generator brands/types

[herm0016]

Looking to purchase a generator. we have lost power 2x in the last couple weeks and we are just getting into snow season. We are also considering buying some property in the mountains where the generator could be useful. we have hot water baseboard, and 2 fridges and a deep freeze. all our lighting is LED. I think we would be fine with 5000 watts or so. i could run my small welder off of that, and it should be fine for a small cabin or yurt in the future.


looking at used and new. is duel fuel worth it? any brands i should avoid? they all look pretty similar. budget is less than 500 bucks.

did find a 8500 watt harbor freight generator in my budget, but kind of want to be able to run on propane as well. worth holding out for that?

 

[Rebeldad1]

If you are storing fuel propane is great. Doesnt go bad in long term storage. Down side it uses more gallons than gas.

The bigger the generator is the heavier they get. Also bigger uses more fuel.
If it wasnt for the heaters a good generator would be a Honda EU2000I. Very dependable and can be easily converted to dual fuel.

Honda does make larger EU series generators as well.

 

[workinonit]

No fewer than 3 or 4 threads on this topic in the last couple of weeks alone. Search generator.

 

[TheMan419]

Make sure you have enough watts to run the well if you are not on city water. I have a 6800 running watt generator. I think it is too much power (and thus sucks down more fuel per hour). We have nat gas for heat but need to run the pumps on the boiler. We need 220 to run the well pump. With some simple load management we could get by with well less wattage.

However having the "big" generator, Mrs. The Man does not need to worry about load management.

 

[RalphVa]

We had a 4.4 kw Suzuki electric start for a few years operating through a manual transfer switch. Would run lights, TV: small stuff but required shutting everything off to start the well pump. Had to refuel with gasoline about every 8 hours. Got to be old.

Went with a 12.5 kw Isuzu in 2012, and it does the whole house just excluding 4 ton heat pump, carriage house and swimming pool pump. Real fuel sipper at 0.25-0.3 gph. It's a real gem from Central Maine Diesel. Put in a new Gentron auto transfer panel & moved breakers around between its 200 amp panel and the other 200 amp panel.

Ralph

 

[TractorGuy]

I bought a 10,000 W Duromax for my daughter when they had the eBay sale on them a few years back. It has served them well so far. Ran for a solid week after the last hurricane. It will only actually run at 8,000 watts.

Running it on portable propane tanks would not be practical. The unit I bought used 6 lbs per hour and when the tank got to 3 lbs it didn't have enough pressure to keep running. You would be changing tanks every two hours at that rate.

They have a 4200 watt electric start, dual fuel unit for $579 shipped if that meets your needs.
DuroMax XP525EH 525 Watt Electric Start Dual Fuel Portable Hybrid Generator | eBay

 

[LouNY]

One thing the OP mentioned is hot water baseboard heat,
what type of boiler/water heater does he have and what is the power requirement.
If that freezes up the repair cost start to skyrocket.
If the generator can not power that it would need to be anti freezed.

 

[Oaktree]

If you are storing fuel propane is great. Doesnt go bad in long term storage. Down side it uses more gallons than gas.

The bigger the generator is the heavier they get. Also bigger uses more fuel.

True, but fuel usage is more dependent on load than generator size per se. A lightly loaded generator will use less fuel than the same one heavily loaded.
The fact that gasoline doesn't store well is a definite downside. Are you going to make sure you keep a fresh supply on hand at all times, or will it be one of those things you forget until you need it and then have 5 gal of stale gas?

Running it on portable propane tanks would not be practical. The unit I bought used 6 lbs per hour and when the tank got to 3 lbs it didn't have enough pressure to keep running. You would be changing tanks every two hours at that rate.

Does it need to run continuously? We pretty much only use our generator to keep the refrigerator & freezer cold...maybe run it 2 or 3x/day (depending on weather) for a half hour or so. Our hot water is propane, well is gravity fed and we heat with wood so no electricity needed there. LED lanterns work fine for lighting, we can live without tv for the duration.
Even if you need power for any of the above, it wouldn't take a huge lifestyle change to run the generator only when you need to. Obviously, the bigger the tank the better, but how long are power outages where you live?

 

[shooterdon]

Dual fuel is a good option. Currently propane is less costly than gas and propane does not go bad. With propane there are no carb issues either.

Changing out tanks is not difficult but not something that is fun to do at below zero in the dark or in the middle of thunderstorm. Even the portable units can be connected to larger tanks and that is worth considering, although it will squish your budget. You can always add a larger tank down the road.

I had a gas Generac 5kW unit for a lot of years and it did the job but I hated it. Hard to start and would need to use ether. Then after using it I had to drain the fuel and run it dry. I ran it with a manual transfer switch to cover critical stuff...only 6 circuits. When I moved here, I decided to back feed the main panel of the house. That can be done safely with an interlock that is easy to install. Still needed to manage the load, but could run any circuit I wanted.

Your budget is low IMHO. Even with back feeding (cheapest way) you will need about $100 for the bits and pieces (interlock, wire and outside plug).

A gas only generator is the only way you can go and stay in budget. Use Stabil in the gas and rotate it every 6 months. A generator is useless with bad gas,

 

[RalphVa]

I'll bet this would do for you: Slow-Turning 5 kW Yanmar Diesel Generator

Ralph