I would go with the propane. The main reason being that diesel fuel can go bad sitting the tank if not used. Propane will always be good.

I know your in TX, but tank size, regulator and piping size is important for atomization of the LP, especially in cooler temps. I'm sure for delivery economics and generator capacity you will end up with a fairly large tank(s).

Deisel may be more economical for you and can always be treated and filtered.

Alot depends on if this camp is accessable by delivery trucks. The generator could burn the same fuel as the furnace.

a generator of that size will require a LOT of fuel, regardless of fuel source. so keep that in mind. it may be cheaper and easier to use LP space heaters and stove/oven and setup solar to power the lights/tv/etc.

the county has some 30kw gensets on their towers. with about 20kw of load on them they go thru a 500 gallon tank every 2-3 days of actual runtime! so having delivery truck access is crucial. jsut because they can get there during sumemr does not mean they can during hunting season when teh ground is muddy/snow covered.

you will find that using a generator as your primary source gets expensive real quick. my advice would be to look into making the place use as little electric as possible so that you can get by with a smaller genset that is not as heavily loaded so it burns less fuel. do you REALLY need 80-100A service for a camp?

BTW, many occassional use camps here get by with using a larger portable genset. they fire it up at night until folks go to bed then shut it down. they heat with wood stoves, so you don't freeze out at night. then the next morning fire it up for a little while to cook/get ready.

There was a post quite a way back about a farmer who needed power to run a pump to water his fields and he used a generator to do this instead of running power out to the water shed - that made a lot of sense.

But running a standby generator for a long period of time will be expensive. My generator is a 12 kilowatt unit and burns about 2.5 gallons of propane per hour when it is at 50% throttle (idle speed) - generating about 25 amps at 240 volts. That would cost you about 6 dollars per hour of run time using the latest price per gallon of propane here ($2.30). And then you have to have the propane delivered - is there a supplier closeby? It sounds like a very remote area.

If you plan on running that generator for very long periods of time you might want to consider a water cooled unit which will be more expensive unit than the air cooled versions.

How is the wind in your area? You might want to look at a wind powered generator (maybe even a small solar power system) to handle your basic lighting needs. Then maybe propane for heating and cooking. A hybrid approach might be more cost effective than running a generator 24x7 or for very long durations.

You might still need a generator for a well pump and emergencies but a small portable unit might do the trick.

Some friends of mine have a house 1.5 miles away from the nearest powerlines. They live there year-round. Heating is done by wood stove, power consists of solar panels, windmills, a basement full of forklift batteries, and an inverter.

You don't need 100A.

A lot of older homes are still functioning with 60A services, and I don't know anybody who has ever exceeded it.

quote" do you REALLY need 80-100A service for a camp? "quote

Probably not.

But, if I'm going to pay to move the home up there I want it to be as close to a real home as possible.
My guess is that a 20 would be about the minimum size necessary to run the high draw features like central/AC-heater, oven/stove, washer/dryer, and a well pump. All of which (except no well yet) unfortunately are currently electric.

After posting this last night and before coming in here this evening I've Googled a boat load of generators.
I'm certain I'll go with a diesel engine at 1800rpm.
I've given thought to the fuel consumption.
Now I'm torn between 2 issues, total available power -vs- fuel consumption.
I've seen some very fuel efficient units and have attached one I like a lot. After reading the spec's it looks like this unit will really haul the mail.
My biggest fear is that it may cost as much as running power to the home site in which case I'm back where I started.

See ya,
Kelly

Here is a link that might be useful: diesel kohler 20

yes, it will cost as much as running power up there. maybe not in the upfront costs, but by the time you pay for the fuel for a while it will!

think about this, if gas goes back up Diesel will be over 4.00 a gallon again quick. jsut how bad are you gonna want to run the AC at a cost of 10-12 dollars an hour!