Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I'm in the market for a backup generator- I have been searching for unit that is reliable and portable. The Honda units are outstanding but I am lost as to power output. This concern is on many generators not just Honda. Honda clams there EU 2000 peaks at 2000 and will run 1600 watts continuous, and offer a parallel kit to run them together for 3200 watts which = 26.66 amps and at max load give me 4000 watts 30 amps. Although low on the power I can live with that. My big Question is the larger units over 4000 watts. Anything over 4000 watts will give me more than 30 amps. That being why do All of the Honda units as well as other manufactures only offer 20 and 30 amp breakers and plugs from the generator? The Honda EU 6500 will peak at 54 amps- greater power but if I cant feed my house with it than I should go with a smaller unit. How do they justify all that power and off a small 30 amp breaker. I know some plugs are labeled 120/240 volt , and at 240 volts I get 29.5 amps peak at 6500 watts. But then what happens if I only need 120 volts but above 4000 watts ? Will the breaker keep tripping? I have a concern about safty

"The Honda EU 6500 will peak at 54 amps- greater power but if I cant feed my house with it than I should go with a smaller unit. How do they justify all that power and off a small 30 amp breaker."
If you're using 240v, that's 30A per leg. You've done the math and seen the wattage come out the same.

As was asked, what are you feeding? If you're going to feed this into your main panel, you need to go at 240V. The panel splits the circuit into two 120v legs. A/C, well pump, stove, dryer all use 220. Half their load comes off each of the 120V legs. Do your calculation for what you need in amps at 120V, then convert that to watts to determine the size genny you need. Then you'll have to figure out how to distribute it.

"what happens if I only need 120 volts but above 4000 watts ?"
Then you would need a greater than 30A circuit, BUT I am 99% sure you have nothing in your house drawing more than 30A by itself. Just split the load between two 120V legs, ie. if you need 4800 watts at 120v, that's a single 240v 30A breaker - you draw 20A from each leg and have a little left over.

BTW, never load a circuit beyond 80% of the breaker capacity.

Update: I suppose you know not to run a clothes dryer or electric range or electric hot water heater while on generator, right? Refrigerator/freezer only has to be run for a little while every few hours. Well pump the same. Not to say you can't but you'll be buying a lot more generator than you really need.

Thanks for the info. Every appliance is electric in my house. I'm not really pressed for hot water. I don't need main ac for i have 2 7500 btu ac units. My main concern is 1 small freezer, re fridge, my computer , coffee pot, small frying pan, at least 1 AC, it draws 750 watts running, my computer , tv and cable box and a few lights. Obviously everything cant run at the same time.

Looks like you're prepping for a summer storm - how about your furnace? Don't forget the circulator pump(s) for hot water, or the fan for hot air.
Do you have a sump pump?
That can be critical if you lose power during a storm like today's. Is your range gas? Those can be lit manually and you won't need to worry about a coffee pot, microwave, or frying pan. A clip-on ammeter is great for determining your draw, but they're not cheap. If you have a friend with one, buy him a few beers.

If you're not hardwiring in your generator, you'll probably want a cord similar to this one: http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com/Gen-Tran-D10450DW/p985.html
That one takes the 30A 240V Twist-Lok output on a generator and breaks it into two 120V dual GFCI outlets. Some generators come with them, expect to pay over $50 if you buy one separately.

I found that cord through a search just to show it to you. But that site just happens to have quite a few How-To's on it, you might want to look around - it may answer a question you didn't know you had.

Thanks for the reply. No I don't need heat. I have a kerosene heater for emergency heat. I am also looking at running 2 eu 2000 Honda that is much cheaper than a eu 6500. the only thing with that set up is I will have to wire it to my 220 breaker. from there i do not know how or if the amps will split 1600 watts x 2 = 3200 running watts / 120 volts = 26.6 amps. The big question is will i get 26.6 amps on each bus bar in my electric panel or 26.6/ 2 = 13.33. 13.33 amps is nothing 13.33 x 120 = 1600 watts. I'm not sure how it works. If I can get 26.6 amps on each bus bar It should work fine. I hope it will.

No. The generator puts voltage into the panel. The amount of current draw is determined by what is drawing from it, up to the max it can put out or the breaker trips, whichever comes first. I would not be comfortable using two combined generators instead of one larger one. You need to keep them in phase or risk burning up any 220 items you might have.

bus708, I ran across this while looking at something else on youtube. I think this guy has a nice simple setup that does everything you would probably need. Similar to mine except I have a manual transfer switch before the main panel that sends power to the panel from either the genny or the street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbtRxcb-cmA