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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665   
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I'm looking to buy a petrol generator, around 5500-6000w, to power my house during the (frequent) power cuts.
We tried a 4kw one, and it runs the basic house stuff - a few lights, the boiler (pump I guess), broadband router, laptop, fridge etc. However as soon as you put one "major" device on top (such as a kettle) the 4kw one struggles, and cuts out. We have had power cuts as long as 3 hours (Christmas Eve 2013!) in the last few months, but neighbours recall power cuts of over 24 hours in the last few years. We live in a rural area, and power lines are all over-head 
Budget around £500 seems to buy a branded (i.e. Honda GX390 engine) one 2nd hand, or a new "Chinese" one. I'm thinking about 3-5 years on, can you get spares for the Swiss Kraft, Kraftech and other makes? I have a couple of local Honda places (where I buy my Stihl stuff for instance) who are great with spare parts, but no idea where I would get backup/service with a "Chinese" ebay special. Anyone happy to share experiences? Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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24th Jan 2015 12:29pm |
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| JWL Member Since: 26 Oct 2011 Location: Hereford Posts: 3443  
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It might be an idea to talk to a plant hire company, they will have probably dealt with providing solutions to problems like yours plus may be able to put you onto a second hand one that would more than serve your needs.
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24th Jan 2015 12:44pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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I'd prefer a second hand Honda to a new Chinese.
Honda aren't the only makers of decent generators though, you do pay extra because it's a Honda but there are others available. |
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24th Jan 2015 2:00pm |
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| munch90 Member Since: 26 Oct 2013 Location: guildford Posts: 3558
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keep the generator you got and get a gas kettle ( use a camping cooker if you not got mains or use calor )
I run the house off a eu2000i 2kw enough for lights tele router etc , use up back up gas kettle , turn freezers off |
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24th Jan 2015 2:46pm |
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| JJ Member Since: 18 May 2009 Location: Winchester Posts: 932 
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Fridges and freezers draw a lot of current for a short time as the compressor turns on, the draw then drops as it runs then they use very little ( if any ) when the compressor shuts off . The cycle then starts again .
You could turn these appliances off if the outage is short although I guess you never know how long it will be until the power is back on. |
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24th Jan 2015 4:06pm |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610 
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By careful 'consumer management' as Munch stated you should be able to manage with a 4kw one easily. That would give you an available total current of just over 16 amps. If you expect to run an electric cooker, kettle do your ironing etc. you would need one in the vicinity of 10-12kw and still have to manage loading accordingly. Turning off when the outage occurs and staging the switching back on of fridges and freezers so they reach their optimum operating temperature before the next one is switched on will help too.
Out of interest for anyone that may like to know the automatic thermal switching on and off of appliances is called 'Diversity.' If you have an electric cooker it will be protected by a 40 amp breaker or fuse. If you add up all the power ratings of the hobs, rings and ovens and work out the total current draw of this quite often it will far exceed the 40 amp rating, the reliance is upon the independant thermal switching of the hobs, rings, oven not to exceed the 40 amps at any one given time. You need to follow the same principle when available power is limited.  If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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24th Jan 2015 5:15pm |
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| munch90 Member Since: 26 Oct 2013 Location: guildford Posts: 3558
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pretty rare its off for long round here , normally few hours then there is a generator put down the road
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24th Jan 2015 5:24pm |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610
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Hi Munch,
Never off down here but with the 'scaremongering' about future power cut probability and diminishing supply capability we have discussed the viability of getting one just in case! Sod's law and my luck dictates by the time we'll actually need one they'll all be sold. Nothing like a little 'backfeeding' to keep the house ticking over. 
What does one do?  If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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24th Jan 2015 5:29pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665
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Some great advice here, folks, thank you very much
I have had my sparky add a commando socket in the garage (whilst the refurb of the house is going on), so that I can pull the generator out of the garage and run it under the car port, out of the rain/weather, but so it can also vent the exhaust safely. Also got a switch in the house to switch power from mains/off/generator. So it's all been wired correctly. The 4kw genny we borrowed was from the sparky. As K9F & Munch comment - we're not on mains gas, so all cooking is leccy. I do have a camping 2-ring burner for cooking if absolutely necessary. My mate up the road has a 7kw genny, and during the last power cut, he could run the fabric of the house (fridge freezer, router boiler etc) , and still watch telly, make a cuppa etc. Obviously leccy showers and too many large items simultaneously was out of the question. We do get a lot of power cuts (compared to shat I was used to when living in a city in Edinburgh) , but some are just a few minutes. The longest in the last 12 months was 3 hours, and the electricity board brought a huge containerized genny into the village until the fault was fixed. I was worrying about the contents of the freezer. Fortunately it was warm weather so not having heating was OK. Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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24th Jan 2015 6:27pm |
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