Back up generator for home

[bosco659]

What’s the best back up generator for your home? Not looking to run the whole house but essential devices like the furnace, refrigerator, sump pump. I had a nice Honda that someone recently “permanently borrowed“ from our cottage. Looking for a replacement soon. 220V would be a luxury. 3K - 4,500W would be nice. Wouldn't be permanently hooked up.

 

[Downeaster]

Are you looking for a portable that you'll haul out and hook up as needed, or an installed unit? Budget?

 

[bosco659]

Looking for a portable. Lock it up when not needed. Would rather have a quiet one but not a deal breaker. I’d say up to $2K?

 

[Sparkyduc]

Looking for a portable. Lock it up when not needed. Would rather have a quiet one but not a deal breaker. I’d say up to $2K?

can’t beat the Honda

 

[2XSive]

For occasional/emergency use, I've had good luck with this predator inverter genset from Harbor Freight. Bought the when they had it onsale, plus sent me a 20% off coupon. Electric start and includes wheel kit. If you buy the insurance for it, it'll still be much cheaper than Honda and exchange it out if it takes a crap. I think it was like $850 all-in. Wanted the inverter one...runs much quieter and will power sensitive electronics.

 

[Downeaster]

can’t beat the Honda

^^^This. End of discussion...

 

[bosco659]

For occasional/emergency use, I've had good luck with this predator inverter genset from Harbor Freight. Bought the when they had it onsale, plus sent me a 20% off coupon. Electric start and includes wheel kit. If you buy the insurance for it, it'll still be much cheaper than Honda and exchange it out if it takes a crap. I think it was like $850 all-in. Wanted the inverter one...runs much quieter and will power sensitive electronics.
View attachment 252567

That’s a big boy. I’ll be in the US next month. Maybe I’ll stop by HF.

 

[bosco659]

^^^This. End of discussion...

Yes I agree, but you pay for it. Right now the 3000W machine is about $3500 Cdn tax in. Maybe i can find a good used one. Almost feel silly buying one, for as long as I’ve owned a house I think the power went out once for less than 24 hours.

 

[Grimly]

I use a 3.8kW one for emergency outages. It powers the PC, all the lights I need and will also keep the central heating boiler and pump turning.
If power is off for more than a day, I'll switch things around a bit and plug in the freezer just to keep it sorted out.
I've arranged essential loads on their own industrial plugs at the fuseboard, so that I can easily unplug from the main supply and hook them into the genset.
I've been thinking recently of getting a bigger genset so that I can run the microwave and fan oven - it's a pain in the arris cooking with gas again when the power's out.

 

[Downeaster]

Mine is running now (5:00am) and has been since about 9:00pm last night. Rain and gusty wind took out the power. Again. Maine has the electrical grid of a third world country.

It runs everything but portions of the upstairs (ran out of circuits) and the stove.

Best money I've ever spent, nothing else even comes close.

 

[gggGary]

@bosco659 You have natural gas at the cottage?
I have been looking but haven't bought. Our biggie is water for the horses so need about 20amps of 220 to run the well pump. We do have natural gas so a tri fuel gen set seems like the hot tip.
https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...erator-with-co-shield-and-electric-start.html
We are a on a major connector grid line so outages are rare. But a storm last spring had so many problems everywhere it took a service truck a day to get here and spend 10 minutes to take a small branch off our overhead to the house and reset the breaker at the pole transformer. I was SO tempted to DIY it LOL.
Power compasny has automatic outage reporting from the meter internals, but they were so overwhelmed the system broke down. It took many calls to get a truck here cuz the system claimed our power was back on, even though it wasn't. We tree trimmed and debris cleaned for 5 neighbors, one went two days without power.

 

[bosco659]

@bosco659 You have natural gas at the cottage?
I have been looking but haven't bought. Our biggie is water for the horses so need about 20amps of 220 to run the well pump. We do have natural gas so a tri fuel gen set seems like the hot tip.
https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...erator-with-co-shield-and-electric-start.html
We are a on a major connector grid line so outages are rare. But a storm last spring had so many problems everywhere it took a service truck a day to get here and spend 10 minutes to take a small branch off our overhead to the house and reset the breaker at the pole transformer. I was SO tempted to DIY it LOL.
Power compasny has automatic outage reporting from the meter internals but they were so overwhelmed the system broke down. I t took many calls to get a truck here cuz they system caliimed our power was back on even though it wasn't We tree trimmed and debris cleaned for 5 neighbors, one went two days without power.

No gas at the cottage @gggGary . I haven’t bought anything yet as I’m still deciding what to do with my cottage insurance claim.

This is a poser for me. I always like to have nice stuff which has me leaning towards a Honda, the other side of me (more practical) says why are you buying something so expensive and nice, that you’ll probably never use. That side of the brain has me leaning towards a Chinese machine. If never used, both will perform the same “in storage”. Friends of mine who are in different parts of the province invested heavily in Kohler propane powered generators. They live in outage prone areas. Both have used their systems many times this year and do not regret the capital investmemt.

That Champion unit looks pretty slick and the Tri fuel would be nice for me at home. Just read reviews and are quite positive. Might be the trick for occasional use! Price is the same up here with exchange.

 

[gggGary]

Virtually all small Honda motors are built in China or Taiwan, The Honda plants may have a Japanese QC agent breathing down their penny pinching necks.
The Predator motors have a near universal positive rating from those that own them. I installed a big one on a zero turn mower, it performed flawlessly and had more power than the imploded Briggs it replaced.
Generac's reputation is not all good.

 

[bosco659]

Virtually all small Honda motors are built in China or Taiwan, The Honda plants may have a Japanese QC agent breathing down their penny pinching necks.
The Predator motors have a near universal positive rating from those that own them. I installed a big one on a zero turn mower, it performed flawlessly and had more power than the imploded Briggs it replaced.
Generac's reputation is not all good.

Is that the engine in the Champion?

 

[gggGary]

Is that the engine in the Champion?

I do not know?
But I'll asume both Champion and Harbor Freight are large enough to get "branded product" from Chinese or Taiwanese manufacturers. It's all about having and enforcing QC at the manufacturing and assembly levels.
https://www.championpowerequipment.com/why-champion/

 

[Mailman]

You could always do like my grandparents on their Missouri farm…..a wind charger and a bank of batteries in the basement.

Joking aside, I remember reading that Jay Leno installed a wind charger on his famous garage.

 

[WideAWAKE]

I have one of these

It’s been absolutely fantastic.

Runs on gas/ propane/ natural gas.

We loose power when storms come through at least once or twice a year.

We have a master switch at the house it plugs into and runs everything.

I believe mine is 1 size bigger than this but it keep 2 fridges going, our electric heaters on through the night, the lights, and we can use the stove as well.

It’s ran for 4 days straight with no issues.

 

[WideAWAKE]

I also have a predator generator from HF. Like 6500watt and it lives outside, has never given me an issue. Starts up first pull and is actually pretty quiet.

It only runs on gas, which is why it’s not hooked up to my house.