I'm looking for backup power options for a refrigerator and chest freezer if we lose power for several days. It sounds like 2000W would be more than sufficient for this.

These generators look like possible options.

• Honda EU2200 $1100
  
• Predator 2000 $475
  
• Champion 201047 $579
  

The Honda is very quiet but expensive. The Predator is louder but maybe not enough to matter much. The Champion works with both gas and propane. Both the Honda and Champion have 3 year warranties, but the Predator warranty is 90 days.

One discussion from 2020 mentioned using an inverter attached to a vehicle battery instead of buying a generator. One 2000W inverter at Harbor Freight is $169, but I'm not sure what brands or features to consider with those.

What do you think? Are there generators or inverters you've found to be good options?

Do you have close neighbors?

If so, get the Honda, they will appreciate the lack of a roaring noisy POS generator.

Additionally, the Honda is, in my opinion and the opinion of many others, a far superior generator. They can be fixed just about anywhere, parts are no problem, dead on reliable, and Honda has accessories to expand it's usefulness. Good resale value too.

My Sister has a neighbor across the street and 2 houses down. They have a noisy POS unit that can be heard for 3 blocks away. All the other neighbors hate it because they run it 24/7 when the power is out and until it comes back on.

Consider the Honda EU2200I, it's an inverter generator and 200 more watts of power. I'd rather have this so I could charge batteries, run sensitive electronics such as computers, etc. $1099 at Home Depot, be sure to shop around.

New appliances are ALL sensitve electronics - ditto on an inverter unit.

The predators aren’t crap, for your needs I think it’s good fit. I put a new one through its paces this winter. 84 hrs continuous use from the box temperatures from low of -40 to highs of -15.

The spark arrestor plugged at about 48 hours through it in the toolbox and carried on. I’m pretty sure the extreme temp and brand new engine combined to creat some incomplete combustion.

I agree the Honda is probably a better unit and if I were keeping human transplants viable it would be the choice. However the most adverse conditions your going to encounter will likely be attributable to storage not use. Storage kills more small engine than use I’ll bet. Never use oxygenated fuel ever, and never use unstabilized fuel ever.

Harbor freight will sell you an extended warranty if your worried. Again the Honda is great but $500 will buy a lot of food.

quote:

Again the Honda is great but $500 will buy a lot of food.

or a lot of fuel or a second Predator...

None of the generators the OP named are of the noisy POS variety. Even if they were, I wouldn't worry about it during a power outage and I know my neighbors would understand and fire up their own generators as well.

Honda is the easy recommendation because they work reliably, but they are expensive. Personally, being able to use propane would be nice and easier maintain. I’d probably get the Champion for a backup for the fridge and freezer.

While the Honda is the de facto gold standard we have used several Generac units without any issues.
It is both quieter than the Honda and less expensive…

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gener...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I went through this exercise recently.

I settled on the Predator with a 15% coupon from Harbor Freight. They have 10% off now through Monday for the holiday.

There are thousands upon thousands of these Predator generators out there running just fine, with no shortage of YouTube videos out there for maintenance and repair.

Mine is going to spend most of its life in storage, so I figured the savings could be used towards something that might get more use.

We have a noisy generator. Not a problem as most of out neighbors have them.
Ours plugs in to power the house. Cut off the grid, plug in and run.
Originally, I was going with a Honda and run an extension cord to the refrigerator. Turns out the power company, fire department and state said “No.”
A friend in CA loses power on a regular basis. She’s looking at a solar generator due to cursed HOA and the fruits and nuts.

https://www.ecowatch.com/best-...tors-2650812142.html

I've been looking at these for about three years now. I ended up with the Honda. I'm going to be adding the hutch mountain propane conversion. A little pricey but I use the Honda's for work and run Every time 2 pulls and it fires up. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

Re: Icabod’s post about solar generators…

I went with the Ecoflow Delta and have it powering a 20’ shipping container I wired with 3 circuits for lights and outlets. Perfect for that application.

Not enough storage capacity for a home backup…however Ecoflow is about to introduce a “Delta Pro” model with 3600wh storage, a wall interface for up to 10 circuits with your panel and you could add 2 more battery packs for 10,800wh storage which is darn near Tesla wall.

Would cost less than a Tesla wall and require no fuel…but waaaay more than a gas generator.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
While the Honda is the de facto gold standard we have used several Generac units without any issues.
It is both quieter than the Honda and less expensive…

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gener...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Opened your link and lots of info. Everything but the Db rating. Up pops the online chat gal at Lowes so I ask her. She comes back with "about 70 Db". I ask her if Generac used the word "about". She says they don't publish noise ratings as there is no industry standard. Thought that was interesting.

Thanks for great ideas from everyone. I ended up with a Champion unit as some discounts from Lowe's made the price about the same as the Predator.

Id spend what you saved on the generator on having a proper cutover switch / subpanel installed.

A Generator that doesn't start when you need it to is worthless. Get the Honda.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

There are thousands upon thousands of these Predator generators out there running just fine, with no shortage of YouTube videos out there for maintenance and repair.

That's a good thing because he'll be needing them.

I was a small engine guy for a number of years. I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff over the years and currently have FIVE generators in my garage. Why? Who knows. I like small engines and like working on them…

The Honda is too much money for home backup. You’ll pretty much never use it. If you had a food truck and used it 50 hours a week, get the Honda. For home backup, get the $400-$500 Champion or Predator or Wen (or similar).

Off grid cabins have ran champion 2000 watt generators for thousands of hours. They are very durable and less than half the cost of a Honda.

These days many are coming from the factory as a dual fuel option. Id buy one of these and ALWAYS run it on propane. A couple of the larger 30 or 40 pound propane tanks would be perfect for home backup. Propane never goes bad and it won’t clog up your carburetor.

A 2000 watt inverter generator is quiet (all of them are) and will have no problem running a fridge and freezer.

Get the propane dual fuel one. It’s the way to go.

I don't think an auto battery and inverter would have the duration needed to keep a refrigerator and freezer operating. I guess a really big battery pack could be built (like one to power a house to be charged by solar/wind), but that wasn't what I visualized from your initial description.

flashguy

I have the Bluetti AC200P and it seems pretty damned solid and has a ton of storage power. Havent tested it on a fridge yet though.

Also the Honda EU2000i previously mentioned. Thinking about giving it the LP conversion...

JB

quote:

Originally posted by Icabod:
We have a noisy generator. Not a problem as most of out neighbors have them.
Ours plugs in to power the house. Cut off the grid, plug in and run.
Originally, I was going with a Honda and run an extension cord to the refrigerator. Turns out the power company, fire department and state said “No.”
A friend in CA loses power on a regular basis. She’s looking at a solar generator due to cursed HOA and the fruits and nuts.

https://www.ecowatch.com/best-...tors-2650812142.html

quote:

Originally posted by lbsid:

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
While the Honda is the de facto gold standard we have used several Generac units without any issues.
It is both quieter than the Honda and less expensive…

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gener...AvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Opened your link and lots of info. Everything but the Db rating. Up pops the online chat gal at Lowes so I ask her. She comes back with "about 70 Db". I ask her if Generac used the word "about". She says they don't publish noise ratings as there is no industry standard. Thought that was interesting.

You might want to look at this…
https://rurallivingtoday.com/g...-inverter-generator/