Just incase anyone is interested for camping or work I have just purchased off of ebay a Kipor generator which is a copy of the expensive Honda. It looks really good, is nice and quiet and seems to work well. It was £210 delivered which seems like alot until you realise that the same one make by Honda is about £700. Kipor and Honda had a bit of a copyright issue but it is all sorted out now and Kipr have changed the colour to yellow.
Silent generator
- Thread starter SimonB
- Start date
I have one of these cheap B+Q ones too, and although not silent, it is certainly a lot quieter than I expected. it was just so cheap that I just looked at it and thought it would be a more worthwhile option than a box full of candles in case of a power cut! And then I bought a caravan...
Obviously they are not silent but they are marketed as being silent suitcase generators. I guess this is because they are fully enclosed in plastic so you cant see any of the oily bits and they are reasonable quiet for a small petrol engine.
Ok My hands are up.
I am not against generators where there is no sensible alternative, but I do not suggest them as the first resort.
If for no other reason, they are dreadfully inefficient at converting petrol to usable electrical power (6 to 10% only)
In most cases for caravanning, there far more efficient alternatives, such as gas for the fridge and heating, judicious use of power to conserve the battery. For low power intermittent use an inverter may suffice.
On a touring holiday, you can arrange to carry a spare or to recharge the battery in the car when you go out for the day but I do understand that at a steam rally,that is not an option.
A generators noise may be lost amongst the hubub during the day, but at night it may be a different story.
I am not against generators where there is no sensible alternative, but I do not suggest them as the first resort.
If for no other reason, they are dreadfully inefficient at converting petrol to usable electrical power (6 to 10% only)
In most cases for caravanning, there far more efficient alternatives, such as gas for the fridge and heating, judicious use of power to conserve the battery. For low power intermittent use an inverter may suffice.
On a touring holiday, you can arrange to carry a spare or to recharge the battery in the car when you go out for the day but I do understand that at a steam rally,that is not an option.
A generators noise may be lost amongst the hubub during the day, but at night it may be a different story.
We have no intention of ever running the generator at night or even all day, we have the fridge and water heater on gas, the tv and sky when we use it runs off of the inverter and all lights and pump from the 12v. The problem being that if we use all of that over a few days the battery is flat so we use the generator for half an hour each day to top up the battery.
Simon,
As long as you recognise there's no so thing as a silent generator & as long as you use the one you've got sensibly & responsibly there should be no problem.
Me, I've got a Kawaski 2.4kv & I only run it during the day for only as long as it takes to top up the battery, then its cut until the next day, 5ltre usually lasts me 5-6 days running!
As long as you recognise there's no so thing as a silent generator & as long as you use the one you've got sensibly & responsibly there should be no problem.
Me, I've got a Kawaski 2.4kv & I only run it during the day for only as long as it takes to top up the battery, then its cut until the next day, 5ltre usually lasts me 5-6 days running!
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