Best Generator Recommendations Please

[RosieMarshall]

Hiya, we are going to be living on the cut this summer. We are fully set up with solar panels and a good battery setup. However we are thinking about a generator for the cloudier days and for our hot water as we have an immersion heater. Wondering if anyone can recommend a decent generator? Furthermore, has anyone got any experience with using a Jackery?! This would be ideal for us as it's greener, we can then also use it in our van and recharge it easily, but unsure as to whether it will be powerful enough to power an immersion or washing machine. Thanks in advance for your help

[Alan de Enfield]

What is your generator budget ?

 

A 'good' system will cost around £10,000, the less you pay than that sum the 'worse' the generator will be, either with, noise, fuel, power, emissions etc etc.

 

You can pick up a 2nd hand portable Honda 2.0Kw petrol generator for ~£1000 but you need to :

 

Comply with petrol storage boat regulations

Lift the generator off the boat and onto the towpath each time you want to use it.

Find somewhere safe (compliant) to store the generator when not in use.

 

Do not run a portable generator onboard - they have killed people with their CO emissions.

 

[RosieMarshall]

our budget is minimal, probs 500 - 1000 max. We are fully set up to live off-grid the generator is mainly there as a backup when we do need that extra bit of energy or if the weather is particularly bad. 

I'm really interested to hear if anyone has experience with the Jackery which has a lithium battery. It's much more eco and would suit us very much if it is feasible. 

[mrsmelly]

I always used main engine. If you must have a portable gennie, then it MUST be a Honda.

[ditchcrawler]

14 minutes ago, RosieMarshall said:

our budget is minimal, probs 500 - 1000 max. We are fully set up to live off-grid the generator is mainly there as a backup when we do need that extra bit of energy or if the weather is particularly bad. 

I'm really interested to hear if anyone has experience with the Jackery which has a lithium battery. It's much more eco and would suit us very much if it is feasible. 

If your immersion heater is 1Kw and its on for 1 hour  will use 1000 Wh. The 1000 Jackery  supposedly supply 1002 Wh  so in theory will power your immersion for 1 hour, not enough to heat it from cold. You then have to recharge it .

[Arthur Marshall]

I've a Kipor, which does ok but weighs a ton and isn't exactly quiet. Very reliable though - not been run for a year and started fifth pull yesterday. I don't think an immersion heater is an efficient way to heat your water while out and about, though. You'd be going through a fair bit of petrol.

[Tony Brooks]

34 minutes ago, RosieMarshall said:

our budget is minimal, probs 500 - 1000 max. We are fully set up to live off-grid the generator is mainly there as a backup when we do need that extra bit of energy or if the weather is particularly bad. 

I'm really interested to hear if anyone has experience with the Jackery which has a lithium battery. It's much more eco and would suit us very much if it is feasible. 

 

Are you aware that the Jakery unit is not a generator at all, it is just a fancy, smallish capacity, lithium battery. It is really just a larger version of a powrbank that use to charge your mobile phone.

 

You can get them in a set with solar panels to charge them.

 

I don't know if you can charge the Jakery from a 12/24V DC so check if you can, getting lithium charging wrong could be very expensive.

 

[sueb]

Do you really need a generator? We CC'd for 25 years without one and we didn't have solar either. They are a pain

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, sueb said:

Do you really need a generator? We CC'd for 25 years without one and we didn't have solar either. They are a pain

You also had a gas fridge

[sueb]

44 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You also had a gas fridge

Surely solar would run a 12v fridge without resorting to a generator

[booke23]

Is the immersion heater your sole means to heat water? 

I'd forget about the Jackery...I know they are everywhere on Youtube but that's because all the vanlifers and narrowboat vloggers have been given them for free to 'review' (advertise really). 

 

Your boat with it's battery bank and solar is essentially a giant Jackery anyway.  

The best generator in your budget is a Honda EU22......powerful enough to easily power a 1kw immersion. It actually might be slightly over your budget these days, but you'll still be able to afford it if you don't buy a Jackery. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by booke23

[roland elsdon]

A $500  2 kva petrol genny will be a horrible noise polluting environmental nightmare.

 

We have a 12v 300 watt calorifier  immersion which heats water  ( via 12v) when the engine is running. It is 10 litres.

Takes 3 -4 hours, and every amp of the alternator.

Even on ac power ( 800 w) it takes time.

Simple maths indicated a jackery could not do this or run a washing machine.

You would be better off upgrading the boat 12v system and calorifier

Our system is a no choice option, its a very inefficient system.

All the heat required in the calorifier is created and then lost by the red hot alternator.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by roland elsdon
Error

[MtB]

12 hours ago, RosieMarshall said:

This would be ideal for us as it's greener

 

I have to point out, if living 'greenly' is a concern of yours, living on a boat is a very poor decision. Get a well insulated house with solar panels on the roof and a heat pump.

[Arthur Marshall]

11 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

You also had a gas fridge

Are gas fridges no longer allowed even if vented? It always seemed logical to me to have a gas fridge and gas instant water heater. Mind you, there was no solar when I got the boat, and that was a game changer.

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Are gas fridges no longer allowed even if vented? It always seemed logical to me to have a gas fridge and gas instant water heater. Mind you, there was no solar when I got the boat, and that was a game changer.

 

They are allowed, except on boats with a petrol engine, or, (I think) commercial boats

 

I can see the possibility that having a petrol engined generator on board, along with the storage of petrol cans, could be viewed by the BSS as the same risk as having a petrol engine in the boat, but, I don't think I have seen a gas-fridge on a boat for many a year.

[David Mack]

Don't think anybody makes a gas fridge now that is approved for boat use. The only ones out there are quite old now.

[blackrose]

26 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

.... but, I don't think I have seen a gas-fridge on a boat for many a year.

 

I see one everyday. I've always had one.

 

9 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Don't think anybody makes a gas fridge now that is approved for boat use. The only ones out there are quite old now.

 

I don't know the rules but 4 different BSS inspectors have passed my boat over the last 17 years with a gas fridge onboard. Before that a BSS inspector passed my narrow boat also with a gas fridge.

 

While gas fridges may not be approved for boat use that's more to do with boats that heel over and lumpy water boats. Inland boats can be approved for gas fridge use.

Edited March 24, 2022 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Don't think anybody makes a gas fridge now that is approved for boat use. The only ones out there are quite old now.

 

It doesn't say 'Boat approved' but as a 3-way fridge it is available :

 

Dometic RM5310 Fridge | Leisureshopdirect

[Lady M]

There aren't any 'boat approved' three way fridges now.  My understanding is that you can replace a three way fridge in an older boat which has previously had one but that three way or gas fridges cannot be installed for the first time.  When I replaced mine, my gas fridge friendly BSS examiner advised me that I must find someone who was not gas safe registered to do the installation then have a gas safety test on the whole boat.

[MtB]

46 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Are gas fridges no longer allowed even if vented? It always seemed logical to me to have a gas fridge and gas instant water heater. Mind you, there was no solar when I got the boat, and that was a game changer.

 

 

This is it. A first class example of a BSS muddle.

 

There is no BSS rule banning gas fridges that I've ever noticed but some BSS bods AIUI take the position that unless the gas fridge is stated by the manufacturer as designed for installation in a boat, then it isn't, and that's a BSS fail.

 

The opposing argument of course is unless the manufacturer's instruction manual says "not suitable for boats", then it is fine in a boat and any BSS bod failing it is acting ultra vires. 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

6 minutes ago, Lady C said:

There aren't any 'boat approved' three way fridges now.  My understanding is that you can replace a three way fridge in an older boat which has previously had one but that three way or gas fridges cannot be installed for the first time.  When I replaced mine, my gas fridge friendly BSS examiner advised me that I must find someone who was not gas safe registered to do the installation then have a gas safety test on the whole boat.

Odd. I'd rather have a gassafe bloke do the installation. They aren't allowed legally to leave without signing off after a safety test. Can't see any reason it should be a different person.

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

This is it. A first class example of a BSS muddle.

 

There is no BSS rule banning gas fridges that I've ever noticed but some BSS bods AIUI take the position that unless the gas fridge is stated by the manufacturer as designed for installation in a boat, then it isn't, and that's a BSS fail.

 

The opposing argument of course is unless the manufacturer's instruction manual says "not suitable for boats", then it is fine in a boat and any BSS bod failing it is acting ultra vires. 

 

 

I'm sure I could produce a slightly amended manufacturers PDF stating it would be suitable for inland boats only. Computers are wonderful things.

 

[David Mack]

Doesn't the BSS require that appliances are installed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions? And Dometic don't provide any instructions for fitting in boats.

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Odd. I'd rather have a gassafe bloke do the installation. They aren't allowed legally to leave without signing off after a safety test. Can't see any reason it should be a different person.

 

The same laws apply to everyone. If a GSR bod isn't "allowed legally to leave without signing off after a safety test", then nor is a rank amateur DIY gas bod. 

 

[Tony Brooks]

I doubt it is legal to fit a non-approved gas appliance on a RCD/RCR compliant boat, hence the low number of gas fridges fitted in boats since about 199?. I don't think it is anything to do with the BSS.

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

This is it. A first class example of a BSS muddle.

 

There is no BSS rule banning gas fridges that I've ever noticed but some BSS bods AIUI take the position that unless the gas fridge is stated by the manufacturer as designed for installation in a boat, then it isn't, and that's a BSS fail.

 

The opposing argument of course is unless the manufacturer's instruction manual says "not suitable for boats", then it is fine in a boat and any BSS bod failing it is acting ultra vires. 

 

 

 

The BSS allows gas fridges for diesel engined boats, but for petrol engined boats it must be room sealed, or, the approved 'Wilderness modifed' gas fridge.

 

8.2.1

Where the vessel has a petrol propulsion engine, is any LPG refrigerator of a proprietary room-sealed type, or a Wilderness Boats conversion of an Electrolux RM 212?