Generators - Whatcha got?

5000W Champion. I think been a couple years bought it to use for work purposes but now it sits covered and ready for use service it every year sits with every little gas in it as when gas evaporates it leaves a very hard shall-lack on and in everything. it does everything I need it to and we can still watch satellite TV kids love that feature. some lights and my tanks works great.

Bill

[dsaundry]

Mine has to power up my shop as well, thats why we went 7500w. It will power up the house too, haven't figured out what will happen if the power goes out in both places...

[MitchM]

I put in one of those whole house generators from Costco. We've had snowstorms here with no snowplow for 3 days. I used to use a 6500w gas generator, but 5 gallons of gas only lasts about 10 hours.
It has an auto transfer switch and runs on natural gas.
I think it's 16,000w and was the price of a big skimmer and some lights....

[russp]

I picked up a small 1000w from Napa , P3 I think.
It is 1000w & runs my tank no problem . It was under $200

[StirCrazy]

4000W Champion, from costco 225.00 when on sale 300 normaly.

works great and goes camping also

Steve

[Skimmerking]

I have a 400W UPS from Canadian Tire. Power failures what is that. We Don't get them here in Brandon, and we only pay .587 cents per KW so to heck with you tree hugger's lol hello flatlands

[DiverDude]

There are a number of factors you need to consider:

-Average output power (careful, most are marketed by peak power ratings)
-Output type (inverter, pure sine etc.)
-Run time (usually specified at 50% load)
-Noise level

Power output is easy. Add up the consumption of everything you need to run, add a safety margin, say 20% and you've got your average power required.

Output type is trickier. Inverter is the easy answer but they are a LOT more expensive and typically available only up to around 3KW. Some pumps might not start without a proper sine wave output.

Run time is less of a factor and is often related to how big a gas tank they put on the thing. Inverter units throttle back to meet the load demand so they consume far less -but they consume at a variable rate so it can be hard to estimate.

Noise level. If you have prolonged outages, it doesn't take long before the drone of a generator gets on your nerves. The inverter units are FAR quieter that conventional units.

So if the 2000 watt Honda Inverter is enough juice for your setup and it's in your budget, I'd go for that. Realize that this will supply a little more than one household circuit so if you have a large setup that uses three 15-amp circuits in your house, you'll need a bigger generator.

Other things to consider are that you need to keep enough fuel on hand at all times to run the generator for the longest outage you think you could see (remember that gas stations can't pump gas in power outages either). You need to keep that fuel fresh, too. Once a month, pour it into your car and fill the jerry can instead of your car's tank. Leave a minimum amount of fuel in the generator. When you need to use the unit, fill it with fresh fuel and go. Run the generator for 10 minutes once a month or so.

Also think about how you will connect the generator to your tank's equipment if the power does go out. Don't wait for an outage to do this. Everything will need to be unplugged from the wall, plugged into power bars and then into the generator. How will you get the extension cord into the house ? In winter, you can't leave a door cracked for the cord to enter -plan for this.

[Myka]

Thanks for the input everyone!

Originally Posted by Skimmer King

Power failures what is that. We Don't get them here in Brandon

I haven't seen a power outage here in Saskatoon since I've been out here either. When I live in the Kootenays in BC we would have 18 hour outages usually every winter.

[Skimmerking]

Hmmm that is so weird that they would have such long power outages

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Skimmer King

Hmmm that is so weird that they would have such long power outages

they can stand in one spont and see 10 miles of power lines at once, out here they actualy have to go looking for the problem

Steve