What gas generator do you like the best? Running time and quietness, fuel burn..

I run a yamaha powered generator for camping . 2000 watt from costco


Quiet , reliable $449

For house or camping?

I have a honda for camping runs the lights and cd player in elk camp.

I bought one of the dual fuel gas/propane ones from Costco for the house plumbed it into the house and 500 gallon propane tank. It can run everything including the ac if i am careful turning on the ac after an outage.

What did that run you installed? The house we bought last fall had a lot of water comin into the pit last year, dry so far this spring. Theres a heavy power cord running to the bsement thought about getting a 500 dollar gas generator for but would obviously need to be home during a power loss. I have a good wayne battery back up, but one of those installed auto generators would be peace of mind.

This is not an automatic generator i have to start it and switch the house to be able to run it. It was like 600 bucks, we lose power a couple times a year for a day or 2 each time

https://www.ganderoutdoors.com/cham...eAJr8TnCswaAvfzEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I had one of those $500 generators for 20 years. It did the job, but it was loud. Also, if you are going to run electronics off of it you want a stable supply of electricity. So after thinking about it for a few years I saved up some bucks and sprung for an EU Honda inverter generator. Extremely stable supply and extremely quiet. It has two idle speeds. On low you can be standing right next to it and carry on a conversation. On the high idle you have to be about 10-20 feet away. You can't do that with most generators. Easy to start and runs smooth. Whatever size or brand you buy do some homework on the differences between generators and inverter generators.

I have a Honda 5000 at camp with remote starter. It’s about 20 years old runs lights, water pump, microwave, and outlets. The only problem I’ve had in 20 years was I had to replace voltage regulator .

Ok, i was primarily thinking for home use,and recomended wattage

HONDA

Buck, if you have a amp meter check and see how many amps your house is pulling on a normal day. Then you will have to decide how comfortable you want to be when the power goes out. I have a 15k backup generator now that runs everything. House is roughly 2900 sq feet with only gas heat. We used to have a 6500 that would just keep the basics running. After about 3500 watts it’s hard to keep the decibels down without spending big bucks.

Our farm keeps 7 3500-8500 watt generators ready to go. Craftsman, Honda, Champion, and power house. All have ran hundreds of hours. My favorite is the old Craftsman but I just bought the champion and really like it. Generac is also a good brand. I’ve been around them but never owned one.

When I lived at the N.C. Coast, I had a 12 kw Honda. It would power my home following hurricanes. I could only run one HVAC, no hot tub, and no microwave if HVAC was running. Kept that unit through three batteries. Always cranked and ran. After about ten years I sold the house and the buyer bought it from me for the amount I paid new. Only used ethanol free gasoline. Considered switching to propane so I wouldn’t need to maintain so much gas. I heated water with propane.

It you get a large unit, know that they put out a lot of heat and noise. Keep out of rain but we’ll vented. When not in use roll it back into a garage or workshop. Baby it especially in a salt environment.

Honda is great if you have the money. Otherwise, Harbor Freight sells Predator for half the price and uses the same parts as Honda. 2000 won't run heat and A/C but I have a 3500 that does the job.

I got real lucky a few years back , went to an estate sale , they had a non-running Honda 4.5k generator. I got it for $140. It needed a new battery , carburetor was gummed up and the starter was frozen. Got a battery -$60 , cleaned the carburetor and pulled out the starter and manually spun it a couple times and put it back in. The thing runs great. Very , very quiet.
In the process of repairing it I was impressed at the design and quality of build. There is a few things that make you think that it was designed almost like a mini automobile system .

Very nice unit , truly like the Cadillac of generators. Best $200 I ever spent , the equivalent is about $4500 brand new.

I have run a 3500Watts generator on the boat for 6 years. Wore out a Honda and then a couple of Champions after that. They ran the water heater, double door fridge freezer, all LED lighting and outlets. ( TV microwave, toaster etc. You have to do a little power management at times. Like not have the water heater, toaster and Microwave on at the same time. Other than that it worked for us. I also had a 3500 watt inverter and a bank of golf cart batteries, that ran the fridge and outlet after 21;00 hours when the Generator got turned off for the night. And we started it up again at 0900 in the morning, when t would re charge the batteries and run the boat for the day again. The Champions had remote start and stop .... the Honda was electric start but ya had to go out to push the button.

Buck, to run your house you want a minimum of 5000W. This would allow you to run a fridge, freezer, sump, a few lights. You should probably get a 7-8000W if you have more than that and if you need to use electricity for heat. You're ok for a gas furnace (thermostat and motor require electricity), don't know about an oil furnace. Electric baseboard would be limited to one or two units, (maybe three depending on size) for short periods of time as you would not be able to run anything else.

Ok, hope this isnt too stupid of a question but are we wanting that wattage in running or starting?

IMO Starting

You will need a 2 to 3 time larger generator than your load for start up.

CAUTION! If you are planning to hook your temp power into the power system without a disconnect the temp power can feed back and cook a lineman working on a line problem!

You used to be able to get a black max generator from Sams club that had a Honda motor on it.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/7500w-generator-honda-gx390-gas/prod22041931?xid=plp_product_1_39

For whole house I wouldn't get anything less than 6500 watts and with that you may have to keep some breakers off.

8-10 would be good. Kinda all depends on what your expecting to run with it.

6500 does my forced air gas furnace and other stuff around the house. Gas water heater, gas stove, elect well pump. runs the microwave fridge freezers and tvs.
I do all of that but I should have one bigger than 6500. I seem to get away with alot and would suggest bigger.

Like I said it all depends what you want to do. If your running an extension cord into the house to keep the freezer and fridge going and stocking the wood stove a small portable 2000 honda one would be great.

We have lots of power outage with blown down trees, We have a 30k generac with auto transfer switch. Powers everything including our water well.

I have a Generac XP8000E portable that I have had for 11 yrs. Has a voltage regulator that they call True Power Technology. Suppose to be less than 5% THD. I've never had an issue with my electronics. 8000 running watts, 12000 surge watts. True output is 7200 watts. (30 amps at 240 volts) that I run through a 30 amp manual transfer switch. Run time is about 1 hr. per gallon for my needs. 9 gal. fuel tank. Has never let me down. I live in the woods and tend to loose power every time the wind blows. I'd definitely recommend Generac.