850W Generators

[hudd09]

Hi,

Am looking to use one of the 850w 2 stroke petrol generators sold at most places for about £75 to drive a heater rated at 500w.

I have seen somewhere that the continuous rating is actually 650W, which should meet my needs of 500W for a max of 4 hours durning a power cut.

Would appriecate any advice as to how good or bad these little 2 stroke units are and any comments as to how noisy they really are - eg if I had it in a separate garage would you hear it in the house ?

thanks.

 

[nozspark]

A 500w heater isn't going to do much!!

You'd be better off plugging you CH boiler into the genny

 

[NotHimAgain]

2 Stroke engines are noisy and I believe may be on the way out - apart from all the old ones - you don't see many 2 stroke outboard engines these days.

You should not run one of these units in an enclosed space because the exhaust fumes will kill you .

My Honda 2.2 kVA suitcase generator is reasonably quite (52 DB(A) at 7 metres) - but I paid around £750 + VAT for that. BTW it is only rated at 1.6 kW.

There is a reason why it is ten times the price.

 

[ericmark]

We used small generators for air craft lights on the cranes to save running the 750KVa one 24/7. To start with small types were used but they failed that often we moved to using 10KVa models to get the reliability.

There are some at around the £500 mark with inverters built in so they only rev when required and tick over most of the time but I would have thought a UPS on the central heating is far better idea.

Maplin have inverters which from time to time are reduced is price. But again there are issues with many not being pure sine wave.

I fitted a gas fire which seems to do well.

 

[sparkyy]

I used one of those little generators for a 500W heater. It was a bit noisey and a little smokey but it did the job ok.

 

[timtheenchanter]

they aint too bad, I use one a bit caravanning without electric to top up the batteries, a bit hoisey, and be carefull with electronics, the voltage spikes can be a bit dodgy, heater would be fine though.

500w heater, depending on what you are heating would be fine, I have a 400W oil filled for my caravan, and in the really cold weather we just hda it kept the temp up to 20 deg C (-5 outside)

 

[FDJ]

Hi,

Am looking to use one of the 850w 2 stroke petrol generators sold at most places for about £75 to drive a heater rated at 500w.

Using a petrol generator to just power an electric heater is GROSSLY inefficient.
If you just need heat, I would buy a calor-gas heater.

A 500w heater is not going to heat much more than a dog kennel.

Frank

 

[sparkyy]

they aint too bad, I use one a bit caravanning without electric to top up the batteries, a bit hoisey, and be carefull with electronics, the voltage spikes can be a bit dodgy, heater would be fine though.

500w heater, depending on what you are heating would be fine, I have a 400W oil filled for my caravan, and in the really cold weather we just hda it kept the temp up to 20 deg C (-5 outside)

I used a portable tv with my generator there was a little "snow" on screen but it worked ok. Other devices are a bit more fussy about the quality of electricity supply, as I found out.

 

[ColJack]

youd probably get more heat direct off the genny.. stick it in the lounge and pipe the exhaust out the window..

 

[plugwash]

Personally I wouldn't want to run a generator designed for outoor use inside without getting expert advice on the flue arrangements.

wouldn't just getting a fuel burning heater be an easier and far more efficiant option than trying to run an electric heater off a generator?!

 

[ColJack]

my suggestion was a joke, hence the smiley..
your solution relies on the OP having a clear chimney and enough money to install and have certified a gas / coal fire, wood burning stove etc...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

 

[Steve]

I hope you consulted your neighbours before violating the clean air act around your house ban

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Those are my neighbours.

Well - most of them - we're burning the one who installed downlighters.

 

[Steve]

What about the one that installed an infra red outdoor heater?