Quote:
|
Originally Posted by sailingdog
The Honda genny is cheaper than a good solar setup or wind generator... but the fuel cost over the long run makes it far more expensive.  |
This is correct, of course. But you have to consider a couple of things: frequency of use and availability of fuel. I will likely always carry ten gallons of gasoline for the outboard (which is enough fuel to cover a fairly significant expedition to and from the shore or to go exploring nearby sheltered bays).
The other consideration is that ideally, the generator is a backup to a backup, which is the solar recharging of the batteries as an alternative to the altenator. Meaning, I'll need cloudy, hot days with heavy drawdowns and no spare fuel to run the diesel to bother rigging the Honda to charge the batteries.
I like the Honda for foreseeable heavy AC use that is better not handled by the inverter, like for power sanding, drilling or even a weekly run with the Shop-Vac (I like Shop-Vacs of the small 1.5 gallon size because they are like portable bilge pumps for hard to dry spaces). They are also portable in the extreme, and if I trade services on a small island, it's probably going to be as a courtesy if I show up to drill down a tin roof bringing my own power in return for a 20 kilo tuna.
But that's just me. Others have a different mix of energy use and capacities. Me, I'm into flexibility, not total raw amperage.