I have several generators. I'm a bit of an affectionado. I even rebuilt a Lister Peter diesel generator out of a military jet warming motor.

I have big gas gennies for running my wells. I have a whole house Generac. I have the Lister Peter.

If I wanted something to run electronics, and I were you, I'd look into some of the bigger solar generators and add a couple of panels and a really good pure sine wave inverter minimum 2000 watts 12v or 4000 watts 24 volts depending upon how many batteries you have and if you want to link them in series or parallel. You could diy build your own with a few Battle Born batteries (which I have done) or you could invest in something like a Bluetti or a Jackery.

Will Prowse does excellent YouTube videos on the subject. I highly recommend his channel and there is another guy, the hobotech, who also has an excellent channel.

Electronics of any kind just about have to be powered with pure sine wave juice or they'll fail in short order,

All of my HAM club guys have switched over to solar to run their radios.

"Neither the fridge nor freezer need to run 24/7, Just unplug them, then plug one in and wait a few minutes until it has started and running, then plug the other in. You could even just run them 3 hours each every 6 hours or so (stagger which one is plugged in."

Being frugal country folk, this is the method we used to get thru some 3-4 day outages with a Honda EU2000i. A remnant of our old camper-days, sometimes I can use the electric chain saw etc, from the lawn tractor trailer, to tow the Honda generator around the estate, to manage various limb & smaller tree damage.

It was worth paying the electrician to hook up the above described grid-isolator box set up. With wood heat & no a/c worries, we have a pretty basic power need.

All...

Thanks again.

I will go with an inverter for sure now.

I will also look at the Honda's, but I believe they are out of my price range for now. But... I will look.

My only "need" is to keep the deep freezer and the fridge going. Everything else is just a plus. I would rather not have to plug and unplug those 2 items because I could see myself forgetting to plug them back in if I am trying to get other things done.

I am in need of the unit now. Like I said, I waited too long and winter (and the election) are right around the corner. I do not have the desire to invest anything into the electrical system of this house as I will be moving in the next few years. Extension cords (of the correct gauge of course) will do what I need for now. These needs also rule out me DIYing something (maybe in the future).

I do intend to have a small boating type wind generator and some type of solar at the new house along with a whole house generator. My father in law had this setup and I saw all positives and there were really no negatives (he also had geo-thermal... but I am unsure if I will have the land to do that, although I now understand that they now also use vertical wells versus long horizontal loops).

Thanks for all of the advice so far. I will look at the Honda, Yamaha, Generac, Champion (current leader for price and features), Westinghouse and any others you may think will fit these needs. I really would like something that could run off of both gas and propane as I have a lot of propane on hand as well as gasoline (just purchased 25 gallons today).

Again guys... Thanks.

We park the Prius in the back yard, use a $140 Harbor Freight 12 volt to 120 inverter and a couple of extension cords. It is enough power to avoid hardship. As others said the fridge/freezer only needs to run a few hours a day. So operated the Prius will run days on a tank of gas. Extra gas storage is the tanks of a 1990 f250 . Almost zero extra maintenance, Toyota reliable, and ethanol blend gasoline is no problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott in NCal:
We park the Prius in the back yard, use a $140 Harbor Freight 12 volt to 120 inverter and a couple of extension cords. It is enough power to avoid hardship. As others said the fridge/freezer only needs to run a few hours a day. So operated the Prius will run days on a tank of gas. Extra gas storage is the tanks of a 1990 f250 . Almost zero extra maintenance, Toyota reliable, and ethanol blend gasoline is no problem.

This... keep your vehicles full, get a 1200 watt invertor and be happy. If you feel the need, get a pure sine wave invertor. Much quieter than generators as well.

We have hundreds of hours on regular old generators while boondocking and have yet to burn any electronics up...

If you are worried about heat buy a kerosene heater. Kerosene stores forever and the heaters are extremely efficient

I bought a harbor freight 7000/8750 after Hurricane Isaac. I have no ethanol fuel always in it. I make sure to close the petcock and run it til the carb is empty. At the end of the I drain the tank. It’s always started on typically the second pull (motor is a knock off honda EX, Honda parts evidently swap directly over)

I went with the 8750 Open Frame Inverter Generator from Champion.

https://www.championpowerequip...open-frame-inverter/

Seems fine. I've only run it for a five hour break in period so far but no issues. As needed, it will be plugged into an outlet outside that leads into a breaker in the box. Set up with an Interlock Kit for the panel.

During the test run, I was able to run just about everything in the house, but I did not have the central AC running. I'm pretty confident I can run the AC if needed for a couple of hours if needed to cool things off by turning almost everything else off.

Most likely will pick up a small window unit for a cool room instead of trying to run the AC with the generator.

Now that I've done all this within the past couple of months, I'll probably have perfect power delivery with no interruptions for a decade.

Is that Champion inverter a pure or modified sine wave inverter? I wouldn't buy anything but a pure sine wave inverter.

Realistically, you should only need to run a refrigerator or freezer for 3-5 hours every 24 hours. Both will keep for 24 hours easily if you're not opening the door every 10 minutes.

I'd highly consider the 22000 watt Honda, and just making a note and plugging each in for 3 hours at a time. The larger generator is going to use considerably more fuel, which finding it after a natural disaster is a royal pain in the rear, noisier. I'd rather go this route. I have friends that have had Honda's for 10 years and have used them for weeks and weeks after a hurricane and they have had zero issues with them. Plus the Honda's have a really strong resale value if you decide to go in a different direction.

Jimmy...

Thanks. As far as I can find, the Honda generators do not have a dual fuel option (gasoline only).

I am sitting on 245 lbs. of propane with 1,500 gallons available to me by a close neighbor. He owns the tank and has fill equipment (and a scale) should I need more.

I really need a dual fuel option for the very reasons you stated (availability of fuel).

Saigon... investigating that now.

Steve... Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by bozman:
Jimmy...

Thanks. As far as I can find, the Honda generators do not have a dual fuel option (gasoline only).

I am sitting on 245 lbs. of propane with 1,500 gallons available to me by a close neighbor. He owns the tank and has fill equipment (and a scale) should I need more.

I really need a dual fuel option for the very reasons you stated (availability of fuel).

Saigon... investigating that now.

Steve... Thanks

Given that, propane is your best bet as you don't have to worry about the fuel related issues (gas going bad, etc) you do with gas.

Costco has a much larger capacity clean running power generator from Generac, 8500 running, 10Kw start, quiet tech. $999, so it's in your budget and it provides more power than the ones you have listed.

You'd have no reason to have to juggle what appliances you turn on, other than 220 dryer or oven.

I'd opt for having a transfer switch installed vs running plugs directly to things in the house, eliminates fumes getting in through doors that are cracked open for power cords,

Just plug it into the transfer switch and if you need to, toss off the breakers for things you don't want to run vs plug or unplug.

You probably can run the furnace, fireplace, freezer, lights, tv etc...

https://www.costco.com/generac...oduct.100646706.html

As for fuel, I fill up 3 5 gallon cans, and fill the generator, drop in stabil in the gas tank, and run it. Keeps fuel from going bad, and you'd be better off for that fuel to go Ethanol free, Ethanol based fuels tend to eat up the rubber seals in small engines.

So back to fuel, I keep all three full, especially in Hurricane season. then when no storms are close I'll pour a can in the John Deere, Motorcycle, truck, and then refill to keep fresh gas.

Those small generators from Honda and Generac are nice, quiet and expensive, and they make you choose what you can and cannot run with the limited capacity of 2 or 3 kw...

For the same money you can run the whole house with a Generac from Costco...

I’ll have to agree (again!) with Jimmy. The Honda is the de facto champion but I will tell you a short story.. When the hurricane hit Puerto Rico and the USVI a couple of years ago we had two friends who got slammed and were without power for weeks. One of them had a 2 day old baby when the storm hit. We Fed Ex’d them each a 2000 watt Generac generator and they ran nonstop for over a month. In fact my wife was talking to one of them last week and they are still using it with their frequent outages.
If you want to go a little larger than the 2000 watt range consider this 3000 watt unit. You can get it for about $900 and it is quieter than the Honda...

https://www.generac.com/all-pr...rs/gp-series/gp3000i

Jimmy... Thanks. I would love to buy a Honda. I have been in the supply chain for Honda for 26 years. Honda has their issues, but I know their generators are solid.

Saigon... What I am finding on the Champion unit is that it has less than 3% THD. From what I can find, 3-5% THD is what many "pure sine" inverters run at. This is all I can find on the subject on the tech used to create the sine wave. Still looking though...

Regarding the fridge.

You should plan on cycling the fridge on and off while on the generator, simply for fuel management.

A fridge, when connected to outlet power, normally cycles on and off. If you left it on a generator and had the generator running 24/7, the fridge would cycle on and off on it's own anyway and your generator would be idling and burning fuel for no reason.

By manually cycling the fridge, you ensure that the generator is only running when the fridge is actually drawing power to cool itself.

Couple of quick additions to this thread ... strictly my opinion but it's an educated opinion.

Everyone who said-so is correct, use the gennies to cycle your fridge and freezer and you'll have to do it daily. A couple of hours a day on a 3500 watt gennie of even moderate quality will work if you keep it oiled and run good gas through it.

Running high dollar electronics through a normal gennie is not wise.

The Champions at Tractor Supply are some of the best deals out there.

Propane is great but be flexible. You can buy a conversion kit for most gas gennies. Propane AND gas AND diesel AND solar is really the way to go. Redundancy .... start with gas. A Champion is a great way to start. Briggs and Stratton's are also excellent. If you can find a good Kohler engine gennie ... excellent. You're looking for cast iron blocks.

Generac makes a good propane Gennie but you had better make sure to service is regularly and know how to service it yourself if tshtf.

Diesel gennies typically last the longest and can often be speed adjusted with the proper pulling to produce pure sine wave juice without an inverter but your need to be a little bit savvy with a meter.

Solar is sooooo much more affordable these days and with just a little research you can DIY one helluva portable solar gennie.

If anyone is really serious about shtf power supply be redundant.

Be sure to treat your stored gas with a good additive. I prefer some of the marine additives like StabilMarine and StarBrite but do your own research. Furthermore, never put your gas gennie up wet. Always cut the supply value and run it dry before you put it up and make sure you've got additive in what's left in the tank. Also have a spare spark plug or two and plenty of oil and check your oil after EVERY use on has gennies. Also, have a foot or two of spare supply hoses.

Propane gennies ... they go through A LOT of propane. Unless you can afford to do what not many can (I couldn't have as a younger man) and store a minimum of 1000 gals of propane .... your propane would be much better served for cooking and heating, not running a gennie.

I cannot recommend doing your research on Diesel gennies enough. Take the time to do it. I run my diesel gennie all the time. Diesel fuel is more expensive that has, yes, but you use half as much and your engines last ten times longer. And, as already mentioned, you can tune a diesel engine to produce pure since wave strictly by using pulley sizes/diameters.

Solar has changed drastically over the past decade. You can build an ammo box solar generator that can be charged by panels or gas gennies or wind or even an outlet when the power comes back oh .... for a fraction of what they cost just five years ago. They are super portable, super powerful and incredibly convenient.

FWIW you can even buy an inverter that'll plug into your cigarette lighter ... usually 300 watts or so.

Have every option. Work on having every option.

A Honda is excellent. I own one we use for tailgating. But there are equal options that cost a lot less. A lot less. Make the most of your money. Do your research or ask the right questions ... make the most of your money.

I have the champion 2000 watt inverter generator and it will power my fridge, deep freezer, AND a 5000 btu window AC unit at the same time and all day long. My fridge and freezer are new energy star appliances and barely use any energy.

People buy massive generators which is a mistake. Can’t find fuel in a real emergency. The gas stations are sold out and empty.

Duel fuel is a wonderful option since you already have access to huge amounts of propane.

That 4000 watt champion dual fuel will be a good buy for you. Don’t ever put gas in it, just use the propane option and it should last a real long time with no problems.

BTW, the Cummins generator i linked can also be set up to auto start when your power goes out. Of course you need to by the Cummins panel but it’s a neat feature. It’s electric start and even comes with a remote start key fob. With Cummins/Onan history it’s a reliable generator.

I just got an email from Costco notifying me that their Firman tri-fuel gennies are going on sale starting today. 9400 starting watts (gas), 8450 (LPG), 6900 (Natural Gas) ... runs on all three. $899.99 shipped to your door.

FIRMAN T07571 9400/7500W Tri Fuel Generator (Gas, Propane, Natural Gas)

Personally, I wouldn't buy one of these because they have a THD of 25% ... definitely not pure sine wave. As warned earlier these can hurt your electronics. But if you're not worried about that it's a helluva deal for a tri-fuel gennie running that many watts and it will still work fine on fridges and freezers, shallow well pumps, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
BTW, the Cummins generator i linked can also be set up to auto start when your power goes out. Of course you need to by the Cummins panel but it’s a neat feature. It’s electric start and even comes with a remote start key fob. With Cummins/Onan history it’s a reliable generator.

One of the best gensets made ... and probably the most used by the construction industry which is why you can often find them in trader papers and in the classifieds or at construction equipment auctions, used but still in decent condition.