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After 3 days without power we are looking at buying a generator, does anyone have any suggestions on brands? Are there any better than others? Any to avoid?

There are a few things to consider...
How much of your electrical need do you want to supply at any given time?
What is going to be the most continent fuel?
Do you want this to be portable or permanently fixed?

KennyV

We've thought about the same thing but haven't really looked into it yet. We'd just want a smaller portable one I think, something that would keep us going for the short term.

We are looking into portable so we could use it elsewhere, we are also looking for gas powered, something to run the fridge and freezer and maybe a small tv.

monica123 said:

We are looking into portable so we could use it elsewhere, we are also looking for gas powered, something to run the fridge and freezer and maybe a small tv.

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You will be able to do what your wanting with a 3kwatt or smaller. :smile:KennyV

Some make a lot more noise than others. If this is a consideration you may want to look into a Honda, very quiet but very expensive, if you add it up by watts/dollars. The Hondas seem to be well made, light weight and very reliable.

KennyV said:

You will be able to do what your wanting with a 3kwatt or smaller. :smile:KennyV

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Mine is a 5000 watt Coleman Powermate with a 10 hp Tecumseh, Coleman went out of business a LONG time ago...oh well you can always gets parts for a Tek engine !!! Get about 3500-4000 watts, Honda is a great brand but costly. And my 2 cents worth--if powering a TV set or other electronic device, use a good surge suppressor...I mean GOOD, not a cheapo from the dollar store. It's easy to fry electronics with a genset.

I would also recommend that you think about electric start - Honda engines start easy, but my better half could not pull start a generator we had -- no good if you can't get it started.

Better to have a little too much capacity than too little - make a list of what you might want to run and how many watts and amps they will require at start up. I'd recommend to get the next size up from what you think you will need.

I agree that Honda is the best. Would suggest getting one in the 5000v - 10,000v range since refrig. and freezers use alot of juice and you would still have enough for water pump, some lights, TV, computer, etc. You may also want to look into something called a "transfer switch" that will allow you to connect your generator into the circuits of your house thus avoiding the use of dangerous extension cords.

Emergency Generator - TractorByNet.com

rekees said:

I agree that Honda is the best. Would suggest getting one in the 5000v - 10,000v range since refrig. and freezers use alot of juice and you would still have enough for water pump, some lights, TV, computer, etc. You may also want to look into something called a "transfer switch" that will allow you to connect your generator into the circuits of your house thus avoiding the use of dangerous extension cords.

Emergency Generator - TractorByNet.com

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I respectfully disagree with getting a huge genset...nobody NEEDS to have fridge, freezer, well pump, etc running 24/7. My 5000 watt model was used basically to keep the fridge and freezer powered for an hour or two a day, some lights, and maybe the sump pump, furnace, and well pump for a 15 minute period at a time. Bigger gensets suck up gas and you are basically paying for much more capacity than is needed. We made do with water from my barrel for flushing, drinking water from bottles, didn't open the fridge or freezer unless needed, ran the furnace ten minutes an hour, etc. Sure it is nice to have a 10,000 watt genset thsat powers everything in your house but HOW OFTEN do you actually need one? I have had my genset since '94, have probably used it 35-40 hours at most over a 16 year period. It has NEVER been run full throttle, even while feeding my neighbors house thru a cord so they could run their lights and fridge same time as ours were going. 5000 watt continuous/6400 surge is the sweet spot for specs, IMO. Big enough to run things easily, small enough and fuel efficient enough to be affordable. And although I'm a little guy 59 years old, I can still pull start the 10 hp Tecumseh on my genset...:biggrin:

I would recommend the new Honda 3000 watt inverter genset modeled after the 2000I at around 75 lbs it is portable, with recoil start, very quiet and will have no problem running a gas or oil furnace, tv, fridge freezer or other small appliances.. I have several gensets gas and diesel, the small Honda's are the ones that get used the most. I have the 2000I which weighs about 46 lbs and runs almost all day on 1 gal of fuel. If you compare these small Hondas' with the open frame budget gensets you will be amazed at how quiet these things are.

If you must have electric start the 3000 w Honda with built in tank and battery is super quiet at 58db but weighs about 140 lbs. While a good unit I find it to be too heavy to be considered truely portable. While I like the one I have it is mounted on the rear of our 5th wheel now and bought the 2000 w model to serve as the "portable".

My choice of small diesel gensets are the Onan "Commercial Mobile Quiet Diesels" CMQD models I have a 5500w on one of my service trucks. These are equipped with a Kubota diesel engine and water cooled with choices of 120v, 208v 3phase or 240v, 50 0r 60 cycle models too.

I have a 3000 model for my RV, but it's more generator than I really need to do the job. It's also heavier and more cumbersome than I would prefer. The 2000I might be what I need!

Are you talking of the Honda 2000I generators? I was going through some product review for these and realized that they are light enough and can even be hauled in wheel carts.

I am leaning either toward a Honda or a King, has anyone used a King? we have other products they make and have had good success with them.

Sorry I'm a little late to the party but I will endorse the recommendations for a Honda generator.
After hurricane Katrina hit here in South Louisiana in 2005 I was able to get a 7500 W John Deere gnerator. Essentially it is a Honda generator in green paint. We ran it for 10 - 15 hours a day for amost a month without any problems. Changed the oil every 50 hours and replaced the spark plug a couple of times. Have only used it one other time for a couple of days after a lesser storm a few years ago. I run it for 30-45 minutes once a month and change the oil every 6 months and it starts up every time and runs smooth as glass with good electrical output. Don't know much about other brands but the Hondas perform over the long haul..

I've got the same Coleman 5000W JD has, but I built it in a class the UAW was offering. It was only 200 bucks for the unit, so well worth it. Still, even though it could power my entire house, we've just used it to plug our and our neighbors fridges and freezers in for a cycle every few hours, so as not to lose meat and such. It's funny seeing your neighbor coming up with the end of an extension cord in his hand. :laughing: Thinking about TVs and such is generally not considered until we've been told we'll be out a week or so. That's never happened to us here, but it might be different up north.