Portable Generators--What Brand?

[Tmac]

Best I know of, Honda/Yamaha, flip a coin. The inverter style are very quiet. I did have a Honda 2000 that did not have enough juice to start a large refrigerator unit. I learned a 2000 watt gen puts out 1,000 on each side to each 120 volt outlet. I upgraded to a 3000 watt with a RV style or single 30 amp outlet, it combines both sides for full power availability from one outlet, plenty of power that way.

 

[Rich M]

Honda 2000

The propane connection seems easy enough, if buying it to use both, i think if you hook up the propane and run it that way first, you don't have to adjust anything. If you use gas first you have to adjust something. I THINK....

In FL - run window shaker AC, fridge, chest freezer, fan, TV on mine. Did a week w/o power on about 10-12 gallons of gas - ran about 8 hrs per gallon and I was working, so it wasn't on the whole time. Wife would fire it up when she got home and I'd top it off at about 10 PM and then at 6 AM when I left for work so wife didn't have to.

If I was gonna do it again, would either buy one with propane adapter or put one on. Did math a while back and would get about 24 hrs off a $20/15# BBQ propane tank. Would get the same burn time on about 3-3.5 gallons of gas, so not as fuel efficient but clean and easy.

I do run mine every couple of months to keep fuel fresh. And use fuel treatments... It is about 10-15 yrs old.

We bought my folks the knockoff version from Harbor Freight and it sits in the original box, haven't needed it yet. That one is about 8-10 yrs old. Go figure.

 

[Wellsdw]

I have a kohler 6.5kw I think. Nothing but problems with oil leaks and blew main bearing seal last year at 100 hrs. My cousins owns a company that sells welders and generators and got it from them right when they started selling. He no longer sells kohler!

 

[aer21]

I have one by Wen, it is similar to the Honda but I don’t think as good. It’s quit running on me twice, I think the last time was a little over a year ago and I haven’t used it since. I should probably bring it in and get it fixed.

 

[Randy11]

Has anyone messed around with the Ryobi ones? I'm a Honda believer, but having the remote start of the Ryobi while camping is very intriguing.

 

[ETtikka]

Honda and Yamaha seem to be highest quality but regardless of brand, installation of a decent fuel filter between tank and carb is the best 5$ you will ever spend.

Even if you use ethanol free gas with stabil , tiny deposits will clog up jets, especially with smaller inverter type generators that have tiny idle jets

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I have two Hondas and they are great. One lives in an off grid cabin year round (2200), rides out the winter well into the negatives, sits for 11 months out of the year. It’s never not started on the first pull, had it 5 years.
Have another (3000) I use with a travel trailer, gets a ton of use, love it.
I briefly had a generac at my house for emergency freezer/fridge power. It never worked when I needed it to.

 

[Gone4Days]

I have 2 dual fuel gens. Both are Champion and have been flawless. Check out JOHNNY’s WEEKENDS youtube channel. He tests them all.

 

[MTPipeliner]

I’ve had a small champion for almost 20 years and it’s been reliable, it’s starting to leak a little oil, but still starts easily and runs well.

It’s louder than a Honda or Yamaha .

 

[mtnbiker208]

I have the honda 2000, it has ran for 5 days straight before, yes i have to refuel. I lose power for atleast one day each winter, sometimes multiple days in a row or multiple times of multiple days. The generator and wood stove and creek seem to keep the toilets flowing, the fridge and freezer, coffee pot and wifi going.

 

[Worm]

Like many other folks, Honda 2000. I have used on for years with great luck. Can run the fridge, pellet stove, TV and Wi-Fi. I also have a Duo Max 9000 dual fuel that runs the house for extended periods. So far, so good. I have only ran gas. I tried propane just messing around and it worked.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I would recommend a 1000-2000W inverter generator for running just a few appliances. Inverters are more expensive per watt but are much quieter and more fuel efficient than conventional generators. Honda is the gold standard in this category (and I can personally attest to their reliability/longevity), but I've also heard good things about Harbor Freight's knockoffs.

Consider how you're going to get power from the generator to the devices you want to run. Long extension cords are often the simplest/cheapest option for running just a few appliances. A transfer switch wired in ahead of your main breaker panel would let you send power anywhere you want using the house's existing wiring, but transfer switches are a bit pricey. If you know what you're doing and are careful about it, backfeeding through a "suicide cord" is a viable inexpensive solution.

 

[Bears]

I have four Champion (3 inverter - 2000w, 3300, 3500, and 3500w old school) one Generac (Costco), one AIPower (Sams), and one Yamaha 2200efis

For your described usage, I'd go for a Champion inverter unit, 2000-3000watts.
The Yamaha is also a very good unit at about 3x the cost of the Champions.
The AIPower and Generac are just "OK", both of them overload when the Yamaha and small Champion do not.

I'd also get the Honda without question.
If you go Champion, Amazon has some really good buys in Mar/April timeframe each year, hence why I have so many.

 

[mi650]

Another +1 for the Honda. I love being able to stand next to it and have a conversation in a normal tone of voice. I've heard Yamahas are about as quiet, but no personal experience.

Being at the very end of the line, we lose power when anything happens. We have a 16kw Generac now that runs everything, and there have been times we've lived on it for a week+. But I'll never give up my Honda 2kw.

 

[Madstop14]

We run champions at camp and those these things take a serious beating. I'll throw another Honda vote out there however. We have a 20 year old 2000 Honda that's used as a backup and you just can't kill that generator - dead quiet and starts first pull every time

 

[JMFS]

Honda, plain and simple.

 

[HunterHawk]

Im poorish so i went with a champion 4500 with remote start...not sure ill get another generator without a remote start... something about lying in bed hitting a button and coffee/power! In all seriousness only used it for a week but it worked amazing. Bought it off Amazon when it was on sale.

 

[handwerk]

Honda, I have the 2000i 9 years old and a 3500 that's 27 years old both still running strong w/o issue.

 

[tdhanses]

Honda is the Swaro and HF Predators are the Vortex of generators. Both will work but one might give you issues when it matters.

 

[Loggerdude]

You can pick up a very low usage Honda for around 6-$700 in my area. We have one that has 2200 hours on the hour meter we install on everything. Rebuilt the carb once only because we didn’t drain it an had some water corrosion. Have five of them for work. Oil change every 50 hours