Generator Question

spierceisu

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Jan 28, 2007
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I have the Generac GP 2500i. I believe that it is similar to the above mentioned Hondas. It works awesome. During the derecho we used it for about 10 hours until power came back on, then it went to a friends house in DSM where it ran 24/7 for about a week. No issues with it at all.
I just checked and Fleet Farm has a few of these on clearance for $500. I am not sure if the Honda's are worth that big of a price difference. Does anyone else have an opinion on brands? Hard to spend a ton of money on something that would get used very little, but I want reliable because when I need it, I would really need it.
 

KnappShack

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May 26, 2008
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We got a whole home generator when we moved to our house about 5 years ago. It has been a great addition and would do it 10/10 times. Been a real life saver. When we got it installed, I think it cost about $6000.

Interesting. Is this because of a rural location?

I've been kicking around a whole home mostly because we have power outages during the winter. It's disruptive at best and could be dangerous is the temps are low.

How often do you actually have it kick on?
 

qwerty

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CascadeClone

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I have considered a solar generator, even though I currently have a gas powered unit. Anyone have any experience with the solar units yet?
It's not quite the same, but put solar on the house, and added 10 kWh battery bank as part of it.

Let's just say the natural gas generator options are cheaper by half at the $5-10k range.

But was putting the solar on already, and we have a well, so HAVE to have power to have water. It felt dumb to have solar and then a gas generator. It probably WAS dumb. But here we are.

If I had to do over, I'd get a 2-way EV car charger and then my battery backup would be HUGE and I would still have a useful asset to drive around, as opposed to an expensive battery stuck to my wall doing nothing.
 

CascadeClone

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I just checked and Fleet Farm has a few of these on clearance for $500. I am not sure if the Honda's are worth that big of a price difference. Does anyone else have an opinion on brands? Hard to spend a ton of money on something that would get used very little, but I want reliable because when I need it, I would really need it.
Generac is a good brand. But the Honda is a Honda. It could be swept into the ocean by a tsunami, sit there on the ocean floor for 10 years, get thrown back onto land by an erupting volcano, and then still start on the 1st pull.
 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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I get deep into researching generators every now and then... and never buy one.

Only reason I want one is in case the power goes out. The power has never been out longer than a couple hours where I live. If it's ever longer than that, I feel like I'm going to have much bigger issues to worry about.

Regardless, I usually come back to thinking this one provides a lot of value for the money:

I have had a Champion 7000 W for about 10 years, and it has worked well. When I initially got it, I had issues with gasoline getting old and mucking up the carb. After a couple of years of messing with that, I converted it to propane, and haven't had a problem since. When I bought this one, dual-fuel gasoline/propane hadn't yet emerged in the market, but Motor Snorkel was selling propane conversion kit. I can still run it on gasoline if necessary.

I highly recommend getting a dual-fuel version and running it on propane to eliminate the old gas problem.
 

hurdleisu24

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Interesting. Is this because of a rural location?

I've been kicking around a whole home mostly because we have power outages during the winter. It's disruptive at best and could be dangerous is the temps are low.

How often do you actually have it kick on?
Actually suburban NY (Albany area). When we moved into the house, it was August and we lost power 2-3 days (for a short amount of time) in the first week we lived here. The neighbors said it happened. Well after we got settled and installed the generator, National Grid came through and started updating the lines/poles in our area so we actually lose power less often. However, when we do lose it, it can be off for an extended period of time. Back in March due to a snow/ice storm, we lost power for 18+ hours. Having the generator and being able to keep furnace going was great while some of our neighbors had their houses getting down to the low 50s.

In general, I would say it gets used once or twice a year but having the reassurance in a major storm is huge. With my wife's ability to work from home, having that power is huge for her too.
 

AllInForISU

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Nov 24, 2012
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I've been thinking of buying a generator with all of the weather recently to use to run my fridge, freezer, and to use as a sump pump backup rather than a battery backup. I was looking at a small inverter Honda one. Does anyone have any advice on generators or should I buy a larger one? I like the small inverter ones due to the appeal of using it for tailgating etc.

What is the wattage on the generator you are looking at getting?

What you need to do is add up the amperage on everything you want to keep running and that will help determine what generator to get. Without that info, it’s hard to tell you what would work best.
 

BoxsterCy

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I get deep into researching generators every now and then... and never buy one.

Only reason I want one is in case the power goes out. The power has never been out longer than a couple hours where I live. If it's ever longer than that, I feel like I'm going to have much bigger issues to worry about.

Regardless, I usually come back to thinking this one provides a lot of value for the money:


I do the same every year. Power seems to go out a lot in my hood. Lots of tree and mostly overhead lines. Would be nice to keep frig running and a few lights on. And Wifi!

All ties in with wanting a transfer switch and electric plug to garage for charging E-car at some point. Should just do it and get it over with as one rewire.
 
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Oldcr

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I just checked and Fleet Farm has a few of these on clearance for $500. I am not sure if the Honda's are worth that big of a price difference. Does anyone else have an opinion on brands? Hard to spend a ton of money on something that would get used very little, but I want reliable because when I need it, I would really need it.
I believe I got mine from Fleet Farm. I have had it several years and use it a few times per year. Starts on the first or second pull every time.
 

CYdTracked

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Mar 23, 2006
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A generator in the 2000-2500 watt range should be enough for a fridge and deep frezeer and small things. Like some have said you can rotate some things on it if it bogs down. A deep freeze will keep everything frozen solid for about 24 hours if you do not open then door so you really only need to plug it in once in awhile to run a cycle to bring it back to temp. That size is more than enough to run anything at tailgate too. You can always buy larger if you want but the odds of needing something significantly more powerful isn't worth it for the little you will actually use it.
 

nfrine

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Sump pumps typically use between 600–1,000 watts while running, but can use between 1,300–2,150 watts when starting. The amount of power a sump pump uses depends on its horsepower. For example, a 1/4 horsepower sump pump can use around 500–600 watts, while a 1 horsepower pump can use around 2,000 watts.
 

carvers4math

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qwerty

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spierceisu

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Does anyone have experience with the Harbor Freight Predator generators? I am leary about Harbor Freight stuff, hut heard decent things about the generators and can buy a lot bigger inverter one for way cheaper.