How To Save Some Money And Run On A Marine Generator

Many cruiser boats come equipped with a genset (marine generator) capable of delivering anywhere from 4kw to 10kw of AC to keep all your creature comforts up and running when out on the hook or at a remote dock somewhere.

The sad reality is that these are gas-guzzling and polluting appliances that need to be run for hours on end to re-charge a bank of depleated deep-cycle batteries. Simply running the genny for a couple or minutes to make some coffee or heat some water is simply not going to recharge your batteries. Running your engines for a few minutes won't help either. A couple of hours really won't charge up the batteries much either. You cannot rush a charge cycle.

The other problem is that other options like solar panels and wind turbines don't generate enough power to run today's modern appliances and rely on environmental conditions beyond our control.

The biggest drawback of running your on-board genset is the gas consumption. It slurps up gallons of your precious liquid gold while humping away producing full power with no regard for how little you may actually be needing at the moment. You might as well as turn every electric appliance on while running the genset rather than just leave it on to charge your batteries up.

Another drawback is the exhaust. It might not be an issue while on the hook, but docked next to others is another story. It is not only deemed inconsiderate to run the genset for extended periods of time, it forces others around you to shut their windows and hatches to avoid a deadly build-up of carbon monoxide (colorless, odorless lethal gas).

So, what is solution?

Buy a small, quiet and portable 4-stroke genset. You can run the thing all day for a few dollars of gasoline and power all your normal appliances while charging your batteries properly and completely at a fraction of the cost, pollution and nuissance.

Put the thing up on your flybridge, swim platform or bow, wherever it won't bother you, your neighbours or fill your boat with any exhaust. It can purr away and if matched to your load, can power just about anything you really need.

Save your big genset for running several large appliances at once or better yet, save the money and buy a boat without a big genset onboard.

You are not pumping any carbon into the lake from the watery exhaust, you are not billowing any smoke (diesels are smoky) and you will save hundreds of dollars in gas. You can use the little portable in the off-season (assuming you don't boat all year round) as a backup unit for your house or when camping.

Now, I don't sell generators nor am I affiliated with anyone who does, but I can tell you from experience that there is really only one brand to buy if you want small and quiet. Honda makes the best-reviewed portable inverter (clean digital sine wave needed to run electronic equipment) and it comes in three sizes. Honda does it right by building the alternator right into the engine, not attaching it to the engine.

Before I go on, Yamaha makes a nice genset too, but it is louder than the Honda. Kippur (a Honda rip-off, literally... they were making them look identical on the outside until they were sued and changed the color) is almost the same specs as Honda but NOT quite. Read the specs for yourself. The 2000 is not a 2000kw generator. They have less power, are cheaper, but in my experience you get what you pay for.

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