Need A Generator
OK...anyone with experience in petrol gennies?
I need a generator that will provide emergency power to the house. Run a couple of fridges, maybe a portable cooktop. Boil some water. Run some lighting. That sort of thing.
What sort of power output should I look at?
Any recommendations appreciated...
Cheers
The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.
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Anything to do with making heat or boiling water, just use LPG.
Then all you should have left is Lighting, Fridge, TV, etc....
Next is how you wish to connect it to your house wiring?? There are rules
If i were you, i'd just look for a Honda 4-Stroke Genset, maybe a 2Kva and above.
They are quite, neat and tidy and have great resale value.
Also have a read here:
I saw a near new EU2000 go at Clearance Sale for $400 last year, was tempted to buy it just for the hell of it.
Last edited by ol' boy; 12-03-15 at 12:53 PM.
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
+1 for the Honda 2KVA.
I have had a EU1000 for ages and it's just not powerful enough. The fridge is only 650W running but spikes on startup so it overloads the 1KVA and cuts power.
Definitely use gas for all heating (maybe not the ones banned from sale in the other thread)
Being an inverter generator it delivers smooth power without spikes so electronic equipment is fine.....I used to run TV and satellite decoders during blackouts as well as desktop computers.
I just ran it into a bunch of extension cords and power boards to power what i needed at the time.
Much bigger and they start to become less portable
Last edited by mandc; 12-03-15 at 01:28 PM.
Ebay chinese cheapies are not worth it.
I have told 2 people not to buy them and they did, both broke down with minimal use.
They also claim " genuine honda parts ". They are not.
Rick (12-03-15),VroomVroom (23-03-15)
+2 for Genuine Honda.
I use 4.4 Kva here, I use it more for running my welder as our stand alone power system won't run welder or large compressors.
Very rarely have I used it for back up power as our stand alone system is setup well.
With a Honda you will be guaranteed it will start first time every time.
Cheers, Tiny
"You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
The information is out there; you just have to let it in."
ol' boy (12-03-15)
What great timing, Aldi special this week. 3000w, air cooled, 4 stroke ohv, displace 208cc, 7hp, auto voltage reg, 15l fuel tank, low oil indicator, 100% copper wound reg, 2 x 240v outlets, 1 x 12v outlet. Price $329.
i personally have found Aldi stuff reasonable and sure if this is big enough for your needs and it is for emergency only that it may last a little longer than 2 minutes
There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"
Mmmmm its not on the ALDI site i'm looking at?? Have a link allover?Originally Posted by allover
Is it an Inverter Style Generator? I thought Honda and Yamaha were kind of the leaders in this area.
Well, at least you get 60Days to try it and take it back for free with ALDI.
Found a clip on another ALDI generator
Both the Honda and Yamaha produce 120v at around 300Hz depending on engine speed, and then use an inverter to 240v at 50Hz.
Makes it a simple job to make for the world market.
While both the Yamaha and Honda are great units, the Yamaha is known for better longevity and importantly better motor starting characterisics
Some Comparisons below.
Last edited by ol' boy; 12-03-15 at 03:17 PM.
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
Its advertised for sale (NSW) on Saturday 21 March and shows a website of aldi.com.au which I have not checked as yet.
I currently have a 1400W Kawasaki genny that I use for power outages and while it runs the TV, cordless phone,MHA, 2 satellite STB's etc, I wasnt sure if it had enough power to run and start both a fridge and freezer so this one is very interesting.
Under no circumstances would I connect into the house wiring, even if I did take out the fuses on the MAINS distribution board.
I have the TV gear set up on a single power outlet so all I do when the power goes out is run an extension cord from the generator and connect the lead from the TV setup to it and away we go.
When we lost the power for about 60 hours last October's snow fall, we used the generator from mid afternoon until we went to bed and last month we had a planned 12 hour outage so again I used it after 2pm until the power was turned back on after 6pm.
Hot water and any form of heating element as in a stove or room heater draw huge amounts of power so Gas for them.
We have rechargeable torches which we can recharge with the generator if needs be for general lighting.
Its amazing what you can manage with when you try.
I stand unequivicably behind everything I say, I just dont ever remember saying it !!
Basically the same as Oceanboy has posted, looks like a few mods have been done. On sale here on the 21st of March, check your friendly catalogue
There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
Pfft I wouldn't buy any chinese shit or other weird brand name crap, they are cheap and dangerous, spend the money on a decent unit, my pick of gennys would be the Yamaha EF2400iS it would be perfect for your needs cost around $2000, one great feature is its ability to parallel function, allowing to connect two generators of the same specification and operate them together to provide quality electricity with a max Output of roughly double that of the single unit, while retaining the same voltage and frequency.As you are basically wanting it for emergency use its the ideal size, as for boiling water etc etc, portable gas cookers are ideal for both boiling and cooking.
Last edited by Rick; 12-03-15 at 06:13 PM.
enf, as you realize the best option would be to properly size your generator first before you go for a particular brand.
Give me your house anticipated load profile and I can suggest you the size which will do you the best outcome.
What you need to consider is what maximum load you will have connected at every given time. Assuming fridges running constantly and some lighting will be on but check if you most likely boil water and run the cook top at the same time, etc.
You might be better of using diesel generator not the petrol one.
The sizing is important is not only because of the maximum load the set can give you, but also the minimum load has to be considered. For example running diesel genset with less than 30% of it's maximum rating for too long will most likely damage the engine and you will have nothing but trouble (check wet stacking).
Prior to connecting Solar Panels as we do now, it was my understanding to use a generator connected into the House wiring had to have a special switch fitted that both connected the generator and disconnected the house from the Mains at the same time.
A few years ago I read that the Authorities in NZ had some really stringent regulations regarding the connection of Solar panels, inverters and generators into the house wiring because basically they wanted you to buy your power from them.
The two obvious reasons for isolating your house are you dont want to be powering up the neighbourhood and the safety of anyone working on the Mains who thinks its dead.
Today I believe the Solar Power Inverters cut the circuit automatically when there is no power in the Mains.
I know they connect 'ground' wires to ensure the lines are dead which is another reason your generator must not connect to them.
For short term intermittent use a small generator is more than sufficient to tide you over during an outage unless you go camping a lot or need power when none is available because the more power they generate, the higher the purchase cost, so is it worth paying $5000 for a generator that is used maybe once in a blue moon?
And unused or not, you need to change the fuel and oils regularly so theres more expense.
I stand unequivicably behind everything I say
The main reason for isolating your generator is to make sure you do not parallel to the mains when your supply is out of sync (frequency, voltage level and phase shift). Otherwise a big BOOM will happen.
Power Authorities are stringent as they require you to satisfy certain protection standards if you parallel to the grid. And that comes at a cost.
Not quite so, Gordon.....because the more power they generate, the higher the purchase cost, so is it worth paying $5000 for a generator that is used maybe once in a blue moon?
I recently bought one of these for $2k:
Around the same price as the eu20i - granted, not as portable, but more than twice the capacity and full-load run time.
Bought it for backup in a bushfire-prone area of NE Vic - will run the house, including aircon, and the 1.5 hp down-hole bore pump - our sole source of water.
It's for emergency use - so when I need to rely on it, there will be an emergency.
Hence....Honda.
enf (19-03-15),LeroyPatrol (13-03-15),ol' boy (13-03-15),Tiny (14-03-15)
enf, nearly forget your original question
Have a look at this page for information:
Another vote for the honda EU 20i. We used one (actually 2 on a rotational basis of 2 weeks at a time, then swap it for the other one which had been serviced) full time for over 6 months to power a standard family sized fridge, a 68cm tube type colour TV with an xbox and a small tuckerbox freezer as well, plus a few light bulbs at night time. We'd get about 6 hours running time from a tank of fuel in summer when the fridge and freezer were running pretty hard, but closer to 8 hours in cool weather. Pretty quiet to run, but with a baffle made from hessian strung between a couple of star pickets between the genny and the van etc, you could barely hear it even at night.
enf (19-03-15)
OK...clearly I need to rethink the whole scenario. Or perhaps more accurately really think about it for the first time.
I have gas cooking options that need to be connected, so really its an emergency situation only.
Thank you all for your input.
The fact that there's a highway to hell and a stairway to heaven says a lot about the anticipated traffic flow.
In emergency situations, i actually enjoy the power going out!
Laptop still works
Phone still works
Internet still works
Torch still works
If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!
enf, one thing I would add to the mix is those homes that have gas type HWS or Heating (Weatherwall) but that wont work unless the Mains are connected to ignite it which I think is the most stupid idea ever.
As most of these units appear to have a plugin, it simply means running an extension lead but if its 'hardwired' ????
Having a wood burner for heating also gave us light and a cooktop for some kettles and pots when we lost the power last October.
While the stove is burning we try to keep at least 2 kettles there and bring them to the boil on the gas when needed because I am a mean arse and why waste gas when the wood burner does it almost for free ???
I stand unequivicably behind everything I say
enf (19-03-15)
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