What Generator to Buy

[briansol]

buying a generator the day before the storm is pretty much the worst thing to do, ever. lol
wait until sunday and get one new for half price on craigslist.

 

[BrotherBart]

Has anybody tried using an inverter running off of the 12v output provided on some generators to get the clean power for a pellet stove?

 

[seige101]

Another vote for the Champion inverter generator here. I have one and mom bought one after the october snow storm last year. Good power factor and it sips gas. Eventually i will buy a larger one. I am eying the champion 7500 watt one with remote start! That will get wired into the entire house when the time comes. For now the inverter generator gets a few cords ran, though i am contemplating hooking it into house even though it's only 120v.

 

[KodiakII]

any issues if your stove requires a modified or pure sine wave?

 

[Fi-Q]

I have a champion 3000/4000 watt. It is really popular lately. All of my rv friend and hunter have one. Most os the time you can get it for 299$. Best bang for the buck.

Tou can google for reviews, everybody seems to like them. I rhink thy are coming with a 220 plug now too.

 

[Jason Knapp]

I bought a Briggs and Stratton generator from electricgeneratorsdirect.com. It a 8k watt running, 10k watt surge. It powered my home nicely during hurricane Sandy. That included my 25EP, My oil fired water heater, some lights, two refrigerators and my TV. If i remember correctly, the Generator cost $1250 delivered to my garage door.

 

[BrotherBart]

It powered my home nicely during hurricane Sandy. That included my 25EP, My oil fired water heater, some lights, two refrigerators and my TV.

I bet it did. That is a thousand watt load. Or less. One of my 3500/2500 ones handles load greater than that for week long outages. Three times. And burns a lot less gas.

 

[velvetfoot]

Gas consumption is a big deal. It might be good to have a big and small generator.

 

[rwthomas1]

Honda or Yamaha small inverter generators all the way. Unless you have large 220v loads, you will be surprised how little generator you need for lights, tv, stove, etc. I admit I'm sorely tempted by http://www.auroragenerators.com/gen...tors#!/~/product/category=2991958&id=13323984 I'm breaking my own "no chinese" rule here but Aurora seems to have been able to provide decent parts support after the sale. RT

 

[Thaddius Wenderoth]

We bought the champion 3500. Called the company and they assured us it would power the stove and our sump pump. Also called Englander and they seemed ok with it. It sells for @ $300. at tractor supply or camping world.

I have this generator and (with remote start) and it works amazing. No issues running anything I need. Installing auto transfer switch this week.

 

[Stevekng]

Honda or Yamaha you can't go wrong. I have a Honda EU6500 for my house during power outage and a EU2000 when I'm at the track that does not provide power I use it for my tire warmers.

If you want inverter to protect your sensitive electronics those are the 2 brands that I like, they are very quiet. I'm sure there are other brands for less money but you'll get what you'll pay for.

I have the Honda Eui2000 and it runs for about 8-10hrs on a gallon of gas. It has run my 22.1 cuft fridge, 700watt microwave , and Vista Flame V100 fs pellet sove simultaneously. I also run a Kero Sun Omni 230 in the ther parts of the house when the power goes out in the winter.