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Unpopular opinion: sometimes the cheapest generator is actually the right call for backup power

I was up in the White Mountains last November when a nor'easter knocked out our power for 4 days, and my neighbor's fancy $1,200 Honda kept dying on him while my beat-up $300 Harbor Freight special ran nonstop after I fixed a clogged carburetor with a paperclip. Has anyone else found that paying less and learning to fix stuff beats paying more and hoping it works?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessica_miller9d ago

Oh man, that story about your neighbor's Honda is too real! My buddy paid big money for a fancy inverter generator and the control board fried on the second use. Meanwhile my cheap Coleman from a yard sale has been going strong for 3 years after I replaced the spark plug and cleaned the bowl. There's something satisfying about fixing a $200 machine yourself instead of being scared to touch a $1,000 one. The real backup plan is knowing how to keep the cheap one running with basic tools.

the_sean20h ago

Gotta push back a little though. That inverter generator might have had a bad luck story, but when they work they are way quieter and cleaner power for sensitive electronics. My buddy's cheap one almost fried his fridge compressor from the dirty power. Ever had to deal with that headache?