Portable generator vs Prius Inverter

That is really kind of silly. Every product has examples that have failed. Even Toyota's. I have owned at least 35 generators in my life (you live near hurricanes and you make sure you have a power source), and I have never had a catastrophic failure like that. Of course, I have not owned a Coleman for many, many years, at least since I could afford better.

 

Now that you mention it, I have seen many gensets with that "gas on the roof" design. Maybe it is less than ideal. Anyway, call me paranoid (or worse) but I would not pour fuel into a genset and pull the rope w/o first convincing myself that it probably would not blow up.

OTOH, it has been pointed out here an several ocassions that using Prius in this way is not without its own set of risks. So, everybody just be careful out there. Especially with explosives and high voltage.

 

You didn't buy one of the Honda inverter-type units. 'Nuff said.
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_H*

 

Those Honda gensets are amazing, but they aren't big enough. I want all the comforts of home, now that I can afford it. Whole house is worth the trouble. I have less than fond memories for 23 days after Hurricane Andrew of sleeping on the floor of my living room so I could 1) guard my house with all the open windows and 2) get awakened when the gas ran out of the emergency generator to go refuel so the wife and kids could sleep with fans in the August heat. We were the last house in our neighborhood to get power back. Now I can go for 4 days using everything in my house (well, not all at the same time).

I have a friend who needs a c-pap machine to breathe properly at night and he has a small Honda generator to power it just in case and it has worked flawlessly each time he has needed it. Coleman is not the Rolls Royce (or even Honda) of generators, but it is usually decent for the price you pay.

 

For me, it is either a Honda generator or the Prius. The other generators are just too noisy. After a while, your neighbors will complain - at least my ___ neighbors. I guess it depends on where you live.

 

I have a Coleman Powermate which aside from running monthly to exercise, I have used for around 40 hours with no problem. I know it doesn't produce power nearly as clean as the Honda inverter generators, which are very expensive for a 5k-6k unit. I can say all it takes is one power outage during a 10 degree night to make the cost of the generator and the whole house hookup well worth the cost!

I've wondered if the natural gas permanently installed units produce power as clean as the Honda inverter or do they produce "dirty" power more along the lines of the Coleman...

 

I love Honda generators.

However, you should keep in mind that clean power is not always needed. Your transformer has a coil which functions to remove spikes. For that matter, the motor has a coil too. Your laptop uses a transformer and may have a little coil (the little thick part of the cable). Other household things may be fine with so call dirty power. A power supply is basically something that converts dirty AC, with a 192 volt spike 60 times a second to clean DC at 12 volts (just an example) with no spikes. 110 volts is RMS volts, actual voltage is closer to 190.

The manufacturers tend to hype the clean power business a lot. Of course, clean power is probably better. You can always use an isolation transformer (110 volts in, 110 volts out) to clean the power. It may be cheaper than buying a better generator.

 

Thanks Rhino. I had to adjust the sensitivity on my UPS for the computer so it works with the generator. Previously it continually flipped back and forth between its own battery and the line (generator) power. I also noticed the microwave cooks slower and sounds different when on the generator. The main reason I've wondered about this though is the increasing use of electronics in almost everything from furnaces to appliances to the water softener. Is the risk of frying something with a cheap generator significantly higher than with a Honda generator?

 

I just got offered a great deal on a 2010.

How does the 2010 12v system differ from the gen 2 system. I already ran my house from my 2004 for a while in a power outage (the inverter is still hooked up from last december).

Thanks, John

 

Oh no that's a bit dangerous! so the powermate coleman generator only works for 3 hours and then begin to pour some gasoline. I think what you had bought is one of the factory defect product.

__________________
free energy generator

 

Question for those that uses the Prius as a generator during power outage. Do you leave the Prius AC on in the summer to cool the traction battery or is opening the window enough?

 

Can you give more details on the hook up? Is this approved by Toyota?

 

You're kidding, right?

Why in the world would Toyota "approve" this? With all the litigious folks around here they would be crazy to even formally approve driving their cars on public roads.

And then people wonder why they can't watch DVD's while driving!

 

Toyota actually did a demo project in Japan where they used the traction battery to provide 3kW of household power. If you're interested in getting more power than approximately 1kW that the 12V system can provide, see PriUPS.com . I've used this system a number of times during power outages. I recommend 3kW maximum average power, but one benefit of the traction battery and a large inverter is that it can provide much greater peak power for starting motor loads such as the furnace and the well pump.

Richard

 

It seems noone remembers ConVerdant Vehicles and their PlugOut inverters. Well, now reopening as PlugOut Power.