The Annual "Looking for a Generator" thread

[Shadowrider]

Yeah, Honda is out of my pricerange for sure, unless I'm getting a much smaller unit, essentially just to keep my freezer from defrosting. That's just not worth the investment to me. I'd love a big Honda unit, but it's just not possible right now.

Have you assessed your load requirements? I have a buddy that has a cabin up in the mountains in Colorado and he runs the whole thing on a 2KW Honda inverter generator (just not at the same time). Anymore than that all the libtard neighbors pitch a fit, they all run them, it's some sort of pact or something. All the cabins are wired and they plug these in. You just have to know the limitations, but you can run a lot of stuff with a small portable...

 

[Perplexed]

Keep in mind generators made to run on either gasoline or propane may produce less power with the latter fuel.

 

[Profreedomokie]

Two guys at work have the stationary Generac unit and have trouble with them. I've never owned one. I have a Sears, Snapper, and a Honda. I didn't need the Honda but, the company that the guy next door works for was getting ride of new ones for 60% off retail. I couldn't turn that down.

 

[p238shooter]

I bought a slightly used 6000W portable that I put a 3 fuel gas/propane/natural gas kit on the carburetor. Seems like it was about $120 or so. I wanted to be able to run basic stuff, frig, freezer, furnace blower, etc off my 500 gallon propane tank at the lake house if needed instead of hauling gas cans. Also I wanted to keep it easy to throw it in the back of the truck and pour gas in for other uses.

I put a T in the propane line with a valve at my grill location out on the deck. Feed the grill normally instead of standard tanks or power the generator by switching hoses. It would run off natural gas also if I had it available.

If you had or would want to install a gas tap for an outdoor grill, something like that might work for you. Hauling and refilling multiple gas cans can get to be a pain for a longer term outage, I had to do that at my house for seven days with an ice storm several years ago.

I just run heavy extension cords through the doors and fill the cracks with towels and blue painters tape. I put a plug socket on the feeder to my furnace. Unplug it from the house supply, plug it into the cord. No chance of back feeding anything.

Good luck at figuring out what will be best for you.

 

[tyromeo55]

Picking out a Genny is like picking out a car stereo. What is right for you may or may not be right for someone else. There are just too many factors for anyone here to give advice off the cuff.


offhand thoughts for anyone who cares...

Natural gas is a no-go for me personally. There are quite a few situations where I would not want to be reliant on the city gas infrastructure.

Propane is a interesting option if you are in the country have a 400 plus gallon tank and are using it as standby only.

Unleaded Gasoline is ok but fuel needs to be routinely rotated and treated, It is fairly hazardous to store in quantity and the bigger you go the more fuel it will consume no matter what the load is. A 2Kw Honda could get by on 2-3 gallons of fuel a day. 5Kw Coleman will need closer to to 10 a day. A 17Kw genny could need anywhere from 16 to almost 30 gallons a day depending on how you load it up. On the good side They are fairly inexpensive and not too bad to work on.

Diesel is an ok option. You are not at the mercy of the the provider . They can start much higher motor loads with fewer Kw ratings run slower and quieter, consume less fuel per Kw and the fuel stores much much better. They are generally big, heavy and expensive. I've been sitting on one for over a year now that is waiting on me to get some spare time to finish the tank build on and put in place in my detached garage. Here is a pic of the motor, head and controller I've semi put together

 

[Parks 788]

The Hondas and Yamahas are all good units. They can be pricey, especially the Hondas. On the RV forum I'm on a lot of guys are using the Champion Inverter line of generators. THey are getting great reviews with reliability and low decibel levels for RV use. One unit can produce 3400 watts and if you run them in tandem you can get 6800 watts for less than the price of a Honda EU3000 unit. I'd highly recommend you give them a look. It is what I will be getting soon.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.../p67309.html?gclid=CNe_qaLp6NACFZSEaQodI9YIow

 

[KOPBET]

For portable generator users that can't or don't want to install a permanent transfer switch. This is even better.

Worth a look. Mine has been a blessing.

http://www.generlink.com/about_generlink.cfm

 

[Perplexed]

For portable generator users that can't or don't want to install a permanent transfer switch. This is even better.

Worth a look. Mine has been a blessing.

http://www.generlink.com/about_generlink.cfm

This gadget requires you to shut off all the breakers but the ones you'd use, correct? How much was it, and how much to install it?

 

[KOPBET]

This gadget requires you to shut off all the breakers but the ones you'd use, correct? How much was it, and how much to install it?

Yeah, it's up to you to control the power usage, but that isn't difficult at all. It's been a few years, but I think PSO in Tulsa charged $100 to come out and install. The unit was $700-800 if I recall. About the cost of a transfer switch and electrician labor, or less.

 

[OKCHunter]

I've got a 6500 watt portable Honda generator I use for emergency power. I had an electrician install an outside plug that is wired to a breaker switch in my main panel. The generator breaker is next to the house main breaker in the panel. The electrician installed a metal lockout device that ties the house main breaker to the generator breaker. It is not possible to have both closed at the same time. I think the install with parts was less than $200. When the power goes out, I start the generator, plug it into the outside wall outlet, open the house main breaker and close the generator breaker.