Honda EU2000i Review

“I am a master electrician. I have first hand...”

Written on: 04/11/2005 by fatmike (1 review written)

Good Points
Quiet, lightwieght, fuel efficient, computer friendly, evacuation friendly less than 50 pounds, Eco throttle

Bad Points
You get what you pay for, on some units the float sticks in the open position causing fuel leaks, this seems to stop after a few hours of operation, I tapped the bowl on one unit and it stopped right away the other stopped after only a few minutes of operation.

General Comments
I am a master electrician. I have first hand experience with 8 of the Honda EU2000i units. I own one with a second on the way to replace my Honda EM2500 from 1993, the 2500 still works perfect but it is louder and uses more gas because it runs at only one speed 3 gallons every 11 hours. With a parallel eu 2000i set up I expect about 6 gallons a day. With both generators running when I do not need 4000 watt capacity I will turn off one of the generators further reducing my fuel consumption. My current arrangement is about 8.5 gallons a day with 1 eu2000i and 1 EM2500 watt unit. My load consists of 2 fridges, 1 full size freezer making block ice for those who need it, the main house lights, fans, TV and the guest house lights fans and TV.



This is the deal with these generators, they are 1600 watts continuous and 2000 watts peak for up to 30 minutes. An average load for a single house with out power is about 960 watts; this is the fridge, some lights, a TV and a fan or two. Your fridge requires about 1200 watts to start (approx 3-5 seconds) and 200 watts to run, if your load is 1000, watts or less, 200 of which is your fridge running, you have no worries, you have an extra 1000 watts for the start of your fridge.



My neighbour lives alone and had a light load for Wilma, she ran 24 hours a day heated the water heater for 2 hours a day and used less than 3 gallons a day. Without the water heater she used 2.25 gallons per day. Another friend finally had enough with his 4400 watt Homelite with a Briggs engine (7 gallons a day), and bought a eu2000i he runs a full size fridge and a full size freezer on the Honda, plus lights and a TV at night he gets 10 hours a tank filled all the way to the top, still less than 3 gallons a day.



How to get hot water with a 120 volt generator, first consult with an qualified individual before making any modifications, simple, swap the bottom 240 volt element with a 120v, 1500watt element and convert the wiring for a bottom only 120 volt configuration. My house takes 4 hours to heat 53 gallons, 6 showers and hot water to do dishes.



This year I ran my 20 year old wall unit A/C it draws 1032 watts, it used 1 gallon for 8 hours of run time. Most 4500 btu wall units use around than 720 watts now. This will leave enough capacity for the fridge to cycle with a night light in the bathroom. As long as both units do not cycle at the same time the generator will not trip. My co-worker has this arrangement he gets 8-10 hours of runtime depending how hot it is.



This generator creates near perfect electricity, meaning you get more bang for your buck, without risking your fridge, big screen TV, computer,etc. With electronics, hertz and volts are the name of the game, both are incredibly steady with this machine, hertz only fluctuate very little, hovering around the normal 60. Many of the cheaper machines are as high as 67 hertz; this is terrible for motors and electronics.



With large gauge extension cords, it is amazing how much you can get accomplished with 2000 watts and 3 gallons a day. Also I believe there will be a quiet time in the enforced in the future. Because with traditional generators, in some neighbourhoods, with the noise level and fumes make sleeping with your windows open impossible.



I never want to wait in line for 5 hours to get 7 gallons of gas but with this generator with 7 gallons can get you almost 3 days of continuous run time. At 3 gallons a day you will spend about $60 a week in gas with a traditional 5500 watt monster you are looking at $180. This year at my house we had about 12 days of no power about $101 dollars in fuel with only the eu2000i running vs. a 5500 home depot special at about 8 gallons a day 8 x 12= 96 gallons x $2.80 per= $269-$101=$168+$600(purchase price)= $768 a new Honda is $870 on the web $870-$768=$102 the difference is only 36 gallons of gasoline which is 3.2 days with a traditional generator. How long were you out this year? Not to mention the difference in decibels 60 for the Honda vs. 75db for the others.