generators at Free Camps

Frowned Upon ? Depends who you speak to.


IMO , if you needed a Gennie , then use it. Be respectful of your neighbours.

I have just recently returned from a 3 month trip to Qld for the winter and in every free camp we stayed at people were using their generators, even up till 10.30PM in one case just so they could watch their TV.

I think if you are conciderate of others by running it in the day or late agternoon and you are not parked to close to them, most people dont have a problem with you using it to top up batterys or run the microwave at tea time.

G'day Selena, Yeah! it is frowned upon. But why not the alternative solar set-ups

andy

being a user of tents, i find the people in their vans using a generator to simply run a tv and airconditioner late at night to be inconsiderate of their neighbours. i would try to camp away from vans for this reason.

one camp site i was at, the van pulled up, faced the van door away from my site and promptly set up the generator facing my camp (so it was at the back of their van and away from their own camping area). disregarded pointing the generator off into the bush on the other side of their camp. most inconisderate in my opinion.

i am sure a bit of thought where you place the genrator and what times you run it at would alleviate most problems with neighbours

I think it also depends on what type of Generator you have and where its placed. Some of the dearer one's Honda, Yamaha, and even the Kipor which is a cheaper Generator but still very efficient are very quit but in the dead of night most generators can be heard. As mentioned above only fire up when needed for micro etc and if other people are already there try and get as far away as possible so the Generator will be that little quiter for your neighbours. A bit of consideration for other campers will be appreciated by them if you make the effort. Even walk over towards them and see if it is really noticable or even better ask them is it bothering them. Most will say no or you might get a few who will reply with "as long as its not roaring aloud at midnight". I think you will be ok. Most are not too noticable till later in the evenings when all is quit. Regards Steve M

Well yek OK everybody.
This was Selena's post so we won't continue the nuclear debate here '

Doug

We saw it quite a lot in QLD recently - as others have said you can do what you like.....but......a long, budget power lead from Bunno's, plus an 'office hours only' policy for running gennies could hardly cause offence - they only way to beat those 240V gennie TV watchers well after dark is to stay in a caravan park !

ARE YOU GOING CAMPING OR ARE YOU JUST MOVING YOUR HOUSE? SOMEWHERE THERE HAS TO BE A POINT WHERE YOU CUT OFF FROM THE TRUE REASON YOU WENT OUT THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE
''CAN YOU SMELL THAT SON ...2 STROKE''
''AH ..THE SERENITY''

Not a problem if considerate to others re noise/hours. Recently in a free camp near Monto I had to ask a fellow caravanner to turn his off - at 10 pm. He did - but it shouldn't have been on at that time in my opinion.

I plan to buy one sometime in the future to complement my solar. I would like to think that I will not use it at any time that it will disturb other campers.

Yes it is acceptable but just concider. When camped at Dalhousie Springs, (which allows Gennies till 10 pm) one fella ran his for a single porta flood light turning it off right on time. Moments later the entire camp let off a big cheer. Obviously we all weren't very impressed.
These days there are plenty of options for charging that dont require a genny or only require one for short periods. Those with 240V TV's or lighting ideally should look to inverters to run appliances then use the genny to top up the charge at a reasonable time of day when it wont annoy as many people. Have seen several cases of generator rage at camp sites over the years.
Unfortunately buying a cheap Chinese genny then bringing every plug in device know to man (eg: breadmakers/hair dryers) is getting all too common.
Cheers Craig...................

WOW - Thanks everyone. I knew I'd come to the right place.

What a mixed bag of replies. I guess the general concensus is: Use the Generator but be considerate.

I wouldn't dream of doing anything else. Thanks for everyones input.

Had a great laugh reading all the debating also. Thanks for the giggle. Looks like I'll have to stick around to see what other pot I can stir. haha just kidding.

Doug, thanks for defending my thread.

Andy, chill out dude!

Kev, was gunna make the "don't yell joke" myself you beat me too it - haha LOL

and everyone else who commented & sent best wishes - A big thanks THANKS

Hope to catch you all on the road.

Selena

I can understand the need for some kind of extra power source if parking in the one spot for a few days but How long do you stay in free camps? dont you drive anywhere?
You dont even need duel battteries if all you are doing is running a fridgelights and TV
heck i used to do it all the time in my Nissan campervan

Selena, although we like bush camp miles from anyone, if we share a designated free camp with others, and they use their generators in sensible daylight hours, i can't raise any objection. Yes, I like it when they turn off, but i am choosing to share the site, and they need their power (we are fully solar powered, except if we need the air conditioner).

We camped near a caravaner with the Honda 2 kva same as ours at the Saw Pit free camp in Victoria, and we could only really hear it was on if we went outside.

In Tasmania, at one free camp site, there were a few people relying on generators for their fridges. One was our next door neighbour. He would only run it after around 7.30 am and off around 8 or 9 at night. Although it was a noisy one, i assured him i had no objection to him using at from 7 am or up to 9.30 at night. We liked their company, and choose to stay along side them. Near the other end of the camp (designated for 2 days camping) was a large caravan with a large generator. It was there for a long time, and the owner appeared to go to work each day, running the genny early morning before he left and then into late at night. The people down that end were very angry. An embarrassed Tasmanian camper referred to 'one ignorant Tasmanian'.

Motherhen

Hi

We have just returned from our big trip around Oz.

I am sorry if I upset people, but the noise of generators really is offensive and very anti-social. Generators can make the difference between a good night’s sleep or a bad night. Generator noise is transmitted through the ground and if you are trying to sleep in a tent, they sound like they are right next to the tent even when they are 250 metres away.

We have a simple dual battery set up, a 40 litre fridge, a lap top computer and 12 volt fluro lights. We had absolutely no problems with lights, fridge or computer for our 6 months on the road. We never used a caravan power site. On arrival at home our 2 batteries have tested out as fully charged and in good condition.

Generators are not required if you plan ahead and spend the cost of the generator on a good multi-battery system and energy efficient equipment.

If you want all the luxury of home I suggest you stay at home and leave the bush to those who really appreciate it.

For holidays, try a Gold Coast unit, they are very nice and Sufers Paradise has all the glitter, lights, loud music and more cold beer that any one could ever need

Cheers
Phil

Evening all, Selena maybe if you had mentioned why you needed the genie some of the negativity wouldn't of taken place. If the power supply is for say medical reasons such as running a dialysis machine fare call. But if it is just to run electrical appliances out of convenience then place the gennie as far away as possible. On a still night the throb of a gennie can be very annoying.

All generators should be powered by a Hotted up V8 running on racing fuel.

That way you can tell your neighbours that you have been watching the car races on telly.

Hi Selena,

There are many of us who hate the doofdoof coming from generators. Its not that it stops us from sleeping - more that it destroys the beautiful "quiet" of the bush at any time of the day or night.

I only camp in a crowded free camp area as a last resort, and if people run generators, then thats something we'd have to put up with.

Cheers
Phil

Hi All,

We have no real problem with people using Gennies if needed but i must admit we were camped at O'tooles flat in Vic and had a a family camped well away from us, but insisted on using their incredibly noisy genereator 24/7 and i gets a bit much!!
We run everything off 12V and generally only use lighting for cooking etc.
I figure if you need to run a gennie 24/7, you may as well stay in a caravan park with 240V!
TV and aircon are for at home, not in the bush

Selena,

A bit touchy that one. You will get opinions but that's all they are, personal opinions. There are no set by-laws.

Might I suggest that you rephrase your question so as to read, "is it acceptable to use your generator in an inconsiderate manner etc..:" In such a case the answere of course is that it's not.

I run a Honda EU10 generator and take care to use it in a non intrusive manner.

If you have not as yet purchased your generator then do your research and endeavour to buy the quietest unit you can. Camp away from other on the edge of the camp area so as to be less intrusive. Try where possible to camp downwind which helps a little in carrying the noise way from others and try to run your generator during daylight hours and very early evening.

The other alternative is wait untill your neigbours kids are hooning up the camp on their mini bikes and then fire up. Should you be sharing the camp area there will often be a smug prat who makes loud comments about people with generators, just wait untill this smart alec starts up his noisy rattley diesel to idle for 45 minutes while he recharges his auxilluary battery then start your generator, even you won't hear it, let alone anyone else. Oh! By the way, this idiot will be upwind of all other campers and so stink out every ones site with his rotten diesel fumes.

Bugger them!

Do the right thing! Show consideration for others! But don't allow E.O. or camp site nazis to stand over you.


Ian