Recent advancements in
technology and the rapid growth of industries has increased the need for
electricity. Electricity is rapidly
becoming more scarce and expensive to generate in order to meet the increasing
demands of the industry. Due to the
damage induced by the recent typhoon, maintenance of power plants, and rotating
brown-outs, electricity is now becoming a precious commodity.
But before deciding to
purchase your own generator, here are a few items you should consider:
1. Know your load - a 650 W portable generator
works as well as a 900 W or higher load. Based on my experience a liter of
gasoline practically last's about an hour of operation, the difference is only
on the output they are capable of generating.
So it would be practical to decide on what appliances or devices you
really need.
2. Generators are noisy - operating the generators create noise and if
your living in an area where the houses are close together. Generators could be irritating to your next
door neighbor. Although there are
generators that are quiter and produce lesser noise, they cost a hefty price
and are quite expensive.
3. Generators produce smoke - generators burn
fuel in order to produce electricity. So
make sure you put your operate your generator in a well ventilated area.
4. Operating a generator is not cheap – Let’s
face it with the rising cost of gasoline, operating a generator isn't exactly
cheap. For our 650W & 900W generator, we average about 1 hr run time for
every 1 L of gasoline. For computation purposes, let’s say that unleaded
gasoline cost’s Php 50/L, this would mean that you would spend about Php 1200
for 24 hrs. operation, which is about the same amount you pay for your monthly
electricity bill.
5. Brand new generators
are easier to start than old ones – based on our experience, our generators get
harder to start the older they get.
6. You have to drain
excess gasoline from the carburator after every use – don’t forget to drain the
excess gasoline from the carburetor after every use as it makes your generator
hard to start.
7. A fuel additive is
needed for 2 Stroke engines – a fuel additive (2T oil) is need, approximately
0.2L per 1 L of gasoline should do.
8. Not all the gasoline
in the fuel tank is consumed – as much as we’d like to hope so, approximately ½
a Liter of gasoline is left in the tank.
9. You need to start your
generator ideally once a week – part of maintaining your generator is having to
start it up periodically. This will allow the gasoline to circulate and ensure
that the motor continuously runs smoothly. Don’t make the same mistake I did,
which led me to purchase a new generator.
10. Don’t overload your
generator – as much as possible stick to the intended load specified on your
generator. You’ll know that your
generator is having problem’s with the additional load as the motor runs harder
and produces a louder chocking noise.
11. Automatic switching generators are more
expensive than pull types – the cost of automatic switching generators are more
than double the price of their pull back counterparts.
12. Store you generators in a cool and dry
environment – when not in use, make sure you place your generator in a cool and
try environment to keep it from rusting & getting wet.
After going over the
above checklist your now ready to purchase a suitable generator for your
needs. It would be better if you use
your generator to charge car batteries so you can use the electricity produced
by your generator even after you run out of fuel. However, I’d suggest that
your purchase your generator from a store which also does repair &
maintenance of generators. We got our’s from a store at 4th Ave. Gracepark
Caloocan City. Not only do they do repair, but they also allowed us to test the
generator before we purchased it. The price is also half of those that are
commercially available from malls. However, you’d have to pay in cash, the
generator is an unknown brand but looks exactly the same as those sold in
malls and there is no warranty given for the generator. We've been using it for
a week now and so far it’s been working fine.
Below are the details of the shop where we purchased our generator:
Candric Marketing
182 4th Ave. West,
Gracepark Caloocan City
Tel. No (02)3611725
CP#’s: (0917)8420904, (0939)6643676,
(0925)8555594
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