3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
professor95 wrote: EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here. In...
Forum Discussion
Kenny - I used manufacturer specs for my comparison, and I'm not going to take on gathering more of my own data. I have in the past run some carefully controlled consumption tests with my eu2000i, achieving 4.15 to 4.75 kWh/gallon in the 400 to 1,000 VA power range. The link you provided shows the Yamaha inverter gen at 3.89 kWh/gallon in one test, and in the same range as my results in the other tests, so I find that data quite believable. The Onan published specs for the 2.8 and 4 kW Microlites show about 4 kWh/gallon at half load and 5.6 kWh/gallon at full load. So I'll concede that if you run at half power or more for more than half the time, the conventional generator is more fuel efficient. One interesting comparison is that the 4 kW Microlite consumes 0.3 gallons/hour at no load, same as the eu2000i at full rated load! (Both from published specs).
One statement in the linked thread "I know that an Otto Cycle engine is least efficient at low mean piston speeds. They use the so-called "Eco Throttle" on the inverter gens to idle them down, and this is supposed to save fuel." shows a possible basic misunderstanding of how inverter generators work. When the eu2000i, for instance, is idling it may sound like 500 RPM but its idle speed is actually 3,000 RPM, darn close to that more-efficient 3,600 RPM, and the RPMs only go up from there into even more efficient territory. Also, the statement about "losses in the SCR's and inverter electronics" doesn't mention the counterpoint that the inverter generator's 3-phase, 14 pole, lousy waveform alternator is more efficient than the 2 pole sine wave alternator in the conventional generator.
Don, no argument about the 3,600 watt inverter gen handling the air conditioner startup. I have to resort to more technical terminology. IMO, the inverter generator "sneezes", while the Onan has an almost inaudible "slight hiccup" :-). I'm a huge fan on inverter generators to the point that that's all I'd ever want to have, but I also want to be objective. I find the Onan handling of the air conditioner startup truly impressive.
One statement in the linked thread "I know that an Otto Cycle engine is least efficient at low mean piston speeds. They use the so-called "Eco Throttle" on the inverter gens to idle them down, and this is supposed to save fuel." shows a possible basic misunderstanding of how inverter generators work. When the eu2000i, for instance, is idling it may sound like 500 RPM but its idle speed is actually 3,000 RPM, darn close to that more-efficient 3,600 RPM, and the RPMs only go up from there into even more efficient territory. Also, the statement about "losses in the SCR's and inverter electronics" doesn't mention the counterpoint that the inverter generator's 3-phase, 14 pole, lousy waveform alternator is more efficient than the 2 pole sine wave alternator in the conventional generator.
Don, no argument about the 3,600 watt inverter gen handling the air conditioner startup. I have to resort to more technical terminology. IMO, the inverter generator "sneezes", while the Onan has an almost inaudible "slight hiccup" :-). I'm a huge fan on inverter generators to the point that that's all I'd ever want to have, but I also want to be objective. I find the Onan handling of the air conditioner startup truly impressive.
