Poll who has a generator?

[Danglerb]

SoCal we almost never lose power, but this year it happened about 4 times once for a few days, and that got me thinking about a generator. I didn't and don't plan to get one, but I do have an 800 watt inverter that runs off a car battery if I really needed a bit of juice, but that doesn't keep much running.

So what do you all have?

 

[theoldwizard1]

I don't really think a 5kW is a "monster".

 

[The Cobbler]

I have a 1000 watt inverter from Wally World, works great for the price , and a 55k Onan natural gas that is a work in progress . Looks like I am aquiring a 55k Subaru too

 

[ChaseDE]

The area I live in usually doesn't lose power in storms. My dad took one of those generator repair classes at work one time where you get (buy) the generator at the end of the class. So he has a really big whole house generator that works pretty good. Where he lives he almost never loses power.

A few years ago we lived more in a rural area and lost power quite often so I would borrow his generator and backfeed it into the house, that thing worked like a charm.

 

[Showkey]

Your terms are little messed up.......

An inverter running off a battery is not a generator. It's a very limited power supply. Even running it off the car it is not practical or efficient for a sustained need.

There are inverter style generstors and until recently they were generally smaller capacity.
That has changed and you can get real capacity in an inverter gen set:

BUT............Even 2000 watt inverter generator will save your bacon in an ice storm and it won't keep you and the neighbors up all night.

I too.......will go with monsters starting at 10,000 watts.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: living in the city we don't have outages often, but when we do it's usually witch *** cold so i bought a small generator maybe 5 years ago and without any outages for 4 years i sold it last year.

if i move and get a shop i'll probably have one with a back up to plug into the service panel cause not having power is not a good thing. it usually doesn't go out when it's 75 degrees and sunny.

 

[mrycar]

I have a nice small, @ home and camping friendly Yamaha EF3000iSEB. Use it mostly for a quieter more fuel efficient system to powering RV (vs Onan 6500) when in the back woods; but it has done time powering the garage or house 110 circuits.

The Onan 6500 consumes more fuel in a couple hours than the yamaha does in a day. The onan is 66db, and the yamaha 53-58db.

nice quiet and fuel efficient.

 

[gdocktor3]

I forgot, I Just picked up a mint propane powered Generac for $200. I stole that thing. I think it's 7500 watts. Then I have an older EX800w Honda.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I have a Generac GP7500E. Serves my needs just fine, it's wired up to power the whole house.

 

[Kenskip1]

I have a new harbor Freight 4000 watt. It works great, is good on gas and my PC likes it. I run everything in the house that uses 120 volts.

 

[gungatim]

got a coleman 10hp 6600watt unit I got after Y2k for $350 new.

got a 5000 watt backup for that one I picked up for $50 the owner said that kept stalling. (robin engine with kill switch in the shroud shorting out--easy fix).

we lost power again last night, usually lose it once or twice per year.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

We have a 5KW Coleman that I bought around 10 years ago for 200$. Although we live in the city, we needed it twice:
One time for a couple of days, after a tornado knocked out power.
The second time was when an ice storm knocked out power for 3 weeks.

The generator was only used to keep the refrigerators and deep freeze going. Since we have bought food in bulk, we probably saved over 1000$ in food that would have been lost (for each power loss).

Fortunately, we don't need to power the whole house. We have vintage Coleman lanterns, heaters & stoves to take care of a lot of needs. I also keep a lot of batteries around for entertainment & lighting. Other necessities are satisfied with nat. gas.

 

[bczygan]

Yes, 3,750watt.
Bought it used, while camping, because we heard they had power out back at home, and we would need it.

Used a couple of times. Need to get cable and backfeed setup.

Bill

 

[MJD1]

I would hardly call a 5,000 watt generator a monster. I have a 3,500 that the name escapes me and a Lincoln ranger 9 welder generator. 9,000 watt generator.

 

[66HertzClone]

We have an 11K Cooper standby, fueled by natural gas. We have had it for 12 years now and other than the failure of the starter solenoid it has been trouble free. We live in a very rural area and outages are common place, when Sandy hit we were down for an entire week.

 

[4 FN 27]

40KW Onan on Natural Gas for me. On a well with a Septic System and lift station back-up power makes for a happy Wife.

 

[fatfillup]

I have one I took in trade years ago. Have used it a few times. I live close to the substation and rarely lose power for more then an hour and normally only a few minutes. I like having it JIC and I have very little in it so it stays. Its an older Honda motor with a Winco generator. Little noisey but who cares.

 

[63spyder]

Two Onan , one 6500 w emerald that only puts out 120 volt and an older Onan 4000 w that puts out 240 volt to run our well. We have backup wood heat and propane instant hot water heater. The wood stove is also set up to heat water. Every year we have the power go out. Every few years ,out for 2 to 4 days.

 

[rlitman]

Can we add an "all of the above option"?
I've got a 1000W Honda inverter clone (Kipor), a 2000W inverter Honda, and a 5000W Miller.
Also a 5000W diesel I need to put up on CL when I have the time.

For the most part, I keep the two small inverters for their portability, and use the 5000W conventional generator when I have an outage (since the inverters don't do 240V).

Then there's the stuff at work, in the MW class.

 

[TheGrooveking]

I have multiple, Honda 2kw inverter, Ridgid 6.8kw, and a whole house backup trifuel 20kw and at work 1.2Mw & 500kw.

TheGrooveking

 

[IMStuner]

I have a cheap RIDGID 6800 WATT GENERATOR and installed a switch box for it. It runs everything I need but it's freaking loud. I would purchase a Honda next time around.


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[creativecars]

I do... 10,000 watt Lincoln. Sold the wife on a back up generator/ welder. Had the first chance to use it last week... It did what it needed to do.

 

[DSLTRK]

5500 W B & S gen and 12000 W wind turbine.

OP, weird your power has failed often, I'm in So Cal also, haven't had an issue for over a year.

 

[crucible]

I have a Yamaha EF2400ISHC inverter gen-very, quiet, reliable and fuel efficient. It can power up important elements in the house (gas furnace on a dedicated single static switch in winter or a window a/c in the summer) plus things like the sump pump, refrigerators and utility use. I keep 20 gallons of gas in safety cans typically, and am just about to install a propane kit to make it dual fuel.

I had a much larger generator with the idea I'd get it hooked up to my house electric ($$), but the issue with those is that you have to feed it. If you have natural gas, great, but you might have to spend more $$ to upgrade your line (etc.), get the kit ($) and if not, then you gotta find get large propane tanks and get that kit ($$) or start hauling gas as that generator would go through a several gallon tank just a few hours in (pain).

So, I went smaller (and portable). The twenty gallons of gas is enough to keep going for the better part of ten days or so alone I figure, more if used intermittently. That will get us by.

 

[imok]

I sold a large 7000w generator a couple of years ago and bought the Honda EU3000IS. I only used the larger generator a few times and the Honda should take care of my needs. I seldom have power outages and they are usually for a short time. I just want something that will allow me to use a couple of space heaters.

 

[jallyn]

I have an older North Star PPG 5500 which is rated for 5,500 Watts peak and 4,000 Watts continuous. It is powered by a Honda 8 hp GX240 engine. Bought it used and feel confident the Honda engine will last for years. I put STA-BIL fuel stabilizer in my gas and try to test run it every month to keep the carburetor clear. So far it has been a good investment and starts every time.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have a Generac 7500 backup generator in my garage ready to run and plug in but I will have to set it up for our new home here shortly. I wouldn't necessarily call a 7500 watt a monster though. I also have a 10kW Onan Quiet Diesel generator in our coach that I could power up if needs be.

Once we get settled into the new house I plan on selling my smaller Generac 7500 and installing at least a 11kW natural gas powered unit with automatic transfer switch for a "just in case" scenario.

Mike.

 

[48RON54]

a true monster is a one of those terms that really depends on the person dealing with the generator. I don't consider anything below 600kVA to be a big generator but I also work with them all day long.

I don't own a generator and we rarely have outages so I don't much see the point. I do have access to plenty at work if the need were to arise. for a sustained outage I guess I would haul a 25kVA home with a few spiderboxes and just plug in the important stuff.

In a perfect world, I would have a back up generator connected to an automatic transfer switch at home. Since we rarely have any outages and I'm not made of money....It is not something on my radar at this point in time. It would be nice to have though.

 

[Finky198]

I have a Honda eu2000 at the house for emergencies and camping trips. At the shop we have a few off brand units 3500-8000watts most are older units except the 3500 which has key start and a battery... I would love to add a monster and have a backup for the whole property....

 

[G-ManBart]

We have a whole-house Generac 20kw on natural gas with an automatic transfer switch. It's the absolute best money we've spent on our house. We live out in the country, so we're the last to get service back, and actually had a 3-day outage when we were in the process of moving in and renovating the house. Luckily we still had the old house to stay in because it was the middle of the summer and the house was unbearably hot without AC. Since then the generator has run as long as 24 hours a couple of times and it sure is nice going about life normally when most folks are without power.

I also have a Hobart Champion Elite 11kw welder/generator that's backup power for my shop/barn (has it's own meter).

 

[Infinia]

SoCal we almost never lose power, but this year it happened about 4 times once for a few days, and that got me thinking about a generator. I didn't and don't plan to get one, but I do have an 800 watt inverter that runs off a car battery if I really needed a bit of juice, but that doesn't keep much running.

So what do you all have?

I have the exact same as you, so I can run a few 120V lights on an ext cord if needed. I figure 40 Amp Hrs on my truck battery and will run the alternator to charge it back up. I also have rechargeable chargers able to run on 12V to feed lanterns and flashlights.
Luckily we don't have life threatening cold in SoCal and being in the suburbs Ive never seen outages over 8 hrs. Ive debated against a buying generator, it's just another engine to take care of and the worst thing that could happen is losing a freezers worth which has never occurred, knock on wood. If I lived on a country farm property Id probably invest in one of those new gen-inverter thingys, sized to run a fully loaded branch circuit and a well pump.

 

[Bcom]

We have a 5600 craftsman that we bought new back in 2004. It starts first pull everytime. Great generator for basic needs. Good B&S motor in it. However its not very quiet

 

[Roobaix]

When we move into our new house a generator is on the must have/must get list. As long as it's enough to run the essentials we'll be happy.

 

[kwschumm]

My idea of a monster is something 50kw and up.

 

[turbowoodworker]

22kW here, whole house, auto transfer, LP gas

I think the last line option in the pole should have been whole house, auto transfer rather than "monster".

 

[Dozerhand]

I've got a pair of Honda eu2000. I use them for backup, Lions Club cookouts & fundraisers, and power for remote parts of the yard if I need it.

 

[trashmanssd]

8000 Watt Generac with a transfer switch set up to run the whole house, i just shut down unnecessary circuits and run only whats needed. I mostly want it to run the lights (all are LED or florescent) and the tv and most important the heat. I just wanted it for winter safety, no heat no power in February here is dangerous.

 

[Roberts210]

I have a large, brushed generator that runs off the PTO of my tractor. Works great.

 

[Infinia]

I've got a pair of Honda eu2000. I use them for backup, Lions Club cookouts & fundraisers, and power for remote parts of the yard if I need it.

that's the way i'd do it that or the Yamaha

 

[Empty Pockets]

I have a whole house unit, a small unit for working on site, and several power inverters