What's your thoughts on this price for a generator inverter?


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Old 07-15-19, 12:21 PM
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What's your thoughts on this price for a generator inverter?

Curious what you think of this inverter generator to have around in case of blackout. Yeah, not as powerful as a portable generator, not as expensive as a built in home generator. But it'll keep the lights on / maybe run the fridge every few hours in a piinch.

Amazon has it for $335 delivered for prime members. (not sure if it shows the prime member price if you aren't a prime member. 33% savings!! seems ok. westinghouse?! that's just the name. But even no name harbor freight / others are much more than that.

https://www.amazon.com/Westinghouse-.../dp/B00NHACROW

 
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Old 07-15-19, 03:32 PM
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First, it's not made by Westinghouse. They license the name.

It will runs lights and maybe a small refrigerator but that's about it. Some small portable tools. I have one at my cabin. If you need to run a furnace or a full fledged refrigerator or any combination, you need something bigger.
Anything with a motor, such as a furnace , A/C or refrigerator, you will need something with a peak wattage of about 6200 watt peak power and 5000 watt continuous running power. And that's minimal. It's what I have wired into my home via transfer switch.

In my humble opinion, the price is not worth it, if you want it to use as a back up in power outage conditions. If however you need it as portable power supply at a camp site or work site then it will do what you want.


Product information
Size:WH2200iXLT
Product Dimensions 20.3 x 12.5 x 17.8 inches
Item Weight 43 pounds
Shipping Weight 48.5 pounds
Manufacturer Westpro Power Systems
ASIN B00NHACROW

Item model number WH2200iXLT
Batteries 1 Nonstandard Battery batteries required.MWE acquires Westpro Power Systems

in Daily News October 5, 2016

Midwest Equipment (MWE) of Columbus, Ohio, announced September 30 that it has acquired Westpro Power Systems, a manufacturer of Westinghouse portable power products.
 
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Old 07-15-19, 03:56 PM
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1800 Watts will keep the Mr's hair dryer humming along nicely!
 
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Old 07-15-19, 04:17 PM
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Strong Enough to Run All Your Home Essentials
There ya have it...........................
 
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Old 07-15-19, 05:03 PM
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probably run more sensitive electronics and it does look handy to have as a portable that does not weigh as much and is not as loud, but I would also probably spend a little more on a larger portable generator that could more likely run more items during a power outage.
 
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Old 07-16-19, 04:25 AM
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I disagree with Norm about how big a generator needs to be to support a house.

My Yamaha inverter is rated at 3,000 watts peak, 2800 watts continuous. It keeps my refrigerator going as well as the furnace and several lights AND the television or computer AND microwave over or toaster oven OR hotplate with no problem whatsoever. I DO agree with him that an 1800 watt gennie is too small for household backup service.

For maximum fuel efficiency you want the generator to be "loaded up" rather than loafing along. I would be looking at the 4200 watt peak rated generator with its 3500 watt continuous rating before buying that smaller machine. I would also seriously consider a gaseous fuel conversion (not dual fuel if this is only to be used for standby service) so you can run it on propane or natural gas. I run my Yamaha on natural gas with no de-rating of its output.
 
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Old 07-16-19, 04:35 AM
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I use two generators at my house during outages. For short outages and most of the time during extended outages we run a Honda EU2000i. An inverter generator about the same size you are considering. It's very fuel efficient and quiet and is perfect for powering lights and the tv setup for many hours. It can even run a refrigerator but all the other loads must be turned off when the fridge compressor starts. Once it's running other items can be turned back on. Then we have a big diesel generator that we use when we need to run the air conditioning, refrigerators & freezer, well pump and to do laundry.
 
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Old 07-16-19, 04:48 AM
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Here is a link to a thread I wrote when I was without power for three days. Be prepared
 
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Old 07-22-19, 04:12 AM
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In an earlier post (#2) I suggested that the proposed generator would be good enough for a few power tools. I stand corrected. Not even that. I'm providing a generator (RYOBI 2200 1800 watt) to my Amish roof installers and I discovered the gen will not sustain the use of a 13 amp 7 1/4 dia skill saw. Just by coincidence a friend of mine has the exact same unit and the same saw and he also tried to use the saw and it won't handle it. Not even under load the generator labors. If cutting wood it starts to stall and craps out.

So I standby my remarks that the unit is too small for any reasonable use other than lights and maybe a small refrigerator. You results may vary!
 
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Old 07-24-19, 03:43 AM
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Let's correct a correction. See above post. I don't know why, but at the cabin we tried using the saw again with the 1800 watt gen. It did the usual start up draw of a lot of amps then smooth out with no problems. Cut wood just fine! I'm at a loss as to why it did not work at home with two different sets of the same equipment.
 
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Old 07-24-19, 05:56 AM
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Shop around. CraigsList perhaps. I'll bet you can find a good used generator for close to the same price. Mine is 7000 watts and attached via a transfer switch to the house.
 
 

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