Inverter vs conventional generator?

[benny27]

I am looking to get a generator just for back up when the power goes out. The things I might use it for would be. new fridge, small freezer, sump pump, furnace, 1 or 2 lights, maybe the TV.
I would not be using all that at the same time. I could run just the furnace for a bit to heat up the house and then go back to the fridge and freezer.

So my question is should I spend the extra and get a inverter generator or will I be safe with the conventional.
I am looking at these two now
https://www.farmandfleet.com/produc...550-watt-rv-ready-portable-generator-epa.html
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Champio...Generator-with-224-cc-Engine-100302/300576762

that price on the one from farm and fleet is pretty cheap now.

 

[kd3pc]

I would go for the inverter unit, small hit for a better quality power. Did not say what your furnace is, but the smaller units may not handle it, or the sudden start current.

 

[ddawg16]

I would go for the first one....much less complicated. I don't any real advantage to the second one unless your using it a lot. The 12v feature is nice....but it's really for someone how car/RV camps a lot.

Go for simple and cheap

 

[brianh]

For the use I would go with the basic champion I got the 3500 champion when I was building my shop ten years ago.

I now use it for when the power goes out for the well and freezer and fridge. It has worked fine for ten years of occasional use. Starts right up.

 

[seber]

If you expect to run the TV or any other electronics then the inverter is the way to go. Steady voltage is essential if you want your electronics to last. Lighter and quieter are nice extras. It will also burn less fuel due to better power management. I've not heard of anyone wearing out the control system in these. It is the carburetor first and motor second so reliability is not really a point.

 

[Firstram]

Inverters sip fuel! I ran my Honda 2k 24hrs/day for 8 days during Hurricane Florence. It ran out a few times and I changed the oil once, otherwise nonstop. Fridge, fans, lights, sump pump, TV etc. We only used 23 gallons of gas.

It had less than 1 hour on it and never stored with fuel (non-eth) in the carb or tank. I had to clean the carb out during the storm to get the lights on. I have since converted to propane!

 

[skippydoo]

I've got a Kipor 5k or 6k, can't remember inverter and I can run everything in my house except oven and central air for 24 hours on 5 gallons of gas. I go outside to put gas in it and hear my neighbors generators just as loud as mine, but they are 500 to 1000 ft away.

 

[ddawg16]

Modern electronics will not be bothered by noise or minor variation in voltage. They use a switching power supply

 

[Bigblockyeti]

I have an Onan 4.0CCK from an RV and the power on a scope is anything but clean, not sure if I'd trust it to run the fridge in my kitchen but an old chest freezer, coffee pot, some lights and a few fans, no problem. It's heavy and not that powerful but it's very, very quiet.

 

[seber]

The Onan RV models are a different kettle of fish. I use an Onan 6.5 kw that I have no trouble trusting my electronics to. They were made for that purpose. After the recent tornado I ran a Honda 2kw inverter for ten days. It used two gallons every 24 hours. So quiet I could hear the neighbor's generator across the channel much louder. That's about 250 yards away. The Honda sat on the deck just outside the patio door.

 

[themiller]

Do you have 20+ gallons of gas on hand to run a traditional generator for 2-3 days (just days not day and night)

If so - traditional. If not - inverter.

Are you in suburbia/Do you have neighbors - if so - inverter.

 

[mike93lx]

inverter.

I recently sold off my big conventional generator and bought a big inverter generator. The decreased noise levels are dramatic. haven't run the inverter much but the fuel consumption should be lower, although that really isn't much of a concern for me.

the only things I miss are being able to run it on propane and an electric start, but the noise level was worth the trade off.

 

[nelstomlinson]

The inverter can throttle down under light load to save fuel. That's only an issue with a spark ignition engine. The inverter can be made cheaply of chinesium. The inverter might last a few hundred hours.

If cheap, light weight, spark ignition and fuel economy are the primary concerns, you will like an inverter generator. I have a little Honda 2kW suitcase generator, and it's great for occasional, temporary use.

If you want prime power, all day every day, year after year, you want an 1800rpm or slower diesel and a conventional alternator. I have Listers for that, hooked to alternators that weigh more than the diesel. Little Kubota engines are good too, if you're into modern.

Utility power is not inverter power for a reason.

 

[bpjr]

Inverters are overall better but there's other stuff you have to look at. That HD Champ inverter is really low priced for the wattage but lacking wheel kit and voltage meter? It may or may not (I can't tell at first glance) have a throttle setting for standby, which lets it run slower and save gas. It looks like it's better suited for an rv that has an electrical system to plug stuff into and a single duplex outlet for additional cords. You will have to set up a way to get juice to different appliances. Check the panel on this link to see a more user friendly panel. It lets you run several cords off different circuit breakers. It doesn't matter what type gen you buy but getting cords out and having them on different breakers makes a difference. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200664806_200664806

 

[finn]

Inverters are overall better but there's other stuff you have to look at. That HD Champ inverter is really low priced for the wattage but lacking wheel kit and voltage meter? It may or may not (I can't tell at first glance) have a throttle setting for standby, which lets it run slower and save gas. It looks like it's better suited for an rv that has an electrical system to plug stuff into and a single duplex outlet for additional cords. You will have to set up a way to get juice to different appliances. Check the panel on this link to see a more user friendly panel. It lets you run several cords off different circuit breakers. It doesn't matter what type gen you buy but getting cords out and having them on different breakers makes a difference. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200664806_200664806

Plug on the side of the house wired to a transfer switch next to your breaker panel fixes that. You really don’t want extension cords running across the house anyway.

 

[benny27]

The more I am looking into generators the more I would like to get a manual transfer switch and 5k+ generator. But that is a nice chunk more money. I have till the next time the power goes out to decide

 

[mike93lx]

The more I am looking into generators the more I would like to get a manual transfer switch and 5k+ generator. But that is a nice chunk more money. I have till the next time the power goes out to decide

A manual transfer switch isn't expensive at all. If you have a relatively recent panel, you can get an interlock and a input box for a little over $200.

A 5kw generator can be as cheap as 500 for a conventional or about a grand for an inverter

 

[theoldwizard1]

Modern electronics will not be bothered by noise or minor variation in voltage. They use a switching power supply

Splitting technical hairs ...

They used a Class D (digital) amplifier. The input is a synthesized sine wave and it drives a step up transformer.

(A Class D amplifiers works very similar to a switching power supply.)

 

[theoldwizard1]

The inverter can throttle down under light load to save fuel. That's only an issue with a spark ignition engine. The inverter can be made cheaply of chinesium. The inverter might last a few hundred hours.

Inverter generators have 3 major components. An engine, a generator (technically, it is a 3 phase alternator) and an inverter. If you stick with a proven brand, all major components will last much longer than "a few hundred hours".

Champion and Harbor Freight Predator have been selling for long enough that I consider them "proven".

Utility power is not inverter power for a reason.

You might be surprised to know that is a few cases, power companies use extremely large inverters. Not common, but there are special cases.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The more I am looking into generators the more I would like to get a manual transfer switch and 5k+ generator.

IMHO, a generator interlock kit in your breaker panel is a better solution. Likely cheaper than most transfer kits (especially when you include the installation), easier to install, more flexible to use.

The size of you generator depends on your load. Interlocks kits and manual transfer switches allow you to control what you want to run. As long as you don't have any 240V appliances, you can probably get by with a 3000W inverter. If you are very careful, you might get by with 2000W.

5kw is over kill, unless you have a 240V sump or well pump.

 

[benny27]

IMHO, a generator interlock kit in your breaker panel is a better solution. Likely cheaper than most transfer kits (especially when you include the installation), easier to install, more flexible to use.

The size of you generator depends on your load. Interlocks kits and manual transfer switches allow you to control what you want to run. As long as you don't have any 240V appliances, you can probably get by with a 3000W inverter. If you are very careful, you might get by with 2000W.

5kw is over kill, unless you have a 240V sump or well pump.

My only 240v is the central air. The problems I see with a interlock kit is my breaker box is full so I would need to change out 2 breakers to tandems $50 a pop, or add a sub panel. All so when the power comes back on I would not know till I see other houses back on. Not that big of a issue.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Splitting technical hairs ...

They used a Class D (digital) amplifier. The input is a synthesized sine wave and it drives a step up transformer.

(A Class D amplifiers works very similar to a switching power supply.)

How will a $3500 refrigerator with work react to my ancient Onan with a sine wave that looks like a picture of the rocky mountains? Part of me thinks it'll be fine as the EE's have made sure it'll handle just about whatever is thrown at it, another part of me remembers the back is like looking into the inner workings of a hydrogen fuel cell with an individual component failure that could make the whole thing not worth repairing.

 

[bpjr]

Plug on the side of the house wired to a transfer switch next to your breaker panel fixes that. You really don’t want extension cords running across the house anyway.

Yep, but this is like turning from an HF socket set for an occasional emergency into a Snap On set for a full time mechanic. The actual cost of a transfer switch installation would be more than the generator. Where I live an electrical contractor legally has to do the work and the building permit alone is $80. Then add the outside outlet, gen cord, switch, wiring, breakers, labor. I don't need a gen often enough to do anything other than cords but the gen panel i linked to gives the option of many cords or one for a transfer switch installation. The champ gen the op showed limits you to one duplex and one transfer switch cord. The op has to decide whether he wants to spend the bucks but that wasn't his question.

 

[mike93lx]

Yep, but this is like turning from an HF socket set for an occasional emergency into a Snap On set for a full time mechanic. The actual cost of a transfer switch installation would be more than the generator. Where I live an electrical contractor legally has to do the work and the building permit alone is $80. Then add the outside outlet, gen cord, switch, wiring, breakers, labor. I don't need a gen often enough to do anything other than cords but the gen panel i linked to gives the option of many cords or one for a transfer switch installation. The champ gen the op showed limits you to one duplex and one transfer switch cord. The op has to decide whether he wants to spend the bucks but that wasn't his question.

It is a one time cost with a few hundred in materials and a few hundred in labor.

I never lose power but still have the proper setup to allow a quick and safe hookup of my generator. One outage of having to run extension cords and pulling the fridges and freezer away from the wall to change the connection would be enough for me to spend the money to do it right. But, we all have our own thresholds and budgets

 

[theoldwizard1]

... my ancient Onan with a sine wave that looks like a picture of the rocky mountains? Part of me thinks it'll be fine as the EE's have made sure it'll handle just about whatever is thrown at it, another part of me remembers the back is like looking into the inner workings of a hydrogen fuel cell with an individual component failure that could make the whole thing not worth repairing.

Nothing wrong with an old fashion generator. (Technically a mechanical device that create alternating current is an alternator. The one on you vehicle actually creates 3 phase alternating current, but that is converted to DC before it leaves the alternator housing by the diodes.) They are just not very efficient.

If you had an 2000W inverter generator running a 1500w load and a 2000w non-inverting generator running a different 1500w load, the inverter would use less fuel. If both loads were near the maximum, it would be a close call (but I would put my money on the non-inverting generator).

The big win with inverting generators is that loads are not typically constant nor are they frequently above 75%-80% of the capacity.

As for the electronics themselves, they are actually pretty inexpensive. Manufacturing cost, including the fancy electronically controlled carburetor, is probably less than $50 over a non-inverting generator. (Manufacturing costs, not replacement part costs.)

 

[theoldwizard1]

... Where I live an electrical contractor legally has to do the work and the building permit alone is $80. Then add the outside outlet, gen cord, switch, wiring, breakers, labor ...

It is a one time cost with a few hundred in materials and a few hundred in labor.

A generator interlock kit would easily save $100-$200. One breaker. Much less wiring and therefore labor.

 

[American Locomotive]

How will a $3500 refrigerator with work react to my ancient Onan with a sine wave that looks like a picture of the rocky mountains? Part of me thinks it'll be fine as the EE's have made sure it'll handle just about whatever is thrown at it, another part of me remembers the back is like looking into the inner workings of a hydrogen fuel cell with an individual component failure that could make the whole thing not worth repairing.

Anything with a microprocessor filters and converts all the incoming power to DC anyways. What the incoming AC power looks like is really of little consequence.

Unless the electronic device happened to be designed horrifically bad, you should just able be able to feed it just about everything from DC to daylight and it shouldn't care.

Utility power is not inverter power for a reason.

Grid-scale inverters are used everywhere. Huge DC transmission lines use rectifiers and inverters on either end. The U.S. has three separate power grids that share power via inverters. Every single wind turbine has an inverter in it

 

[bpjr]

It is a one time cost with a few hundred in materials and a few hundred in labor.

I never lose power but still have the proper setup to allow a quick and safe hookup of my generator. One outage of having to run extension cords and pulling the fridges and freezer away from the wall to change the connection would be enough for me to spend the money to do it right. But, we all have our own thresholds and budgets

Sounds good to me. Doing it "right" to me is a whole house propane gen with 500 gal tank IF you need a gen. In my case the power at my house has been off long enough to spoil food exactly one time in a hurricane...since built in 1973. The gen was used 2 days here and 2+ weeks at my daughters house. 2 fridges and a freezer on equip pads in my shop and one fridge in the kitchen...all cords easy to access and no pulling anything out. A couple cords to lights and fans...no big deal. We normally evacuate during hurricanes so tending a house gen is impossible and I don't want the liability of an auto start gen electrocuting a lineman because it malfunctions. That doesn't justify us even having a gen setup but...being able to use the toilet IS justification. My gen was purchased 2 yrs prior when going from a passive septic system to elec sump pump system. Gen was specifically purchased as a power backup for the pump and I bought a gas 2" trash pump at the same time in case the elec pump goes down...$1000+ for septic backup. If I needed a gen for the house very often I'd have the convenience of the whole house gen mentioned above. The OP has to decide what he wants based on his needs not mine or yours.