Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the brand new model from Honda replacing the very popular eu 2000. So far the only noticible upgrades I’m seeing are an additional 200 watts of power and a loooong overdue fuel cutoff switch. Other than those two upgrades it seems very similar to the reliable and trusted eu 2000. Since I can’t offer much of a review, I’ll pass along some general observations and tips on generators based on my experience. Again, geared toward homeowners looking for backup power. For the record, I’m not mechanically inclined and what I’ve learned about generators comes mainly from YouTube This is the fourth generator I’ve owned in the last 10 yrs. The first two were Yamaha 2000’s which I paralleled together to provide power for my home during outages that lasted for more than a few hours. I used the Yamaha’s for 2-3 years but eventually decided to sell them and purchase a whole house, Generac standby model. After seeing the frequency of outages where we lived, waking up in the middle of the night to set them up, spilling and storing gas, etc. we decided to go all in and purchase the Generac. We owned it for several years and it was really nice. The power would go out at 2:00 a.m. and we’d just rollover and go back to sleep as the generator immediately came online. That was a good solution for that particular house/state as short power outages could routinely happen 4-6 times per year. We recently moved leaving that unit behind w the house. In our new state outages tend to be less frequent but longer in duration. Because of this and for several other reasons I’ve decided to switch back to these parallel inverter generators. Here are some of the reasons as well as some things I wish I’d known when I first began my generator odyssey. I hope they’re helpful and can be applied to your situation as appropriate. 1. It’s important to realistically assess how you will really use a generator. I found that the power generated by a whole house Generac was overkill every time we used it. During outages we tended to be conservative with our power usage while sacrificing very little in terms of comfort. For days at a time all we really needed were heat/AC for (1-2 rooms) a refrigerator and a microwave. Plus the occasional light, iPad charge, etc. With those minimal conveniences we were perfectly comfortable for days at a time. So one lesson we learned is that we could have paid half as much for one of Generac’s smaller standby models and still had more power than we needed. The guys who ‘assess your homes energy needs’ tend to assume you’ll be running four hairdryers, two microwaves, two 15k BTU AC units and your discotheque all at the same time. Not us. We always used far less power than they’d calculated by hunkering down in two climate controlled rooms. 2. If you do buy a whole house generator remember that you typically don’t take it with you when you move. The cost and hassle of removing and reinstalling the unit make it impractical. So the $5-20k you spent for the unit and installation? Buh, bye!!! On the other hand.....high quality Yamaha/Honda inverters are very portable and always in demand. I sold the two Yamahas I’d owned in less than two days on Craigslist for 85% of what I paid. 3. When we moved I decided to switch back to two of these new Honda’s for the following reasons. Power outages are far less frequent where we live now and when they do occur they tend to be longer in duration. Seven days with Sandy I’m told. Six days after a recent Nor’easter, etc. so, I’m less concerned about having to frequently get up at night. Next, our new house is in a relatively ‘compact’ neighborhood by the beach. Therefor the noise of a whole house Generac is likely to be more of an issue to us and our neighbors as it needs to automatically ‘exercise’ itself for an hour once a week, close quarters, etc. Also, we plan to be in this house no more than 4-7 yrs. so I don’t want to lose that money again when we move. Two of these 2200’s paralleled will easily run a large window AC and the fridge at the same time and maybe even twice that much. Although I haven’t done the calculations because it’s unlikely we’ll ever need that amount of power. I also plan to build build ‘quiet boxes’ for these so they’ll be virtually silent when running. I’ve ordered (Hutch Mountain, best I’ve found and great customer service) propane/Nat gas conversion kits, One tank of propane will run this unit for 12-24 hours depending on load. Propane stores indefinitely and is safer and cleaner than gasoline. If you have natural gas a hook up will obviously let you run indefinitely. Avoiding gasoline is a big plus for me. I’ve found that storing, transporting and filling gas is a much bigger pain in the ass than I’d anticipated. Try snuggling up to your wife at 2:00 a.m. with a few drops of gas on your leg. They don’t seem to like it. 😊 Why the four stars instead of five. I’m disappointed with Honda’s seemingly poor focus on their customers and lack of innovation. The eu 2000 was around for ten years or so with no significant upgrades. Customers have been complaining about a lack of a gas cutoff switch all that time. That’s the reason I originally bought the Yamahas which had the cutoff. That switch is very important for not gumming up your carb as I’ve learned. Why did it take soooo long for Honda to add this feature that everyone was begging for. Along those lines, why can’t Honda themselves make a generator or conversion kit for Propane? Where’s the run time hour meter meter everyone has been asking for? Where’s the fuel gauge? At least make these available accessories/upgrades offered by Honda. Also, where are the clear and detailed training, maintenance and repair videos from The manufacturer? All this equates to ‘old school’ corporate approach to customers as far as I’m concerned.....’here’s our product, take it or leave it’. Instead they should be all over these upgrades customers have been pining for. Honda. Making a good product is no longer enough. Customer service and innovation are just as important these days. Lastly, be sure to do oil changes after one and two then hours when breaking it in. The oil was absolutely BLACK with residual factory debris after only one hour. I’ll be interested to see Yamaha’s response to this model. Maybe they’ll get it figured out before Honda. : )