Generator Help Please

[broken line]

Just in the process of buying a hard sided fish house for the first time. The house is wired to hook up a generator, and there are two 120 outlets inside, as well as two 120 ceiling lights. We plan to use electricity for battery charging, running small TV, radio and possibly a coffee maker. Where do I start as far as size, watts, amps, etc, etc.....I admittedly know nothing about generators, and don't want to get to big or too small.

[dodgeman]

Honda eu2000 quiet, nice to move around great generator also if you plan on using a coffee pot you will need a 2000 i had a 1000 honda and it would not run a coffee pot

[harvey lee]

Dont but just what you need,as you will add something one day and be short power.If you buy a used one have them run it first for you. Some are quiet and some are noisy and you will get tied of the noise.If you have a box for it in the fish house,make sure it is insulated and it will really cut down on the sound.

You cannot go wrong with a Honda and the Artic Cat ones are also very good and quiet.We have a Cat 2500 and its a good one.

[JCR]

Estimate of power usage:

Lights(use low watt florescent bulbs) 2*40=80 watts

Small TV 50

Radio 10

Battery Charger 120

Coffeemaker ? (up to1000) 1000

1180 watts total

You might get by with a 1000 watt unit. Honda has a great little one that only weighs about 35 lbs. They also have a 2000 watt unit not much bigger. You can see that it is much more efficient to use gas to heat coffee/food etc.

[Waterbeater]

I second the Honda EU series that dodgeman recomended. Super quiet and starts like a champ.

[Ryan_V]

I would second the hondas that everyone else is recommending. extremely quiet and will run forever and ever. If you are in the same boat as me however, price is an issue. the honda 2000 will set you back $1000. I've decided on a coleman powermate. less than half the price for the same wattage, but you will sacrifice in the noise level. for the amount of use mine will get in the fish house, the coleman is a better fit for me. I also plan on building an insulated, vented container for it to help reduce noise. check around, you'll find something out there to fit your needs.

[harvey lee]

I saw a 2500 at Cabelas for around 400. I do not know how much noise it makes, but for the price, not bad.

[wingnutken]

I had the same generator questions back in September. I found a brand new McCulloch 2000 on hsolist for 350.00. Some people suggested to buy a Kipor generator and I discovered they make the McCulloch. I thought I made a great purchase the first time I used it. Two weeks later upon returning from putting up our portable tree stands we could not get the generator to start.This was NOT good on the first day of a 7 day trip. The next morning I called the 1-800# on the unit and they told me there is no place to take it to and no spare parts. McCulloch had pulled these all from the retailers with no other explanation. I went to A+M in Park Rapids and bought a Honda 2000 for less than $1000. It starts on the first pull EVERY time, is quieter and runs 8-12 hours on a tank of gas AND it's big enough to use as a back up for my refrigerator and freezer when the power goes out. Noise is a very important issue if you are any where near other people and you don,t want to be scaring the fish either. I underestimated the importance of this purchase the first time. I would not cut any corners on buying a generator. When I am 8 miles out on Red Lake in a white out, I know my Honda won't let me down. Ken

[dodgeman]

enough said wingnutken. the bottom line YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!!

[freezdried]

Not sure about your McCulloch being a kipor. They look nothing like my Kipor. I bought mine for use with my RV but will use it with my ice house this winter. I have had min for 2 years and have had nothing but good luck with it. I know others that have them and are very happy with them. They have a great reputation in the RV world. I would put my Kipor 3500IT up against your Honda any day. Also my kipor 3500TI coast $1100 witch is considerably more then your McCulloch so I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here JMHO.

[wingnutken]

The Kipor 2000 and the McCulloch 2000 look identical (except one is yellow and the other red) and the Kipor name was on the McCulloch generator. Your 3500 may have more watts than my 2000 but it is over kill for most any ice fishing shack and I wouldn't want your noisy thing anywhere near me. I also believe your generator is probably much heavier. Like comparing cucumbers to green bananas

[dodgeman]

Yea theres nothing worse then someone with a genetator that can be heard a mile away and the ignorate one that owns it has 500ft of extension cord strug out and now the generator is closer to me then him.

[freezdried]

Well you have missed the boat on my noisy generator thing it has the same DB rating as a Honda and smart throttle so when you don't need the power it idles back. By the way try to run a RV AC unit with that little thing (Won't do it) but mine will run a 15000 BTU ac and a full size microwave. As for weight it is heaver then that little thing you got but what do you expect it’s almost two of what you have power wise. I don't really want to get into a [PoorWordUsage]ing contest here but you just haven't done your homework on this. What you bought is an industrial generator they are load heavy and noisy. The Honda you bought and the Kipor I have are inverter generators they generate DC and it has an inverter that changes it to AC. they are much quieter then industrial generators mine is 53 DB. You couldn't come close to buying an inverter type generator in the 2000W to 3000W for $400. I seem like you thought you should get top of the line product at bottom of the line price. I don't think you paid $400 for you new Honda did you? How long have you had you Honda a week or so and you say it is the best on the market. Well I have had my Kipor for two and I say they are a good option. I have to think that Hondas are very good but there are other options out there and just because you bought their bottom line unit and it wouldn't start for you they are not all junk. I bet there are a lot of folks that have some kind of bad luck with a Honda product I have a friend that has a 400EX that he would love to start on fire because it is a POS but that’s him other have them and they run fine. I sill say Kipor is a good alternative along with Yamaha. Honda is a nice generator but not the only one that’s any good but it your story make it as big as you want.

[freezdried]

By the way I did look up you old generator and If you got that one it is a digital generator and not an inverter type they did have trouble with this model and if you would have done some research you could have found that out before you got one. For any one that is looking for information on generators. Try going to RV(dot)net and do a search for the type you are interested in there is literally page after page on any brand you want.

PS glad you are happy with you Honda

[dodgeman]

Great i dont run my AC unit on the ice!!!!!!!!! And yes I do have one on top and 2 eu2000 When i tie them together i have 4000 watts really 3600 true watts and run the AC no problem. Did my research before i bought and will pay the extra for the Honda and they never miss a beat.

[freezdried]

Twice the price

I am not saying that they are bad generators just saying there are other options. It really dosn't matter as long as you have power. Let me ask you this what do you use your generators on ice for in you ice house. I have forced air heat in my house and I am waiting to see how much batteries it consumes.I know I will use it to run the microwave and charge batteries but do you keep them running over night? Also since you did your home work can you tell me what was the reason for not considering a kipor When I bought mine They were kinda new but like I said they had a good following in the rv industry. I also thought about the whole china thing but I can't seem to find a good quiet one that is made in the USA so I guess it dosen't relly matter after that. Any way like I said I like mine alot.

[broken line]

Outstanding feedback folks. Thanks.

[wingnutken]

Haven't done my homework? Did you read the original post? Do you really think I care that you can run an AC unit? We are talking FISH HOUSE here. My McCulloch/Kipor generator was a 2000 watt digital inverter. I paid 350.00 + tax, hsolist item#150031567004. Was returned unused and sold on hsolist. I was the only bidder. For that price who wouldn't have bought it with a 1yr man. warranty and a 90 day return policy? The weekend that it worked for me it used a gal. of gas every 4 hours when set on smart charge. Regardless of what the decible levels say in print, it was not as quiet as a Honda. Where in my post did I say Hondas are the best and all others are junk? When your Kipor breaks down where will you take it to get it fixed? Sorry I don't belong to a camping club and didn't research what other RVers use to power a large CAMPER. Why is there always one person who likes to P on somebodies wheeties when they are trying to help a fellow FMer? Do your homework,your are not supposed to bash other peoples posts! Ken

[freezdried]

Well I think you were the one to start bashing I just posted the facts. You are right we are not talking about running an AC unit but a lot of folks that like to stay out on the ice for days are the same ones that like to camp so I thought they should know that a Honda 2000 will not run an RV AC. I will admit that you got me a little on the defensive when you told me that you wouldn't want to be any where around my load generator. I didn't want to make you mad but I have had GREAT luck with my generator. I did take the time to look up your old generator so I knew what you were talking about but you just got mad and didn't even see that I said I was glad that you were happy with your Honda. I hate to bring this up but it was not a Inverter generator it is a TC look right on the side a TC generator has a digital voltage control Not an inverter. Anyway I am sorry if I have mad you angry that was not my intent. I was only trying to get the facts out there. I am sorry that you had bad luck with you kipor generator but like I said before I have had good luck so when you are bad mouthing them I felt the need to let them know that I have had great luck with mine. I sure hope I haven't made an enemy here because I believe that I have learned from every one on this site and just because we don’t agree on generators is no reason to think we wouldn’t agree on other things.