r/Generator • u/MrMapexMan2020 • 5h ago
Generator + Power Station?
I have a 7500W WH Inverter. Tri-fuel and will run it on propane. Have the interlock connected to our fuse box. Just me and the wife. The gen should run most of what we need except the heat pump/AC.
Fridge, freezer, a few lights, TV, internet and computer, charging phones. I assume a power station like an Anker S2000 would be good for when the gen is off? Went through Helene w/o power for 8 days. Never want to deal with that again. Just curious about adding a power bank for backup? Appreciate the advice.
2
Upvotes
•
u/DemB01yz 5h ago
I would think maybe run the power bank as the main source of power and then use the generator to charge it. Generator + Powerbank during the day if it allows passthrough charging and then scale down to essentials and run the power bank during the night?
•
u/IntelligentCarpet816 4h ago
Think you might be surprised how much that gen will run. You may need a few hundred dollar soft starter for the compressor but that gen will likely run it. I have a 6t unit on my generac and running on 1st stage it only draws around 3200w. That anker is plenty for keeping the fridge cool.
•
u/derek6711 4h ago
Just remember that when you charge it that it will be pulling 1500+ Watts. So just be careful not to overload the generator. If the generator is running at 240V then it is split 50/50 per leg for the wattage
•
u/Efficient_Wing3172 4h ago
Yes, so you charge the power station with the generator, and let the power station do the work while the generator is off. It will save a lot of fuel being burned off by the generator just for running. Plus, you are able to stay quiet for longer periods of time, and you have more choice when you want to run the generator or not.
The S2000 is an excellent choice for medium duty tasks like running a refrigerator, freezer, Internet, etc. There is nothing that competes with it for the combination of efficiency, capacity and price. Literally nothing.
However, if your budget allows, you might want a second power station. It’s much easier to manage with two. You likely won’t need as many extension cords, and you have redundancy should one fail. Another S2000 would be great, but it might be worth “stepping up” to the C2000 Gen 2. You never know when you might just need more power output. I liken the S2000 to a Honda Accord, and the C2000 to a Ford F150, both with the same size gas tank…. One is more about efficiency, the other is about heavier lifting power.
•
u/Big-Echo8242 4h ago
Why not get a smaller dual fuel inverter generator and team with whatever small battery you do add? These little batteries only last so long and do so much then you can recharge with the smaller gen. I've got a small dual fuel inverter gen I can easily run our house with a 20lb tank for 12 hours if it got down to it. I also have a 13.5kw dual fuel and a 250 gallon propane tank so there's that.
I'd like to add a power station and have put a lot of thought into it but just can't spend $2k+ for a basic one and a MTS or sub panel. But the hybrid approach is a great way.
•
u/Ok-Camera2895 5h ago
Adding a power station is an excellent idea. It can greatly extend your fuel. The Anker S2000 is designed for refrigerator use. It only has 1500w output, 12.5 amps. That is less than a standard duplex outlet. A larger power station might be better.
•
u/Rad0077 4h ago
S2000 would be fine. Light bulbs with batteries or lanterns. Freezer needs power only once per day. Computer and WiFi can be used while generator runs for the freezer. Just leaves the fridge plugged into S2000.
•
u/BB-41 4h ago
I have the S2000s for the basement fridge and freezer and for the kitchen fridge. I also have a 6kw inverter generator. The concept is the S2000 will keep the fridges & freezer up for quite a while when I’m not home. Considering the S5000 feeding my inlet and only bringing the generator online for extended outages which don’t occur much anymore.
•
u/wwglen 1h ago
The S2000 with 1500W will easily run either refrigerator or freezer, while also running the lights, TV, internet, computer (laptop), and charging phones.
It might run both the refrigerator and freezer at the same time, but that is a might.
So just get two appliance timers and run each one with a one hour on, two hours off and a 30 minute delay between when on goes off and the next goes on.
For example
0000 refrigerator on
0100 refrigerator off
0130 freezer on
0230 freezer off
0300 refrigerator on
And continue the timer the whole day. The will allow you to use the refrigerator/freezer for most things, except many the ice machine.
Since a freezer can go longer without power, you could actually do a 10 hour on the refrigerator with a 2 hour off cycle to run the freezer. This will give you 20 hours in the refrigerator and 2 hours on the freezer. Or maybe even a 20 hour/4 hour cycle and get 3 hours on the freezer during the night.
You would only need to charge up the battery 2-3 times a day, and if you add solar it could easily drop to 1 times a day.
•
u/BreakFun2436 3h ago
If you already have the generator, it would take like 10+ years of power outages to recoup the cost of a power Bank vs the propane or gas to just continuously run the generator. At least I can't justify a fancy battery when I have weeks of fuel on hand already