Selecting a generator?

[jen_in_southtexas]

Any suggestions for a good inexpensive generator? It would be for my 32 foot camper trailer. I have no electricity as i live on unimproved land and i wont have electrical hookup for a couple more months. I just need a generator that can handle one small window AC, my fridge..its a camper fridge so its right at about 5 foot tall and it does have a freezer,run a couple of 60watt bulbs....3 at the most but not all on at the same time. Maybe even run a small fan sometimes. Oh and i dont plan to leave this generator on all the time only in the late evening hours till about 5 or 6am when i leave for work.

Thx,
-j

[Sebastian_Haff]

Hey,

Buy a small portable generator that is Gasoline powered, I bought one from the sportsmans guide and it will run 5 hours on 1.5 gallons of fuel. It would be enough to power a PC, the TV, lights things of that nature and its real quiet too. Good luck!

[jott]

You would want to add up all the loads you want to run at the same time, if you want to use the AC and have the fridge plugged in you have to count them as both running at the same time since the fridge can kick on whenever. You should be able to find the load on each device. It will be listed as a number with a W or a VA after it.

After you have your load you will know what size genset to buy get one a little bigger then you need so the genset is loaded to about 75-80%.

Now there is a lot of different gensets out there. The cheapest are the gas powered ones you can pickup almost anywhere. Most of them run at 3600rpm and they are for light use, most would not last 800hr. This mite be ok for you since if you run it for 10hr a night that will give you about 80 days if you change the oil every other week.

A 2nd choice would be a genset rated for prime load, they are better built, most are diesel and run at 1800rpm. They have much longer lives and longer times between maintenance and would easily last your few months until you got power connected. Then you would have a good genset to sell or keep for other uses. The only big problem with a diesel is they do not like to be lightly loaded, when it gets to less then 30% you start having problems with fuel not completely burning and values getting all fouled up.

Some other things to consider
You will be burning a lot of fuel to have your genset run all night long. and your fridge may not stay very cool all day when you are at work. You mite want to consider getting a few batteries and an inverter to charge when the genset is on. That way all the lighting and small appliances could be used when the genset is not running. You could get a gas powered fridge so you would not have that load. If you did all that you would have a great start on a small off grid system so you mite just want to tell the electric company to forget it.

[jen_in_southtexas]

Thank you for the time you both took to answer my questions and concerns.

Jott...Im kind of liking the idea of the generator and inverter/batteries. Where do you get a gas operated fridge? Also where does one buy the inverters,batteries, charger etc? This is all new to me but very interested. At the very least, my refrigerator has to be continuously running.

-j

[12vman]

From Jott.. ;)
"If you did all that you would have a great start on a small off grid system so you mite just want to tell the electric company to forget it."

I like that thinkin'.. ;D

Most everything you want has alternatives 'cept that dang air conditioner. I can understand the need/want for one down there. What are the average humidity levels in your area? If they are low you may consider a swamp box (http://www.wonderquest.com/swamp-coolers.htm) instead. I built one that operates on 12 volt D.C. direct with a couple of small fans..

A propane fridge can be found at about any large R.V. dealer. Sometimes they have wrecked units and you can get one really cheap compared to a new unit. I bought a small one for $50! I've been using it for several years. You can use one for a freezer if you crank it up and use one for your other stuff that you don't wanna freeze..

A rule of thumb when thinkin' about going off grid. "The less energy demand equals a smaller system required" which in turn saves you a lot of money. Instead of those 60 watt bulbs, think flourescents. They put out a lot of light with a lot less energy usage. You can even get units that operate on D.C. voltage direct which avoids the need for an inverter. This brings up another rule of thumb.. "K.I.S.S." Keep it simple, sister.. ;)

I have a very small generator that is a back up for my home. (2800 watt) I paid less than $500 bucks for it. I use a garage type battery charger to charge my battery if I run into a bad week of no/little sunshine. The battery charger cost around $100. Using this set up, I can bring my battery to full charge in around 2 hours and use less than a gallon of gas..

I lived in a 20' camper for over 4 years in the middle of nowhere myself so I can relate.. :)
~Don