Possible to forego genset?

I'm in the Honda 2000 camp. Especially so for boats with modest power needs. That little baby is cheap, reliable, quiet and gives you power when you want it, with or without sunshine/wind. We have an 8kw diesel as our main, but only use that in summer (Gulf Coast USA) for the air con. When it's just the wife and I aboard, the little red Honda powers a cheap 5000Btu window unit to keep the master cabin sleepable. Fuel burn of the big genset=.5-.6 GPH. Fuel burn of the little Honda (loaded)= about .1 GPH. We bought ours for under $900, shipping included. It's run like a trooper for 6 years now! No, I do not work for Honda...just a very satisfied consumer. Good luck amigo!

Captain K said:

I'm in the Honda 2000 camp. Especially so for boats with modest power needs. That little baby is cheap, reliable, quiet and gives you power when you want it, with or without sunshine/wind. We have an 8kw diesel as our main, but only use that in summer (Gulf Coast USA) for the air con. When it's just the wife and I aboard, the little red Honda powers a cheap 5000Btu window unit to keep the master cabin sleepable. Fuel burn of the big genset=.5-.6 GPH. Fuel burn of the little Honda (loaded)= about .1 GPH. We bought ours for under $900, shipping included. It's run like a trooper for 6 years now! No, I do not work for Honda...just a very satisfied consumer. Good luck amigo!

Click to expand...

So I'm a little challenged by your using the Honda generator when you have a perfectly good diesel unit.

I can understand why you like the Honda. I like them as well. That said there's no way I'd go through the setup of the Honda, no matter how easy it is when I could push a button and have generator power

ksanders said:

So I'm a little challenged by your using the Honda generator when you have a perfectly good diesel unit.

I can understand why you like the Honda. I like them as well. That said there's no way I'd go through the setup of the Honda, no matter how easy it is when I could push a button and have generator power

Click to expand...

I alternate...when I'm cooking, heating water, charging batteries...I run the 8KW...

When watching TV and and keeping the batts topped off prior to sleep...I run the Honda.

The low load would not be good for the big genny and a waste of fuel/wear and tear.

I would not go out and BUY a Honda...just happen to have one as backup for the long winter trip every year.

ksanders said:

So I'm a little challenged by your using the Honda generator when you have a perfectly good diesel unit.

I can understand why you like the Honda. I like them as well. That said there's no way I'd go through the setup of the Honda, no matter how easy it is when I could push a button and have generator power

Click to expand...

'
It's a question of economics my friend (see my fuel burn figures). True, instead of pushing a button I have to pull a chord to start my Honda. But thank the Lord I'm not too old do to that...yet. Hooking it up? Run your regular shore power chord to your Honda and plug it in with a pigtail adaptor. Not rocket science. We leave ours on the after deck covered with a little $25 plastic cowling that protects it from the elements. And if the big mama packs it up (as mine did this past charter trip), we fire up the Honda. She saved the bloody day! Kept the customers from demanding a refund.

Really? That's approaching the per-hour propulsion cost of the Coot.

AS it should , a gal of diesel will make 15-20 hp per hour and 1 GPH should push the Coot .

Notice the initial cost , the installation and a fund for R&R is missing from the cost per hour figures.

6KW will be at least $6K , an added buck an hour , if it can be R&R by the owner at no cost.

THe hands off owner will need more bucks for simple routine service , oil filters,valve adj , injector cleaning the normal by DA Book service.

FF
Agree with the cost figures. In my example I was using a gallon of diesel per hour. Thus $4.50 per hour for fuel. Actually the Westerbeke uses .9 gallons per hour but then I frequently pay more for fuel.

As a comparison in the Caribbean we are typically charged $1 US per kw for electricity at the marinas. This charge is often higher than the slip fee. When in marinas we turn off shore power during the day and let our solar panels and wind generators provide the power for the refrigeration.


The Honda versus diesel generator really has no correct answer. Questions of convenience. Of course if you are on a French island paying $9.50 US per gallon, the equation may change.

Marty

My results for owning a genset are definitely lower...

The 25year old 8kw Westerbeke only has had about $2000 in major repairs and only burns 0.9 gallons at 100% rated load (rarely there but I'm guessing more like 3/4 of that based on my average electrical demands) average consumption.

Even with replacement costs at $12K plus the $2K and yearly consumables....that's only about $600/year plus fuel (I'm paying less than $4 a gallon at 50% load is about $2-3 per hour.)

At about 300 hours per year for a boat that gets cruised for 4 months solid/year between the PO and me....and operating in air conditioning desired areas.... (and I could have a 3.5KW ...which is cheaper to buy/run)..iI don't think gensets are out of sight.

Plus when you go to sell...a highly desired ticket if in good shape....because many THINK they should have one aboard....even though the more you cruise you are a better judge if you do/don't.

The diesel gen sets are so trouble free, it's hard to quantify the cost verses value. A $10,000 initial purchase over 35 years is less than a Starbucks coffee many people have every day. Plus, as mentioned, on the right boat, it increases the boats value at resale.

I only have two memorable repairs to mine in that time. $300 for a heat exchanger and $250 to replace the raw water pump. That's it?? I eliminated the primary fuel filtering in the generator case long ago and run it off the starboard main engine primary filter. An oil change is 3 quarts of oil and one $6.00 filter once a year.

Unless you're running AC or electric heat, the load averages less than 50% (water heater, battery charger, refer, stove, lights) below 10 - 12 amps. (That's what the Port said my max load was on the dock.) So you're probably correct on the fuel usage. I would expect it to be closer to 1/2 gal per hour.