15K BTU A/C and Generators

[GeoffW90]

Okay... so I have been to my dealer, I have researched the internet from end-to-end, and I am still unsure of what my generator selection should be.

I bought a Firman 3300 from Costco, it was a piece of junk... Lesson learned, going to buy a Honda or two.

Anyone running generators with a 15K BTU a/c - does a Honda 3000 inverter generator have enough or should I go and get two 2000's and parallel them? I want real facts, so to RV.net I go.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

[steve-n-vicki]

I have a Honda 3000 it starts my 15k a/c with no problem if you read the instructions , where it says to turn the eco throttle off if you are starting heavy loads

[John_Bridge]

I have twin Honda 2000s, and they work well. I think the Yamaha inverters will work well too. They are relatively quiet, and I think that's worth something. There are all sorts of noisy cheap generators out there that will run your AC. For how long, and how much noise, I can't answer. 😉

[SoundGuy]

spoon059 wrote:
Worst case scenario you can get a soft start capacitor for your AC. That should prevent a huge spike when it first cuts on.

HARD Start Cap, and it only makes for a small improvement in starting the A/C compressor. The OP would be far better off investing in a Micro-Air Easy Start Soft Starter Kit which will significantly ease A/C compressor start up regardless of which genset he chooses.

[ktmrfs]

If you go honda, I'd go with two honda 2200's. NOT A HONDA 2000 WHICH DEALERS ARE PROBABLY UNLOADING CHEAP NOW.

The honda 2200 started shipping to dealers on March 1. Same price as the 2000, with an extra 200W continous, fuel shutoff and a few more improvements.

a) if you only need one it's much easier to carry than the 3000
b) you get 3600 W continous vs 3000 for virtually the same price
c) if you install a micro air easy start as well, at lower alitude you very likely can easily start and run the AC on one honda 2200 in eco mode.

I can easily start my 13.5K unit at 4500 ft in eco mode on one honda 2000. but it runs out of poop after about 10 minutes and overloads. but the 2200 probably won't. I've got a 2200 on order, the 2000 is going to my son.

[Sandia_Man]

Already have an Onan onboard that eclipsed the 1K hour threshold a couple of years ago and thought it would be nice to give it a break since it was major overkill most times. We picked up a Champion 3100 with remote start since have grown accustomed to one button starting simplicity that are Onan provided. It easily runs our AC unit and did so at 8.5K' elevation where many generators struggle at higher elevations. We now have over 200 hours on this unit and it still purrs along happily running our AC unit on eco-mode.

[spoon059]

Worst case scenario you can get a soft start capacitor for your AC. That should prevent a huge spike when it first cuts on.

[GeoffW90]

Thanks for all your info! I think I'm going to look at the Yamahas.

-GW

[ulvik]

I have a Champion 3100 and it has run my 15,000 AC without fail even at 8,000 feet. Do wish I would of got the remote start though. But besides that absolutely no regrets and I paid $650 for it.

[TurnThePage]

I second the Champion, but you should also read up on the MicroAir Easy Start (I think that's what it's called).

[jim1521]

Not Hondas but I have two Champion 3100s that I can run in parallel providing 50A service and can pretty much run whatever I want. Have fully tested it with both A/Cs running.

I've also fully tested running just one inverter, and can start/run either A/C - but not both. A/Cs are 15k and 13.5k BTUs. With one inverter and A/C you're not going to be able to run much else.

The question you need to ask yourself is "how good do you want to feel?" My take was "pay once, cry once". That's why I went with the parallel setup. The Champion setup gives me 50A vs. 30A that the Honda gives you.

[sneakygroundbuz]

i just bought two of the yamaha 2000 watt invertor gens and plan on running them in parallel to run my ac and other things,but my ac isnt the 15k like yours
the yamahas arent nearly as costly as the hondas,but from all my research they seem to be just as good.

i got both of them for just under $1500 with the parallel cables and the dealer is doing all the prep on them too

[LibertyMan]

Unless you are dead set on a Honda, my Champion Dual Fuel 3400 runs my 15K just fine. Obviously I cannot run the microwave or anything else big while running the AC. I looked at the Honda myself, but was sold on the dual fuel application of the Champion. Plus it was half the cost.

[Huntindog]

GeoffW90 wrote:
Okay... so I have been to my dealer, I have researched the internet from end-to-end, and I am still unsure of what my generator selection should be.

I bought a Firman 3300 from Costco, it was a piece of junk... Lesson learned, going to buy a Honda or two.

Anyone running generators with a 15K BTU a/c - does a Honda 3000 inverter generator have enough or should I go and get two 2000's and parallel them? I want real facts, so to RV.net I go.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

With the 3K.... Maybe, some will say yes...but under certain conditions.

With the twins... No doubt about it. They will work. Mine have run my 15K at 9500' with temps in the high 90s. That is about as severe as it gets.