How often do you use your portable generator?
I am trying to decide if I really need a portable generator or not. I am purchasing a used camper, 2008 Northern Lite 9-6QSE. It does not have air conditioning, but I am looking in to having a small a...
Forum Discussion
Whether you need to carry a generator or not is going to depend on a number of things.
If you need to use high-power appliances like aircon while dry camping then you'll need a generator. If you don't need aircon while dry camping then think about the 120v things you do need and whether you actually need them when camping or whether there are propane powered alternatives. E.g. we don't carry an electric coffee maker and instead use the gas stove to make coffee. Will you be microwaving food when camping?
The next question is how long you are going to camp in one place without hook-up? We rarely camp for more than 2 nights in one place. We then move on and the alternator charges the camper battery on our way to our next location. But if you are staying a week in one place and don't have a load of solar panels (or it isn't sunny) then you'll need some way of charging your battery.
I seriously considered buying a generator; I really wanted one (I admit I do like tools and gadgets), but when I thought about it calmly (asking the above questions) I couldn't justify it. In the end Sally's hair drier was the only appliance that would need one, and I wasn't spending that sort of money just so she can dry here hair when camping (it's going to get messed up when hiking / climbing / 4-wheeling during the day anyway, so she can dry it in the air instead). For me the other problem was space to carry it and having to carry gasoline as well to run it. My truck and camper are tiny so these are major considerations. Another consideration was that we often camp in campgrounds where we don't have hook-up, but where there are other people camping so we either wouldn't be allowed to or wouldn't want to run a generator because of the noise (someone else's 'silent' generator is never actually silent and even a quiet generator thrumming away in the background is annoying in a location where otherwise only the sounds of nature are present).
When considering a generator I also thought about other uses for it at home. I couldn't think of any uses myself, but if it would be useful to operate tools at corners of your property where you can't get 120v power or in other locations then that adds weight to the argument to buy one. Plus if you are concerned about the reliability of your home 120v supply, you could plug your freezer etc. into one during a major power outage.
When I was looking I decided it needed to be a good quality electronic inverter generator - one that provides a nice clean alternating current waveform that won't harm equipment you plug into it. Plus you need to work out the wattage of the heaviest duty device you might run off it (and add a fair percentage on top for safety in case that device draws higher current at start-up). When I started looking I was drawn in by adverts for really cheap generators, but soon found they were the type that ran at constant RPM even under no load, were noisy, used lots of fuel and weren't great for running certain types of appliances. Once I started looking at what I really needed the price went up by a factor of 10 compared to the cheap ones you are lured in with, so I gave up on the idea.
Steve.
If you need to use high-power appliances like aircon while dry camping then you'll need a generator. If you don't need aircon while dry camping then think about the 120v things you do need and whether you actually need them when camping or whether there are propane powered alternatives. E.g. we don't carry an electric coffee maker and instead use the gas stove to make coffee. Will you be microwaving food when camping?
The next question is how long you are going to camp in one place without hook-up? We rarely camp for more than 2 nights in one place. We then move on and the alternator charges the camper battery on our way to our next location. But if you are staying a week in one place and don't have a load of solar panels (or it isn't sunny) then you'll need some way of charging your battery.
I seriously considered buying a generator; I really wanted one (I admit I do like tools and gadgets), but when I thought about it calmly (asking the above questions) I couldn't justify it. In the end Sally's hair drier was the only appliance that would need one, and I wasn't spending that sort of money just so she can dry here hair when camping (it's going to get messed up when hiking / climbing / 4-wheeling during the day anyway, so she can dry it in the air instead). For me the other problem was space to carry it and having to carry gasoline as well to run it. My truck and camper are tiny so these are major considerations. Another consideration was that we often camp in campgrounds where we don't have hook-up, but where there are other people camping so we either wouldn't be allowed to or wouldn't want to run a generator because of the noise (someone else's 'silent' generator is never actually silent and even a quiet generator thrumming away in the background is annoying in a location where otherwise only the sounds of nature are present).
When considering a generator I also thought about other uses for it at home. I couldn't think of any uses myself, but if it would be useful to operate tools at corners of your property where you can't get 120v power or in other locations then that adds weight to the argument to buy one. Plus if you are concerned about the reliability of your home 120v supply, you could plug your freezer etc. into one during a major power outage.
When I was looking I decided it needed to be a good quality electronic inverter generator - one that provides a nice clean alternating current waveform that won't harm equipment you plug into it. Plus you need to work out the wattage of the heaviest duty device you might run off it (and add a fair percentage on top for safety in case that device draws higher current at start-up). When I started looking I was drawn in by adverts for really cheap generators, but soon found they were the type that ran at constant RPM even under no load, were noisy, used lots of fuel and weren't great for running certain types of appliances. Once I started looking at what I really needed the price went up by a factor of 10 compared to the cheap ones you are lured in with, so I gave up on the idea.
Steve.
