generators (1 Viewer)

[Mart grump]

can anyone tell me if a generator with a power output of 1.6 kw will run a large motorhome

 

[Speve]

Depends what you want to use?lots of people prefer to go solar and fit as many panels and batteries as they can.

 

[Gorse Hill]

can anyone tell me if a generator with a power output of 1.6 kw will run a large motorhome

Whatever you get, make sure it's loud

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[Mi58ck]

I've got a Honda 2kw and it supplied my motorhome and daughters caravan for week early June no problem,about 90 mins per day.Cost me £7 in petrol

 

[pappajohn]

You will most likely need to turn off some appliances to run others........kettle and water boiler (on mains) won't run together.
Only real way to know is add all the appliance watts you are likely to use together and see the total.
All 230v appliances should have a data label with amps or input watts.

 

[Steve]

can anyone tell me if a generator with a power output of 1.6 kw will run a large motorhome

not even enough for a house kettle. but if its only for a few lights and charging the batteries tv you should be ok.

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[daveandsan]

We havn't had a good generator thread for ages.

 

[Mi58ck]

We did use a bit of common sense and boiled our water on the gas

 

[PhilG]

For anything other than kettles and water heater, 1KVA is fine. You dont need to boil water on electric, thats what your gas is for .

As was said, a couple of hours in the day will keep your batteries topped up, i have a 2Kva Honda that will run an A class and a decent size caravan, plus 2 double tube lights and two fridges without even breaking a sweat .

A bigger one doing nowt will cost more to run that a small one running hard , but its bigger and heavier.

My freind has a dinky little E start job that he has built in to his garage , so he can ping it on from inside if he needs to, just has to be well ventilated and the pipe extended

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[MattR]

For anything other than kettles and water heater, 1KVA is fine. You dont need to boil water on electric, thats what your gas is for .

As was said, a couple of hours in the day will keep your batteries topped up, i have a 2Kva Honda that will run an A class and a decent size caravan, plus 2 double tube lights and two fridges without even breaking a sweat .

A bigger one doing nowt will cost more to run that a small one running hard , but its bigger and heavier.

My freind has a dinky little E start job that he has built in to his garage , so he can ping it on from inside if he needs to, just has to be well ventilated and the pipe extended

I've heard this reasoning several times before. If you didn't top your batteries up with a genny every day, how long would you last? We get at least 3 days on a 90AmH battery.

 

[wigster]

Ive got a solar panel that normally does the job . At this years Newbury rally where the weather , well lets say it weren't sunny , after 3 days the batteries were getting low .
My old van came with an onboard 2 kw genny . Having read allot of genny threads before on here i was loath to start it up for fear of being an outcast .
Stepped outside for a ciggie , oh no outcast again , 3 vans near us were running them. On it went did its job no problems.

I need more solar but, if the suns not out, its nice to know if push comes to shove etc that the option is there.

 

[DavidG58]

Our MH has a 3 litre diesel generator under the bonnet, tops my batteries up when / if needed

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[wigster]

Our MH has a 3 litre diesel generator under the bonnet, tops my batteries up when / if needed

Also true mines got a 2.7 litre Diesel , yours is bigger than mine

 

[wigster]

I suppose the annoyance with gennys is when people just use them to power there 230 volt gubbins without any consideration for others , i can go along with that .

 

[wigster]

So to answer the OP , a 1.6 kw will provide 230 volt and charge batteries but wont run everything as if you were in a house on mains . As @pappajohn says

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[PeteH]

It's all about what you NEED to operate. I have a first generation Honda, which puts out .7Kw. It is used primarily to charge a mobility scooter, off grid, (and run the hair dryer!,) it also puts a charge back into the batteries. But don't expect to operate as if on shore power?.. Unless you have 4kw or more as in many RV's

Better to get as much battery capacity as the payload will allow and use dedicated 12v stuff. Or inverter. And a couple of decent solar panels. With gas for cooking and heating and frig.

Pete

 

[GJH]

I suppose the annoyance with gennys is when people just use them to power there 230 volt gubbins without any consideration for others , i can go along with that .

And when they point their exhaust at their neighbour
I noticed what I thought a very sensible requirement on one group's rally rules recently - generators must be sited on the user's habitation side

 

[Allanm]

We have a 3kva generator built in that will run everything in the van, including the air con unit, rated at 2kw.
A lot of electrical items will require more than their stated power consumption when they switch on, for example, in our last van, we had an 800 watt microwave oven but our 1kva generator would almost cut out when we tried to microwave anything, so we didn't bother. It also wouldn't run the Hab heating system.
I would go for a generator that has at least a third more power than the most power hungry item you are going to use, but use it considerately.

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[PhilG]

I've heard this reasoning several times before. If you didn't top your batteries up with a genny every day, how long would you last? We get at least 3 days on a 90AmH battery.

I have no idea, because i have never done it , but having no power isnt something i can live with, having everything go flat in the evening or overnight isn't an option for us.

 

[mjltigger]

I fill timed in a caravan for a while and on a site with no mains. There were 3 of us on the site and we all had big 2kva at least 4 stroke generators. We used long cable runs and put them down the end of the field. Filling up fuel in the rain was an issue.

I used about 2 litres of fuel a day basically using electric as if I was in a house.

 

[Geo]

And when they point their exhaust at their neighbour
I noticed what I thought a very sensible requirement on one group's rally rules recently - generators must be sited on the user's habitation side

It's a very silly rule Graham, if i was to comply last night as i dried my Golden locks i would have gassed three motor homes as they had doors on our "wrong"side so instead i used not so common sense.
Geo

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[MattR]

I have no idea, because i have never done it , but having no power isnt something i can live with, having everything go flat in the evening or overnight isn't an option for us.

I'm not suggesting no power, just considering how long the batteries would last without being topped up every day. The battery meter would give a good indication of charge. Just a thought as some users have found that they are spending a lot of money topping up a couple of large leisure batteries every day when the same batteries would last for several days without a genny.

 

[PhilG]

I'm not suggesting no power, just considering how long the batteries would last without being topped up every day. The battery meter would give a good indication of charge. Just a thought as some users have found that they are spending a lot of money topping up a couple of large leisure batteries every day when the same batteries would last for several days without a genny.

No, I realize that , but for me I don't care , I need to be able to run laptops and charge stuff , and have external lighting as well , so im not likely to find out. Noise isn't an issue for us , you just respect your neighbour and position accordingly.

I tend to not worry about stuff, having had friends that wont go places because they 'don't want to put miles on it' or only use half the stuff they have so they don't kill the power, or use all the water etc... then they will swap to a new one 'because its better on fuel' .. when they don't use the bloody thing anyway.

That said , the MH for us is a tool, not a luxury, we need one to do what we do, and the associated costs are part of the deal.

 

[JJ]

I believe a lot of our power problems find their origins in the fact that many motorhomers want to duplicate the lifestyle they have in their houses whilst they are away in their vans.

As I moved into my van fulltime decades ago I found I could do without (or at least with less) of some of the stuff I took for granted when living in bricks and mortar...

I adapted to the different situation.

Now I have a small Honda genny which I use in my van to power the small oven, food mixer, and recently acquired toasted sandwich maker.

After all, I am happy to use much less water and I never miss a big screen TV, but no one can manage without a Fray Bentos Pie, a toasted cheese and ham sandwich or a whipped Angel Delight Chocolate dessert (with bits of cake added) now and again!

Eat fruit and raw vegetables, wash less and save the planet (and the power in your leisure batteries)!

(Dave, aka Snowbird, with be choking on his mid-morning snack if he reads that last sentence.)

JJ

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[SomeoneElse]

We have a 3kva generator built in that will run everything in the van, including the air con unit, rated at 2kw.
A lot of electrical items will require more than their stated power consumption when they switch on, for example, in our last van, we had an 800 watt microwave oven but our 1kva generator would almost cut out when we tried to microwave anything, so we didn't bother. It also wouldn't run the Hab heating system.
I would go for a generator that has at least a third more power than the most power hungry item you are going to use, but use it considerately.

The microwave problem is because an 800W microwave produces 800W of microwave energy. They are rather inefficient and the rating plate on the back of my 800W unit says it requires an input of 1250W.

 

[Steve]

can anyone tell me if a generator with a power output of 1.6 kw will run a large motorhome

so going back to the op,
question....can anyone tell me if a generator with a power output of 1.6 kw will run a large motorhome. Please tell what you meen by 'run large mh' ie as if on hook up?

 

[sedge]

I take issue with an Angel Delight being whisked up in a food mixer. The Beaters on mixers are terrible difficult to lick - any experienced cook knows that. If I can do it in 30 seconds flat using an ordinary hand whisk or in 45 secs with a large table fork then I'm damn sure a great big rufty tufty bloke like JJ could manage! And licking the implement clean as we know, is a cook's perk.

Butterscotch for me please!

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[PhilG]

If you are taking whisk's , sandwich toasters, and all the other paraphernalia , I think you are missing the point.. you cant 'get away from it all' if you are taking it with you .

travel light , eat simple, lose the clutter.

If you are on EHU , it doesn't matter , but I wouldn't even run a kettle off that.

 

[GJH]

I take issue with an Angel Delight being whisked up in a food mixer. The Beaters on mixers are terrible difficult to lick - any experienced cook knows that. If I can do it in 30 seconds flat using an ordinary hand whisk or in 45 secs with a large table fork then I'm damn sure a great big rufty tufty bloke like JJ could manage! And licking the implement clean as we know, is a cook's perk.

Butterscotch for me please!

I simply take issue with Angel Delight myself. Horrible stuff always tasted like soap to me

 

[JJ]

I simply take issue with Angel Delight myself. Horrible stuff always tasted like soap to me

I don't think you were making it correctly Graham...

JJ

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