im looking into a generator for my house. whats a good brand to look at and whats a good wattage to consider...i looked at lowes and the guy suggest a centurion or champion around 3500 watts...

 

What do you want to run? The whole house, or just a few appliances?

Champions and centurions are cheap, but if it's only for backup, they'll be fine.

I run a Lugger 6500 diesel to run my cabin and shop... will do just about everything I need (no electric heat, no electric hot water).

If you have electric major appliances, you're looking at a heck of a lot bigger than 3500 to run the house...

Here's a calculator for sizing a generator:

https://www.ch.cutler-hammer.com/gen...c/wattshow.jsp

As far as brands go, if you don't plan on using it all the time, I'd go with cheap. Otherwise, a large Honda EU series (expensive), Yamaha, or an Onan (more expensive)

If you have natural gas, they make backups that run off the house supply too.

 

im looking to run a mini fridge and some fans and maybe charge my laptop or cell phone..could u run a tv and a satellite reciever...my cousin has one of those backups that run on natural gas but that thing ran like 11grand a little out of my price range...haha....

 

In that case, the mini fridge would be the question... how much starting watts it takes. Possibly a 2500 watt or smaller would be fine.

I use mine for primary power, so I went expensive/reliable- about $2500 used on craigslist.

Depending on your budget, consider how much noise is an issue. Those cheaper ones are pretty darn loud... The honda EU's are VERY quiet. But a little expensive: $1000 for a 2K, $1800 for a 3K, and $3800 for a 6.5 K

 

im lookin no more than $500 for right now but later on im going to get a whole house one...i just bought a house and going to have one installed but for right now i just need a little one because i have a hurricane heading for us...

 

Matt,

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you in the Clear Lake / Webster area? Considering hurricane / tropical storm coverage?

Are you looking for a portable unit or an integrated Uninterruptible Power System (UPS) for your home?

 

i dont know why but i cant think of clearlake right now but im an hour away from houston...

im looking for a portable unit right now...but when i start construction on my house im going to install the "UPS" system for sure...so im really looking for something to cool my living room in my house...but hopefully i wont need it but my dad is in the emergency group for Beaumont and they are starting to prepare so makes me think i need a generator just incase...better be safe than sorry...

 

I have a Honda EU2000i 2000W generator. I went with that because it's portable (47lbs dry) and I can take it on camping trips if I want to. Otherwise it's to keep the fridge and freezer charged and run the TV and or computer in the event of a power outage. Cost about a thousand bucks brand new. It is QUIET for a generator. With the eco throttle on you can stand next to it and hold a normal conversation.

If you get a whole house generator be sure to have a cut out switch wired in. Otherwise you'll be feeding electricity back out into the lines and a lot of linemen have been killed that way.

 

With the minifridge, I might want to look to the next size up. As far as the Champions and other "bib box" specials, most of them are made in China and have a copy of the Honda motor... Our experience with them {the Chinese made motors} are marginal at best. If I was using this as back up, I would want one that I had confidence in.

A brand to look at is Briggs & Stratton: they bought out part of Generac and have become one of the largest buyers of Honda engines. They make some really HD units that are commerical quality, but the cost is lower than the Honda/Yamaha/Onan's out there. They also make a decent consumer unit with the basic B&S engine.

Something else you may want to look at: an Idle Control: basically what this does is drops the engine to idle when there is no electrical load on the unit. Saves gas as well as makes it a lot quieter....important for those all night runs.

No mater what you get, make sure that you run it and make sure it works BEFORE you need it. I learned that the hardway. We had an ice storm a few years back and pulled the generator out of the box, and yes it started right up. Plugged in the furnace and nothing>WTF? Plugged my meter into the output and the unit had a bad alternator. I was so upset that I picked up the unit and threw it out the garage {small 3kw unit}.

Woof
Bowser

 

One other thing I forgot to mention. The Honda's put out very clean power. That is important, especially if you're going to be running something that is sensitive to that...like a computer. I try to avoid anything made in China (hardly seems possible these days) as it's of poor quality and not made to very exacting specs. Spend the $ to get something decent. Don't over look Craigslist and local trading papers. Also RUN THE SON OF A GUN! I try to run mine at least once a month, preferably more often, and let it run for 1/2 hour to an hour. If you let them sit they become hard to start.

 

i know that lowes sells Genearc so i will look into those...im just not looking to spend that much right now because im addding a standby unit for my house in the next couple of months...we just have a hurricane heading towards us maybe and looking for something just to hold me over till i get the better one installed to my house...

 

well i bought this one from lowes but they dont have it in town so i got to drive about an hour to get it tommorow so thats not that bad...here is the one i bought i hope its a good one:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...343&lpage=none