Buying a generator

We just purchased our first RV, a 2017 Keystone Hideout.  As we are brand new to the camping world, we need some expert advice on what kind of generator to purchase.  It has a 13,500 BTU air conditioner.  Of course we want enough power to operate the TV, microwave, phones, blow dryer, etc.  We were told we should get the Honda 2200 Watt, along with the companion.  However, that is a $2,000+ purchase.  Do we need to go that expensive?  Any advice/help you can give would be much appreciated.  Thank you!

Our first RV was a Keystone Outback.  Probably similar to yours at least as far as the AC and appliances go.  We purchased a Honda 2000 and used it on a regular basis to power most everything except the AC.  Don't know if the new Honda 2200 will power the AC and if it does, it that may be the way to go.  But why would it cost $2,000+.  The Honda 3000 is about $2,000.  Our 2000i was about $1,100 and that was for the Camouflage color, which adds another $100.  If I had to do it today, I'd look at one of the low cost, $500 +/- Inverter units sold at Costco and many other stores. 

Depending on your tow vehicle, I'd consider a larger unit that would power your AC as well as other appliances.  The Honda EU3000is for example.  Only problem is weight.  It weighs 144 lbs.  If you have a pickup with room in the bed, you may be able to mount the Geny in the bed of the truck. 

You've mixed a couple questions together. One is the required power (watts), another is packaging/weight of the unit(s), and the third is brand name factors.  Each of those has some options, so the total picture can get complex.


You need enough watts to run the a/c plus whatever else you expect to use at the same time.  You probably have 30A shore power in Hideout, so that's a much as 3600 watts (30A @ 120v). The a/c consumers about 12-13 amps @ 120v, so that's 1400-1560 watts, but an a/c momentarily demands much more power each time its compressor starts. Typically that start-up surge will need about 2400-2800 watts for 1-2 seconds before it settles back to the 1560 number.  For that reason, we generally say that you need a 2800-3000 watt generator to operate the a/c and maybe a couple other small things. If you expect to use other electric appliances while the a/c is running, you need the entire 3600 watts.


A 3000+ watt genset is heavy and maybe somewhat bulky.  If you only need to use the a/c once in awhile, it may be more convenient to use two smaller generators, adding the second in parallel to run the a/c but otherwise just using the single but smaller/lighter one.    Further, some types/models are noisier & heavier than others.  The best choice is an inverter type genset that runs at varying speeds to handle the load and on average will be much quieter than a constant speed or open frame "contractor" genset. Naturally, inverter gensets cost more...


Last is brand name considerations. Honda and Yamaha build great equipment, with a deserved reputation for reliability and very low noise & vibration.  There are, however, solid-performing competing brands that should be fine for occasional use and cost 1/2 or less. I recently bought a 2000 watt inverter genset for under $400. I use it for back-up during power outages.  You can get two of them for the price of one Honda.

In your case, I would probably buy an off-brand 3000W inverter genset if I camped often in warm (a/c needed)  weather and a single 2200-2400 watt model if I could manage without a/c.  Add a second 2000W model later if needed.

My Champion 3100 watt inverter generator will run my AC except at altitudes above 5000'. The newer 3400 or 3500 would be better. BTW the Champion was less than$700 new and shipped to my home. They are great units with excellent customer service and a 3 year warranty.
RichH

garyb1st said:

Don't know if the new Honda 2200 will power the AC and if it does, it that may be the way to go.  But why would it cost $2,000+.  The Honda 3000 is about $2,000.  Our 2000i was about $1,100 and that was for the Camouflage color, which adds another $100.  If I had to do it today, I'd look at one of the low cost, $500 +/- Inverter units sold at Costco and many other stores.

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When you buy the 2200i and the companion 2200i to parallel them together, it costs ~$2,100.  Plus the cords.

Not if you buy a brand other than Honda or Yamaha.  Champion, Briggs, Westinghouse, Wenn, etc. all have them and $1000-$1100 for a parallel pair.

Example: a 2000W parallel-capable Champion for $418 at Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Champion-2000-Watt-Stackable-Portable-Generator/dp/B0041K09D8/

I leave it to others to debate quality vs cost.

garyb1st said:

But why would it cost $2,000+.  The Honda 3000 is about $2,000.  Our 2000i was about $1,100 and that was for the Camouflage color, which adds another $100.   

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Gary, he was talking about buying 2 generators.  A 2200 and the companion and hook them together.

They said "We were told we should get the Honda 2200 Watt, along with the companion". 

Rene T said:

Gary, he was talking about buying 2 generators.  A 2200 and the companion and hook them together.

They said "We were told we should get the Honda 2200 Watt, along with the companion".

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Missed that.  Thanks for the correction. 

In my experience, NO generator is "quiet,' but still...Honda generators are so much quieter than most of the others...they're almost worth the increase in price.  Granted, things may have changed in the 20 or so years when I had to lug around a 4KW generator on the back of my work truck...

I am doing the generator analysis too.  Here are some thoughts I have...

I rarely boondock, but may need the power for music festival camping, or a Walmart night.  I have two ACs, so Ideally I would run 50 amps.

I can buy two, 2200 watt generators and a 30 amp parallel kit.  They would be lightweight and easy to carry.  Approximately 30 amps.  Most often, I would be running both at the same time, assuming I want the AC.  I could only run one AC at a time.  2200 watt generators are fairly quiet.  There is also a 2500 watt option, by Westinghouse.

I can buy two, 3000 watt generators, and a 50 amp parallel kit.  Slightly heavier, but plenty of power.  Maybe I would only run one generator, but if I needed the extra power I could hook up the second one.  I could buy one at a time with this method too, and see if I actually needed the second one.  A single 3000 generator cost as much as two 2200 watt generators.

I can buy one 5000 watt generator.  Very heavy, and I would have plenty of power.  It would likely have to be permanently mounted.

I am still not sure what route I am going to take, but leaning towards the dual Honda 2200 watt parallel option.  It would be nice if I could add a third one if needed.

As others have said it depends on how much you want to run while you are running the air conditioner, if it is just going to be the air conditioner, maybe a few LED lights, and a modern low power draw flat screen TV, then you can get away with something like a single Yahama 2400 watt inverter https://www.yamahamotorsports.com/generator/models/ef2400ishc which they claim will start most 13.5kbtu rv air conditioner.  If you want to run the air conditioner, microwave, etc. at the same time you are going to need a pair of 2000+ watt inverter generators.

We just bought a Champion 3500 watt surge/3200 watt continuous inverter gen with remote start/stop (electric start) from Cabelas (Model 100262)... they are having a heck of a sale on them until July 4th.

Champion says they will start a 15000 btu A/C, so I have no worries that it will run my entire travel trailer (or at least 95% of it) unless the DW gets too wild.  We have a 13500 btu A/C on ours, so we should have some headroom in generator capacity with this unit. 

Just my review on it so far... filled it with oil, connected the battery, filled the fuel tank, and it started on the very first pull of the rope (the little 12V battery was too low to start the gen right out of the box... but the build date was sometime back in 2016...)  It is quiet!!  Most say it is a bit noisier than a Honda, but it is 1/2 the price also, and rated at 59dB at 23 feet.  You can talk at normal tone/volume to someone standing right next to it at full speed (ECO mode OFF) with no problem.

Something to check into...

Honda rates their 3000i at 50-57 dB at 23 feet (presumably the 50 is in ECO mode), so a small difference.

Larry N. said:

Honda rates their 3000i at 50-57 dB at 23 feet (presumably the 50 is in ECO mode), so a small difference.

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From 50  db to 59 db, that is almost twice as loud.  I have been doing a lot of research on generators, and it's one of the things I have come across.

+10 dB is the level of twice the perceived volume or twice as loud (loudness) in psychoacoustics − mostly sensed.
+6 dB is the level of twice the (RMS) value of voltage respectively sound pressure − mostly measured ●
+3 dB is the level of twice the energy or power respectively intensity − mostly calculated.

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm

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Apparently you missed that the 59 dB (and Honda's 57 dB) is NOT in ECO mode and Honda's 50 dB IS in ECO mode.

I have a 3700 watt Yanmar diesel generator.  It puts out 29.9 amps and will easily run my 15,000 btu AC, plus the electric water heater and refrig on electric.  It bogs/shuts it down if I add the microwave with all that running. It is an open frame unit and is noisy outside but not inside the RV.  It will run all night on its tank of fuel though.  I also have a Robin 3300 watt diesel generator which is equally noisy and will start/run the AC and the refrigerator on electric, but nothing else (besides the 12v converter). 

I just purchased a Honda EU2200i generator and hooked it up to my fifth wheel in the yard.  I also installed an EasyStart capacitor? by Microair.  I was able to run the 15,000 A/C (Dometic 551816A, Blizzard NXT) without issues.  I only ran it for ~10 minues.  The 15K A/C, my residential refrigerator, and a couple of LED lights were on.  Only the refrigerator and A/C are 120V.

The first iteration, I saw a small flash of red, less than a second.  After that, I could tell when the compressor was starting, but no issues with a over-peak load.

I am planning on purchasing a companion generator too, and a parallel kit.  I should be able to run in eco mode, with two generators and two A/Cs (if I want).

We have 2 x Yamaha 2000s which we run together. We also have the Microair Easystart for AC.

We can run One AC and a toaster TV etc. However we can't run all appliances at once.

Note that elevation changes output too as per Aguablanco's comments.

jackiemac said:

We have 2 x Yamaha 2000s which we run together. We also have the Microair Easystart for AC.

We can run One AC and a toaster TV etc. However we can't run all appliances at once.

Note that elevation changes output too as per Aguablanco's comments.

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How large is your A/C? 

I am planning on putting in another EasyStart on the other A/C unit too.  I am guessing that very seldom with both compressors start at the same time.  The A/C only uses a large draw for only for a second or two.  And I will have an extra 400 watts over two 2000s.  I just have to purchase the second generator.  Even if only ione A/C at a time is the answer, the two should be on Eco mode and be quiet, I hope...

Senator said:

Even if only ione A/C at a time is the answer, the two should be on Eco mode and be quiet, I hope...

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It's interesting that you think that two gennies running in eco mode will be quieter than one gennie running in non-eco mode.  I'm not sure that makes sense.

But it's been a few decades since I played around with a sound meter back when I was a rock n roll sound roadie for local bands, so I'm definitely not saying I'm right and you're wrong.

I would be interested in hearing back from you after you try it, or from anyone else here who has actual experience doing this.