Reddit reviews Westinghouse iGen4500DF Dual Fuel Portable Inverter Generator 3700 Rated & 4500 Peak Watts, Gas & Propane Powered, Electric Start, RV Ready, CARB Compliant

Warning: this is a TLDR post!

Mind you, I'm a generator newbie and there are certainly lots of old timers on here who have plenty of hands on experience that would easily surpass my new found knowledge.

When it comes to portable generators there are basically two main types (hereinafter described as 'the old fashioned kind' and 'inverters'.

The old fashioned kind are the ones that construction sites typically use. They are gasoline powered and tend to sound like chainsaws while running. By contrast, typical inverter generators are often smaller and wrapped in sound deadening material that keeps their decibel rate at a level where you can hold a conversation while being near one and still hear the other person.

These construction type portable gens can also run on propane and in some cases natural gas. They are the least expensive of the two categories and will give you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to maximum watts generated.

However, compared to the second category (inverters) they are the least fuel efficient to operate. Largely because in order to produce electricity they have to run at a constant speed of 3600 RPMs . So, while they may have a lower up front cost when you buy one - they can have a much higher operating cost long term due to higher fuel consumption.

In contrast, inverter style generators can idle at considerably slower speeds and can produce watts on demand without the need for those constant higher RPM's. The trade off being that inverters are limited in the number of watts they can produce. I was unable to find an inverter type generator that could produce more than 7500 watts.

Inverters also produce the kind of clean, steady, power required by sensitive electronic devices (PC's, tablets, etc) whereas the old fashioned kind can produce power surges that can damage such devices. Honda invented the inverter generator and their units are known for dependability and low noise but typically come at a very high premium compared to the competition.

As I was researching, I kept thinking about what our actual needs were. I realized that among those needs were having enough fuel on hand to keep the generator going for however long we needed it. Meaning, that given an emergency of sizable proportions, that might last days or even a week or two, we might be on our own with whatever fuel supply we had on hand and unable to easily replenish that fuel. In that case, a large gas hog type generator wouldn't be ideal.

Further to that, I factored in that generators tend to sit around for extended periods of time in between emergencies and gasoline will often start to go bad after as little as thirty days. That meant that whatever gasoline we stored for generator use would need a gasoline stabilizer added to it (Sta-bil is one). Letting the gen sit unused for a month or two with un-stabilized fuel still in the carburetor could lead to gumming it up. So, basically, gasoline powered generators require a bit more maintenance than propane powered generators.

The downside of propane powered generators is that, while they run cleaner, propane has about 10 to 15% less fire power than gasoline. Meaning, as in the case of the unit I bought that's advertised to run at 3600 watts? Fueled by propane it can only produce around 3300 running watts. With the lower powered inverter generators like the kind I've bought I will need to sacrifice my highest power suckers that run on 220/240, like dryers, heavy duty air conditioners, electric heaters, etc.

So, here's the deal. When it comes to what you need to keep yourself minimally served during a blackout, a smaller, inverter style, portable generator that runs on propane might be just the ticket. Because the truth is that you really don't need to power up your entire home all at the same time. Nor do you need to power your home for 24 hours a day. For maximum fuel efficiency you power it incrementally and for a few hours at a time.

For example, in the recent blackout we discovered that if we kept the standing freezer door shut that food stayed frozen solid for three and a half days without power. Meaning that, with a small portable inverter generator, that freezer could be powered up for a few hours every few days to keep things frozen and need not be powered on the entire time.

A portable inverter generator can be attached without a great deal of effort to your home's electrical panel (there are very affordable ways to do this and not so affordable ways to do this - I'll be using the quick and easy affordable method). Thus eliminating the need for extension cords.

Once the portable generator is attached, breakers in the panel can be turned off or on to supply specific rooms or receptacles with power. We have isolated the circuit that supplies power to the freezer and the circuits that supply power to my modem/router/PC, along with every other thing in our home. We went around with a wattage tester and tested all of our plug attached 110 watt stuff - made a list and figured out how much power it would all take. Added together it really wasn't excessive - handled incrementally it was entirely doable.

In the end I settled on this duel fuel model It's about half the cost of a comparable Honda or Yamaha inverter and it has the advantage of running on both gasoline and propane. It produces enough power to keep the important things we need going for a few hours a day. I'll be wiring it into our home's electrical panel tomorrow and should be prepared to weather the next power shutdown that is expected to start Saturday night and go on for as long as three to five days.

Having said all this, I would appreciate hearing from those of you with hands on experience with the use of emergency personal generators. As what I've written above is pieced together from research and can't compare to the knowledge you've gained from hard earned application.

TLDR: Old styled gasoline powered generators are super loud and can be gas hogs. New styled inverter type generators are more efficient and much quieter but can't produce the high wattage of older style generators. Actual power generation needs can be handled incrementally and sparsely by isolating parts of your home and running the generator for only a few hours each day. Dual fuel generators are desirable because they offer both gasoline and propane options.

I was looking at this one.

Westinghouse iGen4500DF Dual Fuel Inverter Generator - 3700 Rated Watts & 4500 Peak Watts - Gas &Propane Powered - Electric Start - CARB Compliant https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078V6V965/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mWvHDbCKGKGS6

I only plan to use it on private property. I would have reservations about running any generator overnight at a public campground.