will not be able to run.
One way to address the small tank problem without using a big tank (200 lb for example) is have a bunch of small tanks full and stored for potential use, but who wants to store a bunch of small full propane tanks.
IMO, in urban use in the GTA with the potential for cold weather extended outages, there is merit to having a gasoline generator instead of a propane generator. I don't want to say that gas generators are the way to go for everyone, by any means though. But rather that there are many considerations on what type of generator to use in each individual's circumstance, and it is not black and white by any means.
