How big would my generator need to be?

[Gullible]

I have an old Kalvinator air con in our 1970s caravan. It has a sticker on it saying 2500W 5.2A.
If I was going to power it from a generator how big would the generator need to be?

Also, does anyone know of a 240V washing machine that can be run from a generator?

SHMBO is willing to give the caravan another go but only with the addition of some creature comforts. :(

[Blknight.aus]

2500w at 240v nominal is about 10.4a

in reality any genny with a peak output over 2400w (10A) and a sustained output of over 1800w will do the job. Ive got 3 washing machines.

my twin tub If Im careful I can run on a 600w inverter
my single tub runs on a scorpina 800w genny
the front loader if it tries to run its internal heater or run in dryer mode makes my old school 2500w genny sing for its supper.

I strongly suggest that you would be advised to set your runs to endd at powered van parks, While I carry a genny I usually only ever use it to power up repair gear and I still get asked about how long Im going to have it running for when I have it run ip and usually I've only got it going fot 15-20 minutes at a time.

[Gullible]

Thanks for that.
Our caravan is on a rural block of land and does not move. We would rather not run the genny for long, just an hour every couple of evenings to charge the batteries and do some laundry. The air con will have to remain a pipe dream.

[Blknight.aus]

that being the case I reccomend something along the lines of the honda I1500, providing you dont have a washing machine with a heater. (and assuming you dont mind having a petrol genny) You may find that the honda I1000 will be enough if you have a simple toploader (I've seen an I 1500 running a small windowtop AC along with about 4 full size fluros and 2 laptops.)

for your aircon you can easily run a small evaporation AC off of a single 80W solar panel if you change the fan motor to a DC item or hook it up to a small inverter. (done just right you can do this with a stand pipe and putting wet hession over the doors and windows)


IF you run led lighting about 50W worth of panel that gets 4-5 hours a day should stay in front of modest LED lighing for normal usge along with intermittant (about 1hr a day) charging of small electronics (one or 2 mobile phones)

[cewilson]

If you can go the extra step and get the next size to the one you think you need.

[Sharkee]

I used to have a rooftop air con on our previous van, a dometic I think it was or similar. Now I have no idea how much juice that air con pulled while running, but I decided to test it one day as I wanted to give my genny a run andto my surprise, my 800w GMC ran it no problem for a couple of hours, satisfied I then I turned it off.
Test was done at home by the way, I wouldnt burden fellow campers with that noise ;)

[Gullible]

My 1000W genny flicked the overload switch as soon as I tried to turn the air con on.

[Hoges]

With some appliances.. fridges/washing machines etc, the initial start up current draw of the motor can be several times the average running requirements. This can have a detrimental effect on small capacity gen sets and inverters, though the latter often have a 'surge' capacity to take account of this.

[Disco44]

that being the case I reccomend something along the lines of the honda I1500, providing you dont have a washing machine with a heater. (and assuming you dont mind having a petrol genny) You may find that the honda I1000 will be enough if you have a simple toploader (I've seen an I 1500 running a small windowtop AC along with about 4 full size fluros and 2 laptops.)

for your aircon you can easily run a small evaporation AC off of a single 80W solar panel if you change the fan motor to a DC item or hook it up to a small inverter. (done just right you can do this with a stand pipe and putting wet hession over the doors and windows)


IF you run led lighting about 50W worth of panel that gets 4-5 hours a day should stay in front of modest LED lighing for normal usge along with intermittant (about 1hr a day) charging of small electronics (one or 2 mobile phones)

Dave what do you think of diesel powered gennies? Trade Tools some times have them on special and they re yellow coloured. I know that the one I had on Fraser in a home I rented run a big Lister and it supplied the whole complex on an oily rag.I know nothing of the smaller ones.
Regards,
John.

[Blknight.aus]

good ones are worth it but they're all about twice as noisey as the same rated petrol one but burn about 1/3rd the fuel.

IMHO if you need more than 6kva you're a fool not to get a diesel.
the current break point is at about the 2 kva mark, you can get diesels that small but they're too pricey

[Pedro_The_Swift]

we did some sums early on and found we needed a 3kva to run our aircon,,
lots of stories about people trying with a 2kva honda,
a soft start(think really modern) aircon may run off a 2 kva honda,, but put on a light and boom/flick,,

thats the easy part though,,
trying to fit a 3 kva honda into a caravan is the hard bit:p:p

[Gullible]

I guess we are in a unique situation as we can put the genny out side and not worry too much about noise.

There is quite a big jump in price from the 2kva to the 3kva. As our use would be intermittent the cost per hour of use is a little prohibitive for us at the moment. Unless I can think of any thing else we could run off the genny.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I'm sure Fluids would do you a AULRO deal,,;)
The new 3kva honda wouldnt frighten birds:cool:
and then you could run EVERYTHING:D

freight would be a killer though, unless ---
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/aulro-courier-service/


the biggest problem with the tradesman end of generators(apart from noise)
is NO Auto throttle

[pannawonica]

I went into Glenfords few years ago when they had a generator sale on. Anyhow just wanted a 5KVA contractor type for around my Perth hills property for remote power tool operation and the rare power outages to save contents of fridge/freezers.For another $50 the salesman said I could have an 8KVA, so 8KVA it was! Put a remote feed in circuit in my pump shed, then I'm good to go when the juice goes out. I have found the genny uses no more fuel than a previous 5KVA, its a little noisey (Honda 13hp) and I can run the whole house. Whilst its not a pure sinewave gen the freqency/voltage seems to be stable enough. I think if its not for prolonged use on a regular basis the petrol is ok, but drain the float bowl after use. It cost just less than $1400, maybe a bit more now, however diesel at the time was $3600.:D

[Gullible]

OK, I know the Honda is the best but....

If I'm only running it for 3hrs a day for 6 to 8 weeks a year the Honda is a lot of money.

Does anybody have any experience with the ebay MTM or Fuji makes, they seem too cheep to be any good?

Or the scorpion brand as they come up 2nd hand quite often?

I'm happy to go second hand as it will get a gentle life with me. Also size and weight are not an issue for me.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

That MTM is rated at 3hours at 100%load.
;)