Choosing a generator for the home - what is important to know?
Key selection criteria
Gasoline, diesel or gas?
The first thing you need to decide is which fuel the generator will work from. To date, power plants for the home can be diesel, gasoline, gas and inventory. It is difficult to say which option is better to choose for home use, because it all depends on the individual conditions of use. To make it easier for you to make a choice, we will briefly consider the advantages and disadvantages of each generator.
Gasoline power plants are the cheapest (price from 15 thousand at a power of 3 kW), moreover, they work quietly and have compact dimensions. Due to their dimensions, it is quite easy to transport them, so this option is better to choose for a summer residence. The disadvantage is the higher cost of gasoline and consumption, which is higher than alternative options.
There are petrol models operating in a more economical mode - inverter (in the photo below). Such generators are better, but they are more expensive. The undoubted advantage of inverter electric generators is their compactness and supply of equipment with high quality current. If you want to choose a portable power station for connecting sensitive electrical appliances, the inverter device will be the best option.
Diesel generators are more expensive (from 30 thousand) and work a little louder, but the advantages of such models are considered to be cost-effectiveness, reliability and the possibility of functioning in uninterrupted mode, if the power plant is stationary type, with liquid cooling. I would also like to note that diesel generators operate normally at a temperature not lower than -5aboutC since diesel thickens in the cold.
Gas models are the most economical and quiet, however, the cost of such power plants is an order of magnitude higher than the other options (from 40 thousand). In addition, it is advisable to choose a gas generator only if gas is connected to the site. Otherwise, difficulties arise with the constant filling of the cylinder. Another significant drawback is that only specialists should connect such a power station to the central highway.
In addition, there are combined models - gas-gasoline, and gas-diesel. The dual-fuel system allows for autonomous power supply at home using two types of fuel. At the same time, it is not necessary to turn off the generator during fuel switching. If you liked this model, you can choose it, especially since the cost is not too different from previous power plants - from 40 thousand.
Equipment power
In order to choose the right generator for power it is necessary to calculate the load that will be turned on at the time of the autonomous supply of electricity to the house. It’s clear that you can have a 5-kilowatt stove, a powerful submersible pump and a system in your country cottage electric underfloor heating in all rooms, however, this does not mean that it is necessary to choose a power plant for all these consumers. If you rarely visit a summer cottage, it’s enough to choose an electric generator that will be designed to work with lighting in some rooms and on the porch, a refrigerator, a laptop charger, and a TV. For example, for these purposes it is quite enough to choose a power station for 3-5 kW. If you need a device for autonomous power supply of a private house, the power should be at least 10 kW.
It is not difficult to calculate the power of all electrical appliances in the house, however, it should be borne in mind that in such equipment as a vacuum cleaner, air conditioning, submersible pump and even a refrigerator, the starting current is higher than the nominal, due to the peculiarities of the operation of electric motors. This means that for normal operation of the generator when starting these devices, the power should be higher. In this case, use the following coefficients in order to correctly calculate the load:
When you calculate the total load taking into account the coefficients, we recommend adding 10-20% for the stock to the final value. It should also be noted that some manufacturers indicate in the technical characteristics of power plants power not in [kW], but in [kVA]. To convert kVA to kW you need to multiply the value by 0.8, i.e. - 10 kVA is 8 kW.
Here on this technology you can choose a generator for power. If you have any questions regarding this item, leave them in the comments!
Additional functions
We also want to pay attention to those functions and opportunities that must be taken into account when choosing a power plant for the home:
- There are single-phase and three-phase electric generators. If you have a 220 Volt input to the house, you must select a single-phase model. If the connection to the network is three-phase or there are three-phase consumers in the garage, it will be correct to choose a 380 volt generator.
- Noise level. The normal value is not more than 74 dB for gasoline devices and 82 dB for diesel. Moreover, if the power plant is protected by a casing, the noise level should be no more than 70 dB.
- The presence of a protective casing and silencer. Some manufacturers supply additional sound insulation in the kit. Well, if in your chosen model, such will be.
- Fuel tank capacity. Everything is simple, the more to choose a tank, the longer the generator will work until the next refueling, but, accordingly, the dimensions / weight will increase.
- Availability of protection against overvoltage and short circuit. When choosing, be sure to ensure that your power plant has additional protective devices that will extend its service life.
- Cooling system: air or liquid. The second option is more common on expensive stationary models, as liquid cooling is more efficient.
- Start type: manual, electric starter or autostart. For a summer residence, you can choose an inexpensive option - with a cord that you just need to pull for inclusion. If you want to choose a generator for autonomous power supply of a private house, it is better to stop on a model with auto start. In addition, the automatic reserve transfer system (ATS) allows you to display information on how many hours the power plant will last.
It is also necessary, when choosing, to pay attention to such indicators as the presence of a service center in your city and, just as importantly, the opportunity to separately order spare parts for repairs. Otherwise, these nuances are enough to choose a good generator for home and garden. We recommend additionally watching a video in which experts give their own tips on choosing a power plant:
The last thing I would like to talk about is which manufacturers and models of equipment are considered the best.
Rating of firms and models
To become the owner of a reliable home power station, we recommend choosing one of the following manufacturers:
- Huter (Germany)
- Elemax (Japan)
- EISEMANN (Germany)
- GEKO (Germany)
- Fubag (Germany)
- Vepr (Russia)
- Kubota (Japan)
- Gesan (Spain)
- GENMAC (Italy)
- Kipor (China / Russia)
- SDMO (France)
- Talon / McCulloch (USA)
- Endress (Germany)
- Briggs and Stratton (USA)
- Hyundai (South Korea)
These powerhouse companies are the best for 2017 and have many positive reviews on the Internet. I would like to pay special attention to the domestic Vepr generators, which are optimal in price and quality.
We also bring to your attention a rating of the most reliable models for home and garden. To make it easier for you to choose the suitable option, consider the most popular devices in terms of power: from 1 to 3 kW, 5-6 kW and about 10 kW, which is accordingly used for minimal power supply, moderate and sufficient for a comfortable stay.
A little explanation: B - gasoline generator, G - gas, D - diesel, GB - gas-gas, I - inverter.
The highest quality electric generators up to 3 kW, which are better to choose for a summer residence:
- Fubag BS 3300 (B)
- Honda EU10i (B, I)
- DDE GG3300Z (B)
- Bort BBG-3500 (B)
- Fubag DS 3600 (D)
- Huter DY4000LG (GB)
- ZUBR ZESG-3500-M2 (GB)
To work with a power tool in the garage, we recommend choosing models with a power of 5-6 kW:
- Huter DY6500L (B)
- Fubag BS 6600 A ES (B)
- Interskol EB-6500 (B)
- Champion DG6501E (D)
- Hyundai DHY-8000 LE (D)
Well, for full power supply to the cottage, we recommend choosing one of the models of generators with a capacity of about 10 kW:
- Fubag DS 14000 DA ES (D)
- Champion DG10000E (D)
- Briggs & Stratton 14 kW Standby Generator (G)
- Honda ET12000 (B)
- TCC SGG-10000 EH (B)
That's all I wanted to tell you about how to choose a generator for the house and which one is better in terms of power, manufacturer and additional parameters. We hope our tips helped you find the right one!
It will be interesting to read:
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Thank you for the article. very sensible and useful written. By the way, some stores have already separately made the category of generators for home and garden.
This year we bought a cottage, electricity is quite expensive to carry out, at least at the moment there are not enough funds for this. On the site there is a box of the house S = 26.8, that is, you need to finish building, building a roof, interior decoration, as well as building a utility block, since there are no buildings on the site, except for the unfinished house. I am writing this to describe the work plan. Please help me choose the minimum generator power to meet needs. Consumers - electric jigsaw, electric drill - during construction and after construction of a house - lighting, well, maybe some kind of small electric stove. That's all. And if it is possible, the scheme of connecting the lighting to the generator, on your site is found only if the generator is used as a backup source. And thank you very much for your site, a lot of useful tips have been gathered, especially as a beginner gardener. Svetlana
During construction at the facility, a 2.5 kW generator rescued us for a long time.
I liked the indication that the diesel engine runs to -5, and then it thickens, it is strange how I drive a diesel engine in any frost? There is winter diesel fuel, most likely the article was licked from somewhere from Europe, that's all, but nothing, informative :)
How can one determine that an inverter generator of rectangular pulses or sinusoidal pulses?
Oscilloscope At aliexpress, for a few hundred rubles, you can buy a low-frequency oscilloscope toy. But for your task this is more than enough.
The review is interesting, thanks.
Being a fan of Makita tools, it’s interesting to know why the models of this well-established manufacturer were not included in the review?
Good afternoon.
We live in our home. 3 phases come to the house. Please tell me which generator to choose a gas so that the submersible pump works during a power outage, so that there is water (photo) and a TV. That will be enough. There is no need to feed the whole house, they turn it off for 2-3 hours.
Thank.
Hello! The power consumption of your submersible pump is 900 watts, for the operation of the pump and the TV I recommend choosing a 6 kW gasoline generator approximately. When choosing a generator for the pump, you need to take into account the correction factor, which reaches 7-9. Total 7 * 900 watts we get 6.3 kW. It all depends on how high the pump raises the water, what is the length of the water supply.
Gas-diesel generator ??? How is that? Does this happen? Is the engine device different? Give me a link. I'd like to see such a miracle of nature
Gas-diesel generators exist, but are used in production, as their power (and, accordingly, price) is many times higher. As an example, look at the GDGA-500 model.
Thank. I read about the gas diesel. But this is a huge power plant. It is not clear why it is present in the article on choosing a generator for a summer house or construction site.
Good evening. What power is needed for the generator to work during the blackout, the refrigerator, the TV and the gas boiler? I will be grateful for the answer
Hello. Help with the choice of generator. We will connect an oxygen concentrator with a power consumption of not more than 600 watts in case of a power outage. The issue of life support. Thank.
Hello! Help with the choice of generator. We need a generator for the machine whose rated power is 7.5 kW. Is a 9 kW generator suitable? Thanks in advance.