Affordable Generators and Prolonged Power Outages

[Raptor]

I thought I would start this thread for members to post their real life experiences with smaller 1000 watt to 7500+ portable generators. These are the kind I see most people using in NOLA and as a result I am garnering as much info as possible on brand, fuel consumption and what it  powers.

The first one is a generator I bought last year for an event that needed 1500 watts for 8 hours. I bought this on Amazon simply because it was cheap and filled the need.  I have been amazed with its utility. I paid about $300+/- for it. It makes 1,600 watts continuously and 2000 watts surge. Not a power house but a decent price sensitive alternative. After the event I ran the gas out of it, drained the oil and stored it

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M8P1RFW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This and a 5 year old NIB 5000 btu window unit (don't ask ) were sitting in my storage room. I also had a spare 50 foot 50 amp 120/240 marine shore power cable and some adapters for my boat.
I loaned it to a friend and went over to set it up for him. I used the 20 amp twist lock 120 volt adapter plug to go into the generator out put. The generator was in the car port and with the exhaust aimed away from the house I ran the 50 cable through his dog door and then plugged the female ending into another pig tail adapter I had that had a 20 amp  straight female plug. So he had 20 amps of power in the house safely. He then installed the window unit in the kitchen window. He planned on setting up house in the kitchen and had a heavy duty extension cord. The kitchen and dining room were 300 to 500 sq ft. I was not sure the generator would run either the window unit or the refrigerator. I guess I should have tested it but I did not.

Any way the generator had the oil refilled & checked, filled the tank and it put the choke on and It started n the 3 rd pull. I showed the friend the power saver and power max switch. We plugged the cord in and chose the rabbit (full out put 100% of the time) and then plugged in the refrigerator. The generator bogged down and I was afraid it would choke but the frige motor started and it worked. We then tried the window unit and did not cause as much of an issue as the fridge. Obviously he had a a choice of one or the other. But he could run the fridge for 10 hours to cool it down and the room unit 14 hours to keep him cool and sane.

What was the outcome. The little 5000 btu unit did cool the room down to the low 70's at night and the high 70's in the day. It took about 30 minutes to start feeling the colder temps but it did work. He is still using it 24/7. Once the AC or firg has started he can put in the power saver and the noise is greatly diminished and the fuel consumption goes way down. Once the high draw motor has stabilized he can run several led lamps ~9 watts each and a large 60 watt fan. He can also charge battery banks and his phone. 

It runs for about 8 hours per tank with the window unit and 6 hours per tank with the frige.
It uses about 5 gallons per 24 hour cycle.

I have friend who installed a proper transfer switch and has this generator.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ7ESAQ/ref=twister_B09CG88QD2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&coliid=I3AX1K6NC6EB8V&colid=2PZ4LFJMWHSMH

He is running a large fridge, a couple of ceiling fans and an 8,000 btu window unit. He can run anything in his house as long as he does not exceed the 7000 watts. So no central HVAC. This unit is going through 12 gallons of fuel per 24 hour cycle. He ran it on propane initially and went through the 2 tanks he had in less than 3 hours.

Fuel as I have posted in another thread is the critical limit here.

[EBuff75]

Sam's Club has a small Westinghouse generator on sale for the next month (the iGen2200).  It's only 1800 watts (surge to 2200), but is very quiet and because it's an inverter generator it can run sensitive electronics.  I bought one last year, but haven't had the chance to use it yet other than some testing.

https://www.samsclub.com/p/westinghouse-igen2200-super-quiet-gas-generator/prod22464750