FuelMaker Corporation makes a residential automotive refuelling appliance they market as Phill. I had an inquiry recently about a natural gas conversion and I wanted to do a little research into Phill. However, FuelMaker doesn't seem to want to release any information what-so-ever about their product. Each customer has to contact the company to apparently receive an customized quote.
Does anyone have one of of these devices or know about one? I would like to know what the installed cost is for this residential natural gas compressor and how well does it really work.
The My Phill web site seems to indicate that a dedicated 120V, 15 amp circuit is sufficient to run this item. I'd also like know how many kW-h are used to refill a fuel tank.
My Phill
Phill
These are typically leased from the local NG supplier. They provide and install them according to code. At some time the unit Will need overhauling. The company supplying it will perform the overhaul at a price or it may be built into the cost of the gas.
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- Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:28 pm
Back when Arizona had their alternate fuel boom I worked for a natural gas company that installed some of these. They have a four stage compressor with the last stage piston that is the size of a pencil. From what I can remember they had a short service life. They are very proprietary, so you had to get a fuelmaker rep to work on it. I believe it would take 10 hours + for a fill. At the time an installed unit was costing around $8,000.00-$10,000.00 US installed.(this was in 2001). I wasnt directly involved in the installations but I did sit in on a class to service them. Everything was designed in modules. When something broke you just replaced it and sent the old part back to the factory to be rebuilt. I think we only installed a handfull of them.
John
John
Natural-Gas Guzzler
While I reading through the November 2006 issue of Popular Science, I found an article entitled "Natural-Gas Guzzler" that mentioned Phill on page 2:
Popular Science wrote:FuelMaker, which developed the home-refueling system with support from Honda, provided a Phill unit for our year-long test and installed it at automotive editor Eric Adams’s residence in New Jersey. Honda provided the Civic GX. Although the retail cost of Phill is roughly $4,000, the final cost to consumers can be significantly lower, because (depending on where you live) state and federal tax credits can offset or even completely cover the initial purchase price. Similar tax credits can offset the incremental cost of the natural-gas technology in the Civic, bringing the $24,000 purchase price—again, depending on your state—down to below that of the entry-level Civic’s $16,000 sticker.