Inverter type generators cost 2.5x -4x a regular generator.
Generator vs Inverter Generator
- Thread starter Donald
- Start date
Interesting I have a Troy Built Generator 3500 Watt with a Briggs Engine. Past three hurricanes, it worked fine, however this last hurricane, the Briggs engine started to leak gasoline from the Fuel Bowl.
Called neighbor over. Said leaking from bowl gasket.
Ok. Got to get gasket replaced. Then, I got to thinking. All my neighbors are young and only know Duel Injection. They know nothing about Carburetors and FLOATS in Float Bowls. Gas fills bowl, float does not shut off flow, gas overflows out top of bowl.
Just like cars before FI.
I’m too old to be bending down to fix. Now have a local shop ordering parts to fix.
(Shop may already have float, needle and gasket in stock)
Young people have no idea how carburetors work.
Easy to compare Honda EU7000i inverter vs EM6500S.
EU7000 costs $4,499 and has a 5.1 gallon tank. Will run 6.4 hours at full load and 16 hours on quarter load. That’s 0.8 gph at full load and 0.32 gph at quarter load.
EM6500 costs $3,199 and has a 6.4 gallon tank. Will run 6.4 hours at full load and 9.8 at half load. That’s 1.0gph at full load and 0.65gph at half load.
Inverter costs 40% more. At average gas price of $3.07, inverter costs $2.46 / hour at full load and $0.98 / hour at quarter speed.
EM costs $3.07 / hour at full throttle and $2.00 per hour at half load.
So at full throttle the breakeven is 2,131 hours. At partial (1/4 vs 1/2) throttle break even is 1,275.
https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/compare?modelid=em6500x2ag&modelId=eu7000isnag
EU7000 costs $4,499 and has a 5.1 gallon tank. Will run 6.4 hours at full load and 16 hours on quarter load. That’s 0.8 gph at full load and 0.32 gph at quarter load.
EM6500 costs $3,199 and has a 6.4 gallon tank. Will run 6.4 hours at full load and 9.8 at half load. That’s 1.0gph at full load and 0.65gph at half load.
Inverter costs 40% more. At average gas price of $3.07, inverter costs $2.46 / hour at full load and $0.98 / hour at quarter speed.
EM costs $3.07 / hour at full throttle and $2.00 per hour at half load.
So at full throttle the breakeven is 2,131 hours. At partial (1/4 vs 1/2) throttle break even is 1,275.
https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/compare?modelid=em6500x2ag&modelId=eu7000isnag
Would be a huge gen set for 30k!
A small air cooled backup power with auto transfer is maybe 10% of that price.
You need to decide why your buying one, and what load you need. If your doing it to save a freezer full of food, save your money.
I did two extended power outages due to hurricane without a generator. The big thing was that we did no loose water. There was a boil order, but the toilet flushed and cold shower was possible. Really no hardship.
However when Texas had that ice storm and peoples pipe's froze, I decided a backup plan was in order. Now in my case I have gas heat. My gas fireplace will keep the place above freezing with a fan. The gas furnace will run on a fairly low current load. If the gas goes out well I guess I am out of luck. I suppose I could run space heaters for quite a while. Maybe the ultra cold weather ends after a couple days?
A 3500W inverter / generator will set you back $500 or so.
I have a lot of electric appliances on a 600 amp service and I figured if I’m going to do it, I’d do it all the way. The problem is the service entrance is 150’ from the natural gas meter which would necessitate a new line or a ton of electrical work. If I lived in Florida, then it’d be a no-brainer.
A no-brainer meaning you would get a generator on move.
Is 600 amp for a normal house or house & shop or McMansion?
Not normal. I had a house with 400 amp service. I had an addition built with garage space and 1400 SF of living space and didn’t want another meter and associated fees for the next 30 years so I had them just run new service to the addition and then pull wire over to the house to feed the existing. Fortunately, I had it in the contract because once the builder got bids he really tried to get me to slap another meter on the addition.
I have a Champion 7500 watt inverter generator. It’s 240V and I can power my entire house minus the large circuits. I generally advise against a transfer switch and to just use an interlock instead (for portable generators). An interlock will power your entire panel and you can choose which circuits to power off. And it’s cheaper. No reason not to power all the bedrooms and have lights in them.
If you have a 300 gallon propane tank, might as well get a duel fuel unit. You might have to have your propane guy change fittings so that you can hook your generator to your tank.
If you have a 300 gallon propane tank, might as well get a duel fuel unit. You might have to have your propane guy change fittings so that you can hook your generator to your tank.
How about something like this and if the solar could not charge it then a small dual fuel generator or inverter generator to charge if.
That's a lot of dough for 3K and I am no stranger to spending dough. I mean compared to a 9500W gas generator for example.
Well I would factor in the situation where gas in hard to come by and you want to the longest run with the 5 gallons of gas you have
Have to purchase while still working.
Electric start gennie seems to fit my retirement gig. Good starter battery maintainer is a requirement.
Don't get me wrong, I would love a good large battery bank, just to have - but in 4 years would never have used the thing anywhere where the generator didn't start right up. Either could be hookerated to my outside plug and transfer switch, and be quite seamless. In fact battery easier, no need to start!
do have a smaller UPS for this PC though.
If you want to go solar generator, then you need to research those. The Jackery combo packs seem to be way over priced. Their power stations are OK, but they want a fortune for their panels.
Realize also that if you have a 200W panel array, your in reality going to get maybe 100W on a sunny day unless you want to continuously aim the panels at the sun all day. So with 10 hours of daylight your going to get 1000Watts, or about the same as running the smallest suitcase generator for 1 hour at half load.
Don't get me wrong, I think there a good idea, but as a supplement to a generator. You can also use the generator to charge the power station on cloudy days.
My buddy went five days with a construction generator and three gas cans. And an elderly mother who needed to stay warm.
Made at least one and sometimes two trips a day, nearest station was over 10 miles away. No gas cans available anywhere.
A Jackery is a fancy box wrapped around a battery. If you want to get into solar or off-grid or whatever, home-brew with appropriate generic batteries that you can replace when they age out.
Jackery is trying to make backup power "friendly" to housewives or the technologically illiterate.
If a generator gums up its carburetor you can get another one for $20 off eBay. Holds its value better.
Jackery is trying to make backup power "friendly" to housewives or the technologically illiterate.
If a generator gums up its carburetor you can get another one for $20 off eBay. Holds its value better.
For about the same price, you can get a new 10kw Kubota Lowboy.
For a few K more, you can get a 14kw.
It looks like HF has an 5000 watt inverter generator dual fuel for $799 on sale until 12/2. Is that a super sale price or a normal sale price?
