Emergency petrol generators

**Fuzzie** · 13th January 2010, 11:02 AM

Living in Queensland, every now and again around storm season I think maybe I should buy an emergency generator. Over the years we have lost power for more than a couple of hours on several occasions, but it's never got to the point of loosing food in the fridge/freezer.

I can usually get by with a torch, candles and no TV for a couple of hours, so the chances that we'll actually ever NEED a generator are pretty low. When I've previously looked at the Aldi $200 gen sets or equivalent it's obvious they're not up to the task of doing much other than running a light bulb and a portable television. Anything with enough grunt to run a fridge is much more expensive and usually out of my price range for something that might never get used.

Supercheap currently have a 2500W (transient load 2800W) 4 stroke generator on sale for $489 (save $410). The specs however say it's only suitable for running a small fridge up to 500W. I assume the startup load of the fridge is probably more than the rated wattage but how does it relate to specs? Why would they suggest a max rating of 500W for a generator when it is speced at 2500W, is the startup power requirements of a fridge motor more than 5 times the running power?

The specifications for my fridge say energy consumption is 668kWh, how does this figure relate to the straight wattage spec?

On the off change I'm willing to put $500 aside as a 1 in 50 year storm event insurance, is the generator a good buy?

**petersemple** · 13th January 2010, 11:28 AM

I don't think that you can directly use the kWh figure to obtain the wattage spec. kWh is a measure of power usage over time. From memory for appliances it is usually over a year. SO what you spec shows is that in a year of operation the fridge will use 668kWh. If the motor in the fridge was running continuously, we should just be able to divide by the number of hours in a year and that would give you the power input in watts. Problem is that a fridge is often sitting idle, so that method can't be used to work out the input power when the motor is actually running. Probably your best bet is to look for a spec table in the manual, or a plate on the back near the power cord.

Peter

**Chas** · 13th January 2010, 09:12 PM

Peter has answered the second part of your question re kWh, but as far as the starting load is concerned, an induction motor draws approximately six times the rated full-load current when starting. This means that a 500W motor needs a generator of about 3000W to be able to start without overloading the generator.

Regards,

Chas.

**mjmjm** · 15th January 2010, 08:46 PM

Very interesting. Thank you.

**bsrlee** · 15th January 2010, 09:28 PM

Mate of mine has a very nice 'Tohatsu' diesel generator, barely makes a murmur (its for use on film sets) has its own set of wheels (and crane lugs) - its about 1000x600x600 IIRC in a neat steel box enclosure (no chance of kids poking something & getting burnt). Has at least 2 x 240 outlets plus a couple of 12 volt ones too.

No idea of the price, but its what I'd want for a domestic generator. Think - if you buy one, you'll never need it - what great insurance

**Kyle** · 16th January 2010, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by bsrlee

Mate of mine has a very nice 'Tohatsu' diesel generator, barely makes a murmur (its for use on film sets) has its own set of wheels (and crane lugs) - its about 1000x600x600 IIRC in a neat steel box enclosure (no chance of kids poking something & getting burnt). Has at least 2 x 240 outlets plus a couple of 12 volt ones too.

No idea of the price, but its what I'd want for a domestic generator. Think - if you buy one, you'll never need it - what great insurance

Mates got the same one. Picked it up at a plant auction new for about $1100, they were selling about 20 of them. I think their just a chinese jobbie as Nightingale Electrics in Melbourne also/did sell them (different brand) for around $1500ish.

Their about 7.5 KVA.

**Fuzzie** · 17th January 2010, 11:17 AM

Just as an emergency thingy, 3 times the price for a diesel would be hard to justify. Also I'm not sure about the crane hooks reference, I'm looking for something I can move myself. At 55kg the petrol job is probably overweight already.

It's proving quite difficult to work out the power requirement for the LG fridge. None of the spec sheets or manuals seem to list it

. Without pulling it apart and finding the actual compressor it looks like the best guess comes from a placard that says Rated input 170W, Defrost Input 260W and rated input - heat sheath 260W (plus a couple of watts for the light globe)

I suppose not all of these run at the same time, the logic probably doesn't run defrost and cooling cycles at the same time. So I would be guessing the actual run part of all this would be under 500W.

**arose62** · 19th January 2010, 08:55 AM

I've looked at them a few times myself, after we had a couple of blackouts.

My suggestions:

1) look into how long various fuels can be stored before being unuseable.
2) read the warranty T&Cs for the SuperCheap backup generator. There were clauses about it having to be regularly serviced by their specified servicer, in order for the warranty to be valid.

Cheers,
Andrew

**Sparhawk** · 19th January 2010, 09:16 AM

Another point to consider is how are you physically going to connect the fridge to the generator? First you have to pull the fridge out (while it is full), unplug it and run a power cord somewhere, in the dark during a storm. How much is the food in the fridge worth for a 1 in 50 event, or is it better to invite everyone over for a big BBQ the next day?

**workgoose** · 21st January 2010, 03:43 PM

I bought an Aldi 2200kw 4-stroke for $299, it appears to be exactly the same as a Homelite machine for $799 at Bunnings. I am happy with it, I use it for a big Makita drill and a Bosch power saw when fencing out in the paddocks. I tried it with a fridge and freezer - no problems there. Its also nice and quiet, of course I don't know how well its going to last, but at that price I am not too fussed over it.

**TP1** · 21st January 2010, 07:23 PM

I have a Kipor generator with a rated load of 2.5 KVA. Its seems accurate and I can run the big fridge and two smaller ones and lights quite easily

If I have it hooked up to the plasma TV and amplifier and other things as well as the fridge ( this has a regulated power output) the big fridge might baulk a bit on start up. I therefore always make sure the big fridge/Freezer is the first thing to go on when the generator gets started and there are never any problems. I tend to dial in a colder temperature so that the compressor doesn't cut in and out and cause start up current issues

**bobsreturn2003** · 21st February 2010, 08:54 PM

i have a honda 2.5 kva runs fridge and freezer and small fluro light no good with tv though you need a newer inverter type to do that . very noisy too . reliable power is optional around here . cheers Bob

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