Good Generators

[Bockbock]

After this disastrous storm we have been going through, I have learned a lot. The biggest thing is to have a good generator on hand, which I don’t have. What are some good ones, for those of you that have them. Praying everyone is safe & comfortable! Hang in there everyone!

[GTR]

Can’t speak from experience but with the research I’ve been able to do a Generac #7043 22kw. By their calculations that will run my entire house and pool equipment. List price of $5300 with the panel. Still need instillation, plus tax and what not.

[Papa Tom]

On the other end of the spectrum I have a Duro Max XP2000EH 2k/!.6K dual fuel portable generator.
I ran it for several days during this %%^** weather and it performed beautifully on both gas and propane.
Easy pull, easy start pretty quiet.
Basically it kept my pellet fireplace going (450 watt start, 175 watt run) and occasional coffee (1200 watt) or hot plate for cooking (1500 watt but we only turned it on to about 60%)
It would run about 10 hr. on a gallon of gas.

https://smile.amazon.com/DuroMax-XP2200 ... 224&sr=1-3


BTW Our son has a Generac whole house LPG generator and has no complaints. He also has a remote wood burning furnace that pipes to the house and shop works very well for heat. Both house and shop are BIG > than 6K ft total.

[OldUsedParts]

Thanks for the Info, Gentlemen, we will definitely be Gennie Shopping before Hurricane season begins. OR? God Forbid there's another Cold Front close to this one in store.

[txsmkmstr]

Good Generators is a broad spectrum subject. You should define your anticipated needs and $$$'s willing to achieve the goal. I would love a whole-house set up but can't justify the price at this moment. Having endured a 3 day outage many years ago I knew I needed SOMETHING to get me thru similar situations. I initially settled on a decent Generac 5500/6500 "portable" unit. I never did get it properly hooked up (transfer switch, etc.) and used a time or two.

I had some issues with the concept. First, it was LOUD and I do mean loud. Forget trying to sleep or do much critical thinking. That also has a tendency to attract unwanted attention, although I was never starved for power. The other thing was portability - oh sure it had pneumatic tires but pushing one across a snow/ice covered yard was a pretty big challenge and not fun in total darkness. The third item concerned the output - pretty hot voltage pumping out 129 VAC. I avoided any sensitive electronic hookups such as computers or TV's.

I rethought my needs and dialed in exactly what I wanted to power for say 3 days or more. Cold beer, frozen meat, light and heat were the must have items regardless of what time of year it was. A/C would be nice but not required. We know the Honda line of inverter generators are at the top of the list (plus a few others) but the price point was again - beyond my means. Started to research Predator (HarborFreight) and Champion inverter technology units. I initially bought a Champion 2000 watt (surge) unit and fell in love with it. Super quiet and appeared to be well built. On top of that I could actually pick it up and carry it (carefully ) so no more rolling thru the snow. This took care of my chest freezer and full size fridge along with an LED floodlight or two. I made the decision to pick up a second unit and finding both on sale meant I had two for less than a similar size Honda unit. Note that inverter technology is very stable and clean power - I could use the TV and computer with it if I absolutely needed to.

I re-wired my furnace airhandler unit to have a standard plug in connection. With natural gas the fan only needed a 15 amp circuit so this solved my heat problem. I'm now able to run all my needs at the same time and put things to a nice unplanned 56 hour test just a month or so ago. All systems are go. FWIW, I did test out a small A/C window unit that I had and it would run on a single unit with nothing else. I would have to do a temporary install as I redid my old windows and abandoned the window A/C but have it available.

Something to consider when going this route is routing the extension cords into the house. I always hated running them through a window (after screen removal) and closing a towel on the cords so I installed a wall pass-through with back-to-back duplex receptacles. The common tab was removed so each inlet was separated. A double male ended extension cord was cobbled together (safety hazard if hooked up without common sense) and that connects the outside generators to the house. Now I have hot outlet (one for each generator) in the house for my cords.

Anyway - likely not what this thread is about but I have time on my hands and sick of looking at snow and the thermometer - too darn early to start drinking beer. My set-up for those interested.



Built a little caddy to shuffle them around in the garage - good for my bi-weekly test run....

[Bockbock]

That’s some good info right there. Thanks for all the input.

[Smoking Piney]

I have a 10 Kw Generac, with the house wired with an external plug for it, and a throw-over switch on my breaker panel. It works OK for emergency power, but it chews through a 10g tank of gas in about 8 hours. I also have to watch what I run in the house to keep from overloading the generator. Besides the heater, my entire house is electric with well water.

I've used this setup for 4 day stretches 3 times (2 hurricanes and a nasty ice storm). I was lucky and could drive to get gas. I'll tell you it gets old constantly getting gas and fueling the generator in the middle of a cold night.

I'm now getting an instant switch, 20Kw natural gas generator that will run the entire house without breaking a sweat. It taps into my gas line for the heater and no fueling needed (oil changes and maintenance covered in the contract). It's peace of mind, but just add money. I'm tired of losing power.

I won't recommend a generator, but I will put this out:

-Buy the biggest generator you can afford. The more you can run in your house, the better.

-Use stabilizer in the generator gas - you don't want the gas turning to jelly. I made this mistake once with my Generac and had to replace the carb.

-Exercise your generator at least twice a month. Start it up and let it run 10 or 15 minutes to keep it ready.

-Change oil on schedule. My Generac is good for 100 hours between changes.

Just some sound NJ weather disaster advice...

Hoping you are safe.

Piney

[OldUsedParts]

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I we get one set up that is probably what we'll end up doing except with LP Gas and a tank in the yard

[Smoking Piney]

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I we get one set up that is probably what we'll end up doing except with LP Gas and a tank in the yard

OUP, I signed and ordered this setup in November 20 and was warned by the contractor that there was at least a 16 week lead time for them to receive the generator (COVID). I'm still waiting. I hope we get it soon.

It was fairly expensive, around $15K, but well worth my peace of mind. I have too many power outages here. The wind blows wrong, and we lose it.

I'm sure you can get one that runs off of your LP tank, but be prepared for sticker shock.

[OldUsedParts]

[Professor Bunky]

I have a DuroMax XP4400E (gas) generator (3.5KW continuous). It's not wired into the house so i run extension cords.I only needed it once, this past summer (& had to do carburetor work to get it started). Smoking Piney did a good job of explaining all the maintenance required for reliable gas generator use. For me, the DuroMax is much better than nothing when the power goes out.

[bsooner75]

Wife and I have started discussing generators as well. I’m not thinking whole home (although that is really cool) but more one to run a few items as needed. Fan, coffee pot and maybe a small portable AC / space heater if needed.

I’ve had my eye on the Honda’s for a while. The ones I’ve seen run really quiet and are very portable so it could double as a generator for tailgating…whenever we are able to actually resume that again.

Anybody use the Honda’s? Maybe the 2200?


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[GTR]

Boomer as bad as I hate to put this out on the inner webs, really don’t think you can go wrong with Honda.
After a full weekend at TMS a few years back, I will attest the Honda’s were by FAR the quietest one out there.

[Norway Joe]

Wife and I have started discussing generators as well. I’m not thinking whole home (although that is really cool) but more one to run a few items as needed. Fan, coffee pot and maybe a small portable AC / space heater if needed.

I’ve had my eye on the Honda’s for a while. The ones I’ve seen run really quiet and are very portable so it could double as a generator for tailgating…whenever we are able to actually resume that again.

Anybody use the Honda’s? Maybe the 2200?


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I don't know much of other brands but we had a Honda generator at our old cabin. No electric power there so we used it to get light after dark and power the TV. Used to run it from 7 pm until midnight each time we were there. It sat in the shed where there was no heating. Very cold during the winter.

It could be months or weeks between we were there but even after months without use and just sitting there in 5-10 Fahrenheit it always started at the first pull of the cord. Went like a clock. Didn't do anything than filling gas and an occasional oil change. I think we had it for 10 years when we sold that old cabin.

I think the Honda engines are superb. At home I have a Honda snowblower that is 17 years old. Same thing. Starts immediately when winter starts.

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[GRailsback]

Wife and I have started discussing generators as well. I’m not thinking whole home (although that is really cool) but more one to run a few items as needed. Fan, coffee pot and maybe a small portable AC / space heater if needed.

I’ve had my eye on the Honda’s for a while. The ones I’ve seen run really quiet and are very portable so it could double as a generator for tailgating…whenever we are able to actually resume that again.

Anybody use the Honda’s? Maybe the 2200?


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If you are going to buy a protable generator, Honda is #1, generac is #2 in my opinion. The motorhome has an Onan, which is very quiet, and very reliable, but i don't think they sell on the portable open market. They are owned by Cummins.