I want a generator

If you decide to get a generator, Honda and Yamaha are the gold standard.
Do yourself, and all your camping neighbors, a huge favor and don't get a construction site quality generator, a piece of******Chinese one, etc. The racket they make will annoy you and anyone within a few hundred feet.

ed

Well you title says you want a generator. One Honda E2000 would power most of the stuff on your fiver. It wouldn't run the AC but it should power most everything else. I would get two Honda E2000 generators that way you can use them in a series and power your AC if it's needed.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

I have two Honda eu2000i portable inverter generators. When we went to Yellowstone I didn't take them. No need if you are staying at RV parks with full hook-ups. Where will you be staying during your visit? If you are going to be dry camping then you will need a generator, but if you are staying in the RV parks then you will have electricity. If you haven't made reservations you may want to get the soon as they go fast for the Yellowstone area.

Why do you want one? The propane and battery systems in your RV will operate everything except the microwave and AC unit. Eventually, of course, batteries need to be recharged but your tow vehicle will do that if your traveling around frequently. If you intend to stay in one place for a long time a solar system is another option for recharging batteries.
In fact, with a large enough battery bank and an inverter you could even run your microwave and other appliances without a generator.
If you want a quick, easy way to operate high powered AC appliances then a gen. is probably a good idea. If you want to operate the air conditioner when you have no hook-up it's a requirement. Otherwise, it's a good way to make noise, use gas, and cost money.

I also have 2 Honda 2000 Inverters...and I now always take at least one with me...and often use them while traveling...I left them home one time and I needed one on the trip...

Regards

ed6713 wrote:
If you decide to get a generator, Honda and Yamaha are the gold standard.
Do yourself, and all your camping neighbors, a huge favor and don't get a construction site quality generator, a piece of******Chinese one, etc. The racket they make will annoy you and anyone within a few hundred feet.

ed

You meant to say MILES didn't you? Cause miles is correct. The Hondas, and Yamahas do the feet thing. Their is no such thing as a quiet generator running in a National Park. You can hear them a long way off. They sound quiet running in a crowded noisy atmosphere, like tailgating. But is a really quiet atmosphere. They sound like a lawnmower.

and for the OP. Check the restricted hours of use. You cannot run any type of Gen at night. And many can run only a few hours during the day. It may not be worth the expense.

We've stayed at the Fishing Bridge campground in Yellowstone. Generators were permitted during daylight hours. We used ours several hours a day. Honestly, the generators were all very quiet and unless you're right next to the RV, you couldn't hear it running. We were there for several days. Came in handy keeping things charged plus we could use everything in the TT. Used it a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the late afternoon.

We spent a week at Big Sky, MT last summer without shore power. Our Yamaha EF3000ISEB worked flawlessly. It also provided power when spending overnights at a few Walmart's we stopped at. We almost exclusively use our TV in that capacity, thus the Yamaha is locked into the bed behind the cab.

I like my A/C. And though I am not wealthy, when I can avoid buying Chinese (or foreign for that matter), I do.

I've had my gen for going on 11 yrs. We boondock for over a week at one location several times a yr. We normally don't run AC and the batteries get recharged enough when we run the gen for a couple of hrs every other day or so.

A couple of yrs ago we went to Alaska and I didn't even take the gen. We were on the move every day with the TC so the truck kept the camper batts charged. We have a 12v Cool Fan with a Co2 or something like that for a name. It keeps us cool at night.

For one or two nights boondocking we can do fine without the gen. It usually comes done to wants and not needs for usage. Many things would factor into buying if I were just now looking but I would get either another Yamaha or a Honda inverter. You may spend a bit more up front but quality pays for itself in the long run.

The reason I want one is for the few times we've stopped over night in a Wal-Mart lot on long trips, when we hit the road after work we may only need a layover for a few hours and that's when I think it would be handy to power up the AC.