So after having major flooding with 12 plus inches of rain a week ago and having 13k in damage due to power outages. I want to buy a back up generator. I won't use it much but something in case would be great. Generacs are made local but seem to have bad reviews. Champion have a great rep and inexpensive. Looking to spend 500 or so. Any thoughts?

Honda. The best but $$$

Honda is the best but $$$.

I have an EU2000i and the EU2000 companion. Each one weighs a little over 40 lbs, light enough to carry, and together you get about 3600 steady state watts.

The Companion electronically syncs the two.

And there is a six gallon tank set up that will run the two of them a long time.

http://www.rvpartscountry.com/Honda-Genera...ASABEgIc2fD_BwE

Recommend Mayberry Sales http://www.mayberrys.com for online purchase (you get a small discount if you have a ham radio license). Avoid Wise Sales.

What are you hoping to run with it?

Fully automatic, transfer, or stand alone one you will start and plug into?

I have a Honda ES6500, and did have a 2nd of the same. It's a great machine, with Hondas awesome 2 cylinder engine. Very quiet. The only issue I ever had is with the fuel lines, and I always keep a spare. Sold the 2nd to a friend who loves it.


Sidebar- I have a Honda lawn tractor with the same 18hp liquid cooled engine, that I bought new in 1993 and it still runs great, wore out two mower decks, and we only use it to pull a small trailer now, but it's a little tank. You can't go wrong with a Honda. More $$ on the front end, but years and years of service life.

Just remember that the generator is only about half the cost of installing a back up. Unless you are doing ghetto install you have to tie into your service.

I have friends that back feed it through a welder plug, but you have to disconnect the main breaker and have no way of knowing when the power comes back on.
Not to mention this is definitely not to code, extension cords would be safer.

I've been thinking of buying a little one as well, just to run my sump and well pumps. But 23 years in the country I've never needed it, even back when the whole eastern seaboard went down we were only without power for 20 hours.

All I needed to run was sump pumps to save all of the basement destruction.. At most I would run those and maybe a fridge for an extended time. I would wire into the circuit breakers but just use extension cords as needed. Thats what I put the budget low.. 3500 watt is all thats really needed

Keep an eye out for an old diesel highway light plant unit...quiet, 1800rpm diesel, only about 5500 watts but will run for 4-5 days on 30 gal tank & diesel doesn't go bad in storage....we had 11 days without power after hurricane Isabel, really needed the diesel unit then..

I purchased Generacs for both my home and office as we're near the Des Plaines River and flooding can be a concern. So far, they've both be reliable and trouble free in the three years we've owned them. I previously had run the fridge, sump pump, and freezer from a 4kw generator I had in my RV using heavy duty extension cords or three days during an extended power outage after a storm.

I'd also suggest Honda, Kohler, or Onan as probably better units, but my Generacs have been fine so far.

Just my opinion, solar with a battery back up, tax credits, payback from the power company.
That's what I'm saving for.

Like anything else, depends on your needs. Honda is great but expensive. I had am awesome Honda diesel generator for years. Sold it after considering I have lost power for a total of one hour in 15 years.

Keep fuel in mind. Bigger generator uses more fuel whiich may be hard to fijnd in emergency. You just missed sale at Costco on dual fuel champion. Propane stores better than gasoline.

Heracy, I know, but HF inverters (especially new larger one) have very positive reviews.

Click to view attachment

My front yard from the storm..

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The road turning into my driveway

I used to be a dealer for Generac and installed a few standby generators. I'm not a huge fan with the wheelbarrow style generators, especially with today's fuels. However they are cheap if that's what you are after.

The Generac's 15kW (non mobile unit) with their automatic transfer switch for under 3k is the best bang for the buck IMO. The only maintenance thing besides oil changes and occasionally replacing the battery would be replacing spark plugs every 2-3 years. The spark plugs seem to deteriorate faster when natural gas is used for fuel.

I am going to do some thinking but knowing about 5k short of what insurance paid out because of the power outage /sump failure I need to be cost conscious.. I have lived at this home for 10 years and only had 5 power outages this was the worst byt had my pumps stayed on I would have had no issues.

So carpet quote just came in 1600 under what the other guys are pricing at so may have more room on the Honda.. Thinking the 2000 watt would be fine for me.

Start off with... sorry to read about the damage, it sucks when it happens.

When picking a generator the first step is to figure out what you want to power in the home so you know your total watts. additionally once you have this list you need to look for the "starting" current required for things like the frig and freezer along with other items using an electrical motor (this is called "surge" on the generator)

it's one thing to have a few items and then run out of watts before everything is on.. it's a different issue with you forget the starting current required and start burning up items in your home that your insurance company may not cover if the generator was not installed to code (ask me how I know this)

last step is doing the math... what did you lose that cannot be replaced and how much is your insurance going to increase over the cost of having a generator that you might use..

Ben mostly needs to run his sump pump. Same thing used to happen to my father. He has two sump pumps due to a high water table in S Jersey. His battery backup lasts for about 20 hours. Two floods later and $$$ of damage to a finished basement. when the power was out for over twenty hours led him to a portable generator. Actually, I drove him to Costco to use my membership and he bought one.
Now that he has a generator, he hasn't had any long power outages - funny how that works, but he's happy. He starts up the generator every couple months just to make sure the power stays on.

Are your pumps on battery backup? That's my primary line of defense as we might not be around when needed.

Also, do you have a sewage lift pump? If so, do you want to power it?

Honda is great, you get what you pay for, very popular with the sailing community around here for power while on the hook.

Because of ethanol I run the generator dry with a fuel cutoff at the tank and keep fresh gas in the tank by using the old in my mower. I've dodged the bullet so far with a few hurricanes, noreasters, and ice storms, but neighboring areas not so lucky.

Also keep in mind, that if you have a prolonged outage, you'll be wishing for more power.