Small Genarator to run an Englander 25 PDVC Safely.

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pelletizer

Minister of Fire
Jul 17, 2008
663
Pellet County N.H.
Does anyone know or recommend a small generator to run only a Englander 25 PDVC pellet stove safely that will not damage the control board?

I have a 6000 watt generator with a Gen-Tran for the house which with a surge protector has worked fine but was considering getting a small generator to only run the Pellet stove and say like the fridge for over night running in emergencies VS running the bigger generator that sucks fuel all night long.

I was thinking like a 1000 to 1500 watt model but not sure if too low of wattage (start up surge of fridge etc)?

I would think 2000 watts would cover the wattage requirements

Your thoughts / recommendations and thank you.
 
Generac has a 2000 watt inverter generator that can be had in the $5-600 range. The Honda 2000i is highly recommended here but is double the cost of the Generac. You will want to check run times, not sure if either one will go all night without a refill.
 
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In your situation a Honda 2000i would be my first choice.
 
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Plus 1 on the Generac. Stick with the 2000 watt unit. Buy two for the price of Honda or Yamaha. Strict oil changes have to be adhered to.
 
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Been doing some searching and there are others similar but not a quiet as the Honda
Ok here we go at 2000 watts

Briggs p2000
Champion 2000 as Woody1911a1 said
Honeywell 2000I
Ryobi RYi2000T
Generac ix2000
 
Lol. Would like to pick one of them up for at home and my boat. Way better than running the 6.5 genny on board. On phone here and apologize for any spelling mistakes. We are at the Toronto for boat show. Cat is looking after stove and house. Pigs beware. My new ride. Bon Vonage! 20140117_153746.jpg
 
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Cool boat, Enjoy the boat show as well, hmmm Toronto beat the Boston Bruins a few days ago!
Checking local NH Craigslist for these inverter type gens,
Take care man enjoy the new ride Looks like an great white north ice breaker in the pic!
 
Sure wish they did. Could put a pellet fire out at a few hundred paces Lake Girl :)
 
LOL but looks like that boat can break the ice up on your lake....;) well maybe...thx...
 
Very Nice Boat, and thanks folks for the gen input, take care and keep warm with wood pellets.
 
I just purchased the 2000 watt inverter generator made for generac. It is supposed to run 6 hours on one gallon of gas. I may get a whole house unit but I wanted a unit that can run cheaply.
 
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running one of my stoves on a genny aint too much an issue , just make CERTAIN the power supplied is "pure sine wave" power, not modified sine wave. other than that a genny which gave stable power at 1K or more is way more than needed. unit will use approximately 675 watts during startup and about 350-380W depending on heat range and blower speed after startup.

oh and use a GOOD surge protector!
 
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i have the 25pdvc as well. my small cheapo 5000w generator makes it buzz and run a tad slower so i dont use it. My big giant diesel apache generator runs it just fine, but its loud and smokey. Its also my favorite, as I can run used peanut oil through it and run the thing for free. This summer i'll work on quieting it down.
i've also tried running it on my coleman 800 watt inverter and a car battery just for kicks (power wasnt even out) and it didnt work right. It didnt even work right on the APC Backups 1500 ups i have attached to it but it does run long enough to safely shut down if i'm home.

The best and cheapest way i found to get heat during a power outage is my kerosene heater. I just keep 10 gals on hand and it waits in the garage.
 
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Your thoughts / recommendations and thank you.

I recently took this same road. We have an 8000 W Generac XP that powers everything but I wanted something small to just power the stove and a few other small items during those hours in between the need for the well pump, fridge, etc. We looked at the Honda and Yamaha 2000W inverter models and ended up picking up the Yamaha. The only reason was that Cabelas sells the Yamaha and I used my Cabelas points. Either one would serve you well. When the Yamaha is running, we can't even hear it from inside the house.

Think about your wiring too. We have a 10 circuit gentran switch for the large generator, and needed to isolate the pellet stove and a few other things for the small generator. We did this via an ups and some clever, to-code wiring (patting myself on back), which plugs into the smaller generator when the need arises. The Yamaha will run both pellet stoves, some lights, tv, dvd player and internet router as well as charge some batteries. I think the continuous wattage on this one is 1800 and peak is 2000, but my circular saw started on it, and the startup wattage of that is 2400
 
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I have the Yamaha EF2000, powers the Enviro Mini, reefer, and all important TV just fine.

The Yam does not have a fuel pump the Honda does, so you can simply hook up a boat tank to the Honda for extended run and the Yamaha you can not. But run time on the Yam and Honda with 1 gall internal tank is very good.

I got the Yam just because it has a gas cut off, you can run the carb dry and drain the small bit of gas from the carb bowl for simple storage. The Honda takes a bit more to get the gas out of the carb for storage.
 
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I recently took this same road. We have an 8000 W Generac XP that powers everything but I wanted something small to just power the stove and a few other small items during those hours in between the need for the well pump, fridge, etc. We looked at the Honda and Yamaha 2000W inverter models and ended up picking up the Yamaha. The only reason was that Cabelas sells the Yamaha and I used my Cabelas points. Either one would serve you well. When the Yamaha is running, we can't even hear it from inside the house.

Think about your wiring too. We have a 10 circuit gentran switch for the large generator, and needed to isolate the pellet stove and a few other things for the small generator. We did this via an ups and some clever, to-code wiring (patting myself on back), which plugs into the smaller generator when the need arises. The Yamaha will run both pellet stoves, some lights, tv, dvd player and internet router as well as charge some batteries. I think the continuous wattage on this one is 1800 and peak is 2000, but my circular saw started on it, and the startup wattage of that is 2400


We have a 10 circuit Gentran switch for the large generator as well but the pellet stove is on its own dedicated circuit.
The previous owner had a dedicated circuit with a single outlet luckily were I placed my pellet stove,
I assume it must have been for a large air conditioner. I unplug from this outlet and use the room circuit outlet when running the big generator.
But the dedicated circuit is were I would either wire as my Gentran but I was thinking since the stove is at the opposite end of the circuit breaker panel, Was thinking of simply placing a weather proof outside outlet and wire it directly through the wall to an inside new outlet, This would not connect to the circuit panel in anyway, basically like running an extension cord through the window.
 
Just sold my 5500/8500 Craftsman. Way to much gas for the power we need. Looking for a 3000w inverter, should do everything we need & burn a heck of a lot less gas. The Lifan has decent reviews and 3 year warranty and less than half $ of a Honda. And slightly more output.
 
It'd be nice if the little generator ran the backup heat-my little 2kw honda will run the oil boiler. Not sure of the current draw of furnaces.
 
I've been watching the Home Depot website in my looking. The 3000w Lifan has been on backorder for the past two weeks I've been watching, so I've just been waiting. In the last week the price has gone up on it $100, and it's still showing backorder. I guess I should have just ordered the darned thing last week. If the 2000w Lifan wasn't showing out of stock there, I'd get it in a heartbeat if I was looking for a 2000w unit - $499 is pretty darned hard to beat. I'm holding out for a 3000w one though - it will do our whole house when the power goes out and give real good gas mileage in doing it.
 
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