If you’re serious about your preparedness, then you really should consider owning a backup generator! Of course, a portable generator isn’t meant for long-term use. It is mostly for power outages, that might last a few days or at most a few weeks. You can’t possibly store enough gas or oil, for operation of a portable generator for years and years. It is a short-term solution – period!
There are so many different types and sizes of generators out there, it will make your head spin. When shopping for a portable generator, you have to keep in-mind what you intend to operate with your generator. We own several portable generators, one is a 3,500-watt, for heavy usage, and the other one is only 1,000-watts and it gets the most use. We simply don’t need to operate everything in our home, that runs off of AC electricity when the power goes out.
PAY ATTENTION TO THIS: DO NOT OPERATE ANY GAS POWERED OR PROPANE POWERED GENERATOR INDOORS – IF YOU DO, YOU RISK CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING – SIMPLE AS THAT.
The Sportsman 1,000-watt portable generator under review today, is one we purchased from Home Depot, several years ago. I studied their web site for what I believed would be the best choice for us, for our second portable generator, that would be used more often than the larger portable generator we already had on-hand. You must also keep in-mind that, the bigger (more wattage) your generator puts out, the more fuel it needs to run – that is something to keep in the back of your mind. Plus, you also need to know local laws, when it comes to storing fuel on your property – some locales are very strict on this, and might only allow you to have 5-gallons of fuel – if you have a high wattage portable generator, that 5 gallons of fuel, probably won’t last you half a day, if you are running the generator with a full load.
The copy hype for the Sportsman 1,000-watt generator states that this unit is “the ideal size for hunters and campers to run small appliances, such as a portable television”. Personally, if I’m out hunting or camping, I don’t believe I’ll have a portable television with me, unless I’m in my travel trailer. This little two-stroke portable generator only weighs 38-pounds. So its easy to transport in the trunk of your car, or bed or your pick-up truck – without fuel in it. I don’t do tailgating parties or anything like that, so I don’t worry about transporting this generator – it stays at home.
A two-stroke engine requires a mixture of gas and two-stroke fuel. In the case of this generator, the fuel tank holds .8-gallons of gas, and you have to have that gas mixed 50:1 with the two-stoke oil, you can’t just mix any kind of oil with it. No, it takes a special two-stoke formulated oil that you can get at any big box store, farm/ranch supply store, etc. This oil is cheap enough, and it doesn’t require very much of it, that you can keep several bottles on-hand and mix it as needed. Some places sell this fuel ratio already mixed, however it is very expensive – I priced a one quart can – and it was almost $20. That equates to $80 per gallon, and that is highway robbery, if you ask me.Continue reading“Sportsman 1,000-Watt Portable Generator, by Pat Cascio”