Your Standby/Backup Generator ??

harro

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Northern Victoria, Australia
So, does anyone own, use, aspire to own, just disposed of, some form of portable or backup, petrol ( gas ) or diesel generator ? Is it something that just gathers dust in the shed, or something that can be used for camping, tailgating, to run the home fridge and a few lights in an emergency ?
I own a Honda EU10i, a Senci 2.0kva Inverter ( Identical to the US ' Smarter Tools AP2000i Inverter ', apart from voltage ) and a homebuilt, single cylinder diesel powered, 6.12kva 4 pole 240v single phase, AVR controlled generator. Good for camping ( the two inverters, that is ), and that ' big outage ', should ever it happen.
Where you are, is home generation the norm ?? or is the grid totally reliable ??
Interested to learn peoples views...
Cheers.

:candle:
 

recDNA

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OMG I would love a natural gas powered automatic generator hooked into entire house system. Unfortunately I need a new heating system more and some masonry repairs etc.
 

harro

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Northern Victoria, Australia
Yeah, i think we nearly all have that issue, household maintainence. Gennies aside, imagine the incoming packages if we didnt have to worry about household maintainence, but then again, i dont think i could put up with ' SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED'S ' nagging, if that were the case.

:devil:
 

scout24

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Harro- There's an excellent thread on the Honda EU2000i, if you search for it. I'm on my phone, or I'd post the link...
 

Phaserburn

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Connecticut, USA
I have a gas powered Generac 15000E. It's a big, powerful unit. I have a hard wired hookup I use to send power directly into the house electric switch box. From there, I can run the well, furnace, air handler, pellet stove, water heater, etc.
 

run4jc

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Sweet Home Alabama
I'm kinda nuts. Well, sort of. Rather than going whole house I have a number of small generators, including 2 of the EXCELLENT Honda EU2000i units. I can connect them to produce 3500 clean watts. Have a couple of 2 stroke generators, a bigger Honda, and another Champion. Even though I live in tornado alley, we rarely lose power so mine mainly gather dust, but I do pull them out and run them under load regularly. All of them are gasoline, and I buy ONLY alcohol free gasoline and put a stabilizer in it.

"Better to have it, and not need it, than to need it and not have it!!"
 

Poppy

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I have a Coleman 5k 10HP generator. I used it for 3 days during superstorm Sandy. It is LOUD! I since put it into a deck box that I sound insulated, and moved it to the back of the house. It is chained to a poured concrete footing. If I ever need it, I have to manually manipulate the interlock switch, and plug it into the specialty generator input plug.

We rarely have an outage, and when we do it is usually, just an hour or two.

I don't use stabil , I run it dry. Two or three times a year I use a small funnel of about 2 oz. To run her to make sure a spider didn't get into the carb and clog it up.

I have a few gas containers that I fill, and once in a while I empty them into my car, and put fresh gas in.

My spare car is a mini van with a 25 gallon tank that. Gets topped off .

A friend had a whole house natural gas generator installed, and ran it for a week or so and was shocked at how much it cost to run.
 

harro

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Northern Victoria, Australia
A friend had a whole house natural gas generator installed, and ran it for a week or so and was shocked at how much it cost to run

I guess we don't think about such things in an emergency, but something that provides probably 15 Kw give or take, needs to be powered somehow. There are some exceptional whole home systems out there, which, if your grid power is less than reliable, are a good investment I imagine. Others are happy to run the bare essentials like refrigeration, heating, lights etc. I know of a person who maintains a similar sized ( 5Kw ) generator for medical/life support reasons.
 

LEDad

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We have a 20Kw natural gas Generac system which runs our entire house. It automatically starts when the power is out for 30 seconds and turns off when the power comes back on. It was installed about 4 years ago and it has been needed 4 times since then, including superstorm Sandy. In fact, 5 days after it was installed we had a micro-burst come through our area and the generator ran continuously for one week before we got power back. Our gas bill went up about $80 that month. The system is actually set up with an auxiliary 220 volt plug so that a gasoline generator can be attached if there is no natural gas available or the natural gas generator is not working.
 

CLHC

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We have a 20Kw natural gas Generac system which runs our entire house. It automatically starts when the power is out for 30 seconds and turns off when the power comes back on. It was installed about 4 years ago and it has been needed 4 times since then, including superstorm Sandy. In fact, 5 days after it was installed we had a micro-burst come through our area and the generator ran continuously for one week before we got power back. Our gas bill went up about $80 that month. The system is actually set up with an auxiliary 220 volt plug so that a gasoline generator can be attached if there is no natural gas available or the natural gas generator is not working.
Nice! I was looking into that at one point for my home. But in calculating the expense, there's some planning and saving to do.
 

Milw light

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I've got the excellent Yamaha 2000 watt inverter generator for emergencies etc. I bought one of the last made in Japan ones.
 

harro

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Nice. My Senci 2.0kva has all Yamaha gear in it, but its the Chinese version. One wonders how longevity will compare with the Japanese built stuff ?? Time will tell, I guess. The Chinese MX80 build even sounds a bit different to the original.
 

Milw light

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I'd be interested to know if the China build kept the Stellite valves & seats etc. I read where the Yamaha 2000 inverter was being run for mains power by some Ausies in remote locations. They ran 24/7
 

harro

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Northern Victoria, Australia
Hadnt heard that, but i guess like anything, if oil is checked and changed as necessary, why not? I have heard of some Honda's wearing out in as little as six months or so, after virtually constant use. When you look at hourly usage, it is a lot of hours! ! I imagine valves and guides and seats would be made to a standard, but whether or not they're Stellite, is another matter.
 

Milw light

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Dec 21, 2015
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The Yamaha is a tough generator, somewhat old school. The Honda 2000 will put out a bit more power with the overhead cam engine & is belt drive to the camshaft. I prefer the more industrial Yamaha although it was a bit more money.
 

scout24

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We have an eu2000i here that was bought close to 10 years ago now. On and off usage, but it got us through "Superstorm Sandy" without missing a beat running for a week straight. I stopped it long enough to change the oil once, and when refueling. Ran my fridge and pellet stove non-stop, made coffee, and charged batteries, cellphones, laptops, etc. We go to antique and flea markets a few times a summer, and by and large see mainly Hondas used by the vendors. I like how the eu2000i has served me, and recently purchased an EU7000is for whole house use. Just as quiet as the eu2000i, just a slightly deeper tone. Fuel injected, electric start, I'm going to get spoiled... :) The eu2000i will stay as backup. I've heard nothing but good things about the Yamaha, I guess it mainly comes down to personal preference.
 

GaryM

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Warrenton, MO
I live in the country and have a propane fired Generac 15Kw unit with a transfer switch. Runs my kitchen, HVAC, ham radios etc. Auto start with power loss. Nice to go back to sleep when the AC comes back during summer storms. Been installed for almost 12 years now.
 

Milw light

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Dec 21, 2015
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We have an eu2000i here that was bought close to 10 years ago now. On and off usage, but it got us through "Superstorm Sandy" without missing a beat running for a week straight. I stopped it long enough to change the oil once, and when refueling. Ran my fridge and pellet stove non-stop, made coffee, and charged batteries, cellphones, laptops, etc. We go to antique and flea markets a few times a summer, and by and large see mainly Hondas used by the vendors. I like how the eu2000i has served me, and recently purchased an EU7000is for whole house use. Just as quiet as the eu2000i, just a slightly deeper tone. Fuel injected, electric start, I'm going to get spoiled... :) The eu2000i will stay as backup. I've heard nothing but good things about the Yamaha, I guess it mainly comes down to personal preference.
No doubt the Honda is a good one. I go to an auto swap meet twice a year & its all Honda.
 

m4a1usr

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Washington State
This an unexpected post here on CPF but nice to read about what others like or have knowledge about. I know it took me many years to find what I could get by with. I think I'm like most who would be the happiest with a whole house setup but between fuel consumption and the fact we rarely are out for more than a day and most often more like a couple hours I settled on a old trusty 4kw Onan out of a motor home. Not as nice a decent Honda but electric start and still ultra reliable and very quiet if you install a good automotive muffler on it. Wired for 110v and patched in to the power panel it will do all of the 110. Just have to make sure the 208 breakers are thrown and the 200 amp main. And keep enough fresh gas at the ready every season!
 
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