Hey guys I hope all are doing well. I'm about to purchase one soon, I have been looking at the harbor freights, the 3200 is on sale for $290 while the 5500 is at $470. The horse power difference is 6.5 vs 13. I prefer one that will sip gas as opposed to drink it.... These are my needs. Tv 250watts, cable box 500watts, insert fan 100 watts, refrigerator 900 watts, a few lights, 1 or 2 electric heaters for other side of house or bedrooms etc if needed, they are 1500 watts each..... Any input or suggestions are all greatly appreciated and thanks for having me here....
Personally, id go with the bigger guy. I chose the 5500, and glab because when the power was out for a week last year, there are plenty more things that needed to get powered. More power option is better than not having enough.
Actually larger generators are not, shall we say, sound economic advice. The issue with gennys is gas use. A 5500 will easily drink a gallon an hour. That's $3.50 an hour here. For a one day outage that is a whopping $84 clams. A week would cost you nearly $600! At half wattage, it drops to about a half gallon an hour, but that is still $42 clams in one day's use. That is about what a 3200 uses, and that drops in half with low loading. Best to get the smallest genny that you can get by with, or get two, one large and one small, which is the standard for most people with a well pump and larger appliances. Also you need to size a genny on peak draw, as refers use a lot more juice when they are starting up (most electric motors will). Electric heaters will kill you in genny gas use. I would avoid them if possible. Use electric blankets, or a fan by the wood stove. Think minimal, or shell out the cash. The cost of the genny is little compared to the usage costs.
Installed a 5000 and transfer switch 5 years ago. On it, I have my deep well pump, fridge, freezer and 2 wood stove fans and a couple of lights. In the 5 years, I have had to use it twice. Don't think I have had to use 3 gallons of gas for both occasions. My point being that you MIGHT get into a situation where you have to run it for and extended period of time, but more than likely you won't. When I decided to get it, I considered it as an insurance policy, not an on-going utility cost. I have to say that mine is Honda powered and seems to sip gas. I decided @ the time that it was better to have extra power as opposed to not enough, as Well Seasoned mentioned earlier. My vote is for the 5500.
Wow just got an email from your original reply Wellseasoned. Thanks guys I hope to figure this out and buy one soon....
I just grabbed the Champion 3500 for $250 with a coupon from Bj's. It has really good reviews for the money. I also was contemplating a larger unit. What it really came down to was gas usage. A bigger unit would be nice, buy all I NEED is a few hundred watts for the pellet stove, fridge and a few lights. My thinking is if a prolonged outage hits than gas will also be an issue, so I went with the unit that would use less and still power the essentials. Good luck on your purchase.
That's a great deal for for the money. Like you I got the smallest generator I could to keep fuel usage/cost down yet run the well (1/2HP, 120VAC jet pump in cellar), furnace (hot water via tankless coil), fridge and freezer plus some lights. I will only run a few hours a day to be able to take a shower, flush the toilets and keep the fridge and freezer cold.. I paid $299.00 for a 3500 watt generator and it came with the wheel kit and included "never flat" tires. Did your generator include the wheel kit as I consider that a necessity? Ray
It did not come with the wheel kit. I did however buy the kit off Amazon for about 40 bucks. I too think the wheel kit is a necessary option.
I went with the 4000/3200 model for the same reason as you guys. $280, no wheels, I will test it out when I get it. I have a Dolley I might be able to use, it says it is only 100 pounds so it might be ok to lug in and out with a kid...
I used a 4000 for about four days last year that is wired to my box and didn't really notice how much gas I used, but I did notice I was dam glad I had a generator. Some times you just can't put a price on comfort.
Cool. Been watching for a smaller one from Harbor Freight. Let us know how it works. I bought this from Costco to support my house. But would mind a smaller one. I just need to figure how to wire the box with the switch & all.
