Portable RV Generators Make the Difference

So now you have just bought your very first RV. Now you just need to figure out how to fire up and provide power to all the things inside the vehicle when you take off on your first trip. You certainly do not want to run your engine all the time just to turn your lights on in the middle of the night or to use the air conditioner. This is the very reason why you need to look at some portable RV generators. There are certain things you have to consider before shopping for one of these generators. And please, do not make the blunder of taking home the first or cheapest one you come across.

 

The first question is just how much power will you need? Portable RV generators come in many different sizes, which mean that some of them will have much more power than others. If you have a smaller vehicle without a lot of electronic devices, you most likely do not require as much power. Of course, the more power you get the more expensive it will be. So take a quick inventory of every item in the RV that will need electrical power to figure out exactly how many total watts you need.  Do not forget about the air conditioning and televisions or game systems you might want to bring along on a typical trip. 

 

After you have calculated how much power you will need, you should then estimate when and how long you will need to operate your generator. For example, will it be running at night while you sleep or do you think you will need it through the day as well?  Portable RV generators take gasoline and some of theirs tanks are larger than others; generally they will contain one to five gallons. As you would think, you can run for much longer periods of time if your generator has a larger tank, but you will also pay more for those with the larger tanks.

 

Can you sleep with the generator noise going on? Some small portable generators are quite loud, but there are generators being manufactured now that is very quiet, too.Check the decibel level of the RV generators you are considering and find out how noisy they are. Higher decibels mean louder generators.

 

How will you carry your generator? Does your new vehicle have a place to attach it on the back? While some of them do, others may require that you build a lift. Some people will put their portable RV generators in the back of their pick up trucks to get them to the camping site. This is fine, but if you plan on doing this, you will need to make sure that you have ramps.  You will not be able to easily lift the generator because they can weigh as much as 200 pounds.

 

Ease of use is another thing to consider when shopping for portable RV generators. Some of them are started with a pull cord while others have an easy electric start using a key. An electric start generator will be much more expensive than the pull cords type, but they are very convenient, and they can also be converted to a remote start generator without a lot of problem.