Value Home Inverter Generator
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
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Doc goes over home inverter generators and some warnings and tips. Most new generators come with a CO2 sensor, but they can be problematic if you're not careful. He shares personal experiences and talks about the years of using generators in the home.
Isn't the issue with Carbon Monoxide not Dioxide.?
This video is right on time. We just had a storm. Power was out for four days. Had to buy about two hundred dollars worth of groceries. Not gonna let that happen again.
Thanks Doc
Doc I just installed a micro air soft start on my 3 ton ac unit. I have a 22 kw generac and my ac would still pull it down. Installed this soft start and works great. My start amps are now under 20 amps and running is around 7.5 amps
If you are indicating that regular running amps are reduced with the soft start I would beg to differ or ask to explain how that could be. Everyone understands start up amps dropping but it does not mean the running drops too
Great video - new sub.
It’s fascinating to hear your perspective from the south. I live in Maine and a generator has been a God send for our family. We bought a Westinghouse 6600 start and 5300 running watts generator a few years back and have it set up so we can plug it in directly to the breaker, similar to what you did.
The past few years we have lost power in the winter due to massive coastal storms that bring snow, ice and lots of wind. For me the biggest concern is keeping our family warm and keeping the sump pump running. The oil furnace, with forced hot air, uses a good amount of juice and the sump pump is a decent draw. However, it has saved our basement from significant the past two winters. In 2022 a neighbor down the street had feet of water in their basement due to generator failure and subsequent flooding. We got pounded with wind and rain - storm killed the power to close to 250,000 people then the temperatures plummeted to below zero.
Our inlet box is at the front of our house, and I get concerned running the generator at night - I don’t want to piss the neighbors off and I don’t want anyone to steal it. When the power is out in wintertime in Maine sound carries. I have ramps for my truck - I start the generator, then wheel it to the bed of the truck - fortunately I have a truck cap, so I can run it without issue. If I had a CO sensor on it i would be screwed.
Appreciate your video, thank you.
I live in upper michigan. We have simular winter storms here. A depenadalbe generator is a must have.
Doc I also survive Hurricane Fran living about 45 miles west of Raleigh. We were out of power 5 days . Yes I also got a generator a month or so after the clean up. Still have it to this day. Only time I have ever had to use it was a horrible Ice Storm. Love the color of your house great choice .
Doc, First - thank you for your service! Second, while I found your channel a few years ago to help with my lawn, I appreciate these videos with your experience/opinions on products as well as how to be prepared for the unexpected… Thank You!
I have the same Champion inverter generator you just bought. Its a bonded generator. Be sure to remove the front panel and separate the white and ground wires to make it a floating neutral .
Marine? Thanks for your service. I'm looking into a whole house generator. My vacation house is only electric with propane for emergency heat. I'm in the woods in PA. can you give an overview of generators that utilize propane?
I had a generac 26KW installed. No playing with switches fully auto and runs my whole home. Great investment for us guys getting up there in age. Btw today andersons has the 20 to 1 spray bottles. I bought 2 today.
Where did you get it and how much did you invest?
@el5495 skip generac and find a local electrician that installs them. Generac wanted $12k and I had it installed for less $8k, about 30% less. You don't need the whistles and bells generac pressures you to buy.
Thanks for your service, I am 30 year. Believe like you be prepared. I bought Champion 9000 inverter. I contact by a/c service and they say soft start is the way to go. It will help your compressor and make it easier run on a generator. I am using the same building for storage, with fan for moving air. Plus, an exhaust extension.
I've been doing the same for a long time, always have a generator ready, and always have a window A/C and a heater that will make my bedroom feel like normal and run from the generator all night. I'm a crazy extension cord and gas can hoarder until the power goes out and everybody wants my air conditioning! (Also a life saver when the heat pump breaks in July in NC!)
I love my Champion 4500w generator, they have been extremely helpful with support and very easily sent me an entire new inverter/controller and a new hour/volt meter. I had kind of a minor issue and they didn't even want to try and fix it, just gave it a whole new brain. Support is obviously in the US and parts are available. And I think they typically have a 3 year warranty, much longer than other brands.
Generator is a must, ice had a portable 4600 watt for 20 years. I never want to be without one.
Doc, I too lived through Fran in Raleigh and you are so right those nights were the worst. Enjoy your channel and all the different subjects that you expand on. Thanks
Doc we have our house on portable generator it is 8000 Generac It has been good so far, I just got the roof on my tractor shed where a tree fell through it last week, we have put new roofs on everything we own this year.
Well done. You need st least 7000/8300 starting generator. You made a great choice. You should say 7000 watt 8700 starting. People may not understand. Next video say running 7000 watts and equipment starting surge 8700. Sad about your trees. Subscribed
add 2 vents to the generator shack Doc. intake/discharge (make sure they are sheltered from the rain)
you can probably fit a small bathroom extractor on one of those. or one small ventilator.
you only need a very small air flow to make this function. so any low power/slow ventilator should do the trick.
you would be already generating energy so using a little of that to keep that thing running is a minor loss.
as long as the air is flowing in and out, you should not have problems triggering the CO2 sensors.
also should keep the oxygen level high. better fuel oxygen mix. (and no fumes from the fuel cans) so the engine will work better.
I was thinking something very similar. Just put a small fan in the shed that can keep pushing the CO outside. 😁
I have the same model Champion dual fuel. Impossible to find the correct battery for it, but you can make one work (the positive and negative are switched on anything you can buy). It ran for two weeks after a hurricane in Florida, with the refrigerator, window unit, and assorted appliances (coffee maker and television, glad my antenna survived the storm). No internet for the entire time. I purchased that model because Amazon delivered it in 2 days, and ordered it when the hurricane was 4 days away. Best purchase I ever made, but the noise level is horrible.
I keep the Champion as a backup now, and purchased a dual fuel Firman inverter generator, primarily because of the noise level. Worked like a charm when the power went out in Arizona and the temperature was 115. Only 3000 watts, but ran a 12000 BTU mini split, refrigerator and television just fine. The reduced noise really makes a difference.
Propane stores forever, so dual fuel is the way to go. Inverter generators do make a difference, you can hear it if you have anything with a large electric motor.
Yes, bought one from walmart. Made it work.
So amazed with my dirt booster compost pile. I top dressed my container veggies & flowers and they’ve taken off.
I sprinkled some bare spots with pure dirt booster where I killed off some clover and a week later my Zoysia is spreading like crazy! The interesting thing for me is the spots were very light (SC sandy soil) and now they’re medium to dark brown. Love it!
Awesome... it really is one of my favorite products
Thanks for educating him on the CO2 versus CO. Don’t hold it against him. He was a jar head. I was Army.. 😂
I have a Harbor Fright Inverter generator, or did a amazing job running my pool and other things. It has the Honda Killer Predator motor. Do yourself a favor though, separate your ground and neutral in the panel.
Well done. You need st least 7000/8300 starting generator. You made a great choice. You should say 7000 watt 8700 starting. People may not understand. Next video say running 7000 watts and equipment starting surge 8700. Sad about your trees. Subscribed
You should have said there’s our winter deer jerky lol
Great video Doc! I just found your channel and I really liked your way of sharing information.
The GenerLink automatic emergency power transfer switch mounts inline with the electric meter. It has a 40A socket for your portable generator chord. No special wiring panels, breakers or wiring work.
We tried to have one installed at the beach. Georgia Power does not allow them.
You could cut a hole in the top or the side and send the exhaust that way. They make a heat wrap shielding for turbos/exhausts you can wrap around the pipe to prevent melting. Unless you just want to keep turning it around.
You can also get a mini split hvac that will heat and cool, both, and doesn't detract from the appearance of your house at all.
Great post
When it comes to generator electrical backup.
Rule #1 Two is one
Rule #2 One is none
Be wise!
How are you running split phase appliances (e.g. well) on a single phase power supply?
can you recommend a dual fuel invertor? so, I can just keep extra tanks of propane a round don't have to worry about them going bad? Unlike gas
Cool to hear you lived in Raleigh--I'm in a Raleigh suburb. What kind of differences did you see between caring for grass in Raleigh vs Atlanta?
How do you handle long term gasoline storage for the generator? Do you use ethanol free gas?
You can only plan so much... we have 8 cans around at all times. Yes ethanol free stays in it long term.
I keep 1 VP can ready all the time. Cycle it through the car every 2-3 months or so. Don’t care about Stabil or additives. That’ll cover none major events where gas will be available easily. For hurricanes I just fill up my other 7 VP jugs prior to the event. That’s 45 gallons of gas which should get me through the bulk of it until gas is more available
Install a Micro Air soft start on AC unit and you can run your AC off generator.
Add an exhaust fan, or air intake fan, can be had cheap for 12v plugged directly into generator! It'll keep the air fresh around generator
Where were you working in raleigh? I lived through fran and it was brutal. Without power for a week
Been watching this Champion inverter generator for sometime now. Wish it had remote start an I would buy.
Excellent content.
Easy fix. Exhaust points out and run a fan blowing over generator and out
Doc, any thoughts about using batteries as backup power? Ecoflow?
We'll show our three systems coming up.
If you want to calculate the wattage for each CB you have I would be happy to walk you thru the calculation. Pretty straight forward.
Please post the how to.
@nooneyuno5011 you have to know what each device is plugged in to a specific CB. Sum the max current each device and multiply time the voltage i.e.
5amp+10= 15 total × voltage.
15A×120V=1800W
30A×220V=6600W
@@rogersmith5503 thanks for the info Roger, I really appreciate it.
Thanks Doc awesome video.
Maybe instead of the CO sensor being able to be disconnected, just have a exhaust connection to route it far away . Or something like auto shops with exhaust fan drawing the exhaust away through a hose.
I picked on up on Prime Day, was the cheapest it's ever been. Figured it's overkill, but I don't care. Planning on plumbing it into our natural gas line with a motor snorkel kit. Nat gas lines are powered by nat gas generators. SO even in an outage you still have pressure.
Awesome video!
I went with a generac 22kw with automatic transfer switch and duel fuel ( propane/ng) Runs entire house with ac(soft start) plus pool pumps
All you have to do is disconnect the CO2 sensor. It will never give you another problem, but keep in mind that it will not function as well. Keep your generators exhaust away from the house and far enough from the house so it cannot come through the walls or windows.
Thanks Doc
Is it a CO sensor or CO2 sensor?
CO
All you have to do is cut a whole and put a A/C vent cover or something like it and mount a fan and a other whole and let the exhaust get out and you can keep the storage unit close and it will vent and the generator will not over heat and it will stay dry . It will take about an hour of labor. That’s what I did
Nope... many have complained about the same. Out in the OPEN... and the unit shuts down. Crazy
Hurricane Fran was in 1996, FYI, 27 years ago.
CO2 isn’t is problem. It’s CO, carbon monoxide.
Its all killing the planet...stop mowing your lawns...stop the hate
Powering on burning wood
I think you may be close to me (30114) lol, my power was out for almost 24 hours and no internet for 2.5 days...
Semper Fi
Anyone had problem damaging appliances or gas furnace with a non-inverter generator, powering the whole house?
It makes sense now. S/F 3/7
Get a 20” box fan plug it into generator and point it away from the generator. Never had a problem after I put the box fan
Guess together with exhaust fan on the side of the muffler 🤔
If insurance denied them, they didnt pull permit and have proper inspection done. The homeowner can do tgeir own electrical work its perfectly legal and NOT grounds for ins denial..
Poor Ryan, working all by himself. He needs, we need, the Good Witch back on the farm!
Informative video. But are we not going to talk about the irony of hating a CO2 sensor because it's unneeded. And then goes on to complain he can't keep the doors and roof sealed on a 5-ft shed. This video is the very reason CO2 sensors come factory installed
CO carbon monoxide.
CO sensor, you meant - I guess?
solor panels please
CO sensor, not CO2.
Every Generator Shed Must have Exhaust fan to pull hot air out in Summer so there wouldn't NOT be Carbon Monoxide build up 😢😮
Watch the videos online about people with generators IN THE OPEN that have shut down consistently even though there is only a ROOF over the generator.
too much water on the tomatoes. Need to control water in root system.
If natural gas is available, a tri fuel generator, in my opinion, is the way to go.
Yes, I list one on that page.
just unplug it
That doesn’t work, you have to wire around it, look for a video that will show you how on your model ahead of time. You will be ready 😊
@@philliphall5198- can’t you just put like a zip lock bag securely around ithe sensor with a zip tie?
Needs to be up off the floor 😮
Co sensor are a joke 😢
It’s just built in trouble and will fail 😢
Purchase a CO alarm for $25.
And what will that do? Duh
You will regret not getting duel fuel generator, that’s just a no brainer
It is a dual fuel. Not regrets
So it looks like you changed from a Champion non inverter generator to an inverter version somewhere along the way. Did you have issues with the other on your house electronics with the high THD "dirty power"? I've got a non inverter but not really thinking im going to.teust it for the basic necessities for power in a fairly new $450k house.
No, have run them for years with zero issues. One is just newer than the other.
@@HowTowithDoc Was mainly curious of your thoughts on the choice between the two as so many are touting to ONLY use an inverter generator as the "power is cleaner". I'd hate to ruin a rack of my internet gear in the closet...or a $2500 fridge...or a $1000 TV, etc.