Comparing *Small* Inverter Generators
I'm tired of always lugging around my (heavy to put in the storage or the new trailer and a bit loud) existing generator, when most of the time I have 3 or 4 times the power I need. I'm looking at ...
Forum Discussion
horton333 wrote:
The outside storage is going to get higher each year for 70 pound generators and I am into my 60s now and we know where that is leading too.
I'm close to pushin' 7 decades myself and as you say nothing is gettin' any lighter! :E
I currently have the second of two Honda EU2000i gensets I've owned, each purchased used on Kijiji, and each has worked exactly as I had expected. Each time I've chosen the 2K genset over the 1K because there's not a huge price gap between the two and the larger one will easily handle chores beyond just re-charging the trailer battery - coffee machine, toaster, fans, wife's hair dryer, even the microwave oven, along with serving as back up to run the house furnace should that every become necessary. That said, earlier this summer I installed a 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter ($199 on sale at Canadian Tire) and wired it "whole house" so the trailer behaves just as it would when running on shore power, of course within the limits of the inverter and the single G27 battery currently powering it. My primary objective was to be able to run fans in the camper but testing has shown the system has no difficulty powering the coffee machine, toaster, and most importantly my wife's hair dryer, albeit on it's LOW setting. No, it won't run the MW oven but frankly I don't care ... which now leaves me thinking exactly what you're thinking - if all I'm using the genset for is to occasionally re-charge the trailer battery perhaps I'd be better served replacing my heavier 2K genset for a lighter, easier to handle 1K. My only concern is whether a Honda EU1000i or Yamaha EF1000iS would adequately power my WFCO 8955 converter during the re-charging process, 'though I suppose I could instead use my stand alone charger which offers user selectable 2, 10, and 15 amp charge rates ... less convenient though than simply plugging the trailer into the genset and letting the on-board converter recharge the battery. I gotta check my notes on the house furnace as well but IIRC it was only pulling ~ 600 watts during my tests, in which case an EU1000i ought to work just fine.
Thanks for this discussion ... you've got me thinking! :W
