Largish Generators

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invictus43

Well-known member
Anybody have any experience with largish generators? I'm looking for a 5000-7000 watt generator for home backup. I suppose Honda are the gold standard for this type of thing, but I saw a Homelite 5000watt with a Yamaha engine for about half the price of an equivalent Honda. This is not a high-usage application..4 or 5 times a year for at most 2 days of power outage. Probably run it for 30 mins every couple of hours during that time.

Thanks!
 
Nothing wrong with a bigger Yamaha EF either.

Honda or Yamaha. If you find a used one in good shape, you can buy it.. use it for five years.. then sell it for what you paid for it.
 
Anyways..... you really shouldnt be using these types of generators if you are using them to back feed your house power panel. Very dangerous.

If you are just planning to run it outside and plug stuff in and run into your house, then disregard the comments above.

If you plan on keeping this thing for a long time and want solid reliability and quality.....get the Honda.
 
Currently my folks have no backup power and they lose it fairly frequently, but mostly for a few hours at a time. The big problem is they have a well. So it has to run a submerged well pump, probably 3/4 HP. I don't think they'll run much in the house, fridge and possibly hot water heater..their heating and stove is gas. I suspect they'd wire in a transfer switch. I'm not going to dump $4k to $7k on a permanent solution that they'll use so infrequently. They've survived 15 years without it! :-) Which means they also don't expect perfect power.. Thoughts?
 
invictus43 said:
Currently my folks have no backup power and they lose it fairly frequently, but mostly for a few hours at a time. The big problem is they have a well. So it has to run a submerged well pump, probably 3/4 HP. I don't think they'll run much in the house, fridge and possibly hot water heater..their heating and stove is gas. I suspect they'd wire in a transfer switch. I'm not going to dump $4k to $7k on a permanent solution that they'll use so infrequently. They've survived 15 years without it! :-) Which means they also don't expect perfect power.. Thoughts?
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going to need something that puts out 220V

my well pump is hard wired into the circuit board, would need something additional in terms of wiring, you might also look at battery back up with an inverter instead.
 
I have a cheapie Walmart 6750 Hyundai its noisy (not bad run at a house outside I suppose) starts first pull. I have used it at oiur events for the past three years. On cold weekends it literally runs non-stop from Thursday afternoon until Sunday evening. Warm weekends its 10-12 hours a stretch everyday. When its on it will be 100% power for two motorhomes, our registration trailer, the timing shack (in summer running two window shaker ac units) plus various sets of tire warmers. I change the oil after every 100hrs or so. I also have a small Honda inverter. Obviously quieter but I cant say anything bad about the Hyundai it has served me well with no signs of slowing down. You can mount a second panel to hardwire your genny direct to the house wiring. Will cost you couple hundred. Ghetto way is to hard wire it backwards into a 220 outlet (a male-male cord). Just make sure you turn your main breaker OFF so you dont backfeed the main lines and fry a hydro worker. Even though they ground the system as a safety before working on the lines better safe than sorry.
 
I have a generac that powers my whole house , barn,AC, well pump,gate ,everything if the power goes out. It does it automatically 10 seconds after the power goes out so even if I'mnot home I don't have to worry. Bulldog generators in stouffville can give You a quote
 
kneedragger88 said:
I have a cheapie Walmart 6750 Hyundai its noisy (not bad run at a house outside I suppose) starts first pull. I have used it at oiur events for the past three years. On cold weekends it literally runs non-stop from Thursday afternoon until Sunday evening. Warm weekends its 10-12 hours a stretch everyday. When its on it will be 100% power for two motorhomes, our registration trailer, the timing shack (in summer running two window shaker ac units) plus various sets of tire warmers. I change the oil after every 100hrs or so. I also have a small Honda inverter. Obviously quieter but I cant say anything bad about the Hyundai it has served me well with no signs of slowing down. You can mount a second panel to hardwire your genny direct to the house wiring. Will cost you couple hundred. Ghetto way is to hard wire it backwards into a 220 outlet (a male-male cord). Just make sure you turn your main breaker OFF so you dont backfeed the main lines and fry a hydro worker. Even though they ground the system as a safety before working on the lines better safe than sorry.
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I've seen the Hyundai unit..seems fairly cheap and good. I'm thinking they can wire a sub-panel in beside the main panel and just power the well pump, water heater and kitchen circuits only, with individual breakers and they could power only certain things if need be. I'm sure I could get a local guy up there (it's 3 hours north) to do it fairly cheap. Their last power outage was for 2 days and I'm thinking for a grand or two I can save them driving into town to get water from the arena..

Thanks Ken!
 
sonnythebull said:
I have a generac that powers my whole house , barn,AC, well pump,gate ,everything if the power goes out. It does it automatically 10 seconds after the power goes out so even if I'mnot home I don't have to worry. Bulldog generators in stouffville can give You a quote
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I've the Generac units aren't bad as wel. I don't think I'll be going the auto-route for them but I know they have smaller units as well. Thanks for the tip on Bulldog.
 
Onan is the gold standard in generators. Onan diesel is the platinum level.

If you wire this thing to the house you need an automatic switchout, they aren't cheap but niether are funerals.

If you go the pony panel route you need to unplug and plug in all devices to run off the seperate panel, you need to insure there is no way power could backflow into the grid so the hydro guy working on the wires down the road doesnt light up like your christmas tree.

If you go the auto switch route (you should) , it will probably be under a grand for the install. Then you can get whatever generator you like and when you fire it up it runs the house. You may qualify for a reduction on household insurance , sump pump will work and freezer will stay froze.

Technology on this stuff has gotten much more efficient and simplified in the last few years.
 
You can go the simple, quick, SAFE route and have a meter hub inlet installed. It'll cost you about a G-note, takes about ten minutes to install (you'll need the utility to temporarily disconnect the power and pull the meter for you) and the generator just plugs directly into it. It is foolproof and easy to use, good for up to about 7000 watts.

As for the generator itself, unless you're planning to run it regularly for extended periods you are likely fine with a cheapie.
 
My dad has a champion generator for the same purpose (and it powers a garage). It was cheap (~$500 for 6000W continuous). He was looking at a honda, but the cost difference was incredible and not worth it to him. The champion does not throttle down when lightly loaded (bad for fuel consumption) and it sometimes needs ether,propane or wd40 to get it going, but we have always been able to get it running. Their power was out last year for three days and it was passed around between 3 neighbours to keep everyones fridges cold and houses warm, it did the job.

If initial money is the primary factor, something ghetto like champion or hyundai can work, if you want rock solid reliability and lower fuel consumption, Honda or Yamaha are much better (although you pay dearly for either one). Permanent and/or propane/NG generators are obviously in an entirely separate class and it sounds like you were leaning more towards portable units.
 
I've always run Hondas on my service van and have the inverter one now. The fuel difference is amazing and it's quiet. While the fuel cost can be calculated the bigger advantage is not having to run around for gas nearly as often, especially if the gas stations can't pump because their power is out.
I recall hearing that when power lines get knocked down hydro's priority list goes
1) Emergency services
2) Industry
3) Town residential
4) Farms
5) Cottages
 
inverter is great as a service generator, not so much as largish household generator. Think diesel people, fuel cost is approx 30-50% less per kilowatt of power produced, engine runs cooler, does not need to rev as high to produce the power required so they aren't noisy and engine service life is in decades not years. The fuel can sit for 5 years and not degrade like gasoline.

The "clean" wave pattern of electricity produced from an inverter makes it a choice when operating sensitive gear like computers, but the expense and complications "short service life" makes them impractical for powering the average house.

I work with a company importing Chinese generators, this I can tell you. They are all supposed to be CSA approved, make sure the one you buy is, even the stickers get faked. If the salesman tells you its a Honda based engine, its Honda based on the stolen design, its not a honda or yamaha. Be sure the one you buy has a repair depot near where you live and a solid rep. Since they are all similar but just different enough that parts dont swap you can be left with a big anchor after 3 yrs.
Fire it up when you get it home and use a meter to check output on all plugs with a good meter, dont just plug in your 2k laptop and wonder what happened next.
 
crankcall said:
inverter is great as a service generator, not so much as largish household generator. Think diesel people, fuel cost is approx 30-50% less per kilowatt of power produced, engine runs cooler, does not need to rev as high to produce the power required so they aren't noisy and engine service life is in decades not years. The fuel can sit for 5 years and not degrade like gasoline.

The "clean" wave pattern of electricity produced from an inverter makes it a choice when operating sensitive gear like computers, but the expense and complications "short service life" makes them impractical for powering the average house.

I work with a company importing Chinese generators, this I can tell you. They are all supposed to be CSA approved, make sure the one you buy is, even the stickers get faked. If the salesman tells you its a Honda based engine, its Honda based on the stolen design, its not a honda or yamaha. Be sure the one you buy has a repair depot near where you live and a solid rep. Since they are all similar but just different enough that parts dont swap you can be left with a big anchor after 3 yrs.
Fire it up when you get it home and use a meter to check output on all plugs with a good meter, dont just plug in your 2k laptop and wonder what happened next.
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Diesel is way too loud for a home generator unless you both live far away from people and sleep like a log
 
invictus43 said:
Currently my folks have no backup power and they lose it fairly frequently, but mostly for a few hours at a time. The big problem is they have a well. So it has to run a submerged well pump, probably 3/4 HP. I don't think they'll run much in the house, fridge and possibly hot water heater..their heating and stove is gas. I suspect they'd wire in a transfer switch. I'm not going to dump $4k to $7k on a permanent solution that they'll use so infrequently. They've survived 15 years without it! :-) Which means they also don't expect perfect power.. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

"You can't put a price on them"

Sorry just practicing my sales pitch
 
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