# What would you suggest...



## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

Newbie here! Just moved back to the Gulf Coast and am readying the house for hurricane season. I am reading a lot of info here and online about portable dual fuel generators. It seems overwhelming with all of the various generators available. I have a 65-year-old wood-frame house. *I expect to run a couple of lights, the refrigerator, internet wi-fi modem, battery and power tool chargers, a single-window air-conditioner in the bedroom, and perhaps a tv and radio.* Not running everything all at once of course. A propane cookstove will take care of our cooking so we won't need to use the electric stove. The water heater is natural gas, so not too concerned about that going out. Can wash clothes if necessary by hand.

So, what do you think I need generator wise. I would spend around $1000 if necessary, but I think that may be overkill. I hope to be around 650 - 700.


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## Browse Deweb (Jan 16, 2021)

JG1 said:


> Newbie here! Just moved back to the Gulf Coast and am readying the house for hurricane season. I am reading a lot of info here and online about portable dual fuel generators. It seems overwhelming with all of the various generators available. I have a 65-year-old wood-frame house. *I expect to run a couple of lights, the refrigerator, internet wi-fi modem, battery and power tool chargers, a single-window air-conditioner in the bedroom, and perhaps a tv and radio.* Not running everything all at once of course. A propane cookstove will take care of our cooking so we won't need to use the electric stove. The water heater is natural gas, so not too concerned about that going out. Can wash clothes if necessary by hand.
> 
> So, what do you think I need generator wise. I would spend around $1000 if necessary, but I think that may be overkill. I hope to be around 650 - 700.


I like Honda generators, but for your price range, maybe consider a Champion duel fuel inverter model:






3400-Watt Dual Fuel Inverter - Champion Power Equipment


Powering Your Life




www.championpowerequipment.com


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## Jump (Nov 19, 2020)

I am on the Mississippi gulf coast and I have the same requirements as you.

I use 2 Champion 2000 watt inverter generators paralled with champion's parallel cable, giving me 3200 watts.

This is enough to power lights, the TV and fans. I can use the microwave OR an 8000 BTU window air conditioner.

The beauty of 2 paralled units is the option to only run one when a high demand load such as A/C or microwave is not needed, thus saving gasoline. Fuel can be hard to find after a hurricane.

I've included a generator you might like.






2500-Watt Dual Fuel Inverter - Champion Power Equipment


Powering Your Life




www.championpowerequipment.com





Jump


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

JG1 said:


> Newbie here! Just moved back to the Gulf Coast and am readying the house for hurricane season. I am reading a lot of info here and online about portable dual fuel generators. It seems overwhelming with all of the various generators available. I have a 65-year-old wood-frame house. *I expect to run a couple of lights, the refrigerator, internet wi-fi modem, battery and power tool chargers, a single-window air-conditioner in the bedroom, and perhaps a tv and radio.* Not running everything all at once of course. A propane cookstove will take care of our cooking so we won't need to use the electric stove. The water heater is natural gas, so not too concerned about that going out. Can wash clothes if necessary by hand.
> 
> So, what do you think I need generator wise. I would spend around $1000 if necessary, but I think that may be overkill. I hope to be around 650 - 700.


go tri fuel that way you have a choice!
looks like you have NG at your location.
i would make that your primary fuel.
then the other 2 as gasoline and LP
NG will be way cheaper if it is working during your outage event...
but with that said NG will be out if trees are up rooted etc.

LP is ok for rural areas... but for city the storage of larger amounts of LP and or gasoline maybe restricted by fire Marshall rules or local ord.

first things first do a power survey for the lowest power you can get by with.
then do the max power...
an smaller inverter gen like a honda eu2200i will run a long time to keep a fridge and freezer cold...
i can run the whole house here in the winter time on a single eu2200i honda!

the cool thing is on the inverter gens you can add another like model and brand of gen set to get more power...
and they are super quiet!

do a budget, count the days you will need a gen set...
and buy a good quality of generator!


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## fewpop (Sep 3, 2019)

We were all newbies once upon a time. ;-). 

Just my old 2 cents worth: I think both of the Champions mentioned above are good ideas for sure. 

Like IowaPaul said: if natural gas is available it is very nice to have tri-fuel options. 

Also if you could maybe bump the budget up to about $1400 and you have just a little bit of mechanical aptitude I think you could get new Honda 2200 inverter and add a Hutch Mtn. or US Carb. kit and be powered up down on the coast with the most. 😁

My 15 year old Honda eu3000is happily purrs with a 2200 watt load on natural gas, and if you are willing to pick/adjust your actual load needs during the outage it can be surprising how just the power the 2200 model outputs on natural gas can & likely will get you by, especially if you take turns between the fridge and a small window a/c.


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## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

fewpop said:


> Also if you could maybe bump the budget up to about $1400 and you have just a little bit of mechanical aptitude I think you could get new Honda 2200 inverter and add a Hutch Mtn. or US Carb. kit and be powered up down on the coast with the most. 😁


Lowes has the Honda at $1090 and I get a 10% vet discount on top of that, so that sounds promising. Yes, I probably have the mechanical know-how to put the conversion kit in place on the inverter but, how does it hook up to natural gas? Is that something the gas company needs to do? Thanks!


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## fewpop (Sep 3, 2019)

I won’t speculate on what your local codes or your gas company expectations are but I can tell you in my case I was able to run about 15 feet of three-quarter inch black steel gas pipe from a tee near my gas furnace through my garage wall so that I have an exterior quick connect where I can plug in the 8 ft long three-quarter inch flexible quick connect rubber gas hose that I purchased from US Carburetion (I also purchased quick connect fittings from US Carburetion), And one end of the rubber hose has a quick connect to the low pressure regulator that comes with the kit and then connects to the generator. The quick connects and the *quality proper rubber hose* are optional items that I highly recommend. 

Iowagold can give you some good links to the kind of optional stuff to make the connections easier. US Carburetion sells all the hoses and fittings and they give good advice over the phone or by email. Hutch Mt. mayalso sell all the fittings and hoses but I’m not sure about that. Quick connect fittings and hoses would probably easily add another hundred dollars to the overall cost by the way. Also keep in mind that if you run any of the generators on natural gas you should only expect to get about 75 to 80% of the normal running maximum load the generator is rated for due to the lower power produced by natural gas versus gasoline. So you would want to factor that into your power needs when you calculate them. There are many members here who know vastly more than I do about these things but I hope my amateur information is helpful to you. 👍🏻


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## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

This is my emergency use list to run on a generator. Of course, not everything would be run at the same time. Will the Honda 2200i or equivalent inverter handle this?

AC 6,000 BTU in window 535
Refrigerator 500
Three-four lights 200
Crockpot 200
Wi-Fi 10
TV 90
AA/AAA Charger 200
Blender (Use it every day) 1200 – 1400
Fan 90
Dehumidifier   600


Total: 3825 watts


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## Browse Deweb (Jan 16, 2021)

JG1 said:


> This is my emergency use list to run on a generator. Of course, not everything would be run at the same time. Will the Honda 2200i or equivalent inverter handle this?
> 
> AC 6,000 BTU in window 535
> Refrigerator 500
> ...


The Honda 2200i is rated at 1800 watts continuous. It will probably handle most of your normal loads, but you might have to turn the AC off when running the blender.

If you find you need more power, you can always get a companion unit later on and parallel it:


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## FlyFisher (Jun 30, 2018)

JG1 said:


> This is my emergency use list to run on a generator. Of course, not everything would be run at the same time. Will the Honda 2200i or equivalent inverter handle this?
> 
> AC 6,000 BTU in window 535
> Refrigerator 500
> ...


I have an EU2200i and ran it a couple weekends ago running a ~9,000BTU room AC in a tent plus a couple other lighter loads. The AC "will" run on the generator if the ECO mode is off. However, the starting load is enormous for the generator and it does struggle to get it running. If this was a normal set up for me then adding a "soft start" or "easy start" to the AC would be the solution if I was to pair it with the EU2200i. I am confident with a softer starting load the combination would work a lot better. 

If you are running other loads in addition to the AC as you state then I would highly recommend sizing up generators. Staying with inverters will give you a lot of flexibility. They are more fuel efficient and quieter than rotary generators. I would suggest something north of 3kw.

Something to also consider is how you are going to get the power from the generator to all the devices that you have. Are you going to string extension cords all over the house? Or are you going to tie in to the power panel and use the installed circuits? If you run extension cords all over the place then bear in mind that the cable losses will affect the wattage also. The house wiring will as well, but it will be a better solution than the extension cords unless you use heavy gauge extension cords - not the cheapie 18 gauge 100 footers. And if you have excess extension cord length the worst thing to do is leave it on the floor in a nice coil. All the coils create an inductor and add to the difficulty in the generator pushing power through the "inductor" to get to your load. Again, running through the house wiring would negate that issue - and the insufficient wiring sizes so long as the feed from the generator to the panel is sufficient for your loading. If you don't want to dig in to the depth of it yourself then get a licensed electrician to set things up for you (that is the best route to go regardless). 

If you run through your house wiring then you may want a split phase output on the generator, as opposed to all 120v. A lot of higher wattage inverter generators have 30 amp outlets - but they are only 3 pin 120v outlets. If you feed a house panel it would be best to have split phase 120/240 (whether you run 240v loads on the generator or not). There are few inverter generators that offer this - especially under the 6-7kw range. Here is one example:


https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200788693_200788693



The above unit gives you the option of running all the power on 120v or splitting it with a split phase 120/240v outlet. Big bonus - lots of options in an inverter generator! The down side to this one is it is only a cord start, no electric start. 3700 watts running would cover all your bases even without a soft start on the AC. Yea that is under your 3875 figure, but you aren't going to run everything all at once all the time so staggering loads you have loads of head room 

For what it is worth, you "can" feed a split phase power panel with single phase 120v. You would have to keep the 240v breakers off, but to the 2x legs of the power panel neither leg would know the difference. They are just in phase this way and not 180deg out of phase anymore.

Good luck!


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## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

Well, I finally took the plunge! I was looking at the Honda 2200 and the Firman T07571 tri-fuel generators. The Honda was a great choice but the Firman had everything built-in and double the output. I had to join Costco to get it but the price with tax was only $725.00. The gas company charged $375 to run a line to it and I had to buy a natural gas hose, also from Firman for $75. So, all in all, I spent less than expected and it is up and running! Thanks for all of the great input from this forum!!


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## FlyFisher (Jun 30, 2018)

Pictures? 

And can you detail the gas line? 

The reason I ask about the gas line is typically the "gas company" (IE - utility company) does the work up to the reg, and nothing beyond. You would have a licensed plumber do everything post-reg. 

So with that having been said - what was changed in the work that was done on the gas upgrade for connecting the generator? What fittings, valve, connectors, etc?


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## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

Here's how it went for me...

I called two plumbers for estimates. The first had me send him a photo of the gas meter. He responded that he could do it for $500 but he would have to do a work around (whatever that meant). The second plumber came out and gave me an estimate of $900. He gave me a lot of negative vibes about the local gas utility as well. So, what did I do? I called the gas utility and they sent out a tech to make an estimate. He said that the gas utility could do the all of the work for $375 which included 20 feet of gas line. Anything over 20 feet would be $5 a foot. I added 10 feet. He said that they would need to upgrade my meter and I could be charged another $100 for that. Well, even so, the gas company was going to be cheaper than the $900 guy and much more trustworthy than the work around one. So, yesterday two service techs from the gas company showed up to do the work. I told them that I needed to add another ten feet (due to concerns with carbon monoxide and the generator being too close to the house).

In the end, the gas company techs did the job efficiently (about an hour) and were very courteous. When they finished, they gave me an invoice for $375. They did not charge me for the extra footage of pipe, nor for the new meter!! The bill could have been as high as $525. They hung out while I fired up the generator, they explained the quick release connector on the regulator, re-lit my hot water tank and were on their merry way.

Here are some photos. I connected the hose just for the photo. This is simply the storage spot for the generator. When running it I will move it ten feet out from the deck.


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## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

Who supplied the quick disconnects and the regulator at the generator? Looks they ran the hose at pressure and down regulated the gas at the quick disconnect. Where do you live?

Looks like a regulator from high pressure to 2psig then the meter(very compact) then a low pressure 6-7”wc regulator feeding your house. The generator line is tapped in to the 2psig section of pipe. Copper K tubing to another low pressure regulator.

Seems like a pretty good deal. It would have been a bunch more money to run steel pipe. That is likely why you got a $900 quote from one of the plumbers. Still pretty high though.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

hummm
not a legal connection for my area...
it needs to be a hard black pipe line and not copper.

looks like they cheated and did a high pressure meter and did a regulator at the point of use for the gen set.
that is one way to skin the cat! just to get the flow you need...

watch that copper as it will deteriorate fast.

i would to have added a valve at the T before the copper line.
and i still would add one at the T location!
i see they have one just before the regulator, but that is hard to get to....

it would be easy to change the copper pipe to black pipe now!
as well as add the extra valve!

they make the copper pipe wrap tape to help make the copper pipe last longer...
now is the time to do that.
wipe the copper pipe first with brake cleaner. then spiral wrap the pipe with over lap.

or paint the copper pipe with clear coat....

well done on the cost!
we have the same deal here in Iowa...
most of the time here the gas guys as pipe fitters will do it after hours on the cheap.


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## JG1 (Jun 14, 2021)

The gas company supplied everything except the hose from the generator which came from Firman and made specifically for their tri-fuel models. Well, I will get some tape or clear coat and take care of that. Thanks for the info!! I live in Mobile, Alabama.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

JG1 said:


> The gas company supplied everything except the hose from the generator which came from Firman and made specifically for their tri-fuel models. Well, I will get some tape or clear coat and take care of that. Thanks for the info!! I live in Mobile, Alabama.


wipe it down with green can brake clean first then clear coat or that special tape.
let me know if you need links on the tape.
menards has it in the plumbing section.


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## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

I agree with adding valves. Especially at the quick disconnect, though both ends of the run would have been nice.


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