Discussion Portable Generator for Essentials

[ch33zw1z]

Looking into buying a portable generator to power home essentials during a power outage. Curious how others approach this and their experience.

The Essentials, as I see it, are:

1. Fridge - currently on it's own 15A circuit
2. Chest Freezer - on a 15A circuit with a number of other things
3. Tankless Water Heater - on it's own 20A circuit - hardwired in, so I would either have to feed this thru the panel or change the cabling so it's pluggable.
a. This is an Oil fed heater, I have two heat zones and basically just wanna ensure we can keep pipes from freezing. Not necessarily planning on running hot water for sinks or showers...

Factors:

1. I'm not a big dude, not looking to hurt myself lugging a 100+ lb generator around.
2. My property is on a hill, no garage. This will be stored in my basement.
a. House built on the hill, basement also has a front door, with a small porch.
3. Cost - Trying to stay around $1000 for just the generator. I know there will be other charges, such as outdoor cover to protect, cables, gas cans, etc...

Something like this is what I would prefer:
Generac GP3300i - This *feels* a little undersized to me though.

So maybe something like this:

Predator 4550W


Current estimate based on labels on devices:

edit - below, controller should be .2A, so total wattage slightly less, negligible

 

[BoomerD]

Any generator that will power that list will be around 100 lbs...or more.

You don't list any electronics that should be sensitive to "dirty power," so you could probably get away with not buying an inverter generator...but I wouldn't.

woot often has great deals on Champion generators, but tosay, only a couple of Wen units and one Westinghouse.

WEN Dual Fuel Portable Generator 4750-Watt

WEN Dual Fuel Portable Generator 4750-Watt

www.woot.com

Westinghouse 4650W Dual Fuel Generator

Westinghouse 4650W Dual Fuel Generator

tools.woot.com

Neither of which are inverter units, but should do the trick.


If you have the $$$to burn, Honda generators are "the best of the best," but they're spendy.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Any generator that will power that list will be around 100 lbs...or more.

You don't list any electronics that should be sensitive to "dirty power," so you could probably get away with not buying an inverter generator...but I wouldn't.

woot often has great deals on Champion generators, but tosay, only a couple of Wen units and one Westinghouse.

WEN Dual Fuel Portable Generator 4750-Watt

WEN Dual Fuel Portable Generator 4750-Watt

www.woot.com

Westinghouse 4650W Dual Fuel Generator

Westinghouse 4650W Dual Fuel Generator

tools.woot.com

Neither of which are inverter units, but should do the trick.


If you have the $$$to burn, Honda generators are "the best of the best," but they're spendy.

Not bad, Looks like they can take propane also?

the Westinghouse, maybe just a hand truck to move it

the Wen , has wheels....not sure how it would be on stairs

And this is for essentials. I could possibly charges phones on it...but I won't be planning anything like TV's, PC's, etc...

 

[deadlyapp]

I'd look at costco - they've been selling the generac 9500W and also the Furman tri-fuel (8500W?) which are both good units. The tri-fuel is nice because you can get a 100lb propane cylinder which holds much better than gasoline.

I also saw you have an electric on demand water heater? Is that really correct?

Fridge and Freezer should have relatively low current draw, but the water heater will have a lot. Pay attention to the connections - I have a Generac unit that has a 30A 240V circuit in it, so I've wired in a 50A 240V NEMA plug to pass through power to a manual transfer switch which splits into 240V/120V and hooks in right at my main breaker. This will be expensive if you can't do the work yourself, but prevents from having to run a bunch of extension cords all over the place.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I'd look at costco - they've been selling the generac 9500W and also the Furman tri-fuel (8500W?) which are both good units. The tri-fuel is nice because you can get a 100lb propane cylinder which holds much better than gasoline.

I also saw you have an electric on demand water heater? Is that really correct?

Fridge and Freezer should have relatively low current draw, but the water heater will have a lot. Pay attention to the connections - I have a Generac unit that has a 30A 240V circuit in it, so I've wired in a 50A 240V NEMA plug to pass through power to a manual transfer switch which splits into 240V/120V and hooks in right at my main breaker. This will be expensive if you can't do the work yourself, but prevents from having to run a bunch of extension cords all over the place.

Yes tankless water heater has its own 20A / 120V breaker. I was thinking I’d have to feed into the panel thru another 20A outlet

then run the fridge and freezer off of the generators 120V outlets

 

[deadlyapp]

The "right" way to do it is have a transfer switch, then all you do is swap from grid power to generator power and you leave the outlets as they are. With that said, it's also the more expensive option if you have to hire an electrician to do it for you.

 

[ch33zw1z]

The "right" way to do it is have a transfer switch, then all you do is swap from grid power to generator power and you leave the outlets as they are. With that said, it's also the more expensive option if you have to hire an electrician to do it for you.

I’d like to do it like that, but I doubt I can talk myself into panel work. I do basic electrical…

 

[ch33zw1z]

So I'm kinda thinking I get two smaller ones.

Something like this GP2500i to run the fridge and freezer, then a little bit of room for phone charging (something that usually needs done during power outages anyways)

And then the iQ3500 to run just the water heater when the weather is cold enough to freeze pipes.

In this way, the flexibility to run the smaller one during spring summer fall when the heater isn't necessarily required, and the weight / mobility is more up my alley.

Snagging them from Amazon won't hurt with the 5% cash back also.

 

[BoomerD]

Because I didn't want to have an electrician install the transfer switch, and because my house is heated with Cadet wall heaters, it was MUCH easier to install one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Reliance-Control-Corporation-WKPBN30-EMW3790037/dp/B0743BQDT4/ref=asc_df_B0743BQDT4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312134265253&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5513309881244243431&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033542&hvtargid=pla-568800994550&psc=1

Plug the inverter generator into it when needed...run extension cords to the few things I need to power in an outage. Pellet stove, fridge, some lights...TV and computers.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Thanks for that @BoomerD , I may snag one and install it at some point.

 

[BoomerD]

So ..for the first time since I bought my generator almost a year ago, the power went out at about 5 am. Not sure why the hell the dog woke me up...but he did...and it was dark.
So...after checking Facebook to see how widespread the outage was, (the entire area) I dragged the generator out of the shed, gassed it up and got it started...then the power came back on.
Gonna let it run for an hour or so to recharge the starting battery.

 

[iRONic]

Bunch of genny info here

 

[JEDI]

The "right" way to do it is have a transfer switch, then all you do is swap from grid power to generator power and you leave the outlets as they are. With that said, it's also the more expensive option if you have to hire an electrician to do it for you.

So don't do this?
turn off main breaker in electrical panel
make a suicide male to male cord
plug one end into the generator
plug other end into an outlet.

it'll power everything on the side of the panel that outlet connects to: 'A' or 'B' side.
and With the main breaker off, power wont backfeed and shock the electricians trying to get power back on.

 

[JEDI]

So I'm kinda thinking I get two smaller ones.

Something like this GP2500i to run the fridge and freezer, then a little bit of room for phone charging (something that usually needs done during power outages anyways)

And then the iQ3500 to run just the water heater when the weather is cold enough to freeze pipes.

In this way, the flexibility to run the smaller one during spring summer fall when the heater isn't necessarily required, and the weight / mobility is more up my alley.

Snagging them from Amazon won't hurt with the 5% cash back also.

Solar Generator DELTA2 with 220W Solar Panel (sale $1300):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG1K1BQ7

 

[deadlyapp]

So don't do this?
turn off main breaker in electrical panel
make a suicide male to male cord
plug one end into the generator
plug other end into an outlet.

it'll power everything on the side of the panel that outlet connects to: 'A' or 'B' side.
and With the main breaker off, power wont backfeed and shock the electricians trying to get power back on.

Outlets are only rated 15-20A. The Romex in the wall is only rated 15-20A (depending on 14 or 12 gauge). I think that breakers "could" be backfed but I honestly have no idea what that would do.

If you only wanted to power a single circuit, yes, you could conceivably shut the main breaker, and individual circuit breaker and do what you are saying.

most generators will be fused at 15-20A on their normal 3 prong 120V outlets, so you'd probably be safe from overcurrent.

 

[Brovane]

So don't do this?
turn off main breaker in electrical panel
make a suicide male to male cord
plug one end into the generator
plug other end into an outlet.

it'll power everything on the side of the panel that outlet connects to: 'A' or 'B' side.
and With the main breaker off, power wont backfeed and shock the electricians trying to get power back on.

I used this exact setup today for a planned power outage today for my house.
The previous owner of my house has this setup to use a generator.
The 30-amp/240v breaker for the dryer is wired to a male plug coming out from the breaker box with about 10 feet of Romex cable.
During a power outage, flip the main breaker off in the electrical panel. I then also flip off all my 240V breakers except the dryer breaker. Plug in the male plug into the generator and then turn on generator. You then have power to your house.
When not being used I have it plugged into a female connector that is wired up to a 14-50 outlet in a box to power my EV charger. I have the EV charger set to not pull more than 24-amps, which is plenty to charge my EV.

 

[skyking]

OP, you are way off on the fridge load. It does not use 12 amps at start load.
Just letting you know that I have a large LG 3 door and a 15 cu ft chest freezer, and when I plug them both in to my 2000 honda it barely comes off the lowest auto idle speed. I have not timed it so both compressors start at the same time, but when I get the fridge plugged in and then the freezer it certainly gets the run load of one compressor and the start load of the other.

 

[Brovane]

I can confirm for the Fridge load. I have a LG 29 Cu Ft fridge in my garage. I also have a home energy monitor so I can track home energy usage. The fridge average usage per month is about 30 kwh and the peak demand was 384 watts.

 

[skyking]

384 watts does not pencil out to a 12 amp start load. That was my main point. My fridge plus freezer never made my 2000 honda go to more than half throttle, with a few light thrown in on the side.