Female newbie questions

[Rednecktek]

Oh yeah, the surge is 2000w, continuous is 1800w. You should be fine. I only upgraded mine because when I bought it I was right at the limit of its capabilities when I fired up everything at once and it was either replace the generator OR give up the AirCon unit... so I replaced the generator.

Sadly it doesn't run on propane so if you want to pursue that angle you're going to have to look around. Amazon has them for about $500. Home Depot carries the Champion units for about $600 with tax if you want one today.

@Porch: If you download the manual it has all the part numbers for the guts and you should be able to order the parts from HF. It looks like the whole recoil assembly is only $13. Getting into it was a little difficult when I broke my handle but hey, cheap fix! If you were in the Seattle area I'd offer to take it off your hands and play with it, I get bored easily when I'm off the ship.

 

[Jenna]

Oh yeah, the surge is 2000w, continuous is 1800w. You should be fine. I only upgraded mine because when I bought it I was right at the limit of its capabilities when I fired up everything at once and it was either replace the generator OR give up the AirCon unit... so I replaced the generator.

I'm going to look into the HF & Honda units.....thank you !

 

[time2roll]

Could I run my frig with the HF 2000 inverter ? It's on sale now - $30 bucks off

Probably. Although consider a Honda 2200 as you can connect an auxiliary fuel tank and extend the run time 5x or better.
Again it comes at a price.

Consider a propane/natural gas generator if you have an available supply. Gas goes bad and can be hard to get in a crunch.

 

[Jenna]

Probably. Although consider a Honda 2200 as you can connect an auxiliary fuel tank and extend the run time 5x or better.
Again it comes at a price.

Consider a propane/natural gas generator if you have an available supply. Gas goes bad and can be hard to get in a crunch.

Oh wow, that is good to know. Are propane generators worth a look ? Is the Honda 2200 propane ? I guess I got a bit confused, sorry

 

[Rednecktek]

Sorry, my internet was slow and you got more replies while I was typing. Anyways, Home Depot carries the Champion 2000w Dual-Fuel inverter generators that run gas OR propane for about $600 after tax.

CARB compliant, etc etc.

 

[time2roll]

Oh wow, that is good to know. Are propane generators worth a look ? Is the Honda 2200 propane ? I guess I got a bit confused, sorry

Honda 2200 is not propane. Sorry too many ideas overlapping.

Just want to put all the ideas on the table to see what might work best.

 

[Porch]

Honda 2200 is not propane. Sorry too many ideas overlapping.

Just want to put all the ideas on the table to see what might work best.

I love propane generators, and propane in general. It's a good fuel to keep around as it never goes bad. My main (1950s) generator has a propane conversion.
However, that said, if you are in an emergency situation and you need more fuel, regulator old gas is far easier to get then propane. It's in most every car worst comes to worst.

The Honda 2200 is not propane (but you can buy conversion kits), but now that TrueFuel (that stays good for years in the can), is easy to get, I feel that offsets the need for propane for this application.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

I'm afraid gas generators will be outlawed in the near future.

That ain’t gonna happen. With the many billions of dollars citizens have invested in existing gasoline equipment to attempt THAT would create a bipartisan uprising if anything would LOL
They are in CA looking at banning new sales of gasoline equipment. Just because something makes sense to the myopic elected rulers doesn’t mean it makes sense. Or that it can or will happen.

I’m also very confused with Honda and Harbor Freight being mentioned in the same sentence and just called a psychological help hotline.

 

[Supervstech]

That ain’t gonna happen. With the many billions of dollars citizens have invested in existing gasoline equipment to attempt THAT would create a bipartisan uprising if anything would LOL
They are in CA looking at banning new sales of gasoline equipment. Just because something makes sense to the myopic elected rulers doesn’t mean it makes sense. Or that it can or will happen.

I’m also very confused with Honda and Harbor Freight being mentioned in the same sentence and just called a psychological help hotline.

Keep this in mind… the harbor freight inverter generator IS a Honda generator… they bought the older design when Honda changed to their newer design.

 

[Supervstech]

Power went out here in Charlotte for 3 days a few months ago… I kept my refrigerator, my chest freezer, and house lights, TVs internet, and such going the entire time running off of a pair of 200Ah batteries and a pair of small solar generators I got off eBay.
I have three 100w panels on the roof of my suburban and I swapped the batteries into the burb to recharge them.

Heat usually isn’t a big deal in Charlotte, but it occasionally dips below 20F at night, so heating would be a concern without the grid here. My big house has a wood stove, but my condo has no provisions for that, so a heat pump would be the least energy draining method. They make low power portable heat pumps for heating… the two hose models work fairly well as a substitute for a plug in heater.

I would not recommend a store bought solar power unit to handle needs, when DIY is so affordable.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Keep this in mind… the harbor freight inverter generator IS a Honda generator… they bought the older design when Honda changed to their newer design.

WHAT???!!!
I had no stinkin idea

My only knowledge of the HF generators is they used to burn out fast or the motor seize in a year of use.
Apparently that’s changed. But hey, the psyche help line was a free call…

 

[Brett V]

Keep this in mind… the harbor freight inverter generator IS a Honda generator… they bought the older design when Honda changed to their newer design.

The HF genset is such a good copy of the Honda we have always called it a Chonda. I don't believe the Chinese bought anything though, they're notorious for reverse engineering others intellectual property and ignoring patents.

 

[Brett V]

To Jenna, my cousin is in southwest PA and lives alone. I got her this Kerosene heater for power outages. Since she doesn't use it often, I also got her the ultra clean fuel in a 2 gallon jug at Walmart. There are zero fumes and it has kept her warm several times when the power was out.

 

[Supervstech]

I have used the Coleman buddy heaters in a pinch also.

 

[Matmo46]

Not sure what your gender has to do with anything, but at least you know your a girl. lol..
I'm in similar situation with frequent outages in my area. I wanted to have a back up for a fridge and some lower wattage appliances, so I bought and Bluetti eb 240 and 300 watts of Renogy panels. After doing the math and a few tests I figure the unit would run my full size fridge for almost two days and since the generator allows pass thru charging from solar it will run indefinitely. I could probably pull a couple hundred extra watts on top of what the fridge draws and never miss a beat. Unless the sun is behind clouds for days. But I live in a sunny high elevation area so it's not common..
The whole setup cost me about 1700$ on Amazon. I'm super happy with it so far..
Good luck

 

[Jenna]

To Jenna, my cousin is in southwest PA and lives alone. I got her this Kerosene heater for power outages. Since she doesn't use it often, I also got her the ultra clean fuel in a 2 gallon jug at Walmart. There are zero fumes and it has kept her warm several times when the power was out.

That unit looks very interesting. I pulled the trigger today and bought the 2500 Champion Dual Fuel generator. I looked at the Honda, HF and Champion and the price and reviews sold me on it. The folks who commented on my post informed me of the propane/gas combo. It also has paralleLink so I can add another generator to increase the watts. Don't ever see myself with 2 generators.....lol. Thank you for your post.

 

[Jenna]

Update: I bought the 2500 Champion Dual/Fuel generator today 10/16/21. Thank you everyone who took the time to chat with
me and give suggestions/tips. Have a great day !!

 

[ghostwriter66]

I'm a female with no solar experience except /////

Girl - I don't think you "only" being a Female has anything to do with your expertise of solar on this site ... boy or girl makes no difference -- we all had to start learning solar somewhere --but pretty sure we can give the guys a run for their money in this area -- LOL

NOW lifting the damn panels is totally a different thing ... pretty much glad that God gave the guys those muscles for doing that -- and also lifting/dragging those large battery packs ... and a few other things ...

My advice is before you start running around and buying things here and there - layout exactly what you are trying to run -- draw out your system -and let us take a look at it ... it will save you money in the long run ...

 

[Rednecktek]

We may not be very smart but we can lift heavy things off the top shelf.

 

[Supervstech]

Oh, and I will second the female thing…
I’m a man, but I help JUST as many clueless men as I do women. It is all about chosen careers… if you haven’t learned a field, ya won’t know the field… I work with PLENTY of female electricians… in my opinion, it is a great field for women to be in. RARELY does strength come into play in this field. It’s all about knowledge, and imagination… wires aren’t all that heavy in electrical service. Strength is important for some parts of the job, but tools make up for that… as do helpers.?