# Portable Inverter Generator vs Standby Generator



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

I just wanted to get your personal opinions on a situation I'm currently faced with. I'll start by saying that I live in an area where power outages are extremely rare and when they do occur, they are normally hours, not days. I actually just got a report from my electric company saying that there were 3 outages in the last 5 years. 2 that were 2 hours and 1 that was 4 hours. I live in Climate Zone 5 (upstate NY) and normally have a wife and a 1 year old at home. I work approximately 1.5hrs from where I live. We also have all natural gas appliances. Lastly, there is already an interlock kit installed in the main panel with a 30A inlet. 

With all that being said, I'm contemplating either buying a Honda Eu7000is inverter generator or a 22kw Generac automatic home standby generator. I understand this is not an apples to apples comparison but I was winde what you guys would do in my particular situation.

The eu7000is costs $4.5k while the Generac costs $11k installed and approximately $500/yr between maintenance, online monitoring, and slight increase in property tax. 

I love how quiet the Honda is but obviously I will need to keep gas on hand since it runs 6-18hrs on a 5.1 gallon tank. However, the Generac is nice if I'm not home as there's no way my wife would be able to set up the generator and tend to my son etc. 

Lastly, I will say that I have a gentent so the Honda would be able to run in bad weather.

I greatly appreciate all of your opinions! Thanks in advance!


----------



## aandpdan (Oct 8, 2012)

Do a load calculation FIRST to determine how much power you really need. With gas appliances you likely can run most everything with the Honda. You may not even need that big a generator.
I get by with a 3kw generator during outages. It'll run the heat, lights (most are LED), and the refrigerator easily with power to spare.

In my case I built a small "dog" house for the generator. It's out there year round. All I have to do is connect the cord to the power inlet on the house and I'm ready to go. With electric start it shouldn't be that difficult for your wife to start it and flip a few switches on your interlock.

You don't need to run it 24/7 during an outage either. Just run it to keep the house warm, the food cold, and charge your devices while it's running.


----------



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

The eu7000is would be needed for its 240v capabilities since we have well water. Running the well, furnace fan, refrigerator/freezer, freezer, gas hot water heater, and some led lights would definitely require a 5.5/7kw generator.


----------



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

The conundrum is whether it's worth it to spend 40% of the price of a standby on a portable or just go the distance. But the $500/yr for the standby is definitely a factor.


----------



## m1lreese (Mar 29, 2018)

Generator Newb said:


> The conundrum is whether it's worth it to spend 40% of the price of a standby on a portable or just go the distance. But the $500/yr for the standby is definitely a factor.


How did you come up with $500/yr?


----------



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

300 annual service to maintain warranty, 100 online monitoring, and 100 increase in property tax per the town tax assessor.


----------



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

A third option is the 11kw Generac Standby that can run everything except for the pool and central air for $8k. Both this price and the $11k price for the 22kw include a 10 year parts and labor warranty from Generac.

Given this third option, would most of you still go Honda or would you go with the 11kw and pop in a few window ACs as needed? Thanks.


----------



## aandpdan (Oct 8, 2012)

Your first post states "3 outages in the last 5 years" and the longest lasted all of 4 hours. 

The house won't freeze up in 4 hours. She'll still have water, hot and cold, for a while. Even if it does take you some time to get home she'll be fine for a while.

Would you consider an NON-inverter generator? Sure it's noisier but that Generac will make quite the racket. You could save quite a bit and go bigger. 

Pop in the window a/c if you need to.


----------



## Generator Newb (Feb 7, 2018)

My concerns with the non-inverter models is that they generally have a total harmonic distortion greater than 5%, are louder than the standby models, and obviously consume more fuel unless converted to natural gas.


----------



## kenn_chan (Jun 11, 2012)

convert the honda to natural gas and call it a day....or just run it on gas. the honda will probably outlast the generac anyway....I have yet to here anything good about generac other than that they are cheaper than model abc.....


----------



## Gizmo (May 21, 2013)

Greetings from lower Michigan! Regardless of which system you choose, you won’t lose power again once you get a generator! Just kidding but its not happening as often here. I am a recently retired electrician. We have lived in our home about 30 years and in that period have only lost the power longer than 24 hours twice. But after the second time I decided to get a generator because we lost two freezers full of meat! 

Our house is 90 years old so the houses are closer together in our neighborhood. I purchased a used Honda EU6500is with 10 hours on it because, for my neighbors sake, it is so quiet. It is basically the same as EU7000is but an older model. This unit was used on a movie set in California so it met their emission standards in California which are more costly. I paid about $3400 total including shipping! A great deal, right? Well, I also purchased $88 tri-fuel propane/natural gas regulator, a $235 Gentent, a hanger lift kit for $57, a $300 remote, a 10 circuit APC Universal transfer switch for $489, about $65 for a temporary cord set and still needed $185 carburetor! That’s over $4800. Your cost will be more. Due to the NEC (National Electrical Code) requirements for grounding and GFCI’s most generators are limited to less than 7500 watts unless rated for commercial/contractor use. The EU6500iSAN is actually able to supply 7500 watts continuously!

I did not install the natural gas regulator due to expert reports of the motors running hotter using NG and in addition to invalidating the warranty! My generator also had a dual purpose as it would power my electric brewery when on the road at craft brewing demonstrations. Unfortunately it wouldn’t start our old air conditioner because the starting load of 3 motors starting (compressor, condenser fan and furnace air circulating fan.

As stated before, I’m an electrician so I know how to safely connect the generator to our house mains but I had to write out and laminate a 14 step procedure for my wife to use if I was gone! That was 5 years ago. Last year I was away on a mission trip with our church and sure enough she lost utility power. She, like many women and some men, is uncomfortable with the house mains. Extension cords are one thing but hooking up the generator to the house is a daunting task even with electric start, so she didn’t do it. Fortunately the power returned in just a few hours. But what if I was away in the winter or it lasted longer? It was when I returned home I decided to get a whole house standby generator.

Friend, its about your family and peace of mind! Lowes sells the Generac 22KW for about $4800. Maybe you don’t even need one that large? Estimates are usually free so let them compute what you need. Get estimates on different parts of the installation, plumbing and electrical. Find out about gas meter options available. I was able to avoid a $600 gas meter upgrade by having the gas company providing a “pressure increase” verses a meter with a larger pipe size. I paid $8500 for my Generac installed with a 70 foot 1.5” gas line. 

Find friends that have Generac generators installed. You will probably only find complaints online as most people will not remark/comment if it works as expected. I would be interested to hear what you did if you haven’t already! Questions welcome!

Been there, done that!

God Bless,
Gizmo


----------



## drmerdp (Apr 10, 2018)

Standby generators give you excellent piece of mind. They fire up automatically and switch power from line to generator. Automatic transfer switches even do load shedding, that will selectively shut off circuits to power the more important load demands. 

They also run at 3600rpms at all times, and can consume around $100 bucks in NG a day. 

If you don’t experience many power outages, and have the ability to turn key start a generator, connect a cord, operate an interlock and flip a breaker...

I’d go eu7000i. Much lower expense. Plus Portable Incase a family member needs power, and you can take it with you if you move.


----------



## sherlywang (Oct 18, 2017)

The eu7000is costs $4k while the Generac costs $11k installed and approximately $500/yr between maintenance, online monitoring, and slight increase in property tax. 

I love how quiet the Honda is but obviously you will need to keep gas on hand since it runs 6-18hrs on a 5.1 gallon tank. However, the Generac is nice if you are not home as there's no way no one would be able to set up the generator.


----------



## email4eric (Dec 23, 2018)

I too, have the EU6500 Honda and I converted mine to tri-fuel a number of years ago. At my previous residence, I ran it on NG and had no problems whatsoever though it was needed very rarely. Here at my new, more rural residence, I have a dedicated propane connection with hose and quick disconnects. The 6500 runs really nicely on gaseous fuels. 



I don't know if you can convert the EU7000 to NG/Propane given that it's fuel injected but the 6500 can be found used with low hours pretty regularly.


I just got through a 3 day stretch of no power and the Honda performed flawlessly. I put about 60 hours on it. I was able to run everything in the house with some basic load management of the big-ticket items. 



They're so quiet you can have a normal conversation while standing next to them.


$11K plus $500/YR is a lot of money for what it sounds like your needs would be and for how frequently you would need a generator.


I can pull out the Honda, connect the fuel hose, plug it in and have it going in about 15 minutes or so. It has electric start and I just store it in the shed with a battery tender on it. Starts right up.


Anyway, good luck and I'm sure you'll be happy with whichever path you choose!


----------



## Charles6 (Feb 21, 2019)

You're best bet is to go with a portable unit. That Honda unit is great - but Harbor Freight has a comparable model unit at half the cost and most are reverse engineered copys. Read the reviews - people love HF generators!

There is no way I would buy a whole home generator because:
1) Cost
2) If the store is THAT bad, Natural Gas supply might stop


----------

