Portable generator
Hi all,i am having some difficulty deciding what suitcase type petrol generator to buy for my motorhome.The tv is 45w,the kettle is 800w,toaster 800w and the fridge is 115w.Can anyone advice me on a good reliable one to cover all these needs.I see many of these but just confuses me on the output whattage,I don't want to purchase one that does not fit my needs as I have listed above.Many thanks .
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This site might be of help. If you wanted to run them all at once it looks like you would require the EU 22, but you can search the site to find one that meets your requirements. If you are running your battery charger, you will also have to include that in your calculations, but there will be plenty of capacity within the 2200w.
Even these quiet ones look a bit noisy though at 83 - 92 dB. Hope your not close to anyone else. Pricey as well.
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Have you considered a solar panel which would be out of the way on the roof whereas you would have to find somewhere to store a generator. Also gas would be an easier option for kettle, toast and fridge.
David
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We have a Honda EU221, bought primarily for use in our previous MH.
If buying now would go for the lpg version and a refillable gas bottle like Safefill rather than the petrol version. That way your MH becomes self sufficient.
We never ran it continuously. But when on rallies and wild camping and occasional non ehu sites would use it to top up leisure batteries of other MHers on site with us, or when required to power other peoples cool boxes. The sound from the stereos, general laughter and families having fun negated any generator noise. The helicopters and entourage of le convoy and peloton at the Tour de France were definitely louder than the generator when used at le Tour
The suitcase type are quiet, moreso if you add the extra muffler or use an acoustic cover.
Makes less noise than lumpy diesel engines being revved to top up leisure batteries for an hour or so.
Unfortunately there are many people who have used generators irresponsibly, and as is the way of folk, all generator users get tarred with the same brush. Funny old lark this camping
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Thank you for all the advice,those eu22 look well pricey.As for the solar panel I do have one in a box in the cupboard,solar 12v power battery charger,made in China,topraysolar, didn't think that would do the job,i will look into this,thankyou all.
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Poacher,
As David has said, your kettle, toaster & fridge requirements can all be met by the gas you already carry, and your TV may run off 12 volts otherwise you need a relatively cheap (to the price of a genny) inverter.
Gennies are noisy & they get nicked.
I would make yourself a cup of tea and have a read of this thread.....
Bare in mind that if you are off grid a lot then refillable gas cylinders are available and there is more than one make available (
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TT has it in a nutshell.....generators are a (very noisy) sledgehammer to crack a very small nut.....
12v tv, as with your phone and tablet charging, morning cuppa on a gas ring and the fridge, toast, hot water all by gas...
a refillable 11kg Gaslow cylinder is about £300, and a 100w+ solar panel around the same....
might even invest in a 2nd leisure battery.
with the above in place, you can happily run (virtually) indefinitely during the summer, and a great byproduct is the fact that the SP will keep all your batteries fully charged when the van is not in use....
a decent generator will cost far more than the above kit and will annoy the hell out of your neighbours.....let's face it, would you want one kicking off just as your about to sit down for a bit of peace....?
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Good post by BB, the sensible answer would be get an extra battery or two even, they don't necessarily need to be in the same locker, wherever yo have room, and a solar panel of at least 100w, more if you can afford it, then with the money you've saved get someone to fix your fridge for gas. Petrol genny's are unsociable, too pricey, and you also have to carry petrol
JK
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If as implied the fridge is one that should work off gas, ie an absorption type, then no sensible size solar system will develop the energy to power that.
That it works at all on mains indicates it has no critical issue and IMO you would be very well advised to spend money on sorting it out to run on gas again. As said as it "works", its gas issues can't be expensive/complex to sort out.
I have a generator, an older Honda 650 Watt machine, but these days it only gets run to keep it serviced; an 85 Watt solar panel and everything that can on gas, servers our needs in all but winter camping.
If buying today the generator would be as small capacity, as light weight and importantly as quiet as money could sensibly buy; its target use would be simply to keep the battery topped up in cold inclement weather where the solar could not cope.
I certainly would not spend the funds an carry around as big a machine as could cope with any possible demands I might ask of it, just one able to do what might be essential with no other option.
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agree that you need to get the fridge checked out so that it can run from gas.....
while you're at it, get someone to check that the split charger from the alternator is working OK, so that your leisure batrery gets charges whilst driving...
...and of course, the reverse needs to be checked, that any solar st up also keeps your vehicle battery charged as well as the leisure battery.
good luck.
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Thanks for the heads up on Santa pod,never knew about the petrol genny thing.Ihave a gas engineer coming today to sort fridge and cooker out,hopefully be all sorted.I have a Talbot swift kontiki 1989.old but a god one,made a trip tp Scotland last year no probs,thinking of selling her and getting a newer one now tho.Thanks for all your help.
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Poacher 2, you’ll need to change your username to ‘Billy Nomates’ whenever you use your generator on site. And you’ll have to live with the knowledge that you could have had your fridge serviced to restore gas operation, and purchased a decent solar panel for less expense. Unless of course you underinvest in a Lidl style cheapy generator in which case you won’t need a name change because you won’t be able to hear people above the din, nor will your TV work without a pure sine wave output.
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The OP says he’s getting his fridge sorted.
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