I am looking at buying my first generator and have been shopping around till everything is starting to get all jumbled. I was considering this genereator could you guys give me some possible feedback on this perticular one. I would like to spend no more than a thousand dollars and it would be to run my 5th wheel during power outages and possibly the home fridge as well.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-203183985/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=ridgid+generator&storeId=10051

Do you want to run the AC in your 5th wheel..?

yes I want the 5th wheel to be self sufficent to live in for emergency times.I am a Sheriff's Deputy and have to stay behind when storms come through. The wife would leave with the 5th wheel and bring it back once storm is gone and we could all stay in it until things are back to normal. The generator would be parked in my shed 12X24 with some sort of disconnect box.

I have the exact same genny. I had one just like it to run my travel trailer for a week with no problem at all. The one I have now only has a few hours on it and I have not had a use to break it in yet. I do like it and I run it about 15 min every month. It is big and heavy, but I like it.

Yes, then you want a big one. Most large trailers use a 13.5K BTU air conditioner. Just like lawn mowers, Honda and Yamaha make the best small motors.

You could probably optimize your fuel consumption by better planning (plotting out your actual power usage) but to give you an idea most large RV users, use a minimum 4-5K watt gen which gets 8 hrs 50% wattage usage and the one you are looking at gets 11 hours out of 8 gallons. Electric start means you can do it remote even if its a rigged remote button. Electric start greatly reduces fuel concerns. You can run battery only late at night when you don't need AC, then charge batteries at peak demand times. I think you will find your heater works pretty well without its blower, mine does.

You'd get into a routine pretty fast.

That's a big motor, 350cc. That'll last a while. If you can see one, read the EPA life rating. Yamaha and Honda usually get a 250 hour rating. Chinese brands get a 125 hour rating. Bigger the motor, the longer it will last and keep in mind ratings are how long they ran the test a minimum, not test to failure.

That is about the minimum size of a gen I'd want to live in one. The only thing I personally would consider above that is to look at diesels just because of the fuel storage longevity. Diesel you could put in a 55 gallon drum, even run it off kerosene having it delivered. Mount the drum/drums high on a platform to gravity feed the gen.

A rule of thumb I use is figure that run time load as one day if you use the battery off peak planning. You see the problem? That's a lot of gas to store and rotate annually. Diesel takes off the rotation pressure.

Keep in mind as you research, most RV people are not planning on living in their RVs or even using their gens every time out. What you are asking is a different application. You may need to run things like driers, work tools, and area heaters on top of your other power demands.

Tj

Most (if not all) of Ridgid's generators are made in China, using a famous-name engine mated with a Chinese-made alternator head.