What Generator to Power a Caravan?

Add up your total wattage of all items you want powered at the same time and you will have your answer , be aware that the honda eu20i is actually rated at only 1600w .

Hi Orejap, I have a Yammy 2.4 and when the power went out here
I had a full size house fridge and freezer, tv, some lights and the computer
all running at once. No problem. Don't know about the Honda's, sorry.
Good luck with it all.

The Honda will run MOST Van Aircons.

It will also run your lights and TV, BUT.

Don't try to boil the jug or run the toaster or Microwave at the same time as the Aircon.

The best thing to do is to take the Van to the dealer and say "Show Me" how this will run the Van Aircon.

We use our Honda on rare occasions to run the air con, but nothing else at the same time. It has 'tripped' a couple of times in very hot weather (they are known for not being able to run air cons above 45º although most of us don't travel in these temperatures. Maybe a light or two would make no difference.

At home we use it in power failures; sometimes in hot weather (it was over 40º when we lost power all day due to a bush fire. It has not trouble running the household fridges and freezers (one at a time) plus aquarium pumps radio and 2way and a lamp or two. This has been on economy, even when starting the fridges as they are rotated.

If you need more power than this, i suggest the 2.4 kva Yamaha, but it is a lot bigger and heavier to cart around.

Motherhen

Hi OREJAP,

Went through this same exercise about a month ago. Our van has an Aircommand Wren I think is the model. I looked up the power requirements on their web site. 1560 watts max from memory, but I wanted to be sure so I borrowed the BIL's Honda 2i. which he said ran the air con in his 26' Jayco no problems. I tried it out on a day with about low 30's temps with no dramas. I also added a 300 watt jug element to the load and all OK. A mate with a 24' Jayco borrowed mine to try out on a trip to Esperance in summer, not sure of the temps but it would only run it for about 3 minutes before cutting out. It turns out his air con was a different brand, Coleman I think or something like that. I looked up the power requirements and from memory it had a maximum requirement of 1850 watts. I guess with his fridge and a few lights it pushed the Honda over its limit. He's not too happy because he didn't want to go to the bigger Yamaha because of size and extra weight if he could get away with it. I guess as others have suggested figure out your power requirements and ultimately try a genny to confirm before you buy. I don't think many people would mind shutting the air con down for a few minutes to run a microwave or boil a jug which we boil on the gas anyway.

Cheers Pop

thing to remember when adding watts up -----one kva = 800 watts

It is also inadviseable to charge a battery DIRECT from a Gennie.

It is far better to power a dedicated battery charger to charge the battery.