Without electricity, the air would rot - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the leader of the Transcendentalist movement, might not be a household name, but he was right about one thing. Without electricity, the air would rot.
We’re entirely dependent on electricity, it lies at the heart of everything that we are, and do. It powers our cities, our homes and it even fuels our cars, trains, and the buses we use to commute to work. Without electricity, it isn’t just the air that we breathe that would rot, civilization as we know it would collapse, and the world, as we know it, would end.
Okay, so maybe we’re being a little overly dramatic and preaching gloom and doom and foreseeing an apocalypse that will never happen, as the likelihood of us ever reaching a stage when the lights go out permanently is less than zero.
However, we’ve all experienced power cuts or been on job sites where we can’t find a socket to plug our tools into or wish that we’d been able to find some power to charge a phone when we’re on a camping trip with our families or buddies.
We’ve all known what it’s like to be without power when we desperately need and want, it and if you’re anything like us, you won’t want to experience it again. That’s why we’ve taken a closer look at inverter generators so that you don’t have to, and won’t be caught off guard by a power cut, a lack of sockets, or Mother Nature’s wilderness, power-free zone.
It’s always best to be prepared for the worst and expect the best, and being prepared means having an inverter generator on hand and ready to go, just in case the worst does happen.
So, to help you chose an inverter generator to stave off disaster with when, and if, it strikes here’s our list of the top five indispensable inverter generators
Top 5 Best Inverter Generator
OUR TOP PICK
The first inverter generator on our list is made by a company that we all know and love. A company, who just like electricity, has become an essential part of everyday life; Honda.
Pioneers in just about every field of endeavor that we can think, the patented inverter technology that the EU2200i uses ensure a continuous supply of stable, clean power that’s as reliable as the electricity that flows from the outlets of your home.
As it operates between forty-eight and fifty-seven dBA, which is quieter than a normal conversation, you can happily run this inverter generator all night long and be safe in the knowledge that it won’t wake you up or disturb your neighbors.
And as we mentioned running it all night, maybe we should also mention that thanks to Honda’s Eco-Throttle system, this inverter generator will run, and produce all the power you’ll need it to, for up to nine and a half hours on a single tank of gas. Dollar for dollar, it’s more efficient, and easier, to run than a Prius.
Designed for simplicity and convenience, the EU2200i has been made to run all major household appliances and is versatile enough to power your RV camping trips and run any of the tools and equipment that you’ll need it to on your job site.
Pros
- Durable, powerful, and built to perform, the EU2200i is branded with a name that you can put your trust and faith in and entirely depend on. It’ll unfailingly step up to the plate time and time again whenever you need, or want, it too.
- One tank of gas will provide up to nine and a half hours of electricity. That’s not a bad trade-off, and it’s all due to the Eco-Throttle technology that governs its motor.
- And while we’re on the subject of gas, the EU2200i has a fuel shut off valve that prevents stale gas from getting into the generator’s motor and wreaking havoc on its innards.
- It’s been built to fit in flawlessly with every aspect of your life and can run anything you want it to while you’re at home, on the job site, or out in the boondocks on a camping trip. And, as it weighs in at just under forty-seven pounds, Honda has made sure that it’s light enough to be carried from location to location without throwing your back out or giving you a hernia.
- It’s quiet too. You’ll be able to run it all night without worrying about your neighbors banging on the walls and screaming at you at three in the morning.
Cons
- For some reason, Honda didn’t fit a fuel gauge on the EU2200i. As you can probably imagine, this can be a bit of a problem as you don’t want to have to continually watch the generator and try to guess when it’s going to run out of gas.
- It isn’t exactly cheap. While we know that anything that wears a Honda badge costs more than the gross domestic product of a small island nation, we were still a little bit shaken, and not even remotely stirred, by the Honda’s reassuringly high price-tag.
EDITORS CHOICE
Westinghouse is an American institution.
Their founding father George, invented the airbrake for locomotives which made it possible for the railroads to venture West, he was the pioneering force behind the five-day working week and for the last, one hundred and thirty-five years, the company that bears his name has been all about the generation of power and electricity.
And the iGen2500 carries George Westinghouse’s legacy into the twenty-first century with the same sort of zeal and fervor that George brought to everything that he did.
Weighing in just forty-eight pounds, this inverter generator is powerful enough to run everything that you’ll need it to in a household emergency and has two one hundred and twenty volt twenty amp outlets and two USB outlets.
It’s also quiet enough to keep your neighbors at bay, running at just fifty-two dBA at its peak, and is portable enough to run your job site and bring an additional layer of electrical enjoyment to your camping trips.
Its one-gallon tank will produce up to ten hours of electricity and it also features an economy mode so you can get the maximum amount of power from your gas dollar. The iGen2500 also features a rotating LED display that’ll keep you constantly updated about its fuel level, power output, and remaining run time.
Pros
- It’s quiet - with a peak noise level of just fifty-two dBA, you can run it all night and every night, and no-one outside of your home would know. Silence really is golden.
- Ten hours of power on a single gallon of gas? Those are the kind of figures that we like and can get behind.
- It doesn’t just have standard household outlets, the Westinghouse also has two USB outlets, so you can also run all of your state of the art technology directly from the iGen2500.
- It weighs in at around forty-eight pounds, so you don’t have to be Mr. Universe to hump it from your home to your RV to your job site and back home again. It’s light, sturdy, durable, and powerful.
Cons
- Some of the reviews highlight the fact that maybe the quality control department at Westinghouse took their eyes off the prize when this inverter generator rolled off the production line. Granted, there aren’t many negative reviews of the iGen, which leads us to believe that the issues may have been dealt with, but there are enough to make us slightly concerned about the possible longevity of the Westinghouse.
BEST VALUE
WEN has been obsessed with power tools and power generation for nearly seventy years.
They played a pivotal role in the development of the chainsaw, the electric jigsaw, and the electric soldering iron. They love power and the 56380i, which admittedly isn’t the most memorable of names, is everything that WEN adores wrapped up in a neat inverter generator package.
It’s two hundred and twelve cubic centimeter, OHV (that’s overhead-valve for the not so mechanically minded) engine will produce up to eight and half hours of clean power on a single tank of gas and uses a fuel shut valve to minimize any potential damage by ensuring that the 56380i (why couldn’t they have called it Ted?
Ted’s a much more memorable, sensible and appropriate name for this incredible little generator) uses up all of the fuel in its carburetors before it shuts down. In other words, you’ll never have to worry about stale gas clogging the engine or causing it to run below peak efficiency.
Safe to use with any, and all, delicate smart technology thanks to the clean power it produces, the WEN is a quiet, sleek inverter generator that’s designed to stay in step with every aspect of modern life and the demands that it places on you and your back-up inverter generator.
Pros
- It’s not only quiet, efficient, and powered by two hundred and twelve cubic centimeters of American muscle, the WEN 56380i can also run everything that modern family needs it to when they need it to.
- It’ll generate up to eight and half hours of clean electricity on a single two-point-two gallon tank full of gas. And it’ll make sure that it uses every drop of gasoline in its system before it shuts off so that you’ll never have to worry about being troubled by potential stale fuel issues.
- And you don’t have to worry about trying to guess when it’ll run out of fuel as its multi-meter display keeps track of the 56380i’s fuel level, remaining run time, voltage, and load.
Cons
- It’s not what you’d call light. All that engine power comes at a cost, and that cost is the 56380i’s weight. At one hundred pounds, it’ll break you in two if you try to carry it, which is why WEN added wheels so that it’s still portable even though it weighs more than the average belligerent teenager.
RUNNER UP
We know, the first thing you think of when you hear the name Yamaha isn’t an inverter generator. It’s a motorcycle or a keyboard.
While they’re not exactly known for building generators, that doesn’t mean that Yamaha hasn’t poured all of their technological know-how into this inverter generator. They have, and it has a specification list that most companies would give half of their operating budget to get their hands on.
Weighing in at just over fifty-five pounds the seventy-nine cubic centimeter inch engine that powers this Yamaha inverter generator can produce up to ten and half hours of clean power from it’s one and quarter gallon tank.
Easy to start up and use, the Yamaha uses smart technology to sense what it’s being used to run and adjusts its power output and load accordingly.
Yamaha has also fitted it with a super-quiet muffler, which means that it will power whatever you need it to run quietly and efficiently for as long as you need it to and it won’t disturb you, your neighbors, or your family. Which is exactly what you want an inverter generator to do.
Pros
- It’s a Yamaha. You know it’s a name that you can trust to power your home when the power company messes up and the lights go out.
- Packing an insane amount of technology, this inverter generator is easy to use, simple to run and comes with a three-year warranty that means if it fails (which it won’t), you’ll get your money back or a brand new inverter generator.
- At just fifty-five pounds, it’s light enough to be perfectly portable, Which means that it can go everywhere with you. Home, work, and vacation, wherever you go the Yamaha can go, so you’ll never have to be without power or electricity again.
Cons
- It uses a mechanical fuel pump, so it may take you a while to get it to turn over and start. But once it’s fired up, it’ll keep on chugging until it runs out of gas.
RUNNER UP
For the last century, Briggs & Stratton have in their own words “been building the engines that power the equipment that people use to get the job done”.
The world’s largest producer of air-cooled petrol engines for the outdoor market, Briggs & Stratton has imbued the P4500 with the virtues that helped them to build their brand; power and efficiency.
The P4500’s three and half gallon gas tank produces up to sixteen hours of clean power before running dry and even though it’s motor packs one heck of a punch, it’s still quiet enough, with a maximum sound output of sixty dBA, to remain undetected and in the background, wherever you are.
With enough power output’s to keep even the most demanding family’s busy and preoccupied with their various electronic devices, the P4500 as well as having an electric starter, also has a CO cut off valve, which means that it will automatically cut out if the levels of Carbon Monoxide around it become excessive.
Efficiency, power, and safety? That’s the Briggs & Stratton way.
Pros
- Quiet, clean, and efficient, the P4500 delivers everything that you’ll need, and want, an inverter generator to.
- With a multi-function display that monitors its fuel level, remaining run time, output, and load, the P4500 uses the latest technology to do what it does more efficiently. And that technology includes an electric starter and CO shutoff.
- The P4500 is all American inverter generator that’s designed to be at home at the campground, job site, and in your home. Wherever it is, it’ll do what it was made to do. Make power.
- All of that technology and efficiency also comes with a full three-year warranty. Briggs & Stratton has faith in their inverter generator, and you should too. The P4500 won’t let you down when it matters most.
Cons
- Okay, well much as we hate to burst the P4500’s bubble, someone has to mention the elephant in the inverter generator room, so it might as well be us. The P4500 is heavy. And when we say it’s heavy, we mean it’s really, really heavy. It weighs in at one hundred and fourteen pounds, which let’s be honest means that it isn’t exactly the most portable of inverter generators.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Electricity?
First discovered by Benjamin Franklin (yes, THAT Benjamin Franklin, the founding father, and face of the one hundred bill) and later harnessed for populist use by Thomas Edison, electricity is a form of energy that we use to power the machines that keep the wheels of our society turning.
Generated by power stations and transmitted by wires, we use electricity to heat and power our homes. Without it, our world would come to a halt. We wouldn’t be able to run computers, power the internet, or watch television. It is the foundation upon which humanity has built modern society.
What Is A Generator?
A generator, or more specifically an electric generator is a device or machine that converts mechanical energy from an external source, or internal power source such as an internal combustion engine, into electrical energy as its output.
Electric generators don’t create or make electricity out of thin air. They need to be powered by an external, or internal, source in order to convert the energy that they receive from that source into electricity.
What Is An Inverter Generator?
Inverter generators are small potable generators that use an internal combustion engine to generate the mechanical power that they convert into electricity. Designed to run at low at RPM’s (revolution per minute) to maximize their fuel efficiency, they usually have small fuel tanks and as a consequence of running at low RPMs, are much quieter than standard generators.
The kind of electricity that inverter generators produce also differs from that created by standard generators, as instead of generating energy in a single phase, inverter generators use three phases, converting high-frequency AC current into DC current and then back into stable AC current, to generate electricity.
The electricity that inverter generators produce is much “cleaner” than the electricity created by standard generators and is much more suited to current and pulse sensitive equipment like gaming consoles and laptop computers.
Which Inverter Generator Is The Right One For Me?
That depends entirely on why you want an inverter generator and what you want it to do.
We’re assuming that you want a back-up generator that’s also portable enough to double up as a generator for your job site and can be loaded into your RV and used on camping trips as well.
If that’s the case, while all of the inverter generators on our list will successfully tick all of the boxes on your inverter generator list, the one that we’d recommend, and that we use when we need it, is the Westinghouse iGen2500. It’s portable and will produce more than enough power to satisfy even the most energy-hungry family.
