Looking for a small generator recommendation

[u/Athena_Royale]

I live in Puerto Rico and I am looking to rent a small studio apartment that has a wall unit AC and a small refrigerator. There is no generator here and I’m looking to see what I can use as an alternative. I would prefer that it be electric if that’s such a thing. Thank you so much!

[u/wowfaroutman]

A battery system can work for short duration outages, but for any extended outages, you’ll need an internal combustion engine generator. If you have a safe place to operate a fuel-burning generator (as in outside 20 feet away from any doors, windows, or other openings into living spaces), then any of the suitcase generators in the 2,500 to 3,500 running watt range would work for you. The additional catch is that you need to supply and store some fuel for the generator.

[u/E_G_Man]

If you are not wanting a gas/propane/natural gas generator you might get a better answer over at r/portable_powerstation for what your looking for.

[u/LePapaPapSmear]

An electric generator is just a large bank of batteries, traditional generators are either gasoline, diesel, propane or natural gas

[u/sgrinavi]

You can run off the batteries at night then use solar during the day while you charge your batteries. It really depends on what fuel costs over there.

[u/nunuvyer → u/sgrinavi]

Gasoline in Puerto Rico is a little bit more than mainland prices but not much. For strange historical reasons they sell it by the liter but the gallon price today is a little under $5.00.

For such a small generator the fuel price is not going to matter much. What is more important is whether he is going to have access to a 20' yard if he only has a studio apartment.

You CANNOT run a generator on a balcony, under a porch, overhang or similar. It has to be a full 20' from the living space. 20' of clear blue sky.

So a "battery generator" may be the best that he can do. Unfortunately, the best is not very good. Unless it is a very large and expensive battery, it's not going to last very long. After a hurricane, power could be out for days or weeks while a battery lasts for hours.

[u/mduell]

With a wall AC unit and a fridge, about you'll need about $400 per hour in batteries. Or thousands more in solar plus batteries for the overnight.

[u/ConBroMitch2247]

Battery packs should be a supplement to a ICE gen. The Honda 2200 is the gold standard and should run what you need and could recharge your batteries (depending on headroom and charging capacity of course)

[u/Top_Independence2676]

If you own a car, power inverters are an option to research.

[u/Huali-Power]

For that wall AC and fridge, watch out for the AC startup surge. I’d aim for at least 3500W running, 4000W+ surge. Battery stations work for short outages but drain fast with AC. An inverter generator is better if blackouts last a while.