So I want a generator. . .

[rooster007]

I have some experience with these portables, both work well, for different purposes:

A true classic, very quiet and handy for power tools: Honda Power Equipment - EU2000i

Powers most essential loads, fairly quietly, can be rolled around:
Cummins Onan

My experience is Honda inverter generators are the best there is, the most quiet and worth the extra $. Also parts are available at dealers. I have noticed that Amish people that depend on generators seem to prefer Honda, may be a clue.

I'll have to second what AR15 says , our Honda sipps fuel , is an inverter based generator so the power is clean and won't burn out our freezer/refrigarator motors, and is super QUIET.
"You have to remember that if they hear it running they will come"

 

[Leadeye]

I had one installed when we built our new home. It has an auto disconnect start so when the power dies it simply comes on. Connected to a 1K propane tank it should keep things going for weeks if need be.

 

[x10]

There is a decent conversation here,

the only thing I have to Add is avoid the "discount" generators, I went that route during a trade thing once and sure enough 1 day into a 3 day disaster I had no generator, I had gas, and everything else we needed but the freezers were thawing because the "brigs and statton" genset doesn't work.

I currently have a 5kw Onan and happy with it,

stay with Onans, Hondas, they are the only one I know of right now that are actually building their own Gensets, Most others are branded


Some features to look into is the Onan "idlematic", Or inverter type gensets, (both almost double price)

But you'll find 2 class of gensets One Class starts and runs at 1 full out rpm and uses the generator head to control the output

The other is a Governed type where the Engine RPM varies with the output load, better on fuel

There is also Inverter types that are much cleaner AC power and if I was running a bunch of eletronics you might want to consider.

Also Honda has a neat feature you can buy several of the smaller 1.5k and they can be chained together, so you may have to have 3-4 of them for full load but you can shut down the ones you don't need.

match your genset to your need

 

[Caleb]

I love to have one attached to my house whenever I get one, would connect via natural gas for unlimited supply. But I wonder, would it be practical to get a big unit if you rarely get power outage? Perhaps there should be an equations that helps determine wither a small portable unit would be better for you verses a big, expensive, permanent unit.

My parents house has maybe one or two outages a year, minus natural disasters such as heavy snow or flooding.

During the june flooding, a nieghbor had his generator for several houses to run basic needs such as fridges and microwave for food. We were out of power for nearly a month mainly because of electrical panel damage.

 

[melensdad]

I love to have one attached to my house whenever I get one, would connect via natural gas for unlimited supply. But I wonder, would it be practical to get a big unit if you rarely get power outage? ...

That is good logic for a Tri-Fuel portable unit. They are more expensive but they are also very flexible in where and how they can be used.

Its what I have in my home, but I bought it before the new generation of stand-by generators were on the market. Mine is hooked to the Natural Gas line for unlimited fuel, but can be disconnected and moved to a relatives house if they need it more than me. It has a 5 gallon gasoline tank on the top so its also self contained if needed.

 

[jedi]

While we are on the topic, for those of you who have and use your generators do you use a ground rod?

Yes,

When I made my cement pad for my portable generator I added the following into it.

4 metal loops 1 on each corner of the 6 x 6 pad I made
1 re-bar 4' long (3.5' into the ground) near the front.

The metal loops are so I can run two chains to form an X on the generator. The gen has a metal loop in the middle as well (where a crane can pick up the gen) that is big enough to run both chains and lock them up at the metal loops. Yes you can cut the chains to steal it but it does give the gen some protection then just leaving it out without anything.

I also bought the thickest gauge of wire I could find at menards along with a two clamps. One clamp connects to the gen's ground pole the other to the re-bar. I think the wire will be a one time use thing should the ground ever be needed because I don't think it's thick enough for the generator to use.

But that is my setup.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I love to have one attached to my house whenever I get one, would connect via natural gas for unlimited supply. But I wonder, would it be practical to get a big unit if you rarely get power outage? Perhaps there should be an equations that helps determine wither a small portable unit would be better for you verses a big, expensive, permanent unit.

My parents house has maybe one or two outages a year, minus natural disasters such as heavy snow or flooding.

During the june flooding, a nieghbor had his generator for several houses to run basic needs such as fridges and microwave for food. We were out of power for nearly a month mainly because of electrical panel damage.

That is quite literally the $64,000 question. I don't know that I have a good answer for you, but you are on the right track in determining the variables.

How frequently have you experienced an outtage in your current location?
How much do you want to run when on generator power?
What is your plans for fuel supply and storage?


I was leaning pretty heavily towards a larger, tri fuel set that was permanently installed next to our house. But as a I did the research to the questions above, I determined that a smaller portable unit best suited our situation. The compromise is of course that gasoline is not the best fuel choice if looking for long term storage of a significant quantity of fuel.

 

[malern28us]

I love to have one attached to my house whenever I get one, would connect via natural gas for unlimited supply. But I wonder, would it be practical to get a big unit if you rarely get power outage? Perhaps there should be an equations that helps determine wither a small portable unit would be better for you verses a big, expensive, permanent unit.

My parents house has maybe one or two outages a year, minus natural disasters such as heavy snow or flooding.

During the june flooding, a nieghbor had his generator for several houses to run basic needs such as fridges and microwave for food. We were out of power for nearly a month mainly because of electrical panel damage.

The natural gas version only works as long as there is pressure in the natural gas lines. What happens if there s no natural gas like an economic collapse? I just got reading a book about long term loss of major fuels and the way to source them and it has me really wondering if anything other than solar is a long term solution.

 

[Caleb]

The natural gas version only works as long as there is pressure in the natural gas lines. What happens if there s no natural gas like an economic collapse? I just got reading a book about long term loss of major fuels and the way to source them and it has me really wondering if anything other than solar is a long term solution.

If I got one, it was mainly for short term power outages to couple weeks...didn't someone say Cummins had a dual fuel generator? Natural gas for couple day to couple weeks, and have a large propane tank for SHTF. Or better yet, you can have a small generator that runs on propane(large tank for extreme long term food storage) for powering just your freezer/fridge and a large generator to cover the usage of the house but the large generator runs on natural gas.

 

[melensdad]

The natural gas version only works as long as there is pressure in the natural gas lines. What happens if there s no natural gas like an economic collapse? I just got reading a book about long term loss of major fuels and the way to source them and it has me really wondering if anything other than solar is a long term solution.

Then consider diesel/bio-diesel. Its probably the most obvious choice of fuel.

However the economic collapse in Argentina they still had basic utility services. Even in many war torn nations (Bosnia, Serbia) there were still utilities that provided some level of power (when lines were in tact, etc).

 

[Caleb]

Then consider diesel/bio-diesel. Its probably the most obvious choice of fuel.

However the economic collapse in Argentina they still had basic utility services. Even in many war torn nations (Bosnia, Serbia) there were still utilities that provided some level of power (when lines were in tact, etc).

That's a good idea, you can always refine used motor oil for fuel

 

[shibumiseeker]

The answer to the question of whether the Honda (or Yamaha) inverter-generators is: it depends on your use.

If you are going to run a few circuits and have a small base load (10-50% of the generator capacity) with occasional larger loads starting and running, and want to run continuous then the quality inverter generators are what you want because they have excellent fuel management. As far as longevity goes, I run an EU2000i on average about 30-40 hours a week and got over 18 months of runtime on my last one before the inverter fried. The engine still runs. It used less than a third of the fuel a big box store 3600rpm generator uses to power the same loads, so it essentially paid for itself about three times over in fuel saved. It also lasted almost twice as long as the cheaper 3600rpm generators last me (I've owned lots of generators over the years), so even with the fuel savings aside, it would have cost less than the cheaper generators. Since they only run as fast as needed to generate the power used, if you are mostly powering small loads with occasional heavy loads, the engines can potentially last 5-10k hours. If you are running constant heavy loads then you won't get much more than typical engine life for a quality small engine (3-5k hours)

If you are going to run a larger baseload continuously then you really want an 1800 rpm diesel sized so your anticipated base loads are 50-75% of its capacity as this is the most fuel efficient option and will last the longest under that type of load.

The biggest variable is you and your expectations. I run that EU2000i 30-40 hours a week and power my shop and some of my house on cloudy days. I have battery banks and inverters for each and while the generator is running it's charging batteries as well. Between that and 500 watts of solar, that's all the power I use. I heat with wood and propane. At a guess both house and shop combined still use a quarter of the amount of electricity the typical non all electric household uses and a tenth what the typical all-electric house uses.

 

[Tryin']

I want to run, at minimum, the furnace blower, microwave/ electric camp stove, one room circuit (lights, communications), and the fridge/freezer. I think this will put me out of the running for the little 1.5k - 2k generators. I may be wrong. It's just for emergency use, if I eventually get to where I can leave and head to some land somewhere, I'll be looking into a more permanent setup.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I want to run, at minimum, the furnace blower, microwave/ electric camp stove, one room circuit (lights, communications), and the fridge/freezer. I think this will put me out of the running for the little 1.5k - 2k generators. I may be wrong. It's just for emergency use, if I eventually get to where I can leave and head to some land somewhere, I'll be looking into a more permanent setup.

That would be real close for a 2k set, close enough that you'd be best off with a 5kw set anyway so you can run it a roughly 50% load (best fuel consumption and overall life).

If you go up to 5k you can probably add another circuit if you really wanted it / needed it, and would still not overload the set.

 

[Steelworker]

Tryin, if you can afford it, the Honda eu series is awesome. Small, very portable, quiet, and stingy on the fuel. If you are worried about fuel availability, then I believe a diesel 1800 rpm (or lower,,some 1200rpm models were built) genset is the way to go. You have more options for coming up with a fuel... waste veg oil, used motor oil, k-1, ymmv.

 

[WhitleyStu]

We purchaed our 15,000w from Gillette Generators in Elkhart, In. They have great customer service and all sizes of units. I needed a part and it was here the day after I called customer service. Highly recommended...
http://www.gillettegenerators.com/

 

[Tryin']

Not worried about fuel type. Probably gonna go with a 5k set for. . . well, the reasons listed. The Hondas in that range are pricey. . .

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

Look up Ma Deuce. It will run on just about anything that explodes under pressure. Oil, diesel, fryolater oil, whatever. Not to picky about quality as long as you filter it too. Very useful.

 

[mmaddox]

Welder/generators, look at Miller, Hobart (same company), then Airco and Lincoln. Two size options, roughly 5KW and 10KW. Gasoline powered, and diesel.
For home use, two decisions to make first, fuel and portability. If you need it to be portable, then it will be gasoline or diesel. Diesel stores better, but takes more knowledge and experience. Harder to start cold. Stationary would allow the use of LP, if you have a large LP storage tank. Natural gas might not always be available, and is difficult to transport. Have at least a couple of all three fuel types. E-mail if you need more info.

 

[woowoo2]

Don't forget to budget for extension cords.
Good quality 10 and 12ga cords are not cheap.

I made a breakout for mine
Twistlock to 2 15A duplex recepticals