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hallamore
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2008 10:06pm
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Hello Everyone! I would like some advice. I am building a small cabin in the woods of southern iowa. It will be off the grid as well. I have purchased a honda 3000is super quiet honda generator with a transfer switch to power the cabin. I am building a shed for the generator about 30 ft away from the cabin to make sure we avoid carbon monoxide. My question is, can anybody tell me are there issues with using a generator in this capacity? I know it will cost me $$$ for gas but this will be the only bill we will have to power the place. Any advise would be greatly appreciated
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joel
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# Posted: 1 Jul 2008 08:15pm
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Change the oil and air and fuel filter or strainer on a regular basis and allways use fresh fuel, keep the air passages in the engine shroud and generator head clean of debris for cooling purposes and you should get many many trouble free hours of service, especialy with a Honda product there first rate.
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Vince P
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# Posted: 5 Jul 2008 10:32am
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You could also build a box from sound board, also known as Homasote. and enclose the generator for even more sound proofing.
http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/generator.htm
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Knipper
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# Posted: 2 Aug 2008 03:03pm
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We have the same generator. So far we are incredibly happy with it. We have it on our covered deck outside. Eventually we will have a post railing to avoid it from rolling (we also purchased the wheel kit because of it's weight when full). After our first week and two tanks of gas, we did our first oil change. It runs for about 20 hours on a tank of gas, aka 2.5 gallons.
It's very quiet, we have it running right now and we just woke up from a nap. It's an exterior wall away from our bed.
The manual is very helpful and Honda products are very good.
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hallamore
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# Posted: 24 Aug 2008 09:32pm
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Been using my Honda 3000 generator to power my cabin - using a 30 AMP transfer switch and just wired the entire cabin to the transfer switch (no need for breaker box this way). Works sweet! My model actually shows how many amps are being used. If you plan on doing this type of set up I am more than willing to offer advise.
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stordiau
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# Posted: 30 Nov 2009 12:15am
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Hi,
It's been a while since you posted this, but I am interested in your setup and any advise you could provide on hooking the generator to your cabin power circuit.
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hallamore
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2010 08:34pm
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Good question. First of all I build a small shed (well vented) about 50 feet away from my cabin (to cancel out the noise and carbon monoxide issues). I can't even hear it most of the time. From there I buried a heavy gague UF wire to the cabin where I purchased a transfer switch with breakers built into it. Usually most people use the transfer switch to transfer power to another breaker box. Not me, I used the transfer switch and the breakers as the main power source. I have no outside power. Inside the cabin everything works great. The only thing is that you just got to make sure that you don't run two or three heavy watt devices at the same time (like coffee pot & space heater or hair dryer). I have been extremely satisfied with this configuration. I HIGHLY recommend the Honda EU 3000 generator for a power source.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 26 Jan 2011 04:29pm
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I must admitt,I have never heard one bad thing about Honda's.Plenty of horrer storys on other brands.So maybe it will be worth the bucks to get a Honda.Piece of mind and reliability is what I need.
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Youngster
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# Posted: 9 May 2011 09:47am
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A sale I spotted a few minutes ago - it might help someone out...
UST 1,200 Watt 2.4 HP 79.5cc 4-Stroke OHV Portable Gas Powered Generator GG1200
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001RCTD8A/ref=nosim/dealigg-20
List Price: $249.99
Price: $124.00
You Save: $125.99 (50%)
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Scott_T
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2011 10:42am
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I am evaluating what type of portable generator to buy. I have estimated my power needs to be not more than about 3500 watts. I really want something that is "quiet" and Honda seems to dominate the market with best in class here but they are just too expensive. I have been looking at the Husky 3650 URLas a possible candidate that will fit my needs for power and mobility (lugging down trail to cabin site). It surprises me that so few manufacturers have made much effort to market a much quieter product given they must run continuously? Anyway looking for advice on what people think are good generators for under $1,000.
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grinnil
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2011 01:28pm
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i got a briggs and stratton 5000 watt generator for $700. been using it everyday since february, no problems so far. keep routine maintance alittle more routine than required.
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Borrego
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2011 09:06pm
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I got a Generac at Lowes in fall of 2009 and have used the heck out of it! It certainly is reliable. A bit noisier than Hondas for sure, but about 1/3 - 1/4 the price, and I just built a nice roomy shed for it.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 9 Aug 2011 12:12pm
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We are off grid also so we have a larger generator that we leave up there and use it for power tools while building. For lights, microwave, ceiling fans and the ridiculous Xbox our son can't do without we bring our Honda 2000. It is lightweight, goes through no gas, and is pretty quiet-especially on eco throttle. We got it on sale for $850. It also charges our battery while it is running so at night we are using battery power to run lights and ceiling fans.
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groingo
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# Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:40pm
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I recently built a new 200 square foot small home and found that because of the way I designed it my power requirements were lower than my previous project, down from 365 watts max (everything on) down to 131 watts max (everything on) because of a more efficient compact fridge and dumping the desktop computer for a new Toshiba laptop (that alone dropped energy need by 150 watts)!
With that I retired and sold my wonderful Honda 2000 EU generator, took the money I got for it and with some $49.00 left over bought a brand new Yamaha 1000 watt generator that gives me nearly double the run time at 1/4 power from 13 hours per gallon at 1/4 power from the Honda to 14 hours at a little over 1/2 gallon with the Yamaha or 24 to 28 hours per gallon.
It is super quiet, weighs only 23 pounds, well constructed and came with a six year warranty from Yamaha.
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Scott_T
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# Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:12pm
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Thanks for the guidance folks. After quite a bit of study on the various portable machines out there I came to the realization of a few things:
1) I think most are made in China (including the popular brands, though not too sure about Honda and Yamaha?)
2) in a category (ex. 3-4KW) the features vary minimally.
3) they are all pretty noisy, smelly things. Surely this is a big opportunity for manufacturers to take market share from Honda and Yamaha!
I ended up buying an ETQ 4000 (<$400) which looks identical to the Generac 3250.
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groingo
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2011 01:21pm
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The key thing I found to be wary of with the Chinese generators, if you need service it is dubious at best.
When I was comparing I contacted the service number on the instructions and then asked for a local service center of which 100% were bogus, when I contacted their local service center to see if they did in fact service this brand of generator 100% never heard of them, either that or the maker wants you to send your unit back to them at your cost and if they determine the damage not to be of their origin then they charge you for inspection and return shipping to get the unit back.
I guess the lessons learned are know your real power requirements and add 25%, you get what you pay for, research and compare information and verify, efficiency, warranty and reliability, that's what its all about, no fun if it don't run or your having to fill it every three hours at $4.00 plus a gallon!
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Scott_T
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2011 02:03pm
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Here is an update of my generator experience. I used the ETQ 4000 for several hours in the field a couple weeks ago. It was a spotty performance at best. While I was able to get my project done (outhouse assembled) it was not without a couple of moments of doubt. The machine stalled and wouldn't start again for about 20 minutes. It had several episodes during the 3-4 hours of use where the idle/throttle control mysteriously became erratic (even under light surge load). So I will be returning it to Home Depot and exchanging for different brand/model. Reliability is key.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 2 Sep 2011 02:26pm
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Quoting: Scott_T Reliability is key
Honda, Honda, Honda.
I also have a DeWalt 2900 watt generator and have had burned valve problems and carb problems. I thought DeWalts were good generators also, but...
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Scott_T
Member
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2011 04:41pm
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Another update my fellow forum friends...I returned the ETQ 4000 and replaced it with the Homelite 3650. Big difference in the "out-of-box" performance of this generator ! One pull and off she went nice and steady. This machine is louder and heavier but I think the Japanese made engine (Subaru) will give me better long term running performance and reliability out at my land.
Homelite Generator with Subaru engine - 3650 Watts
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brandywine
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2011 10:21am
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We have a Troy Built 5000. No problems so far! One pull from me (girl) and it starts right up.
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Scott_T
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 12:24pm
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Question for the electrical experts here. I took a volt reading the other day after it was fully warmed up and it was giving me 127 V +/- 2V on the 120 rated outlets. Is this normal deviation and variation on portable generators?
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 12:45pm
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Under load or not?
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larryh
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 12:56pm
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I have a Honda EU 2000. It is worth it to me to have something reasonably quiet and provide clean power to operate finicky appliances and computerized devices. I don't think it runs particularly long on a fill up of gas though and the cost of operating it as the only power source would seem to be rather high, but if you had nothing else and only had to run it for several hours at a time it might not be too bad. At one time I could easily have accomplished that but as I aged I found my self with more and more electrical things I used to shun..
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Scott_T
Member
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2011 02:32pm
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Quoting: MtnDon Under load or not?
MtnDon this condition existed both under load (using a drill) and without load.
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Brenn
Member
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2011 08:06am
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Since I was looking for some advice for powering my cabin in the woods I found your posts very helpful for this. Still: Could anybody give me hints and advice on how to avoid the risk of fire. What do I have to consider when using a generator at a place that's surrounded by trees?
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Bzzzzzt
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2011 04:20pm - Edited by: Bzzzzzt
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Scott_T:
I see this post is about a month late, but I'll answer the question anyhow.
I am an electrician by trade. Electric power is rated at "Nominal" 120 volts. It can run a little high up to about 130V and a little low down to about 110V and 99% of all equipment will operate normally. 127V is nothing whatsoever to be concerned about.
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Scott_T
Member
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2011 07:25pm
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Thanks Bzzzzt
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Scott_T
Member
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# Posted: 10 Oct 2011 07:28pm
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Quoting: Brenn on how to avoid the risk of fire
Good question.
Having a spark arrester on the muffler is one good preventative measure. Not all have them. A CARB approved genny will have one. Also probably a keeping a fire extinguisher on hand is also a good idea.
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