Lt.Grandpa
Midway, Kentucky, USA
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Joined: 10/20/2004
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Hello all,
I know the generator subject has been slightly used here, but we live in rural Kentucky, and bought a Wilderness 280BH for mostly camping at developed sites. We get some decent storms in winter and recently lost power during an ice storm for 7 days. We would like to use our TT for a winter shelter as well, since we'd need a big BIG generator to power our house furnace. We don't really care about running the A/C nor do we need it to be exceptionally quiet. Running the heater/fan, a few lights and a TV so we can get weather is ideal. Any suggestions? I know the Hondas are great and super quiet but again sound isn't a factor.
Any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks,
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Deb and Ed M
SW MI, USA
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Joined: 06/07/2004
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Quote:. We would like to use our TT for a winter shelter as well, since we'd need a big BIG generator to power our house furnace. ,
If you have a forced-air gas/oil furnace in your house, it doesn't use all that much power.
We have a Coleman 3000 watt generator (not very big or expensive) to "save the house" in case of a power outage. Our furnace is on a dedicated circuit; and there's an outlet wired into that circuit: when we lose power, I shut the furnace power off at the breaker box, and plug one of the outlets on the generator into the outlet with a male X male adapter. I can also run the fridge on the other gen outlet.
The Coleman is pretty noisy - if I was going to buy a new generator, I'd go for the Hondas. But during a power outage, a noisy gen is better than none at all.
Deb
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C.B.
APPLETON WI USA
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Joined: 12/15/2003
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hello Jeff
You might want to check out Lowes or Home Depot for some ideas.
It really depends on how elaborite you want to go. I personally have a 3500 watt Honda that takes care of furnace, refridge,electronic ign. hot water heater, and basic lighting up Nort Brrrrr here in Wisconsin.
You can get all kinds of transer switches.
If you do go with transfer switch I would reccomend a licensed electriction so nobody gets the big jolt.
Good Luck
Butch
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tfm
Mobile, AL, USA
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Joined: 01/23/2004
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I have a TroyBilt 5550 watt for emergency power, i.e. hurricanes. I never use it for camping. This generator is set up with two 20 amp circuits. I run my TT off one circuit and use the other circuit to run fridge and lights in the house. I can run my whole TT off the 20 amp circuit as long as I don't run the AC and microwave at the same time. It's a little noisy, but after a hurricane or other cause of a power disruption, noisy generators and noisy chainsaws are very common sounds. I bought it at Lowes for $659 (one fourth the cost of a Honda). It came with a 25', 10 ga. extension cord with four outlets.
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JAXFL
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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I have to go with Tfm. I also have a TroyBilt 5550 watt for emergency power, i.e. hurricanes. I have not used it for camping, yet, maybe Boone docking someday. This generator is set up with two 20 amp circuits and a 30amp twist type plug. I got an adapter 30amp 120 plug and run my TT off the 30amp circuit and use the other circuits to run fridge and lights in the house. I can run my whole TT off the 30 amp circuit and run the AC and microwave at the same time. It's a little noisy, but not that bad when you are inside the TT. I bought it at Lowes for $650.
Happy Trails
JAXFL
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Bill n Pat
Fredericksburg, Virginia
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I bought a Generac 5000 watt generator at BJ's wholesale club for $499. I used it for the camper when at Nascar events for one year. I used it last year when Isabel hit and knocked out our power. It is noisy but can power anything in the camper or can be connected to the house and you can run your refrigerator / freezer and most of your appliances.
I recently bought a Yamaha EF 3000 i SEB because I wanted something more quiet when I boondocked.
Bill
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Tsalla Apopka
Crystal River, FL
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On my little Brave there is a 4.5KV Onan and it will power the a/c and microwave and lights and such in the rv. In winter we use one or two little 1500watt ceramic heaters to heat the whole rig (or the propane furnace system). If I was doing it from scratch as in your case I would get the Honda 2000 and get a 2nd one with the harness to hook them together. That way you could use both in summer to run TT A/C and in the winter you could heat the TT and put a couple of 1500 watt units in the house to keep it from freezing, and keep some lights and the frig/freezer going also. I like the flexibility of the 2 hondas. They work great for portable power working around the place also.
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tfm
Mobile, AL, USA
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Joined: 01/23/2004
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JAXFL...What adapter did you use for the 30 amp. twist lock? Looking at the wiring diagram of the 5550, it appears that each of the 2 hot legs of the 4 prong 240 v. twist lock recepticle runs through 1 of the 20 amp circuit breaker (same breaker as the 20 amp. outlets use). Therefore, if you use an adapter to go from 1 leg of the 240 v. to your 120 v. TT plug, your still limited to a 20 amp. circuit. What am I missing?
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BuckChaser
Lexington, KY, USA
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Joined: 11/19/2003
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I am located in Lexington and the ice storm caused us to by a generator. Check Sam's Club, I bought a Coleman 5500 watt generator for less than $450. It is the loudest thing in the world, but it keeps the TT powered as well as the Freezer and refrigerator in our house when the power goes out.
I don't use it for camping other than going to Bristol a couple of time a year.
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JAXFL
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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tfm,
I do not think you are missing anything. The 30amp male-twist-plug I got at homedepot. I attached that to a 20 to 30 pigtail that you can buy at any RV store (cut off the 20amp end). I do not know why it works but it does. If I pluged the pigtail into the 20amp female plug on the generator and then pluged the TT into the pigtail it "would not" run the AC, let alone the AC&MIC. I talked to TroyBuit and they gave me the directions to do the twist plug (yes, only connecting 1-120v side) and it worked great. I am not a electrical tyoe person but the direction they gave me worked.
Good luck.
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