Looking forward to the first winter storm that knocks out power at the new house, I'm thinking of getting a Honda generator, or similar. My electrician added a lockout to the service panel and a generator outlet as well. I'm trying to figure out how large a generator to buy.

1,000 watt portable, probably too small.

2,000 watt portable, maybe.

3,000 watt portable but has wheels cuz this is getting bigger.

The 3 KW costs about twice what the 2 KW runs.

I don't want to power the whole house during a power outage. I'm interested in keeping power to my refrigerator, freezer, 2 or 3 lights, and the fan that blows the heat out from my fireplace.

I don't expect to run the kitchen stove, the hot water tanks, or the heat pump that are the big energy users.

How much load do you folks serve when the power goes out?

Sg

My generator is rated for 8,000 watts, 10,000 peak.

10kw is sufficient for most home applications.
This one runs on natural gas, and automatically comes online when power is lost.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/...CFegZQgod8inCjA

The panel will allow you to contol your feeds. Light bulbs, frigerators, small fans use little power but a 5500 running watts will do the minimum you discribed. But if your after a generator just with a Honda motor go up on the net and price around. If you want a Honda brand the same but you are going to pay. In the world of generators Honda is over priced unless your going to a commercial grade.

Use this chart http://www.generatorsales.com/wattage-calculator.asp or a similar one to figure out what your power needs are first and go from there.

I have a 1000w Honda that cost twice as much as the 6000w gennie my dad uses for his house...a big Honda will be retarded expensive.

I also had a Coleman "camping" generator...3000w, cost $275...the 1000w Honda, being what it is, was more like $800, and that was six or seven years ago...

Fish on...

Todd

I have a Coleman Powermate with the 10 HP Subaru/Robin Engine. These engines are rated highly by longtime users, run every bit as strong, quiet, and efficient as the Honda's. Not nearly as expensive.
It's rated at 5000 running, 6250 watts surge, and I can light up the whole damn house (All low wattage bulbs), freezer, fridge, furnance fan, TV, etc concurrently...no problemo. I calculated all the normally used electrical items to be around 4800 Watts continuous..

If you have a gentran panel why not get a unit that will let you live comfortably not only during a storm, but if we have a big natural disaster and services are cut off for an extended period of time?

During that '06 storm here in Woodinville we did not have power for 8 days, & it totally sucked leading to my decision to purchase this unit.

Also have the Coleman Powermate, 15hp or 20 hp v-twin. Buy more wattage than just what you think you need. Also do service it regularly, especially each fall. Mine has a key start, but also has a pull cord, just in case.

If you buy a cheap generator buy a power conditioner to go between it and the house if you have sensative elctronics like Plasma/lcd tvs, computers , devices with ECB's etc .

hook up your cheap genset to a sine wave tester and wactch it jump all over the place. You get what you pay for.

+1,000 watts.

If you plan on keeping your modern appliances, computers, etc. running, consider the Honda inverter series for a clean AC sine wave....

Or suffer the consequences.

I run a 5,000w colemen powermate from costco about 12 years ago.Alway's dependable was a good price @ $500.00 back then,but louder then chit with a 10hp briggs & stranton.I'd go with the 3,000w honda or yamaha.I have used a 1,000w honda several times,handy but not what I'd want to run my cribb during a power outage.Good luck,
SZ

I have the same generator that Strike Zone has and second the loudness BUT since it is loud if someone tries to help themselves to it when its running I will know. Also, Chuck is spot on with the generator he posted. That will run the whole house just fine.

I put in the Gentran panel years ago and bought the Costco generator for about $500. It runs all the lights in the house, the furnace fan (gas furnace), the fridge, and of course the DirecTV box and tv. Can't be without football during an outage. It has been money well spent a couple of times.

The Chinese made generators are wayyy cheaper and work just fine.

The BEST option, if you have a gas line, is to have one hard wired to your house. They advertise them at Home Despot.

I picked up a Champion 35Kw job at Cabela's on sale for $400 which is a steal compared to what Honda and Yami ask for their comparable Gens.

Only trouble Ive had was the cheap schitty plastic ON switch snapped off but that meant only a 50 cent part and some solder.

Disagree Irie, while that performs well in windstorms, ....if, no when... we have a big quake up here in the PNW, your'e gonna be up a creek depending on NG as your sole fuel supply for power.

my .02

If we get the big one, 9+ on the richter scale, all forms of energy will be in short supply

I have the switchover box outside and the gas generator in a shed between the box and the house. 5500 watts get me all I need and even runs the 220v well pump. I don't worry about the electronics and have never had a problem (I do have very good surge protectors in line, however). Enough juice for the fridge, freezer, coffee maker, microwave, lights, well, and even a small space heater if necessary. No to furnace, range, hot water. Generator, cart, battery, power cord.....about $1000. Love it!!

Agreed. To mitigate that issue I keep about 18 gallons in hand and can use the 30 gallons in the arima if needed. At my burn rate that would get me through 4-5 straight days of run time.

If your running a freezer and refrigerator you will need a bigger generator, when the compressors kick on they cause a amperage spike, which will trip the breaker on smaller units.

Perhaps good for a travel trailer, but for powering a house you need something in the 10-12kw range, your underestimating the amperage spike.

Ahh, the libs on here are very free with someone elses money. If you want to spend a lot of money buy two Honda generators.

Obviously there are some things that haven't been disclosed like the size of the house and exactly what needs to be powered. However, if you got lots of dough buy a Honda. If you want to run the essentials for up to a few days buy the $500 LOUD generator and put in a Gentran panel along with a surge protector on the TV. You don't need the computer anyway because all the same bitching and moaning will still be here when the power comes on and it won't take that long to catch up. We power a 1400 square foot home which includes all the lights, the tv, the refer, and runs the fan on the gas furnace with a generac brand generator. The tv is 9 years old and it hasn't blown yet but it is surge protected. I don't run the computers, etc because when the power goes out, I don't want to work anyway because I have to make sure the snow doesn't cave in the Costco tarp carport over the boat. We don't have a well, public water, but there is 50 gallons sitting in the hot water tank that should last a while if the big one hits. The range is gas and if that isn't an option, the Webber is always 1/2 full of propane so I can cook whatever I want, even pizza as long as Papa Murphy's is running.