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?
the more power you generate, the more money it will cost you. The other important consideration is when you buy a low end unit, it will be harder to start the longer you own it. I would avoid Harbor Freight. It might work fine the first couple of times you use it, but it won't work next year.
I'm in Texas and when I lose power, it's in the winter because of ice. Usually it builds up on tree branches and they take out the power lines when they break off. Power can be out for an hour, all day, or even a week.
First thing that I did was get a wood stove. I can keep the house warm all winter from firewood. I can heat water for cooking or bathing on the stove if I have to. I can also grill outside in winter on my gas grill if the power is off.
What I really need electricity for is lights, TV, the Computer, and charging our phones. This is the bare minimum for me and my wife. I do not need to keep the refrigerators or freezer going in winter. They will last a full week with the outside temperatures in the 20's to 40's.
After years of struggling with small engines on lawn mowers and other things, I finally decided that I will only buy Honda. It's more money upfront, but the quality and reliability more them makes it worth the added cost. I spent almost a grand for my little Honda generator that can handle 13 amps and run all day on a tank of gas. It starts every time and it's quiet enough that most people don't even know its running when it's on a 100 foot extension cord for our parties down at the pond. When we lose power, I put it on the porch, fire it up and run an extension cord into the living room. That's where we are during the evenings, and it just takes a minute to plug everything in.
I thought about propane because it's so stable and clean burning. I also thought about diesel, but it's a lot more money. I drain my Honda generator when I'm done with it, or run it until its dry. I never store it with gas in the tank. I usually have a 5 gallon gas can for my lawn mower, or Mule or log splitter, so it's not a big deal to make sure it's full when we know a storm is coming. Worse case is that I have to drive to the gas station to get it filled.
