which portable generators do people have

[LouNY]

Nice, artesian wells can be nice and very handy, my drilled well artesianed for about 10 years and has petered out now the water level is holding about 10 feet down now. Our best water on the farm came from a spring in one of the upper pastures, it had been improved a long time ago and then again in the late 30's and now it needs to be dug out and cleaned up again.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Don't get me wrong, I don't respect any generator that runs at 3600rpm. But I have run the whole property through a 200 Amp AT switch on my Yanmar 3.7. Aside from electric heat, and my industrial shop equipment, I had hot water, fridge, and any amount of light, plus all my electronics. What more can you ask for? And NEVER a single failure.

Plus frugal, and it started last week in very cold temperatures without a charged battery or any source of heat.

Maybe a $4000.00 Yanmar 3.7 can't and shouldn't be compared with a $500.00 HF generator. I don't know.

Speaking of RPMs. I have even less respect for a manufacturer that has a whole page of specs and not one word about RPMs! How foul! It's the first thing, you want to know.

 

[dragoneggs]

Unfortunately, my 3kW Honda isn't enough to power our well pump so that is one thing we do have to go without during an outage. I can't justify another gen just for backup for well water.

 

[Industrial Toys]

If that is your only concern, there may be solutions. Like I said, I don't know motors, but apparently some can have the starting circuit modified, like adding more capacitors. I have a friend that knows AC and DC motors inside out. I often loose him. Or go with a soft start pump. Even though that's electronic and electronics are not our friend! lol That funny smoke is always looking to escape.

I Googled "Reducing the Starting Current of a submersible pump" I assumed submersible. A lot of interesting stuff.

 

[3930dave]

Unfortunately, my 3kW Honda isn't enough to power our well pump so that is one thing we do have to go without during an outage. I can't justify another gen just for backup for well water.

I haven't priced these lately (it may be cheaper to sell the 3kw and buy a basic 7.5kw, just talking pure #'s.... I know you like your Honda DE.....), these SQFLEX are more for off-grid.

Solar Well Pumps for Off Grid Homes

Kind of a neat option - you could have it run off 220Vac when the grid is up, then fail-over to 2 or 3 digit Vdc backup - until you stack lots of batteries, then the flow would be lower - but in an emerg, low-flow is way better than no-flow....

Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You need only a fraction of a second of high current to get that pump going. That power should easily be in the generator rotor.

Or a three phase pump and freq dive. But yes, it's starting to cost more then an upsized generator.

 

[dragoneggs]

One of the things I love about my generator is that it so quiet and runs a very long time on a tank of gas. If I upsized, I lose on both accounts just for the surge power needed. Not worth it. Got to be a better way though. Unfortunately, we replaced our well pump a couple years ago. We up'd the Hp a little on the advice of our well guy but what I didn't do (sadly) is research options at the time. But the with the existing pump dead, and in a hurry to fix, it didn't cross my mind to see what new technology pumps are out there. :mur:

 

[buickanddeere]

Don't get me wrong, I don't respect any generator that runs at 3600rpm. But I have run the whole property through a 200 Amp AT switch on my Yanmar 3.7. Aside from electric heat, and my industrial shop equipment, I had hot water, fridge, and any amount of light, plus all my electronics. What more can you ask for? And NEVER a single failure.

Plus frugal, and it started last week in very cold temperatures without a charged battery or any source of heat.

Maybe a $4000.00 Yanmar 3.7 can't and shouldn't be compared with a $500.00 HF generator. I don't know.

Speaking of RPMs. I have even less respect for a manufacturer that has a whole page of specs and not one word about RPMs! How foul! It's the first thing, you want to know.

For all the hours a portable standby generator is used, higher rpms means the generator will be smaller and lighter per Kw output. Nobody is going to put enough hours on the portable generator is 30 years to make 'wear" a factor.
For reasons unknown, some people think their consumer equipment should be spec'd like 24/7 marine propulsion , 24/7 power generation or 24/7 irrigation equipment.

 

[3930dave]

One of the things I love about my generator is that it so quiet and runs a very long time on a tank of gas. If I upsized, I lose on both accounts just for the surge power needed. Not worth it. Got to be a better way though. Unfortunately, we replaced our well pump a couple years ago. We up'd the Hp a little on the advice of our well guy but what I didn't do (sadly) is research options at the time. But the with the existing pump dead, and in a hurry to fix, it didn't cross my mind to see what new technology pumps are out there. :mur:

Hindsight is 20/20.... don't beat yerself up too much DE..... challenging to run a household w/o running water, so lack of water provides lots of other pressure....

Things change fast enough though.... this thread had me thinking about some really efficient DC submersible pumps I'd often read about in Homepower in years past, and I was doing a search just now because I couldn't remember the manufacturer name. That's when I stumbled across this Grundfos model - didn't know that existed.

That is a pretty sweet power option - you could take it the other way too...... Let's say you've started your off-grid system, and are building it in stages (like most of us non-lottery-win, non-trust-fund-baby types would have to do....). So you have a basic 48vdc battery bank in place, built out of 6 volt cells. Regular household operation works fine off 48vdc.

Let's say some "surge" event comes along for water - fill a swimming pool, or a nearby brush fire has kicked up. Fire up an 8kw+ generator to run this Grundfos on 220VAC, and presto, you've just amped up your water volume on demand....

More and more, I'm liking combining batteries and generators.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

For all the hours a portable standby generator is used, higher rpms means the generator will be smaller and lighter per Kw output. Nobody is going to put enough hours on the portable generator is 30 years to make 'wear" a factor.
For reasons unknown, some people think their consumer equipment should be spec'd like 24/7 marine propulsion , 24/7 power generation or 24/7 irrigation equipment.

thats my opinion exactly. i thought about getting the 1800 rpm version, but seriously, spending an extra 4 grand for something that may or may not be needed just didnt enter my picture. now if i was planning to use it to supplement off grid system, then i would definitely go with the 1800 rpm system. the thing that i do love about the quietsource series that run at 1800 rpm....there alot quieter. but my generator is far from any neighbor so i have no issues with it. i cant even hear it run inside the house.

 

[LittleBill21]

thats my opinion exactly. i thought about getting the 1800 rpm version, but seriously, spending an extra 4 grand for something that may or may not be needed just didnt enter my picture. now if i was planning to use it to supplement off grid system, then i would definitely go with the 1800 rpm system. the thing that i do love about the quietsource series that run at 1800 rpm....there alot quieter. but my generator is far from any neighbor so i have no issues with it. i cant even hear it run inside the house.

also good luck finding a 1800 rpm gas portable genny. i can't find one.

even with a 1800 rpm unit, good luck beating my 2k inverter on fuel economy. i use my big one for an hour to take a shower or get some water out of the well, thats about all i really need it for. and im a full electric house

 

[Garandman]

One of the things I love about my generator is that it so quiet and runs a very long time on a tank of gas. If I upsized, I lose on both accounts just for the surge power needed. Not worth it. Got to be a better way though.

The folks I know have a cheap 220V construction generator they fire up an hour a day.

I suppose you could increase the size of your accumulator.

 

[RSKY]

Some of the arguments here are not making sense to me. I bought a new generator from Sam's Club in November and it was delivered right after Christmas. It is a 10,000 starting, 8,000 continuous. It cost me $530 delivered to my house. I looked at the Honda website just now and a 3,000 Honda is more than $2000!!!!

I realize that the Honda products are the top of the line, #1 in the world, fuel efficient, and the quietest you can buy BUT...... If it won't power everything you need powered, like a well, then what good is the Honda? And how many years of use to spend the $2000 price difference on the fuel.

If you had power outages lasting a week or two at a time several times a year then yes I can understand. Otherwise that seems like a waste of money for a product that won't do what it needs to do which is power the well and the house at the same time.

Kind of like a guy I worked with in 2009 who was out of power for two weeks. A month later he came in to work bragging that he had spent $12,000 for an automatic whole house system. What a waste of money.

The guy who can't power his well needs to go get a bigger cheap generator and use it with the Honda as a backup.

To the original poster I would recommend doing the same thing. Take care of it, use alcohol free gas, and drain the carb each time you store it, and it will last for years.

But I am a cheapskate with my money.

And if your wife might have to tend it get electric start. I have a Briggs and Stratton 8500 that started second pull every time but my wife couldn't pull it. So I got the electric start.

RSKY

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Nice, artesian wells can be nice and very handy, my drilled well artesianed for about 10 years and has petered out now the water level is holding about 10 feet down now.

Mines been putting out a thousand gallons an hour for nearly 60 years now, water will NEVER be a problem for me, I also have three of these,

Here's a second one,

They are spring fed, and make a nice stream that cross' my property, all the water starts in my ponds...

SR

 

[dragoneggs]

Hi RSKY, In my defense I bought my Honda 3000 about 15 years ago during a huge storm and long power outage. No well to power back then. I wanted to buy quality and hope it would be the one and only I would ever purchase and it wouldn't be a headache to maintain and keep running. It has electric start which was a requirement because I wanted my wife to easily start as I travel often. Since then I moved and I am now on my own well. We don't lose power often and for too long and I don't need to power everything during those times. Kind of like roughing it (minimal needs such as TV, internet ) So... I have what I have and I feel I have gotten my money's worth over time, not just using it for power outages.

Yeah, I could have bought cheaper, louder, non portable, and less efficient gen, and I know more than a handful of folks that have. I also know that other than replacing the battery once in it's lifetime I have had zero issues. I also know I have helped others with their cheap gens trying get them running. Yes, mainly due to their neglect. Funny how in every case, it was during a power outage.

To buy another larger generator that isn't portable but gives me water once or twice a year for a few hours or day or two.. or a few more, is hard to justify. Then I would have another engine to maintain that takes up even more precious secure space and my time for only one purpose.

To each his own on choices gen brand, size, fuel. I am very happy with my gen... I just wish I could come up with a way to have running water during an outage with what I got. But it surely isn't the highest on my priority list all things considered, otherwise I wouldn't be having this conversation and I would have larger gen too.

 

[Travelover]

Some of the arguments here are not making sense to me. .......

Yea, I agree. At my last house I had a 5000/4000 watt Coleman that served me for 27 years. It ran my well and anything else I needed, for blackouts up to a week. Sucked gas when it ran and was noisy, but all in provided a lot of utility (no pun intended) for the bucks that I had in it. I sold it with the house and the new owner still uses it and it still starts on the first pull.

 

[goeduck]

Getting way off topic... one of my favorite places to dine is the Falls Terrace in Tumwater... just across from the Olympia Brewery complex...

I have eaten there, good place.

My well has a cistern so it has the well pump plus a booster pump. So I have to be careful with the gen power in case both run. Also on power up if both are calling to run. Then the inrush of each pump adds for a total. My outages are short so I shut the well off when the commercial power goes out unless it gets too bad.

 

[3930dave]

$500 HF gen.

Honda inverter.

1800rpm diesel genset.

20kw PTO gen.

$10k+ fully auto-xfer system.

^ am I going to criticize who spends on what ?

Some people wear expensive clothes. Some people have expensive golf-club memberships. Some people wear expensive watches. Some people go to Cabo every Winter, and Europe every Summer. Some people drive expensive vehicles that serve no true Need. Some people have large collections of fishing rods, model trains.... This list goes on and on.......

As long as it doesn't destroy the rest of your household finances - if it truly holds value for you, why not ? IMO, if someone is truly comfortable with their own choices, they usually don't go full-on-commando defending their position.....

What I don't understand with a generator you want to rely on, is lack of maintenance..... whether it's a 2500watt 20 year old Briggs like I have, or a $15k 3 year old auto-xfer system.

Rgds, D.

 

[DieselnHooters]

To each his own on choices gen brand, size, fuel. I am very happy with my gen... I just wish I could come up with a way to have running water during an outage with what I got. But it surely isn't the highest on my priority list all things considered, otherwise I wouldn't be having this conversation and I would have larger gen too.

My little Honda 2000i does power my 1/2 HP well pump, it is borderline though and would obviously not work an inside the well pump which I guess is what you are dealing with.

 

[Garandman]

Some of the arguments here are not making sense to me. I bought a new generator from Sam's Club in November and it was delivered right after Christmas. It is a 10,000 starting, 8,000 continuous. It cost me $530 delivered to my house. I looked at the Honda website just now and a 3,000 Honda is more than $2000!!!!

I realize that the Honda products are the top of the line, #1 in the world, fuel efficient, and the quietest you can buy BUT...... If it won't power everything you need powered, like a well, then what good is the Honda? And how many years of use to spend the $2000 price difference on the fuel.

If you had power outages lasting a week or two at a time several times a year then yes I can understand. Otherwise that seems like a waste of money for a product that won't do what it needs to do which is power the well and the house at the same time.

There are other considerations that Southerners don’t usually have experience with.

After Hurricane Sandy, there were lots of people with the cheap construction generators who ran out of fuel after a few days. There was no fuel within 50 miles.

We plan for an 8 day outage because in the snowbelt during a northeaster, no power means no travel, no heat means frozen pipes means water damage. Our tenants turned down the heat and went away during a cold snap and the damage was $17,000.