Generators?

[HIGHRISK]

Anyone have any suggestions? I see the new thing are these inverter gens but there 2-3 times as much but cleaner power and half the noise. Just bought a small camper so that's what I'll be using it for. A/c , water heater lights and maybe coffee maker and a small fridge. I'm kinda stuck between these 2 right now. One is traditional and one is inverter. Big difference is price. Any opinions or experience let me know. Thanks

 

[Inquiring Mind]

I’m my humble opinin, except for them being super quiet and very compact, and yeah they can save some money at the pump, but there truly is not other difference...also keep in mind, appliances want steady flow of power, if inverters “pump” electricity, you could find yourself replacing refrigerators, microwaves and stoves. Those are not cheep appliance. But I don’t know for a fact so double check. Supposed inverted are designed to go from AC to DC.

Regardless, If I have to buy another generator for my 3rd wheel, I’d get a propane/gas hybrid generator. We have hurricane where I live and when a big comenis expected, the gas stations go dry quick. But you can get propane easily and a lot cheaper. From what I hear they run very quiet and are much cleaner than gas too.
In fact, you can purchase a conversion kit that lets you literally switch from gas to propane.

 

[HIGHRISK]

I’m my humble opinin, except for them being super quiet and very compact, and yeah they can save some money at the pump, but there truly is not other difference...also keep in mind, appliances want steady flow of power, if inverters “pump” electricity, you could find yourself replacing refrigerators, microwaves and stoves. Those are not cheep appliance. But I don’t know for a fact so double check. Supposed inverted are designed to go from AC to DC.

Regardless, If I have to buy another generator for my 3rd wheel, I’d get a propane/gas hybrid generator. We have hurricane where I live and when a big comenis expected, the gas stations go dry quick. But you can get propane easily and a lot cheaper. From what I hear they run very quiet and are much cleaner than gas too.
In fact, you can purchase a conversion kit that lets you literally switch from gas to propane.

That's a good observation about the fuel..
I also live where hurricanes threaten us yearly so that is true. The Westinghouse has another model that comes in Duel Fuel and runs off of both propane and gas.

 

[Inquiring Mind]

That's a good observation about the fuel..
I also live where hurricanes threaten us yearly so that is true. The Westinghouse has another model that comes in Duel Fuel and runs off of both propane and gas.

I don’t know anything about Westinghouse brand, but Generac has been good to me. Also there are tons of forums specifically about generators...check some out.

 

[Sparkyp]

Anyone have any suggestions? I see the new thing are these inverter gens but there 2-3 times as much but cleaner power and half the noise. Just bought a small camper so that's what I'll be using it for. A/c , water heater lights and maybe coffee maker and a small fridge. I'm kinda stuck between these 2 right now. One is traditional and one is inverter. Big difference is price. Any opinions or experience let me know. Thanks

View attachment 94926

View attachment 94927

i install hundreds of generators. commercial/residential. those smaller inverter gens are good for 1-2 items or for exactly what your saying with camping.

larger names like generac, kohler are the best as they are the easiest to source parts from and the most common brands with the best warranties. their proven.
a lot of companies hopped onto the generator wagon after a bunch of storms hammered the east coast a few years back. we been seeing a lot of these random brands pop up. best to stay away.

was this just for camping?

 

[HIGHRISK]

i install hundreds of generators. commercial/residential. those smaller inverter gens are good for 1-2 items or for exactly what your saying with camping.

larger names like generac, kohler are the best as they are the easiest to source parts from and the most common brands with the best warranties. their proven.
a lot of companies hopped onto the generator wagon after a bunch of storms hammered the east coast a few years back. we been seeing a lot of these random brands pop up. best to stay away.

was this just for camping?

Literally just camping. The house I'm building I'm having a generac diesel home gen installed to run the entire house. There building a pad with rocks around it and it's all wired up to the house. Has automatic kick on And whatever else. I think the guy said every so often it fires up and runs and does a self diag to make sure all is good. I'm sure you already know all this though lol. Down here a freaking windy day knocks out the power. Forget a storm or hurricane could be days without power.

 

[Sparkyp]

Literally just camping. The house I'm building I'm having a generac diesel home gen installed to run the entire house. There building a pad with rocks around it and it's all wired up to the house. Has automatic kick on And whatever else. I think the guy said every so often it fires up and runs and does a self diag to make sure all is good. I'm sure you already know all this though lol. Down here a freaking windy day knocks out the power. Forget a storm or hurricane could be days without power.

Westinghouse brand has been around forever. I don’t remember seeing them carry generators until now. But yeah, for camping...who cares ya know? Probably will be just fine. I was referring to home/commercial generators.

So you got a diesel gen? Interesting. We do those in commercial buildings only sometimes. You don’t have natural gas or propane at your place?

Yes, all standby generators will have a weekly test. They can program it to any day you want. Some people have it set for Saturday’s when their home so they know it’s testing and want to hear it run for 10 minutes and others have it programmed mid week for noon when nobody is home so they don’t have to listen to it. Really your choice.

 

[HIGHRISK]

Westinghouse brand has been around forever. I don’t remember seeing them carry generators until now. But yeah, for camping...who cares ya know? Probably will be just fine. I was referring to home/commercial generators.

So you got a diesel gen? Interesting. We do those in commercial buildings only sometimes. You don’t have natural gas or propane at your place?

Yes, all standby generators will have a weekly test. They can program it to any day you want. Some people have it set for Saturday’s when their home so they know it’s testing and want to hear it run for 10 minutes and others have it programmed mid week for noon when nobody is home so they don’t have to listen to it. Really your choice.

I just looked and your right it's propane. I thought it was diesel. I've looked at so many for the house and camping my head hurts.

 

[MindlessWork]

Speaking of generators, my brother got a propane one for his house as his area is prone to power losses, it's a Generac one that's 20,000 watts and it set my brother back $11K. Plus he got one for his sheetmetal shop. Definitely can't go wrong with that brand especially for a home/commercial generator.

Camping generators are pretty common, and in a variety of capacities. As the other posters mentioned, those 3KW generators are fine for most camping uses such as for a small camper, but if you have or are considering a larger camper you might need more power than that.

From some google searching the inverter generators are better as they produce clean power that's good for electronics.

 

[RCCP]

Harbor Freight inverters. Won't get personal on how I use them but I use the fucks out of them.

 

[desertwarrior]

I was using a simular model westinghhouse in my shop and it gave out on me fairly quick. Things are fucking noisey as hell also. I use a honda inverter on my camper and it's served me well with no issues. Comes with a warranty and is quiet as a dream.

 

[Sparkyp]

I was using a simular model westinghhouse in my shop and it gave out on me fairly quick. Things are fucking noisey as hell also. I use a honda inverter on my camper and it's served me well with no issues. Comes with a warranty and is quiet as a dream.

yeah man. i've hooked up a few small hondas and they were def quiet