Thinking of buying a generator/battery backup on Amazon

So been thinking of picking up a small generator in case the power goes out at the house and for keeping around the farm.

I don’t think I need some huge power source - not looking to replace power to the entire house - just something big enough to keep run a few things - small appliance as needed.

I’m looking at a couple and would like thoughts.

One option I was looking at is the Generac GP3300i - $599 on sale (looks like around 800 normally). Would be big enough to run a small fridge at the house if needed during an outage - or a window ac unit. Only question here is - really any better than a unit I could get for a similar price at Harbor Freight at a similar price on sale normally ? Obviously Generac is a brand name - but are they building these or is it just relabeled junk? Too small to be practical ?

Another I was looking at the Jackery 300 explorer - $209 with coupon.

Obviously not powerful enough to run much anything other than a small appliance/tv - but thinking a battery pack might be practical for having around especially for shorter term solutions. Just something to charge phones/run a radio and to have available for power when working on the farm and can keep in the truck or gator. Saves having to run a motor for fear of running a battery dead.

 

I use an old Yamaha 1600 tube frame. Runs the fridge, internet, some lights etc. Can't power my well since the generator is only 120. Burns about 1 gal / 5-6 hours.

I also have a

$1,099 Westinghouse igen4500df Westinghouse 4500 Peak Watt Super Quiet Dual Fuel Portable Inverter Generator, Remote Electric Start, Gas & Propane Powered, RV Ready 30A Outlet, Parallel Capable,Blue/Black

Westinghouse igen4500df that we take camping. If it's too hot we fire that up and move to the camper for the night to have AC.

Sizing is a quandary. Too big and you burn too much fuel keeping the beer cold. To small and there isn't enough power.

My Yamaha will run the fridge, deep freeze, internet, phone and laptop chargers and a few lights all at the same time. Take the first two offline and I can make coffee or run the microwave.

 

With generators it’s buy once cry once deal. Don’t go cheap or too small, as it will more than likely let you down when you need it the most.

 

For hurricane outages I had an 8500 watt portable. It put out 33 amps @ 240vac. Still couldn’t run my main AC unit (47 amps on start up), but I could have fridge, freezer, lights and water heater on. Gas usage varied according to load. If you can get amp ratings off the items you want to power, at the same time, you can size.
I’ve since gone to a true standby generator for the house and it is a Generac 24kw. I’ve only had it a few months but we’ve had 4 outages in that time from the summer storms and it’s performed great. I know mine is made in Wisconsin, but not certain about their portables.

 

I got the duromax 12k dual fuel generator a few year ago for about $1100. Looks like it’s around $1600 now. I also have a 100lb propane tank to run it. Power doesn’t go out that much, but it’s never let me down. We did have to run it for about 48 hours one time. It’ll run everything in the house.

When I was looking, it seemed most generators only had a 30A connection. You can only push so many watts through that. The duromax has a 50A connection.

 

Your post mentions "farm". Do you have a well for water, pump is 120V or 220V, if so I'd get a generator with output plug for 220V.. Go bigger than needed

 

Everyone should have at least one generator of any size. Small ones are nice for certain uses that require portability. We've had the power go out for almost 4 days and, while it's a PITA, completely feasible to keep the necessities going in a house by swapping extension cords around. Obviously be cognizant of certain items' draw. Ideally, you'd have a portable unit and a whole home backup. If I could go back in time I'd have gotten a ~3500W unit over the ~1800. I found 15A just isn't quite enough.

To get at your second part, the box store tool brands now offer ~100W inverters for their battery packs. I picked up a Milwaukee one for my collection and it's worth having. Since I have a ton of battery packs this makes more sense to me than any other solution for low power applications.

 

Generac has gone through a series of ownership changes, Briggs and Stratton being one of them over the years, is owned by Generac themselves now. I have a Champion 2000 watt inverter generator for electronics in the home, pellet stove, furnace, etc anything that has a circuit board. I have a Briggs 5000 watt generator for all else including well pump, lights etc..

 

I know harbor freight gets a lot of hate but I picked up the predator 3500 "super quiet" inverter (I can run it next to a group of people and still have conversations at normal levels, makes a lot less noise than a push mower). There is a fairly regular $100 off coupon and I got the no questions asked 2 year warranty. I wanted something portable for camping or working with power tools where there isn't a power source. it can run internet, my full size fridge, 6.5 cu ft freezer, and the blower on my gas furnace. its a little large to muscle into the back of the truck by myself but doable.

downside is its only 120v but I'm happy with it. Also, need to either run it once every couple months or prep for longer term storage by draining fuel, fogging cylinders, blow out the carb and fog.

 

Seems everything has electronics in it these days, fridges etc. When shopping generators for home I made sure to get one with an inverter to safeguard electronics.