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Using a generator as your main source of power for most of the year is a lot different than taking it out once a year for camping or an emergency. As such, I thought it was time to come back to this review, over a year later, and update how our generator is doing.
A few posts ago I mentioned our generator and that we were loving it so far. We have the Honda EU2000i, and on Father’s Day we decided to really test it out. It was raining with no signs of letting up so we decided to stay in and relax. We filled the generator to its .9 gallon capacity and figured we’d make it a TV/video game/computer marathon day. The Honda EU2000i was supposed to give us 8 hours of electricity at 1/4 load according to the instructions. We figured for our test we’d be done when it was done.
So we ran our 40″ TV, Xbox One (Amazon), laptop, external hard drive, cellphone, and cellphone booster (Amazon) all day and were surprised to find that the generator actually out lasted us! We started just after 2 pm and finally turned off the generator just after 3 am when we couldn’t keep our eyes open any more. While I’m sure it was running on nothing but fumes in the end, that’s 13 hours of run time that we got out of it with one gallon of gas. And running all of our electronics! It ran much longer than advertised or than we expected. Running any of our electronics or power tools has not been an issue so far. Add to that how quiet the generator is, running at only 53-59 decibels (less than the average household vacuum cleaner), and I really can’t say enough good about it.
Kyle and I are both very impressed with the Honda EU2000i. We’d highly recommend it for anyone looking for a reliable off-grid power source.
Update:
We have learned a few tips and a tricks over the life of our generator so far. One of the first things we learned is that stored gas needs to be treated with a stabilizer. We use Seafoam (Amazon) and have found our generator runs much better with that. We also use a filter (Amazon) to catch any water that might have gotten into the gas. These steps are important to help keep the carburetor from getting gummed up.
Another thing that we have realized is that our generator is more powerful than we need! We were running in Eco mode all the time (1/4 load) until the local Honda shop told us that wasn’t good for the generator. Now we run it in normal mode right on starting and right before turning it off. Running hot for a little while helps keep the engine in good working order as well. Overall, we would still highly recommend this generator!
I have not received any compensation from Honda for this review.
High Tide Homestead participates in affiliate programs and may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on this post. See our Disclosure page for more information.