Honda Generator EU2000i

You could back feed through your RV plug, but to use the stuff you want to, they all need to be on the same phase, per say, or same leg, as since you only have 120V from your generator, you would only be able to apply power to half the things in your house. If you had a 240V gen, you'd have 2 legs or phases, so then you would have power to everything in the house. There are many ways to do it, right and not so right. I don't have a dedicated switch, but I open my main breaker, check it to make sure it's open, and then I back feed through a dedicated outlet outside, and I use my house almost as normal. Big things get shut off, water heater, stove, hot tub, but other then that, I use the house fairly normally. I have a 6k diesel from Home Depot, works great and has good fuel economy.

 

Whew. I know you really need it warm to be comfortable, so that's good to hear...

 

Glad you're staying warm

 

Are you sure it is a Honda? From an authorized Honda dealer? Was it new when you got it or a lot of hours on it? A lot of people I know use the 2000i for back-up, camping, etc... and have never had a problem with them. The starting cord is a pain to work on but I've never seen them tangle. The usually wear out with age. A new unit should still be under the three year consumer warranty.

I've seen re-painted/re-brand knock-offs on ebay being sold as Hondas but they were not the same quality...

 

OK, am I reading this right? The generator will be run in a garage?

Sorry but I think I will have to wave the red flag & throw up the stop sign on that procedure, no matter how big a garage it is. Any small OPE engine will fill that place full of deadly exhaust gasses in no time flat - seriously, someone could die here.

 

Garage is 100' away from the house with very leaky windows and walls. Lots of airholes for sure, along with an opened (a bit) window next to the shelf the genny sits on. He may add a small pipe to the muffler, to vent it outside as we have with this same gen in our outhouse at our cabin. The garage is a 2 story 28'x32' gambrel. Small barn. If he's out there when it's running, he knows he'll have to have his overhead door opened too.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/company-pleads-guilty-in-carbon-monoxide-deaths-1.984706

Seriously - it would only take one small chain of unexpected events to lead to something bad. Say the genny gets shut off but the upstairs is still full of CO, someone else comes in later (even if they're really not supposed or expected to be there) & goes up there & can't get back out again? I knew who the fellow in the story was, guess that's why it kind of touched on me - just hate to hear of stuff like this happening.

 

No worries mate...

 

Honda does make great generators but you pay a premium for them.

Here are a few Kohlers that are probably around the price of the Honda EU2000i that would give you a little more bang for your buck IMO.

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Kohler-GEN5.0-Portable-Generator/p14835.html

http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Kohler-PRO5.2E-Portable-Generator/p14833.html

 

If I was still in the market for a decent generator that could provide high quality juice using very little fuel at a reasonable cost - the 3500w (+/-) Lifan inverter genny at HD would be at the top of my list.

The one I ended up getting last year is identical but of a different colour & brand. Pretty sure it's a re-badged Lifan but couldn't find the Lifan word on it anywhere. So far anyway. Works sweet and uses very little gas, will do all we need in an outage.

Would have loved to get a Honda 3kw inverter - but couldn't justify the 3x extra cost after doing a bunch of online reviewing.

 

So how far away from the house does everyone keep their's? I have a 40 foot cord that I plug into the side of the house and I use every inch of it. I'm paranoid about the CO and even thought about getting a longer cord.

 

A carbon monoxide detector should go a long way to relieving any paranoia about CO issues. 40 feet should be fine with your closed up home. Your tailpipe on your car is considerably closer while driving... and idling still, it's usually never an issue... unless the car is inside a garage.

 

I have CO detectors on each floor of my home.

 

Good plan.

 

You should be OK. I set mine up outside a basement window, it's quite close at 10' or so but I run the cords thru the window then close the window up tight to the cords with a piece of fiberglass pink jammed in the opening that the window closes on. So it's pretty tight. And this is on a completely open side of the house that the wind is guaranteed to be blowing across one way or the other so fumes get carried away by the wind anyway. If you had one set up in sheltered area or on the lee side of winds, where fumes could hang out - then you'd want to be real careful. I have a spot like that on the other side of the house that would make an easier spot to put the genny (easier to get to) but I don't put it there.