What make/model (#) do you recommend. I think I want something in a med. size, not too small & not large. I read about a few: Honda makes good ones( Ike all their products) but expensive. Briggs & Stratton are good-been making engines forever, Generac seem to get good reviews.

i love the ridgid 6800 i got from home depot. it has a yamaha motor on it. Powered my whole house minus washer and dryer? but i did not try them either. All the brands you stated are good from what i hear. Its like anything else. maintain it and it should last

Yamaha quality, tri fuel versatility. Don't have one yet, still researching myself.

 

http://www.yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/

Any views on whether inverter generators are worth the extra $$? They are generally smaller and quieter, and I believe more fuel efficient, and supposedly its safer to run sensitive electronics directly from them. I'm thinking about just forking over the cash and getting a honda or yamaha.

Got some generator info going here: http://njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/41566-talk-about-non-gasoline-generators-propane-nat-gas/

Inverter generators are more efficient,quieter and lighter. However power to price is a issue. A 2000 watt max inverter gen is going to run you similar price to a 9k watt max conventional generator. As far as quality I would say honda is near the top but like mentioned you gotta pay for that. I have a champion 5k max generator with electric start I picked up for 490 dollars after irene hit in 2011 and it was a nice balance between quality price and power. I would have rather had the inverter generator because of compact size and efficiency and the lower noise would have been nice.

I was quite happy with the performance of my 4000w champion generator for 6 days of no power, I picked it up on sale at Cabelas for like $300. I know someone who lives off grid and runs nearly everything from a 2000w Champion inverter generator and those are about $700.

+1 for generac's small portable ones i dont know the model but used one on jobsites to run tools and lights the thing worked great, started first pull every time and was great on gas. the thing was small enough that I could carry the generator in 1 hand and the gas can in the other.

My champion 9000/7000 with remote start and stop from costco worked like a dream. Ran 3 big tv's, two frigs, Xbox live and washer and dryer.

My suggestion is to wait some period of time and watch craigslist. Pretty soon a bunch of gensets are going to start showing up there and you can get a good bargain. Just make the guy show you it runs and plug something into it.

 

In 2005 I bought my Generac 4000xl off craigslist and used it until this year when I got my Generac Guardian 14kw. I loaned my 4000 out to a friend. At the time I paid about 70% of the going rate for it. Generators are a bit cheaper these days so I'm sure you can get something a little bigger for hardly anything. Don't go too big, it will use too much fuel. 5500-7500 running watts seems to be the sweet spot for fuel economy and being able to power the fridge and lights and furnace. If you have all electric appliances you have to go bigger if everything is gas, you can go smaller.

I would suggest getting two generators, One in the 5000 watt+ range and another around 1000 watts.

 

#1 If one generator fails, you still have another

 

# 2 During low power demands, during the day just to run the fridge or freezer..use the 1000 watt generator to save fuel.

 

#3 The larger generator can be used to run sump pumps (when needed), the fridge, freezer, lights and portable heater if needed.

 

#4 A family member needs to borrow a generator for some basic electricity, lend them the 1000 generator.

 

# 5 Use the 1000 watt generator to charge deep cycle batteries and waste less fuel than the 5000 watt generator.

 

#6 A smaller generator can run a small window air conditioner in a pinch .

For inverter generators my vote is Yamaha. I purchased the EF3000ISEB about 7 years ago. It has never let me down, fires right up. Many time have had it running 24 hrs a day for 4-5 days and now 7 days with last weeks storm. It has never run low on oil either. I have city water and oil heat and i can run a fridge/freezer. A 2nd freezer. Heat, tv's and lights in my house with no problem. The auto idle is also a great feature as when on the motor rarely runs full throttle. It will go 12 hrs on 3 gallons of gas for me also. If i were to do it again today and had the $$ I would go with the EF6300ISDE as it offers 240 volt. But when i purchsed mine it was the largest of the inverter models. I had compared both Honda and Yamaha and was a tough deciding between the two. I have heard good reviews on the others mentioned here also but the quality of the power and the noise level were important factors for me

5,000W Husky/Subaru through a transfer switch to power my sumps (2), well, gas forced-air furnace and two kitchen/living room circuits. Used extension cords for a second fridge and some additional lighting. 74 hours straight with no problems. Plenty of fuel on hand and looking to modify to tri-fuel. Gonna service it before tomorrow's crap...

Any sugestions on diesel gensets? Thanks

MATT1751..

 

12 hours on 3 gals? that's just 4 hours a gallon.. i think that's low from what i've been researching.. is that on full draw?

MATT1751..

 

12 hours on 3 gals? that's just 4 hours a gallon.. i think that's low from what i've been researching.. is that on full draw?

 

No not full load. I don't have a meter hooked up to it so I don't know what I'm drawing but i have my entire house live but only run 2 or 3 lights, fridge and a basement freezer, 32" flatscreen and the kids on there Xbox, modem, router, and furnance. The generator idle kicks up when fridge or furnance kicks on but then idles right back down. Its got a 3.4 gal tank and I usually have just below a 1/4 tank after 12 hours. I've never let it run out so i could actually be getting more. I've noticed on Yamaha's site it shows 19hr at a 1/4 load. I've had this one for about 7 or 8 years and I beleive it was rated then for 14hrs at 1/4 load.

I just bought the Honda EU3000is

Invertor generator last weekend.. The thing purrs... Don't have to worry about thiefs hearing it. Got like 15 hours on a 3.2 gal fuel tank. Of course driving home in the back of my car I was thinking about the kick ass AR I could of put together with that coin!!

I was quite happy with the performance of my 4000w champion generator for 6 days of no power, I picked it up on sale at Cabelas for like $300. I know someone who lives off grid and runs nearly everything from a 2000w Champion inverter generator and those are about $700.

 

+1

 

I also picked up one of these on sale for $300. From what I understand, it's basically a chinese honda clone and has a cast iron sleeve. It starts on a couple of pulls, low fuel consumption, and runs great. I ran a frig/freezer combo, freezer, gas hot water furnace, lights, cable modem/wifi, TV and lights. I lost cable so I connected a DVD player for something to watch and streamed netflix from the phone. The new Razr has HDMI output - awesome! These gens get pretty good reviews. Everything runs off gas in my house so I can get by with a smaller output gen. I was using a couple gallons of gas a day by cycling the gen on/off several times a day.