[BlackHarley]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

I'm the guy who actually lived through a massive power outage, so let me tell you a little bit about the reality of a widespread blackout. Gas pumps at gas stations operate on electricity and a 3,500 watt generator run by a 6.5 hp engine consumes nearly twice the fuel that the OP's desired 2,200 watt model and it is VASTLY louder.

I heard a great deal of these run when the power was out in my six day outage, nearly all fell silent by the end of day two for lack of fuel.

I traveled north from I-10 after a hurricane hit the Mariana, FL a few years ago. The next town with electricity was Dothan, AL. The lines for fuel were massive. That's the reality of getting fuel for a gas consuming generator, less truly is more.

Day 2??? You'd be lucky to get 8 hrs of power at 75% throttle with anything other than a whole house generator. That said, keep several cans of gas handy to extend the run time.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by jswirs

Good point. And that is why I spent the extra dollars and purchased a "dual fuel", meaning the generator runs on gasoline or propane.

While I understand the sort of model that you are talking about; that is a smaller 3,500 watt inverter generator, that will operate on a 20 pound tank for 12 hours , many will read this as propane power = good.

Not so fast. An 11,000 watt whole home generator (a bit small for this type of system) uses 1.22 to 1.97 gallons of propane per hour (depending on load) so a 200 gallon tank will operate 81 - 131 hours (they are filled to 80%). So as you can see propane generators are not a panacea in of themselves, if you are preparing for a longer outage. Like most things details matter a great deal.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by BlackHarley

Day 2??? You'd be lucky to get 8 hrs of power at 75% throttle with anything other than a whole house generator. That said, keep several cans of gas handy to extend the run time.

That is not correct, I lived this and it sounds like you do not have real world experience in this area.

There is a vast difference between generators. The OP asked about inverter generators, these are known for their low fuel consumption. Let's look at the Honda 2200 watt model. Consumption is 3.2 to 8.1 hours per gallon. Now let's look at fuel that you might have on hand. In my case I'll have 15 gallons+. At the beginning of hurricane season I keep the cart topped off 4-5 gallons, and fill two five gallon gas cans+. So I have 121 hours of power.

I used the higher number because that is the reality of being in a power outage, you are uncertain of the future and you conserve. Is 121 hours of power generation five days of operation? No. You shut the thing off at night. You sleep on the lanai, you use a battery powered fan, you do whatever you need to do to get by.

Now will an owner of a whole home generator do this? Not if they are wrapped in arrogance of superiority. If they have natural gas they've earned it, but as I illustrated above propane can have it's shortcomings of scarcity of fuel.

+How I safety store the fuel is a topic for another thread.

[BOB&JOAN]

I have had a Honda 2000 watt for 15 years, very quiet and will do what you want. It has “powered “ me through several multi day hurricane outages on the outer banks over the years. Just the bare necessities though. Very gas efficient.