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| Massive snow storm hit the Rockies on October 8-9-10 2021 |
A couple of days ago: Strong Fall Storm Brings Heavy Snow, Strong Winds to Rockies, High Plains. Huh, maybe winter really is coming. Then these two generators showed up on my desk. With the way state governments have been mishandling energy supplies (I'm looking at you, Texas and Michigan), I suspect many people are buying generators.
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| Firman 7500W Running / 9400W Peak Tri Fuel Generator Costco $800 |
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| Predator 2000 Watt Super Quiet Inverter Generator Harbor Freight $530 |
Going by the numbers, the Firman generator from Costco looks like a better deal. It produces almost four times the power as the Predator from Harbor Freight for less than twice the price. The Predator is smaller and lighter than the Firman, but it's still weighs 50 pounds, which isn't 'light'. I mean you could carry it, but I wouldn't want to have to carry it very far. The Firman weighs 200 pounds and even with wheels, shifting it around is going to take some oomph.
And then there's the noise factor. The Predator noise level is rated at 66 dB, the Firman at 72 dB. Sounds like they ought to be fairly quiet, but I really have no idea. I know 100 dB is really loud. I suspect it really depends on your situation.
The Firman will run on natural gas which is great if you are going to be using it for an extended period - you won't have to constantly refilling the gas tank. On the other hand, making a connection to a natural gas outlet requires a certain amount of technical competence, not much mind you, but some people just can't be bothered. I expect we'll get a few fires and maybe an explosion or two, but they probably won't kill as many people as carbon monoxide poisoning caused by people running the dang things indoors.
Uniberp bought a Predator a couple of years ago and uses it occasionally.
2 comments:
I bought a Champion 7300/9300 dual-fuel generator about eight years ago. I got it at Costco, on sale, for $600. It served me well during the regular winter power outages we had in Birch Bay WA. I ran it exclusively on bottled propane. No gasoline ever. I bought a few extra BBQ tanks and kept them full. Each one would give me about 8 hours. I stored it in my garage, near the big door. If we had an outage, I would open the garage door (manually), drag the generator outside, hook up a propane bottle, and start 'er up. It was loud! But I was comfortable. It weighed 225 pounds, had two wheels, electric start,and a folding handle. I was very happy with it. I sold it for $250 when I moved out. Here in AZ, we have had zero outages in 18 months. So far, so good.
Arizona does have that big nuclear power plant. That might have something to do with it.
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