Generator recommendation around $1000 or less

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  • El Rubio

    Well-Known Member
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    Jan 28, 2009
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    Ponchatoula
    Edit: I just noticed, after I posted, how long ago the thread was started. I hope he has made a decision by now.

    I use a Generac 7kw that I converted to natural gas. I bought it in 2008 and it was right at your price point. Converting to natural gas cost around $300-400 and included the regulator, carb mod kit, & flexible fuel hose and quick fittings. It runs super clean, handles my entire house except central air, and is cheaper to run than gasoline. It will still run on gasoline if I wanted to also.

    I wanted something my wife could easily start up and get online without tools. Electric start was a must, fuel had to be easy, and a transfer switch. The most economical way to accomplish this was to place generator near my ac compressor. It has a 40amp 220vac ckt and is just 10 feet from my gas meter. This kept the fuel line short and was cheaper than having a plumber come in and run a 3/4" gas line across my house ( 60'+). I backfeed the AC circuit through a transfer switch and lockout switch in the main panel. I can have it online within a few minutes.

    Make a list of must haves and wants with your setup and build it a little at a time. You can get your generator now and hard wire it in or run to a large outlet and backfeed your panel when needed. Then later on, you could install a dedicated outlet/lockout switch, or transfer switch. Then you can convert to run on different fuel if you want. In other words, you can have a working system that meets your basic needs now and build on it.
     
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    my-rifle

    I make my own guns.
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    Dec 12, 2007
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    Jefferson Parish
    I bought a sears craftsman 5600 watt 8600 starting for 800$ It has a Briggs & Stratton motor it's noisy uses 5 gallons every 12 hrs, but it ran 2 fridges a chest freezer lights and 2 5000 btu window units all for 800$. I am a very happy consumer. 3 yrs and going strong.

    This is basically the same one I got. 5.5kw running, 6.5kw cranking. I got some big-assed 240v wire from Home Depot, spilced a four-prong twist-lock connector on one end to connect to the generator, then I spliced another one on the other end to connect to the house. I ran a wire from a 30-amp 240v breaker in my panel to an outlet that I terminated with a four-prong twist-lock female outlet. The big-ass wire is important, because you have to be able to have the generator outside the house, yet get its output power through the big-ass wire to the twist-lock outlet inside the house. That realistically means a run of 30 feet or more, and you need a big-ass wire to handle that load over that distance.

    When the power fails I

    1) wheel out the generator
    2) shut off all the breakers
    3) pull the main breaker (that connects the house to the outside world)
    4) connect the big-ass wire (both ends - DO NOT LEAVE ONE END LYING ABOUT!)
    5) crank the generator
    6) one-by-one bring up the breakers you need. Do not bring all of them up. A 5.5kw generator can't run a central air unit.

    You can run a couple refrigerators, a couple A/C's, and quite a few compact flourescent bulbs. I wouldn't run a toaster or electric range though if I were you.

    I recommend you have at least one computer that uses NO MOVING PARTS and an Intel Atom processor or other low-power processor. No hard drive. No fans. You can run one of these with very little power (less than 100 watts). The HD's, fans, and most of the i3's, i5's, and i7s eat LOTS of power. The Atom isn't lightning fast, but it runs Ubuntu (Linux) with a Windows virtual machine running Neflix, and all my favorite Linux application. Running an ordinary workstation will eat a half a kilowatt, and you really don't want to use that much power. I built one of these for about $400. Its footprint is 7"x7", and it mounts behind a monitor, so you don't even know it's there. No noise and very little heat.

    Also consider a battery backup/UPS for any computer you want to run with a generator. Most portable generators deliver a "modified sine wave" which on an ocilloscope looks like squared-off waves instead of the graceful sine wave. The modified wave (from what I have been told) will damage/wear out electronics. By runnng the power into a UPS, then running your computer off the UPS you are getting "clean" power - provided your UPS feeds you battery power instead of just feeding you wall current. I run a Cyberpower UPS. It cost about $150, but it has saved my computers many times when lighening strikes hit close by and blew out my power. The computers just kept running smoothly along. A low-power computer will maximize your battery backup as well as minimize its impact on the capacity on your generator.

    This thread reminds me that its time to finish up the 50 gallons I have stored from last year and replenish my supply for this hurricane season. Gas prices are fixing to go up as the refineries switch to the summer formula for gas.
     

    Isaac-1

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    Mar 18, 2011
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    DeRidder LA
    The simple fact is that every sub $1,000 5,000+ wattt generator on the market is a made in china piece of junk that could die at any point, If you want a GOOD consumer portable generator buy a Honda or a Yamaha, even a used one will be better than most new Chinesse import ones you find in the big box stores, just be aware there is a difference between a real Honda generator and a "powered by Honda" which just uses a Honda engine. If $1,000 is your absolute budget get a 2,000 Watt Honda or Yamaha inverter model, then do the necessary load management to live under its limits, which often means not running the window air conditioner and the freezer at the same time.
     

    my-rifle

    I make my own guns.
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    Dec 12, 2007
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    Jefferson Parish
    The simple fact is that every sub $1,000 5,000+ wattt generator on the market is a made in china piece of junk that could die at any point, If you want a GOOD consumer portable generator buy a Honda or a Yamaha, even a used one will be better than most new Chinesse import ones you find in the big box stores, just be aware there is a difference between a real Honda generator and a "powered by Honda" which just uses a Honda engine. If $1,000 is your absolute budget get a 2,000 Watt Honda or Yamaha inverter model, then do the necessary load management to live under its limits, which often means not running the window air conditioner and the freezer at the same time.

    The Hondas and Yamahas have beeb sub-contracted to Chinese factories for so long now that the Chinese have all the factories, workers, and supply chains in place to produce the very same generators they made for Yamaha and Honda. Specifically the Yamahas are almost exact clones of the Chinese-branded ones.
     

    Suburbazine

    01001000 01101001 0011111
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    Oct 21, 2008
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    No, the Honda generators are still Japanese. The Chinese straight up copied the design and sell generators labeled as Honda for the cheaper prices.
     

    Danny Abear

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    Aug 11, 2007
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    Brusly, La.
    Actually, as I here it, Honda farmed out to several chinese shops for various parts. Along comes one biggger company who bought out all of the smaller companies; Someone then realized that between all of the shops they could produce a Honda clone engine and started doing so a few years back; I think the Champion branded generators are the top of their line and also have great parts and service locations here in the states. You could always replace parts with genuine Honda parts if needed. Champions are sold at Lowes, HD, camping world, and Sams
     

    Mxav

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    Nov 25, 2011
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    I have a Honda one, it sat for months and started up without any issues. Best bet is to try craigslist first, I got lucky a few times and spotted some for around your price point.
     

    denign

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    Aug 11, 2014
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    I have not seen one recently, but Briggs/Stratton have always had NOISY generators,a nd you can't quiet them down, without causing them to overheat, unless you build a really big, baffled box for them to sit in. I"d get a Used Honda, off of ebay. Is there some reason that you can't just shut down the computer for 1/2 hour, charge it from your vehicle (as you run errands with the vehicle)? there IS life without a computer, you know. there's life without electricity, too.
     
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    bigjakewelch

    Mill Spec
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    Mar 19, 2010
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    I have a 4000w Honda that I just bought and love it. It's super quiet just like the 2000w that I have. I may be looking to get rid of the smaller one in the future, if someone was looking for a used one. I'll post it in the classifieds sometime this week.
     

    DBMJR1

    Madame Mayor's Fiefdom
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    Jul 27, 2008
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    I've a gen set powered by a BS OHV engine. It runs two window units, two refrigerators, deep freeze, TV, and lights. It's rated at 6250 running, and 7200 surge. It drinks six gallons of gas in eighteen hours, and get's a six hour break every day.

    It kept us comfortable for 16 days straight after Katrina, and six days after some other storm.

    The secret? Change the oil. Every four or five days, or 100 hours. It does no good to have ten days worth of gas if your gen set burns up on the seventh or eighth day. I've seen it happen, and those people had to leave town because of it.

    Keep it in a very well ventilated area, but in the shade. Help it run as cool as possible.

    Locate it where the noise isn't going to be so much of an issue, if at all possible. Mine is LOUD.

    Gas cans cost twice as much before a storm. I have enough gas cans, and oil to run my gen set for 21 days, if need be, before I touch the fuel in my truck. We NEVER touch the fuel in my wife's Honda in case we need a vehicle to bug out in.

    Get a good chain, and chain that sucker down to something solid.

    Then set a few 12ga trip wire Alarms . Warning: Don't use ammo like Aguila short shotgun shells with buckshot, as you might cause some thief bodily injury, or even death. Aim them away from your gen set.

    Kick back, enjoy a cold beer, while watching a Saint's game in the air conditioning.
     
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