Generators- who has one and what rating is its output

[swanewa2]

Hey guys, with the looming crisis with South Africa's electrical supply from Eskom I was just wondering how many people here actually have a standby generator and what size is it? Also what fuel is it using and at what consumption rate? May be looking at a business opportunity to open up in the coming dark ages...

[Mr_Medic]

6.5kw AVR genny, 25L Tank runs on Unleaded. Sucks about 2.5L per hour.

Looking into inverter and battery setup now. Solar is also high on my list as is Gas cooking.

[swanewa2]

5.5kw Ryobi 20l tank runs at approx 2l per hour

[THOMAST]

6.5kW Honda with AVR

[Minerva10210]

Ryobi 1.2kw.

I have a solar geyser and a gas hob, so all I need to run off it is the fridge.

[Koebelwagen]

I have two.

One is 15KVA. It has a 31HP Briggs and Stratton V-Twin to cope with altitude and a 15KVA Sincro Alternator with AVR. It runs my office including lights, 7 computers, copier, 5 fridges, cctv system, electric gate, intercoms and two aircon units. Consumption is in the region of 4.5 - 5 Litres of 93 Unleaded per hour. This unit is fitted with a AMF panel

Two is a 4.2KVA Briggs and Stratton Pro-Max 6000EA. This unit is used for my house. It only feeds the TV's, two DSTV decoders, lights, 4 laptops, two fridges and the fishpond's filter pump. I use gas for cooking. Consumption is around 1.5 Litres of 93 unleaded per hour or 10 hours between refills. This unit is fitted with a manual change-over.

All my important electronics are protected with Clearline surge protectors and UPS back-up systems on both setups.

There is a hell of a difference in noise between the two units. The 15KVA unit pushes around 84dB at 7 meters whereas the 4.2KVA unit is rated for 74dB at 7 meters and far less in the current enclosure that is my garage, in fact I cannot hear it running at all from within the house.

Generators, however is not the answer I think. They are very expensive to run and require ongoing maintenance. Solar panels are becoming more affordable and well maintained batteries can last a very long time. Once we are allowed to feed electricity back into the grid for credits popularity of these types of systems will pick up dramatically.

[ravingDIODE]

3kw solar power system and then 5.5KVA generator that we bought from Makro 4/5 years ago..

[Mr_Medic]

I see Makro got a 8.5kva AVR genny on special for R26999.90 madness man that is a tad bit high.

[ravingDIODE]

I see Makro got a 8.5kva AVR genny on special for R26999.90 madness man that is a tad bit high.

Yeah for that price you can almost get the EU range from Honda which is the most quiet on the market IIRC. Dad was looking at getting an EU one to power his factory or maybe our house depending on size and price.

[Kev123]

No stock of any Generators at Makro ( Yesterday)

I bought a 7.5 KVA from Builders at 8500. They had 20 in stock and by 11:00 they were all sold out.