09-09-2011, 12:55 PM
lazydays wrote:
As an alternative to my fireplace post below, if I wanted to use one of those 1500 watt oil filled heaters as a backup source of heat, just how large of a generator would I need? I would be buying one of the honda extra quiet ones. I know they are expensive but the quiet would be important to me. Of course I would want some excess capacity also.
You answer your own question. You need a 1500 watt generator (1.5 kw) just to do that job, a very inefficient system. That same generator will power the furnace, the refrig, and some lights, and you won't need the oil heater or the fireplace.
Go a couple of steps better by getting a 6.5 kw generator and converting it from burning gasoline to natural gas. Now the whole whose has power, and you have no need to chase down gasoline when it runs out, and there are no stations around with power to pump gas.