Originally Posted by bubbatime
Originally Posted by cpayne5
During outages, I usually use two generators.
One is a 3250 watt Powermate with a Honda GX240 clone. I use it to power lights, the fridges, and a space heater if it's cold out.
The second generator is a 7500 watt Ariens with a real Honda GX390. I use this one to power all of the above and also the well pump or hot water heater as needed.
The Powermate uses considerably less fuel and is quieter, so it is the one that sits there and putters away most of the time during outages.
This. Those 8000/9000 watt units are overkill and are running at 10-15% load most of the time, wasting huge amounts of fuel.
I've lived in Florida for 30 years and have been without power for probably 3-4 months of that due to hurricanes. The most important feature I've learned to love is fuel efficiency. It can be hard to store fuel, and get more fuel, in an outage. Try to get 15-40 gallons of fuel a day; a terrible proposition.
You can power most everything you need in the house on a 2200/2800 watt Honda inverter. These inverter generators will even power a window ac unit in the summer, so you can rather cheaply keep at least one room of the house comfortable, for a lot less money than running the whole house AC.
Were it MY HOUSE, I'd get the 2800 Honda inverter for $999. And then a cheapy Harbor Freight 8750 watt for those time you want to run the water heater or AC/heat pump.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honda-2...rizontal2_rr-_-206192156-_-303793554-_-N
https://www.harborfreight.com/engin...i-with-gfci-outlet-protection-63085.html
I keep 30 gal of gas on hand all the time. If need be I could power my house for a week on that much fuel If I manage the generator wisely, and run it only 12 hrs a day.
Originally Posted by cpayne5
During outages, I usually use two generators.
One is a 3250 watt Powermate with a Honda GX240 clone. I use it to power lights, the fridges, and a space heater if it's cold out.
The second generator is a 7500 watt Ariens with a real Honda GX390. I use this one to power all of the above and also the well pump or hot water heater as needed.
The Powermate uses considerably less fuel and is quieter, so it is the one that sits there and putters away most of the time during outages.
This. Those 8000/9000 watt units are overkill and are running at 10-15% load most of the time, wasting huge amounts of fuel.
I've lived in Florida for 30 years and have been without power for probably 3-4 months of that due to hurricanes. The most important feature I've learned to love is fuel efficiency. It can be hard to store fuel, and get more fuel, in an outage. Try to get 15-40 gallons of fuel a day; a terrible proposition.
You can power most everything you need in the house on a 2200/2800 watt Honda inverter. These inverter generators will even power a window ac unit in the summer, so you can rather cheaply keep at least one room of the house comfortable, for a lot less money than running the whole house AC.
Were it MY HOUSE, I'd get the 2800 Honda inverter for $999. And then a cheapy Harbor Freight 8750 watt for those time you want to run the water heater or AC/heat pump.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Honda-2...rizontal2_rr-_-206192156-_-303793554-_-N
https://www.harborfreight.com/engin...i-with-gfci-outlet-protection-63085.html
I keep 30 gal of gas on hand all the time. If need be I could power my house for a week on that much fuel If I manage the generator wisely, and run it only 12 hrs a day.