Since we've dumped the Cyclone, this year we're going to do our races with just a good, common sense race trailer. But to keep things nice, I did order it with AC and multiple outlets throughout. I think its even 50A versus 30A but not 100% sure. We plan to take at least a microwave, television, and keep a heater with us on those cold nights if we decided to sleep in the trailer. Considering what we'll have in there, is an inverter generator really that necessary? No computers at all but I'm sure we'll probably plug the phone chargers or tablet charger into a wall outlet from time to time. If I really need an inverter generator, I'll do it. But its crazy how much more power I can get for the money if I don't have to have the inverter models.Thanks :)

Hi,Generators are run by gas. Inverters are run by 12 vdc transformed into 120 VAC with transistors. A inverter equipped generator is able to change it's rotating speed to make it quiet under partial load conditions. My guess is you are thinking inverter to run the cell chargers and perhaps a small TV set or Wii or other small loads? You can buy a 500 watt inverter at Costco for about $35. Plug this into a cigarette lighter receptacle in the trailer and you can plug in all the chargers you need. Just don't connect the inverter to the 30 or 50 amp RV plug. You will run down the battery quickly running a TV set, and very quickly running a TV. But a 19" LCD TV will only draw about 80 watts, and a Wii is only about 20 watts. Each battery that is 100 amp hours (size 27) is going to hold about 800 usable watts. Each standard light fixture is about 1.1 amps, LED is about 1/4 that wattage. To run a electric heater, then a generator is required. It will dray about 800 to 1,500 watts per hour, and even the truck alternator can not keep up with that kind of load. Microwave, toaster, electric coffee maker are all about 1,100 to 1,500 watt loads. So a 4,000 watt generator can power these, and perhaps a air compressor too? Pick a small compressor - say 1 HP or so, to not overload the generator when it starts. You might need to unplug the air compressor and only start it at say 20 PSI if the compressor bogs down the generator on re-starts. You can pick a pair of Honda 2,000 watt inverter generators, they can be plugged in together to power the 30 amp RV cord, recharge the batteries quickly via the RV converter, and run the rooftop A/C. Each 2,000 watt Honda is only 47 pounds, easy to move around. A 4 KW unit is typically 120 to 180 pounds.Mayberrys.comFred.

after losing electricity for 48 hours recently I once again checked the costs of yamahas. 2400 inverter was $1479, 2600 generator 949. they said that a computer should not be run on it but that a refrigerator, etc. would be OK. found a powerland 5500/6500 propane one for $799.bumpy

Inverters use about 50% less gas also.

tinner12002 wrote:Inverters use about 50% less gas also.the yamaha brochure shows all of the non invertors statistics were hours at rated load whereas the invertors were at 1/4 load which I am told is rarely found with any real draws on them. but the EF2600 is rated at 7.8 hrs 2.9 gal (2.69 hrs/gal) at rated load, and the EF2400 SHC is 8.6 hr at 1/4 load 1.6 gal (5.38 hrs/gal) but the EF3000S is 19 hr at 1/4 load with a 3.4 gal tank (5.6 hrs/gal).my math is subject to scrutiny as it is way too early to strive for accuracy. :)bumpy

Just in these responses and the reviews I've done in the past couple of hours, I've decided to go ahead and get the Honda inverter models. Now I can't decide on the 3000W model or just go ahead and plop down a ton of money on the 6500W model and have something better to run the house when the power goes down.

Inverter Power Generators | Good Sam Community

Pumaguy
Explorer
Mar 08, 2014
A generator to not overlook is the Yamaha 2400. I bought one to upgrade from my 1000 watt Yamaha. The 2400 will run one of my air conditioners and that is a great deal since it was hundreds cheaper than jumping to a 3000 watt.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

I would split the difference and get the 4500 watt Yamaha inverter generator. It is considerably lighter than the 6500 watt Honda.

that lists at $3399.saw a nice LP 15K one at Sam's today for $3500.
bumpy
pianotuna
Nomad III
Feb 10, 2014
Hi,

I would split the difference and get the 4500 watt Yamaha inverter generator. It is considerably lighter than the 6500 watt Honda.
dedmiston
Moderator
Feb 10, 2014
I'm also a HUGE fan of these little external USB charger blocks that have become so popular in the past few years. I've evaluated a bunch of them for different vendors recently. They're so much simpler than running the generator or even turning on the inverter. Why use so much fuel or energy when you just need to charge your phone or your iPad?

Every time we fire up the gen, we plug in our power packs. And then when we need to charge our gizmos, we just plug our USB charging cables into the power packs.

They all have weird names that make them sound like steroid supplements.

My two favorites are:

Incredicharge http://www.amazon.com/Incredicharge-External-Battery-Capacity-Motorola/dp/B00AT5W8SI

and

Maxboost http://www.amazon.com/Maxboost-Electron-15000mAh-Dual-port-Portable/dp/B00HZWJGS8

I've also used these:

OXA Juice Box
RAVPOwer
PowerGen

They're all pretty good. Figure out your own power requirements and how many chargers you think you'll need out of the charger.

These things are also great for air travel. You never have to worry about your phone being dead when you land.
RoyB
Explorer II
Feb 10, 2014
What I do here at my house is run a couple of extension cords into the house from my off-road POPUP camper which has a 255AH battery system running a 1500WATT PURE sine wave INVERTER setup.

These two extension cords run our home entertainment system in the house and a couple of lights. Will also run our fan on the fireplace and can run our fridge a couple hours and make good ole fresh ground bean coffee each day when we are running the 2KW Honda generator to re-charge our batteries in the POPUP trailer... Using this setup we run just fine off the batteries and only use the generator to re-charge the batteries each day. We are good as long as we can find gasoline haha... That was our problem last year when the whole county went off line due to an approaching hurricane. All of the gas stations lost power too. I finally found gasoline but had to drive around looking for it. I was about ready to use my Oklahoma Credit card and siphon gas out of the truck gas tank.

Sure has been a blessing for us to this capability sitting in our camp back yard when we need it...

Roy Ken
offtohavasu
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
I have the Honda 3000 model. I have it for bare essentials if the power goes out and I got the 3000 on a smoking deal (trade). If I were to buy one, it would the the 6500. Plenty of power to go around and it will run 240v whereas the 3000 is 120v only.

As for quality, best portable generator I've seen. The fact you can have a conversation around it while it's under full load is amazing.
AYRTIME
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
Bit the bullet here in SE Ontario recently and bought the 6500 Honda inverter for home backup. Concern for protecting new home electronics, determined to have a quiet unit and a unit that is fuel efficient were some of the considerations. Auto idle and hour meter are other pluses.
My home has a "Generlink" meter base so all I need to do is plug the generator cable into the meter base and carry on. No disconnect switches or separate electrical panels.
Yes they are expensive. I believe the Honda quality is there.
Yamaha not readily available here.
lawnspecialties
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
Just in these responses and the reviews I've done in the past couple of hours, I've decided to go ahead and get the Honda inverter models. Now I can't decide on the 3000W model or just go ahead and plop down a ton of money on the 6500W model and have something better to run the house when the power goes down.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
tinner12002 wrote:
Inverters use about 50% less gas also.

the yamaha brochure shows all of the non invertors statistics were hours at rated load whereas the invertors were at 1/4 load which I am told is rarely found with any real draws on them. but the EF2600 is rated at 7.8 hrs 2.9 gal (2.69 hrs/gal) at rated load, and the EF2400 SHC is 8.6 hr at 1/4 load 1.6 gal (5.38 hrs/gal) but the EF3000S is 19 hr at 1/4 load with a 3.4 gal tank (5.6 hrs/gal).

my math is subject to scrutiny as it is way too early to strive for accuracy. :)
bumpy
tinner12002
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
Inverters use about 50% less gas also.