Posted: 9/24/2007 8:59:00 AM EDT
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Looking to purchase a new/used generator. Needs enough juice to operate the furnace, well, and misc light duty. I'm looking for something somewhat portable but don't want to purchase something that barely gets me by either. Any suggestions? Brand, watts, what to look for on used generators, etc.. Any help is appreciated. |
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I'm in the same boat. The well is the kicker, it takes a lot of juice to start those up. I have a 300ft well and I've figured 6kw would be the bare minimum and with that I'd probably have to hand cycle the pump to make sure it doesn't come on when other things are running. I have a large pressure tank so I could get by. There are actually a number of good brands to choose from. Be wary of the chinese made stuff, some of it is great stuff others are pure garbage, you need to do some homework if you go with a chinese one. Kipor is one of the better ones from china. The japan made ones are generally very good, Honda, Yamaha ect The US bands are generally pretty good too, Generac, Briggs ect. The oddball is the lister based genset or listeroids. Because of there design they are reliable and very fuel efficient. I'm still thinking about putting a lister together, somebody on this board has one in his shipping container/zombie shelter. Think about the type of fuel you want to use and go from there. Diesel is one of the more efficient. Propane keeps the best. Natural Gas might be able to be hooked up to your house line but may not work if things get real hairy. Gas/petrol is very common and easy to come by when the world is working normally. -JTP |
If you have a tractor, consider a PTO generator that runs off the tractor PTO. You can pick up a 10 to 15kW for about $1500 and run whatever you want. The big obstacle is fuel, 5 gallons = about 5 hours of run time. I have diesel delivered for the tractor, so I keep a minimum of 100 gallons on hand and usually have twice that. A couple of hours a day of generator operation will chill your food, pump your water, and run your furnace. I second the comment above, 6.5 kW is what you'll need. Ops |
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You might check out this thread of mine. It would be what you are looking for I think. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=605651 A 6.5k gas generator will burn a fair amount of fuel. Diesel will be a little more economical. Propane burns very cleanly but will also go through a lot of fuel. I'd agree that the 6.5k is a good round figure for most use. Won't be able to run the entire house at one time but should be able to run most things. |
I have a 150ft well. Draws 8A at 240V. I also have a sump pump and it draws 8A at 120V. I bought a Generac 7500EXL and it runs both plus two refrigerators and a chest freezer. Whenever the power dies here, I run my genset twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening for 2 hours each time. That lets me keep my freezers and such frozen and alows us to shower(gas), watch tv and such. In the near future I plan to add one of the small inverter generators to my inventory. Will be able to run the tv, gas space heater, fan etc all day on it. |
I have the same generator.. I like it. burns about .75 gal per hr. |
You didnt mention budget so ill show you a cheap but powerful (13HP)unit that we have 3 of on our farm , two are mounted on back of ArticCat ATVs, they are gas powered and have 220VAC also,they are electric start but the pull start works so well we dont need the electric often, we have used welders with them and many power tools..so far after a year or so they are holding up ok.. HF generator |
