On 1/21/2014 2:12 PM, Hank wrote:
On 1/21/2014 2:05 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 1/21/2014 1:53 PM, Hank wrote:
On 1/21/2014 1:44 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 12:18:41 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 1/21/2014 11:43 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jan 2014 03:51:13 -0800 (PST), Tim
wrote:

You can't make electricity cheaper than you can buy it.

By a factor of at least 5x. It can be way more for an old technology
generator.

A 5kw generator you might find at the home store with a Briggs engine
and a regular alternator will burn at least a gallon and a half an
hour. That ends up being about a buck a KWH.



That's what I discovered quickly with the 12kw generator I used in
Florida following Wilma.

The first day I ran it for about 6 hours (or less) and went through
about 8 gallons of gas. That's when I started recalculating things
and
just used the little Honda.

The problem with them is that they have to run at 3600 RPM
regardless of
load in order to generate 60 cycles. The inverter types like the
Honda
can run at idle and still generate up to 6 amps of 120 volts
(EU-2000).
If the load increases like when the refrigerator compressor kicked on,
the Honda would temporarily increase speed but then drop back to idle.


These two go on my Christmas list.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ompliant/34961




http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...ompliant/43844





You have to buy those guys in pairs? How come?


He wants to be able to double the available power if he needs it. The
one I have can be connected to another EU-2000 with a cable that puts
both of them in phase with each other but you need to feed the ouputs to
a common receptacle. The newer "Companion" version that John is
looking at adds a 30 amp outlet that the older ones like mine don't have.


Ahhh. I think I see his motive.

Yeah, if you can get over the sticker shock, it's not a bad setup. If
you only need up to 15 amps, just run one generator. If you need more,
fire up the other one.