Well, after YEARS of wanting to get a small hand-portable generator I bought a new HONDA EE-2000 last summer
I had shoped pretty hard for one of these for quite some time and was more than a bit dissapointed in not being able to find a Killer Deal.
In the end the best price I could find was on E-Bay for a Brand New Unit was $885.00 And much to my surprise the local dealer in town was happy to meet that price. Shipping vs. Tax was a wash, so I went for the instant gratification and knowing I got a fully legit model with a 2 year factory warrenty.
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For this particular purchase my main considerations were..
#1. Size, Weight, Portability.
The Honda
EU2000 comes in VERY high on those requirements.
#2. Power output / Duration.
This thing goes and goes and goes on a gallon of gas, and can provide plenty of power for my intended uses.
#3. Cost.
I wanted something in the Sub $1,000 dollar range.
#4. Noise.
These little babies are VERY QUIET!
My intended use for this is as a "Camping" generator that I could pick up and take with us at a moments notice. And one that could be used to power the freezer in the garage or my HAM radios in a pinch.
My next generator will be a bigger unit.
I would like to get the EU-6500 as my #2.
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I'd like to add a little more info to this Honda EU2000 concerning the parallel kit or the ability of hooking two of these generators together.
It is true that two
EU2000 generators can be hooked together with a $50 pair of cables that will connect one generator to the other. However, if the power demand goes above 2200 watts we will quickly run into a problem, if both generators are the same EU2000i and only have a 20 amp AC receptacle on the front of the unit. At 20 amps you will get a max of only 2200 watts at a 110 volts so adding the second generator only gets you another 800 watts from what a single generator provides continuously.
To get around this Honda makes a different model called the "companion"
EU2000 that has a 30 amp 220 style AC receptacle which allows you to get the max of 3200 watts combined from the two generators connected together. This unit though is a little more expensive and you have to know to order it separately from the regular model in order to get the 3200 watt benefit of hooking the two together. Even so, you are only getting 3200 watts and not the 4000 watts when hooked together because the
EU2000 only provides 2000 watts surge and is rated at 1600 watts continuous use per individual generator.
There is one more solution in the form of an after market specialized parallel kit which provides the 220 style 30 amp receptacle in an external case or plug. These kits run from $100 to $200 dollars. You could make a similar "kit" by buying the parallel cables from Honda and then cutting and splicing in a 30A 220 volt style receptacle in between the two ends.
Here is a link to what the after market parallel kit looks like:
