It's getting to be that time of year again. I am going to buy a generator this year in case we get hit again by a hurricane. Can any one advise me on what to look for in features or size? My neighbor had a small Honda last year but said it was too small. I will need to run a refrigerator, small TV, some lights. a fan or two. Of course not all at the same time. Any help is appreciated. Chuck B.
First you need to calculate watts needed for run and surge load for all motor equiped apliances, surrge load can be 9x run load but is usualy
4-6 times. The Honda site and more have guidline sheets , but you realy need a clamp on amp meter. A new frige can pull only 100 running 450 surge an old unit can pull 1400 surge 600 running, a TV 200-350w. A Honda or Yamaha inverter type are the safest in power quality, maintaing 120 v 60hz, quietness- you can hardly hear them run and last the longest at 50 % load, up to 14000 hrs. A cheap B&S or Techumpsee motor can fail at 250-350 hrs and put out 140-90v on load-no load with swinging HZ, it can ruin a TV or any sensitive electronics if it doesnt have voltage regulation. The Honda-Yamaha inverter line is expensive but you get what you pay for. They are available to 3000w and similar non inverter models to 10000w. Most other units are extremely noisy. I suggest get a transfer panel and a vented dry location as rain will blow out a generator. You get what you pay for, Generac are cheap for what you get , the OHV with oil filter can last 3000 hrs and the XL and EXL line have voltage regulation, vs cheap ones that go 350hrs. But Honda , Yamaha with load dependant Rpm last the longest 4x longer at 50% load. If power outages last a week and you want to keep it Honda-Yamaha is best Generac second and lawnmower grade engines last.It is a confusing market shopping for watts produced but to compare a 450$ 5000 watt generator to a 3000 $ 3000 watt Honda is no comparison, the Honda can last 14000 hrs vs 350 hrs and give true 120v
60 Hz, vs 140-90 v 55-65 hz junk, again you get what you pay for.Minimum 5 kW continuous power.
How old is your frige, what does the panel rate its consumption, your neighbors small honda may do it for you and it could give him the opertunity to get a bigger unit, and you a good price, what size is your unit. Nobody can say you need 5000 or 2000 watts, you may only need
1000. I replaced my frige with a 19.5 cu ft that runs at 90 watt and my furnace pulls 375, I could run easily with 1000 watts but I learned to late, after I purchased a Generac 7500-13500w unit. If I knew what I know now I would have gotten a 2000 watt Honda or Yamaha. Plus Inverter generators are 35% lighter, the generatior is not a separate unit but part of the motor, weight is very important.
Yamaha's EF1000i and EF3000is look interesting. A Honda dealer told me one of his 2500 W NON-inverter generators lasted 12K hours at full-power with no oil changes. The contractor just kept adding oil until the crankcase was full of something like asphalt :-) Would Yamaha last as long?
An EF1000i and a 4 kW inverter with 2 batteries might be nice cogeneration. The $669 27 lb EF1000i burns 0.66 g of gas in 6 hours at 1/2 power at 47-57 dB. That's about 0.66x122K/3h = 27K Btu/h, enough to heat an A ft^2 R1 plastic film room in the basement from 80-100 F, where A = 27K/20 = 1342. Too big...
We might stack some 4 gallon 9"x9"x13" Ropak water tubs in an 8'x8' room. If it loses 6h(100-80)5x64/R1 = 38400 Btu over 6 hours and the tubs store
42.1K Btu with a 7.8 hour time constant and cool to 70 F by morning, T(6) = 100-(70-100)e^-6/7.8 = 86.2 F, so we need 42.1K/(86.2-70)/32 = 81 tubs, eg a 4x5x4 36"x45"x36" tall stack, or fewer tubs and a fan to lower their charging time constant. The exhaust would go outdoors, depressurizing the room, with a CO detector upstairs.Nick
This is Turtle.
Boudreaux & Thibodeaux has solved the Hurricane problem in Florida and is working on it now and should be complete before the summer. They are building a hurricane fence all around Florida and then you can sell your generators and power outage supplys.
TURTLE
"> This is Turtle.
From your mouth to GOD's ears. AMEN
Exactly 20 years ago this year we in New England experienced Hurricane Gloria. There was extensive damage and we were without power for 10 days. Many others for far longer. 'nuff said.
After the hurricane passed I then purchased a new generator. Doing the calculations previously suggested I purchased a Honda 6500 Wat electric start 120/220V two cylinder water cooled unit. It has served me well with very little maintenance and I have it wired feeding 220V to my main through a transfer switch.
My point is and like others have stated - you get what you pay for and if you want piece of mind, be willing to spend the mone for it. I am happy I did and it will probably go for at least another 20 years.
Good luck.
My neighbor is a Honda employee and he says the urban myth of not doing maintenance is often overstated. The generators with bad oil and plugged filters don't meet output specs and burn excessive fuel. How hard is it to change a beer glass full of oil now and then?
I dought a Honda would last 4- 500 hours without an oil change before it started to smoke that 12000 hr story is pure BS , from a salesman of course. Nobody is going to buy the most expensive unit and trash it that way. 12000 hrs at full load and rpm is way optimistic anyway, more like 3000 - 5000. Most Hondas don`t have oil filters, at 500 hrs the oil would be real thick ruining it. At 750- 1500 hours it would not flow it would be mud, and your motor would never make it to even 1000 hrs. Oils become innefective around 150 hrs and full of junk that will grind a motor away.
Don't know, but probably a lot easier if you drink the beer first.
I suspect you are wrong again. You might write back after you learn to spell "doubt" :-)
Nick
No Nick Im not wrong try running a small motor like that for only 100 hrs and check the oil , 500 hrs is the life cycle of most small motors with regular changes at 25 hrs, but you didn't know that did you. Many small motors go at 350 hrs with maintenance. These are non oil filter engines, you have allot to learn Nick, but then again if you are stupid enough to believe a motor can go 12000 hrs on original oil you know nothing about motors or oil. On a car going 60 mph you would travel
720000 miles in 12000 hrs, do you now see how totaly absurd that statement is that some salesman knows a guy that ran his unit 12000 hrs on original oil. I guess that you must believe Honda cars can do the same! Figure it is also running a constant 3600 rpm at full power. Did you know the EPA has class ratings on engines and the Honda is a 1500 hr rating till it fails EPA, till it pollutes, is wearing out. 12000 hrs on an inverter gen running at 1200-1800 rpm or less yes will go 12000 hrs but not a Honda at 3600 rpm, Never, and not one on orginal oil to boot. Go learn a bit more and come back, naw, anybody that believes 12000 hrs at 3600 rpm on original oil don`t come back, your info is totaly BS , missleading, junk.In the morning when I change the oil the most I can take to drink is Gin. I think Winston Churchill said this too!
You might post this again when you learn to spell "a lot."
Nick
Right Nick this is your Spelling group , Nick you might post when you have something inteligent to say so far nick you have said a big Zero.
Whatever you decide, please also give thought to how to store gasoline, safely.
A couple years ago, I got out my Northern Tools catalog, and ran some numbers. A galon of gasoline provides about 2,000 watts for one hour. So, please figure a few galons of gasoline.
I've got a 2200 watt Coleman, which works nicely for me. Weighs about 75 pounds, so I can lift it without needing hernia repair. A 5,000 watt Coleman is more like 125 pounds. Will you use it at one location, or are you going on the road to run appliances for your relatives, and friends?
In my case, I did use the generator on the road a couple times. Once for my parents refrigerator. Once for a friend's furnace, during the ice storm.
Will be used at my location only. I have a storage shed some distance from the house where gas will be stored. My house has been wired for emergency power by the builder. I have not checked the wiring and probably won't use that option. It's pretty old and could cause a fire. Thanks for the info. Chuck
I was without power for more than a month without after Ivan.
I had a small Honda 3000, rated to go 3500W for a couple hours or 3000 W steady.
It would run all my ceiling fans and lights, and plug ins for lamps, tv's etc. Forget the curling irons, but you could turn on lights when you entered the rooms.
It would also run three appliances but you had to pick which 3.
5,000 B tu/hr window shaker, fridge, small george foreman grill (700W), toaster, microwave, coffe maker, washing machine, bottled water cooler. Obviously appliances using electric heat, draw a lot of power. Smaller gens like a 2000 or a 2500 will be straining to run a coffe maker.Maybe unplug the fridge when you are washing clothes, or when you are making toast.
It would run 24 hours less refuelling time on about 5 US gallons of gasoline.
After power was restored, we still had frequent power failures ranging from 4 to 6 hours in length. By this time with the water cooler, fridge, freezer, and small AC going I was popping the main breaker on the gen. Had to go back to 3 appliances.
Change the oil like they say in the manuals, the 3000 was every 100 hours. A neighbour had a 2500 and it was every 25 hours od run time. Saw a lot of people run gens into the ground quickly due to no maintenance.
Price wise and quality wise Coleman was at the bottom of the totem pole. Honda was at the top.
Chuck B. wrote:
For what it's worth to anyone considering a generator, my real-world experience has been on two 5500 watt generator units of different brand names with 10 hp Briggs and Stratton engines running fairly loaded, that you're gonna be looking at 5-7gallons of gas and/or a pint of oil per unit, every 8 hours or so. That's when they run out of fuel, or the low-oil switch shuts them down. This is why these engines have a low oil switch. This is from running the two units simultaneously for 24 hrs a day, 9 days straight back in '99 during the floods and power outages here in NC from Hurricane Floyd. Had to drive 35 miles for gas during part of the outages. Recoil covers self-destruct from vibration on these engines. Have a spare. Bolts shake out, or the covers crack, or the recoils won't catch on restart. Recoil balls stick to outside edge of catch-clutch, then it won't grab hold. I re-enforced the mounting holes on my covers by brazing washers over the mounting holes. Gas fittings into the tank will leak over time. It's just a grommet on some models. Mother-in law lives in my backyard, so I have to keep her going also. I've been thinking about a 10,000 watt unit for my 35 hp diesel tractor PTO. The diesel would store better and be a little safer, and a hell of a lot quieter. Anyone have any experience with these?
RJ
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