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vidaliaman
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 07:08am
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is there a small electric space heater that would not stress a honda 2000 quite generator in eco mode?
thanks dave
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 08:23am
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My experience with generators is that if you use them with any appliance continuously, or more than just a few minutes, you want to use an appliance that is at half or less the rated capacity of the generator so you won't strain it. I'd say any heater less than 1000 watts would be fine so long as that is all you are running continuously (aside from a few LED lights).
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 08:44am
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Maximum continuous rating is 1.6 kVA, 1600 watts @ 120 VAC. Most portable heaters are about 5200 BTU or 1500 watts. The EU2000i will handle the load but the generator will be running near full speed so there will be nothing "eco" about it. The Honda is built well. Make sure it has a free flow of air.
Remember gas engines lose power output at a rate of about 3% per 1000 feet of altitude. As well the thinner air means it does not cool as well. We lose about 25% at our 8800 feet in theory. The engine must be a little over sized though as it will operate a 1500 watt heater w/o seeming to struggle too much.
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vidaliaman
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 09:28am
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thanks for the feedback, will heat with mr buddy this weekend before going to bed then will turn off, going to be cold in the upper peninsula of michigan at night.
thanks
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 11:27am - Edited by: groingo
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Regarding portable electric heaters and power consumption, it actually depends on how large of space you are trying to heat.
Most 1500 watt heaters are effective up to 200 square feet, 750 watters 100 sqauare feet and a thousand watts somewhere in between and that is with a drop ceiling, cathedral ceilings double your heatable square footage as the heat rises uselessly.
Reality is, trying to heat a large area with to little heat is like spinning your wheels.
Now if you want to just feel warm, infrared heaters heat objects and not air for much lower power consumption.
Your conclusion was the best, use a propane heater, better all around.
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bldginsp
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2015 02:44pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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I agree with Groingo's point- sizing your heater to your generator is kind of backwards. You should size your heater to your space needs and then size the generator to the heater. At least in theory.
Honda's are better made than other generators and so can probably be operated continuously at near rated capacity as MtDon says, but I wouldn't chance it. I burned up a generator using it within it's capacity limits and once you do that it's not worth repairing it- replacement is the only option.
One piece of info of note- Franklin Electric is a manufacturer of electric motors for well pumps. They have an installation manual for well pumps called AIM manual (Application, Installation and Maintenance) In that manual they give their recommendations for the minimum size generator that should be employed to operate a given pump size. For a 1hp motor, which draws 750 watts continuous, they recommend a minimum 5,000 watt generator. Now that's partly because of the higher power draw rate at startup that motors have and electric heaters probably don't. But still I think they are telling you to go easy on your generator.
But once again, if the Honda's are really that much superior to other generators, maybe they can be operated at near capacity. I'd like to hear from an elec engineer on this one.
The AIM manual:
http://franklinwater.com/more/service/aim-manual/
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